More than 30 years since it began buying up land near the downtown clay cliffs under the Escarpment Land Acquisition program, the city is continuing to purchase properties in the area.

At Monday night's council meeting, city staff brought forward a bylaw that would see it purchase 804 Strickland St. under the 1970s-era program.

The acquisition policy came out of drainage and erosion problems and concern over the possibility of mudslides onto properties next to the escarpment.

At the time, 80 properties were identified for the city's purchase. All but 10 were sold by 1984, with the city paying fair market value at the time they were purchased.

Today, 804 Strickland is one of three properties identified years ago under the program, but not sold.

Pat Ross, the city's land development supervisor, told council last night owner Eva Kopinec is now ready to sell.

Using current fair market value, as it did on other property sales on the escarpment, it's proposed the city would buy it for $90,000 out of its land reserve account.

The city is using fair market value, as it has with all the previous purchases in the area. But Coun. Dave Stockdale was quick to point out the city ends up paying a lot more for the properties now at fair market value than it would have in the 1970s and 1980s.

"It shouldn't be evaluated at $90,000," he argued, noting the site will no longer have a house on it after the city makes the purchase.

"It's a piece of the clay cliff, you know, and I know what we're doing, we're offering these people the opportunity to move and they choose not to move for many, many years and now house prices are very, very high and it's costing the city a lot more money to buy those people out.

"It kind of frustrates me that that situation has been allowed to continue. In that situation, it just seems they want their cake and eat it and I just find it a little annoying."

As Coun. Jeanine Myhre argued, the city might have done the same thing if it was in that situation.

"At any point, we would have offered them market value," Coun. Dave Austin added.

The property was assessed last Nov. 15 by Yamada Appraisals, based mainly on the land, with a "nominal" value being placed on the structure, a report to council read.

For the city, the only other option apart from waiting for residents to sell is expropriation, which requires the city to show there's an immediate risk to the property, Ross explained.

"The risk for these particular properties was not such that we needed to take that immediate initiative," he said.

While the sales have been a long time coming, Ross pointed out there's been a lot less development activity at Erik Nielsen International Airport, which would have contributed to erosion and concerns around the land in the 1970s.

Stockdale asked Ross what would happen if the three properties still to be purchased were left there and not purchased by the city.

Ross replied there could be an element of liability for the city, given the previous escarpment studies that identified the sites as being at risk. The last study was done in the 1990s.

It's proposed the closing date for the sale would be Jan. 31, 2010 to allow time for Kopinec to find a new place to live.

The agreement also allows Kopinec to remove any buildings or fixtures from the property if she chooses.

"Any structures remaining on the property after the city acquires ownership will be removed," notes the report to council.

Members will vote next week on whether to move ahead on the bylaw to transfer the land to the city.