Officials seek to sell Mount Pleasant Center property

State Rep. Bill Caul said he will introduce legislation this week to free up the Mount Pleasant Center property so it can be sold.

Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, said State Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, community and state health officials and himself have been working since February 2009 on the legislation.

“The last thing we want to do is let that building sit and deteriorate,” he said.

Under the proposed legislation, Caul said if the city of Mount Pleasant were to acquire the property, it could be purchased for as low as $1 if the land is used for public purposes. After the sale, the city would decide to sell all or part of the land to a for-profit company. Mount Pleasant would keep 60 percent of the sale — 40 percent would go to the state.

He said the city and state Department of Management and Budget still need to turn in an appraisal of the property and an environmental report to the state before legislation can be pushed through.

Caul said he does not expect the legislation to take long in the House and Senate before reaching Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s desk.

Before the city can begin the process of acquiring the property, the legislation must receive approval, said City Manager Kathie Grinzinger.

“Nothing else will happen until (the state) takes that action,” she said.

What’s its fate?

The state closed the center, 1400 W. Pickard St., last fall as a part of a series of budget cuts. Since then, the center has stood vacant, though several older facilities on the property were already uninhabited.

Caul said the Department of Veterans Administration showed some interest in the property last spring for a hospital. However, because of satellite hospitals in Cadillac and Clare, and the departure of the regional director, Gabriel Perez, from the area, Caul said interest in the property declined.

At the Jan. 25 City Commission meeting, commissioners voted to oversee the water and sewer lines running through the Mount Pleasant Center. Because water and sewage for the Mount Pleasant Public School Building run through the Center, the city needed to temporarily oversee the lines before the state shut them off. The license agreement is valid until July 28.

Duane Ellis, director of public works, said lines at the center were disconnected as of Friday.

“What we’ve been doing the last couple days is cutting the lines that branch out from the main line that feeds the school building,” he said. “The valves, (the state) didn’t feel, were capable of holding the water from leaking, so what we had to do at each valve location, we had to dig up the water main, cut the pipe physically and put a cap at the end of it,” he said.

Ellis said the state would be willing to work with the city if the property is not sold by July 28 to keep water at the school building running.