The city of Chadron drew only 1 bid and sold only 1 of 10 parcels of city-owned land on East Niobrara in an auction Monday afternoon City Hall.

The sale began with sealed bids at a minimum price of $14,500 for each of the roughly equal-sized lots with oral bidding to follow if needed on contested lots, but there weren’t any.

City Manager Wayne Anderson says despite having a good audience of 10 to 15 on hand, Kourt Cooksley of Chadron was the only bidder and at the minimum price.

Cooksley offered no indication of his plans for his chosen lot…lot #10…other than saying he “planned to build” something there.

Anderson says the remaining 9 lots will remain on the market for first-come, first-served sealed bids at the minimum price for at least the next 10 months, when the council will review the status of those lots.

The $14,500 minimum price is based on the roughly $30,000 in unpaid street assessments that led to the city getting the land and the $115,000 cost of bring sewer service to the site.