Bonney Lake City Council approved the purchase of the Compass Pointe property in Eastown for $1 million dollars during the city council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19.

The city is purchasing the property from Union Bank, which is approximately 20 acres. A portion of it, roughly five acres, will be used for a new public works administration building.

The city’s public works building is currently located in a residential neighborhood at the old city hall.

“Moving the public works operations to a more commercial area will improve the efficiency of the public works operations and enhance the quality of life for the residential neighborhood,” mayor Neil Johnson said.

The city has been planning to build a new public works building for several years now, City Administrator Don Morrison said. They had been looking at other locations but the site preparation for those areas would be very expensive, he added.

The old public works building will likely be used for park facilities, said Deputy Mayor Dan Swatman. That won’t be any time soon though, he added.

The remaining land not used for the public works building will be sold for commercial development. The city will most likely recover the full cost of the purchase with the sale of the remaining property, Swatman said.

The advantage is that no one wanted to buy the entire Compass Pointe property but now that the city owns it, those looking to buy commercial property can buy the amount of land they need, Swatman said.

Now that the land has been purchased, the city will work with its planning firms to figure out sizing of the building along with other details. The plan is to maximize the site for future development, Swatman said.

The plan from previous sites the city looked at is still available, Swatman said, and it is likely that it can be used.

Funds will also be looked at and a budget will be created, he said.

“Undoubtedly, this will take years,” Swatman said. “We just have to get past the initial planning stage.”

The money used to purchase the property will come from the water and sewer utilities, Swatman said. No one’s water bills will increase. The utilities fund has a lot of money to use toward long term projects, he said.

According to Swatman, the purchase of the property will be finalized after January 25.