The Soldotna City Council recently enacted an ordinance that amends Soldotna Municipal Code to update the procedures for the disposal of city property. Municipal code regarding disposition of surplus city property was enacted in 1983 and minor updates are needed to more accurately reflect the current practices related to the disposition of surplus city property, and to allow for updated practices and more flexibility moving forward.
City Manager Stephanie Queen said the city needed to update its code to reflect the current use of technology and noticing the sale of surplus items:
“We brought this forward, some recommendations to our existing code, really to update and modernize this section of code. For many decades, this code on how to dispose of surplus property has not been revisited or changed. The changes we’re requesting are to better align it with our currently doing those surplus sales as well as to provide and codify some additional flexibility. Right now, the code references life outcry auctions and, for the past several years, we’ve been using a government website that does the online auctions where we’ve been really successful, and I think we’ve been really pleased with that service. We can set minimum bid prices. We advertise ahead of time. We allow people to come and inspect the property ahead of time and then we notify people of when those bidding windows will be. It’s worked really well for us. Moving to that online platform, I think, is going to be something that we’re interested in doing in the future.”
Laura Rhyner, Assistant to the City Manager, wrote that the proposed amendment updates language around public auctions of surplus property to reflect the change from outcry to online auctions, allowing for a more frequent disposal of surplus property, and allowing for more flexibility around noticing.
In addition, the amendment updates the process for declaring surplus property, and adding a requirement for council approval for disposition of high value items.