But city leaders do not want to be the owners of the property at 416 S. 10th St. for very long.

On Monday, the City Council voted to begin accepting proposals for the site from potential private owners. A public hearing was scheduled for the Dec. 9 council meeting, and the council may take action on any proposals after that hearing.

The council approved the request for proposals and the hearing date without discussion.

The school building, constructed in 1931, has been vacant since 2018.

City officials recently went to court and obtained ownership of the property through the state’s abandoned buildings law.

Both the Fair Oaks and Phillips middle schools closed in 2013 when the new Fort Dodge Middle School opened at 800 N. 32nd St., The following year, the buildings were sold to Foutch Brothers LLC, of Kansas City, Missouri, which announced plans to turn the schools into apartment buildings.

Foutch Brothers did convert the former Phillips Middle School at 1019 Fourth Ave. N., into apartments, but so far nothing has been done with the Fair Oaks building.

In 2015, after severe structural problems forced the closure of the old Duncombe Elementary School building at Sixth Avenue North and 16th Street, the developer allowed the Fort Dodge Community School District to move that school’s students and teachers into the Fair Oaks building. That arrangement ended with the opening of the new Duncombe Elementary School in 2018.

There were serious fires in the Fair Oaks building on May 27 and June 24. There have also been a handful of smaller fires there.

The council also approved the second reading of a measure shutting down a tax increment financing district that has reached its 20-year legal life span.

Tax increment financing occurs when increased property tax revenue from a designated area is set aside to be reinvested in that area to spur economic development or assist with clean up of blight. Generally, the city government borrows money to do a project and uses tax increment financing money to pay off the debt.

Under state law, tax increment financing districts established after 1995 have a 20-year life span.

The district the council acted on is south of Fifth Avenue South and east of 25th Street.

Since the property tax revenue will no longer be set aside for that district, the city government could receive up to $134,000 in revenue.