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The long-awaited end to the “Miller Avenue Housing Project” is in sight after the Ulysses city council approved a proposal from Jesus Estrella to develop apartments on the one-square block parcel off South Main Street.
It all comes down to cost. The city agreed to $7,000 per unit as opposed to roughly $9,000 in a proposal by OC Custom Homes of Liberal, which proposed a mix of apartments, townhomes and single family homes on the land bordered on the west by South Main Street and east by South Glenn Street between East Miller Avenue and East McDowell Avenue about a block south of Highway 160.
Estrella is partnering on the project with Weston Kroth of WK Construction in Meade.
“I just appreciate the opportunity for us to present this to you,” Kroth said. “There is a huge need for housing and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be able to serve some of that need for the community.”
The project will be built in phases with the first one expected to be completed by the end of next year on the west side of the lot off Main Street.
In addition to Estrella’s proposal and the OC Customs Homes proposal, the council did receive a third proposal but did not publicly say who the third proposal was from or what the scope of the proposal entailed.
“We had three proposals actually that we could act on,” said council vice-president Ken Warner. “We’ve been dealing with it for quite a while, and a lot of back and forth.”
There will be other future projects that developers can bid on in the future.
“What I recommended to the council was that we propose to you guys (Estella and Kroth) that we will agree to the $7,000 per unit, we will work to install the water meters, but we will let you guys take care of acquiring the water meters,” said city administrator Luke Grimes.
Before the council voted, Grimes asked if that was acceptable, to which Groth said that was fair.
The council unanimously agreed to the proposal minus the absent Terry Maas.
City attorney Lynn Koehn said the council will need to approve a development agreement before the transfer of the property can take place.
In other business:
•The council approved a bid for $172,523 for a new dump truck.
•The council agreed to pay $349 for an advertisement in The Ulysses News’ “FYI Magazine.”
•The council agreed to a contract with Faulkner Real Estate to auction property at 2339 West Oklahoma Avenue. The auction will close December 10.
•The council approved its quarterly report.
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