LANCASTER CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING PROCEEDINGS

The Lancaster City Council held a Special Meeting to discuss bids for the property of the lot located at 300 N Central Ave, Lancaster, MN, parcel #38.0008200 on Thursday, June 5th, 2025, at 5:00 P.M. in the Lancaster City Hall Meeting Room. Members present were Mayor, Kathy Bernstrom; council members present, Krista Matthew, John Stenquist, Teri Halvorson and Kevin Grabowska. Also present was Steven Sjostrand and Anna Jauhola, Kittson County Enterprise.

Mayor opened the meeting advising two bids have been received for one of the two lots Lancaster has had for sale - Site 1 - Lot is located at 300 N Central Ave, Lancaster, MN, parcel #38.0008200. Tract is 156’ on frontage of Central Avenue and 252.6’ deep to the west. Tract has city water, sewer and street assessment paid in full. This tract has a drainage ditch crossing it and ditch may NOT be filled in.

Mayor read one bid received from Karl Beneke on March 3^rd 2025 stating he would like to buy the lot to have a nice yard and a place to build a garage with a bid of $300 for the lot.

A second bid, opened the evening of this meeting, was from Steven Sjostrand, stating he would pay $1,100.00 for the lot and that he intends to put a home on the lot within a year of getting the bid. Sjostrand stated he is part of Lancaster Housing Solutions and they are not yet established as an LLC yet but added that they wish to bring homes into Lancaster and they hoped to put a home on the east side of the lot, and possibly a garage, but not right away, possibly the person they sell the lot to would put one on the lot later.

Halvorson mentioned the fact that the drainage ditch could not be filled in and Stenquist added that this would be something regulated by the county watershed. Sjostrand understood this and would relay it to the future buyer of the home they wish to bring in. Sjostrand mentioned that they had a couple of possible buildings to move in and if all goes well, they wish to pour concrete on the site soon, should they get the approval of the bid.

Council also discussed previous land sales to get an idea of what lots have previously sold for and that amount was $1,000 or less, they also discussed trailer homes verses double wide and stick built homes and what they are assessed as for tax reasons. Trailer homes bring in less taxes than a stick build home. Grabowska added that Lancaster is dealing with a housing issue as there is a lack of houses available to rent or purchase in town and that this group is wanting to do things to change that. Halvorson made a motion to accept the bid of $1,100.00, second by Grabowska and carried. Clerk added that past land sales consisted of the Seller being responsible for the Drafting of the Deed, The Certification of Minutes and the Recording fee, and the Buyer would be responsible for the Abstract and any Title Insurance or Title Opinion and the Deed Tax. Sjostrand asked if he should write out the check for all the fees now and we advised we would let him know once we get in touch with the city’s attorney.

Meeting Adjourned 5:12 PM

Janet Johnson, Clerk/Treasurer Approved: Kathy Bernstrom

Approval Date: June 11th, 2025

Other links: Lancaster Riverside Golf Course | Lancaster Public School | NW MN Multi-County HRA

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