Joliet delays sale of Scott St. parking deck

The city has delayed the planned no-bid sale of a downtown parking deck to a private developer after determining that state law requires formal notice for the sale of public property.

The sale of the Scott Street deck to John Bays was on the agenda for the Tuesday meeting of the City Council, less than two weeks after it first became public knowledge by being put on the agenda for a council committee that gave its preliminary OK for the deal.

But the matter was taken off the Tuesday council agenda without explanation at the meeting, although city officials beforehand told The Herald-News that they decided public notice of the sale was needed.

“It’s the notice requirement in state statutes,” City Attorney Sabrina Spano said.

The city still intends to move forward with the sale of the Scott Street deck to Bays without considering other offers, Spano said, but now will do so at the March 16 meeting after publishing notice. She said Joliet is not required to take bids for the sale.

City staff has cited Joliet’s home rule status and a city ordinance they say exempts sales of public property from the bidding process.

One councilman after the meeting, however, said he had intended to ask about the no-bid nature of the deal.

“It’s nothing against Mr. Bays. I think he’s done good work,” Councilman Michael Turk said. “A competitive process might drive the price up.”

The city plans to sell the deck, which has about 400 parking spaces, to Bays for $151,000 and allow him to use most of it for his tenants at downtown office space. Bays would be required to keep at least 50 spaces for the public and honor existing parking arrangements the city has made.

Turk said he also intended to ask about the $151,000 price, which city staff said is based on the estimated cost of a consultant to study Joliet’s money-losing downtown parking system.

During the meeting, Turk asked if he could ask a question about the deck deal.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk replied that he could but suggested that Turk wait until “it’s back on the agenda” when the council would vote on the deal. Turk then did not say anymore.

Asked after the meeting what he wanted to ask, Turk first said, “I wanted to ask why we tabled it.”

He said council members were not informed before the meeting about the decision to post public notice about the sale.

The city has a 2015 study that says the deck needs $915,000 in repairs, and staff believes the costs now top $1 million.

One Joliet resident, Damon Zdunich, said last week that he would consider putting in a bid for the deck but first would want an engineer to examine the extent of needed repairs.