Albion village eyes 5 acres of land owned by Elks

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this article said the Elks Club offered the 5 acres to the village for $20,000. The Elks had a deal with another buyer for $20,000, but that fell through. The village is now talking with the Elks about the land.)

ALBION – The village may acquire 5 acres of land owned by the Elks Club near the Village’s Department of Public Works garage.

The Elks Club is based at West State Street and has land it is willing to sell that is by the DPW garage at the corner of King Street and Washington Street.

Village officials say the Elks were going to sell the land for $20,000 to another buyer but that deal fell through.

The village could use the land because the DPW is cramped for space. The village also is looking to use 1.5 acres by the DPW garage to mount solar panels as part of the bigger project at village facilities. The sewer plant on Densmore Street and water plant on Wilson Road in Carlton would have more of the panels, as part of the project under consideration.

The DPW stores some materials at the sewer plant, and most of that space would be used up as part of the solar panel project, DPW Superintendent Dale Brooks advised the Village Board on Wednesday.

Mayor Dean London said the village would be pressed to come up with $20,000 for the land out of the current budget. He would like to negotiate a lower price and also consider paying the Elks over several years for the land to ease the impact on a single budget.

Village Board members said they would continue talks with the Elks Club.

In other action, the Village Board:

Approved contributing $200 towards a walking guide of historic downtown Albion. That guide is being developed by the Albion Main Street Alliance and includes photos and descriptions of the many of the historic buildings in the downtown, including two village-owned sites: Village Hall and the former Citizens National Bank.

Mary Anne Braunbach, one of the downtown building owners, is trying to raise funding for the printing costs of the guide, which is about $2,000. She is asking building owners in the guide to contribute $100 towards the printing.

The village is giving $200 because it has two buildings highlighted in the guide.

The board was asked to consider putting the banners out on Main Street that note “Historic Albion.” Maureen Bennett, one of the vendors in the Browsery stores, asked if those banners could be out next spring.

London said the village would take an inventory of the banners and assess their condition for next year.