The borough assembly on Sept. 23 unanimously pushed back the deadline to bid on residential lots in the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision from Oct. 31 to Dec. 1 to accommodate delays in completing street and utility work at the property.

The assembly also discussed -- but took no action to change -- its plan to offer borough-backed financing for purchasers of the lots.

Back in April, when the assembly voted to auction the 20 lots to the highest bidders, it decided to offer a financing option for buyers in lieu of full cash payment.

Appraisals this spring valued the roughly half-acre parcels at between $49,800 and $70,100 each, depending on location within the subdivision. The appraised value is the minimum price in the online auction.

As of Friday, Sept. 26, 13 of the 20 lots had attracted one bid each, at $100 over the minimum asking price. The auction is online at publicsurplus.com, a private company that handles property sales for government agencies.

The issue was before the assembly Sept. 23 because of a delay in construction work at the property just south of Shoemaker Harbor.

“The Alder Top roadway and utility project has had significant delays,” the borough manager reported to the assembly. “Staff is asking that the bid opening date be extended for an additional 33 days so that the roadway and utility work can be completed.”

The contractor putting in utilities and streets at the subdivision discovered in August a shell midden — a buried mound of discarded seafood shells — which stopped work at the site for an archeological review. Work resumed after a three-week pause.

The assembly’s discussion of the in-house financing did not result in any action.

Borough Manager Mason Villarma told assembly members that competing with local lenders could complicate the sale and expose the borough to risks it is not built to handle.

“I think the banks were looking at what we were going to do, and we were kind of looking at what they wanted to propose,” Villarma said. “I’m not sure it would be useful to the community for us to do this.”

Assembly Member Dave Powell said commercial lenders have safeguards and recovery tools the borough lacks if a buyer defaults.

“One of the reasons I think we should remove this is because we don’t need to be competing with local banks,” Powell said. “I didn’t consider that before when we made that decision.”

No one on the assembly offered a motion to amend the financing option, which remains part of the land offering.

Borough Economic Director Kate Thomas said no formal financing program had been drafted. When asked by potential buyers what a borough loan might look like, she has told them the concept under discussion was a rate at prime plus three percentage points (which would be 10.25% at last week’s rate) over a 20-year term.

Mayor Patty Gilbert pointed out that when the assembly initially supported the idea of borough financing in April, the Federal Reserve had not eased interest rates. With that context shifting and banks open to lending, it may be that the municipal government’s role as a lender makes less sense.

“I think (borough financing) was devised with good intentions, but it isn’t the right fit for this subdivision,” Villarma said.