Village officials ponder price of Russell Street property

Trustees are considering whether to pay $235,000 for the property at 29 Russell St., adjacent to the municipal parking lot.

During a discussion at a Village Board meeting Monday, Mayor Bill Murphy said the offer would be evaluated.

“I would still like to get an actual appraisal and go by that,” he said. “We could base it on the assessed value that we have.”

Information from the online Ulster County parcel viewer reports the 0.17-acre parcel has an assessed market value of $138,000 and includes a house that was built in 1900.

Owner Eugenie Yeo, who has lived in the house for 14 years, in February proposed selling the property to the village to expand a municipal parking lot. There is already a driveway between Russell Street and the parking lot, which has a primary entrance off Partition Street.

Yeo last month said she made the offer because it seemed like the village could solve an ongoing parking shortage.

“My children are grown and have gone through college and it could help them,” she said. “So, now, I think it would be good time for me to sell and the village could get something that it really needs.”

Murphy has asked Trustee Vincent Buono to review village parking plans before deciding whether the purchase would benefit the village.