Drew Herzig

The Astoria City Council agreed Monday night to sell a slice of city land to Bruce Conner, a travel agency owner and cruise ship marketer, who wants to build his retirement home on the property.

The 0.32-acre parcel sits behind Conner’s home off Alameda Avenue. Steven Weed, an appraiser hired by the city, put the value at $47,000.

Weed’s appraisals have been criticized by some residents who believe the city has sold off property to the well-connected in sweetheart deals. In April, before a 3-2 council vote to hold a hearing on the sale to Conner, Shel Cantor, a retired engineer, claimed Weed based his appraisals on the prospective buyer rather than the property.

In a letter to The Daily Astorian, Weed said he had been “unfairly, publicly slandered by self-appointed value experts.”

City Manager Brett Estes said he and Ken Cook, the city’s public works director, spoke with Weed after the April meeting and concluded that the $47,000 appraisal for the Alameda Avenue land was fair. The property would need water, sewer and road improvements to develop.

“I do believe that he provided us with a good appraisal,” Estes said. “And I trust the work that he put into this and would say, ‘Yes, it is a good fee.’”

City Councilor Drew Herzig said the city should use “extreme discretion” when considering city land for sale and should ensure the best price and best possible use.

“I don’t feel that the city has demonstrated that we are absolutely getting the best price for this property and it will be put to the best possible use,” Herzig said.

Mayor Arline LaMear, who visited the Alameda Avenue parcel, said the property is not suitable for affordable housing or other city needs. The only access, she said, is through Conner’s property.

“To try to open this up for any other kind of housing doesn’t make any sense to me,” the mayor said.

The City Council voted 3-1 in favor of the sale to Conner, with LaMear, City Councilor Zetty Nemlowill and City Councilor Russ Warr voting for the sale and Herzig voting against. City Councilor Cindy Price, who had voted in April against holding a public hearing on the sale, was excused.

Earlier in the meeting, Warr, referring to Weed’s letter to the newspaper, chastised Cantor, who was not in attendance.

“If you don’t have a pretty good indication that somebody’s done something wrong, I think it’s pretty bad to accuse them,” Warr said. “And that’s what happened in this case and I hope it stops.”

In other business Monday night, the City Council:

• Approved an amended management agreement with Friends of the Astoria Column for the Coxcomb Hill landmark.

Councilor Herzig had sought to delay the vote until City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard, who was not at the meeting, could clarify whether the nonprofit Friends group is a city commission.

Mayor LaMear appoints board directors to the nonprofit, so Herzig questioned whether the board is a public body subject to the state’s open meetings law.

Councilor Warr cited what he describes as the “wonderful relationship” between the city and the Friends, which manages the Column and has raised private money for restoration. The Column is a city park.

“I don’t think that we should be nitpicky with them,” Warr said. “If we need to make a change, let’s make it next year.”

In a 3-1 vote, Warr, LeMear and Nemlowill approved the management agreement with the Friends, while Herzig voted against the contract.

Jordan Schnitzer, the Portland real estate magnate and philanthropist who leads the Friends, told the City Council Monday night that the Column had gross income of $385,128 last year, down 29 percent from the prior year.

The decline was because the Column was closed to visitors from May until October for a $1 million restoration project.