COQUILLE - Having completed its first land sale in years, the Coquille City Council finds itself with a real estate dilemma: too much interest in one piece of city property and possibly not enough for another one.

On March 8, the city completed the sale of a 2.71-acre lot on the former Georgia-Pacific mill site to McKay's Market for $112,145.22. Within a week, the city had received four additional offers from buyers interested in segments of the 23-acre lot south of state Highway 42.

At a special meeting Tuesday, the council rejected all four bids. Mayor Steve Britton said the council must consider how it will proceed with the sale of the additional land before it enters into any more agreements.

“We need to do it in a way where we get the maximum yield and not build a hodgepodge of buildings out there,” he said. “Until we get a master plan or a site plan, we probably need to slow down a bit.”

Meanwhile, another buyer has backed out of purchasing city hall. Joe Palmoutsos, of Coos Bay, came to the city in February with a proposal to buy the Second Street property for $300,000 with a $100,000 down payment. The council agreed to the two figures, but balked at carrying a 30-year deed of trust and offering a 5 percent interest rate.

When the city countered the offer, Palmoutsos opted not to negotiate.

“They countered back and I decided to step back and wait it out,” Palmoutsos said. “At this point, there is no deal.”

The native Californian declined to say what factors led to his decision to walk away from the deal. He said he plans to focus his energies on developing an art cooperative at an old church building he owns on North Baxter Street.

Although the Palmoutsos deal appears dead, a couple from Port Orford may step in to take his place.

Nella Abbott said she and her husband, Stephen, are in negotiations to purchase city hall. The couple, originally from Marin County in California, moved to Port Orford eight years ago. Shortly thereafter, Stephen Abbott opened a law office and Nella Abbott began writing an opinion column for the Port Orford News. He shuttered his practice in 2005 when he was elected to serve on the Port Orford's City Council. Nella Abbott said it was just by random chance the couple decided to enter a bid on city hall.

“We were not looking to buy city hall in Coquille,” she said. “It was just one of those magical, serendipitous events.”

She said the couple paid their first visit to the seat of town business on March 13, but would not go into greater detail about why they bid for the property.

Coquille City Manager Terence O'Connor said the bid is pretty similar to Palmoutsos', noting the price is the same, though the structuring is different.

The price structure for the four Georgia-Pacific site bids were similar to McKay's offer, at 95 cents per square foot of land. But while the city was willing to give such an offer to the chain store, it was less willing to do so for less-known offers.

“Proposals need to be more specific and include a date for when they will start to develop the property,” said Councilor Fran Capehart.

Two of the bids were for the property directly between the proposed McKay's Market and Highway 42. One buyer indicated the land would be used for a photo shop, while the other wanted to install a carousel that would tie in to the proposed Riverwalk project. In all four cases, the specific plans for development were fairly limited.

Although all were summarily rejected, the council appeared interested in pursuing the carousel project.

“I wish there was a better word than reject because I would like to re-negotiate,” said councilor Loran Wiese. “It's important that we work with them. What a perfect deal. We are not declining the idea. We need to make it work.”

Wiese said a carousel would serve as the perfect attraction to hook people off the highway and get them to explore the rest of the city.

Rather than entertain individual offers, the council directed staff to plot out a way to parcel out the land so potential buyers could acquire specific lots. O'Connor said he would pursue a company that could advise the council on master planning.

“It would be wise to make a general drawing of what the parcels should be,” said Councilor Bruce Parker. “We need to eliminate the prospect of speculation or else we will be in executive session (discussing land deals) every week.”