City plans to buy properties near downtown

Greenwood is moving ahead with buying two properties that could be used to help improve traffic flow around downtown.

The Greenwood Redevelopment Commission approved a plan to make offers on a home at the intersection of Main and Meridian streets and less than one acre of land next to the Greenwood Public Library. The amounts that will be offered are based on the average of two appraisals on the properties.

City officials have said traffic congestion heading into downtown Greenwood could be relieved with an added lane or a roundabout at the intersection of Main and Meridian streets, but the city would need a home at the southeast corner of that intersection in order to have room for any improvements, city engineer Mark Richards said.

The owner of the home at 1 E. Main Street had been renting the home but wanted to sell and approached the city about buying the property. The city plans to offer $39,500 for the house, which is the average price of two appraisals, city attorney Krista Taggart said. That home is adjacent to Mrs. Curl Ice Cream Shop and was the center of a police investigation after a murder on Christmas Eve in 2006.

“Since we can purchase that house at a reasonable price, I think it’s a great idea,” redevelopment commission member Mike Tapp said.

The other property is on the west side of the library parking lot, across from Market Plaza, and currently is owned by Duke Energy.

The city is interested in buying the property where the current middle school sits and wants the Duke Energy property to someday connect Madison Avenue and Meridian Street with a street between the library and the middle school football field, Tapp said.

The city will also offer the average of two appraisals for the Duke Property, which is $135,000, Taggart said.

No timetable has been set on when either of the two offers will be made.