Seneca positions to buy former downtown food store

Seneca officially moved itself into position today to buy a former downtown supermarket building and property thru the creation of a new corporation called “Seneca Improvements Corporation.”  City administrator Greg Dietterick, who will serve as the corporation president, explained that it’s another move by his city to improve the downtown business area so that business will want to locate.  Dietterick will preside over a board that includes Mayor Dan Alexander, Clerk-Treasurer Joel Seavey, Utilities Superintendent Bob Faires, and Planning and Community Development Director Ed Halbig.  After organizing the corporation, the directors approved a resolution that will allow the Seneca Improvements Corporation to buy the former Hometown Food Store building and parking lot at 106 N. Walnut Street.  “The city wanted to invest on that end of Main Street,” Dietterick told reporters after the meeting adjourned.  Through the use of savings generated by the utility department’s electric power peak shaving account, Seneca will pay $200 thousand to the seller, the Lunsford Family Trust.  When asked if the corporation will serve as a vehicle to make other similar purchases of property for re-development, Dietterick said, “If I could look into my crystal ball and say, yeah, we’re going to buy everything down there. No, that’s not the intent.  The worst case scenario that could happen,” he said, “is the city owns all the buildings and there’s no tax base.”  Dietterick did not rule out the possibility that, thru the new corporation, the city might buy Rev. E. Haynes’ property over which Haynes and the city have battled in court for years.