County accepts offer to buy land

As one of their last acts before taking a three-week vacation, Spokane County commissioners Tuesday pounced on a recreational land bargain.

They accepted American West Bank’s offer to sell 552 acres of foreclosed land near Liberty Lake for $1.2 million – half of what an appraisal in December said the property was worth.

The bank had been asking $2.6 million for the Saltese Uplands property last year, but reduced the price in November and again in April.

The bank would have donated a $100,000 endowment for maintenance under the previous offers, but the final deal gives the county a $400,000 net saving.

The April price includes a $65,000 contract to develop trails across the hilly land, which overlooks the Saltese Flats wetland the county purchased for possible disposal of treated wastewater.

The Saltese Uplands property will be acquired through the voter-approved Conservation Futures program, which preserves open spaces with a property tax of up to 6 1/4 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.