City considers vacating tiny land strips

The city of Grand Coulee will hold a public hearing to receive any comments from citizens on declaring surplus small strips of land on both the east and west sides of Main Street between Spokane Way and Midway Avenue at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15.

City Clerk Carol Boyce stated the problem occurred “ages ago” and the strips of land are so small that they are unusable by the city.

The land strips, if eventually approved by council, would go to Sharon Cox on the east side and Marlene Oddie on the west side.

The council voted Aug. 17, to vacate the right-of-way between the sidewalk and the adjacent property.

Residents can attend the public hearing and voice comments about “surplusing” the property.

Then the council will need to consider whether the rights-of-way should be vacated, whether the city should retain an easement for construction, repair and maintenance of public utilities, and whether the adjoining property owners on each side of the street should be required to compensate the city for the small strips of land.