The borough continues to list unsold lots from the Alder Top Village (Keishangita.’aan) subdivision with a property sales website, looking to find buyers for the last three of the 20 residential parcels.

A few of the high bidders decided not to proceed with their purchase, though one of those lots was later relisted on the website and sold.

Of the three lots available for sale, Lot 22, at the southern end of the property, has never received a bid, while Lots 8 and 9, in the front row along Zimovia Highway, are back on the auction block after the apparent high bidder decided not to proceed.

Bidding on the three lots closes next month at publicsurplus.com. The borough reserves the right to extend the online auction if the parcels do not sell.

The borough has raised more than $1.1 million from the sale of 17 lots, averaging about $65,600 for the roughly half-acre parcels upland from Shoemaker Bay. Sale of the last three lots could push up the total proceeds to more than $1.3 million.

The borough has earned a total of more than $70,000 over the minimum asking price for the 17 lots that sold. The original round of bidding closed Dec. 1.

Buyers pay a 5% fee above their winning bid, which goes to the company that operates publicsurplus.com.

The minimum bid on each of the three unsold lots ranges from $68,500 to $75,400. The minimum price was based on an independent appraisal, not the borough’s cost of development.

The borough put about $4.2 million into developing the property, including putting in streets and buried utilities.

The sale was never intended as a money maker. Rather, the purpose was to move borough-owned land into private ownership, making the property available for residential development to help ease the town’s housing shortage.

The new owners have access to their property, though building permits are required before any construction can begin.

The highest price among the 17 lots that have sold was $99,500.

Among the new owners at Alder Top is State Rep. Jeremy Bynum, who was the high bidder on one of the front-row lots at $70,200. Bynum lives in Ketchikan but his district also includes Wrangell.

“My wife and I enjoy spending time in Wrangell and wanted to take this opportunity to have a place in the community,” Bynum said in a Feb. 4 interview. “We plan to build a small home there as time and resources allow.”

The borough also is using publicsurplus.com in an ongoing effort to sell the former hospital property, which is listed at a $498,000 minimum bid for the 30,000-square-foot building and 1.91 acres of land. Wrangell has been trying to sell the old hospital for several years, without any credible offers.

The website is not limited to just land; state and municipal agencies and school districts nationwide use it to sell all sorts of surplus property. Wrangell is offering four metal filing cabinets at a minimum bid of $1 each.