The Washington City Council met Tuesday night in the former library building, the building they’re trying to sell. Photo by Sally Y. Hart.

The Washington City Council approved a measure at their meeting Tuesday night to increase efforts to sell the former library building. The building is located in the 100 block of East Main Street, across from the YMCA. They received two bids from realtors to work on selling the property. The sale may also include the former Linda Lou’s diner north of the library that the City owns.

The two bids were from Elliott Realty Group of Washington and Lepic-Kroeger Realtors of Iowa City. Both agencies have a standard service fee of 6% upon sale of the property. The council voted 4-2 to award the bid to Lepic-Kroeger. Councilmen Jaron Rosien and Russ Zieglowsky voted nay, stating they’d support the local business. Councilman Kerry Janecek said he believes Lepic-Kroeger will have more connections to outside investors and the ability to bring interest to Washington.

City Administrator Brent Hinson added that if the building hasn’t sold by the end of the year the council will reassess the situation.