MARQUETTE ? This shrinking central-Kansas town is hoping to lure new families with the promise of free plots of land.

City council members and residents think the effort will help businesses and keep schools open.

“I think we have a really nice town here,” said Steve Piper, mayor of Marquette, population 570. “But I know we have to do a little more than say ‘It’s a nice town’ to attract people. So that’s what we’re trying to do.”

The lots will be about 150 feet by 150 feet, Piper said. More details about the lots will be available in two weeks, when negotiations are complete.

The city also plans an advertising campaign to promote itself and reverse population declines.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town’s population has dropped by 23 since the 2000 Census, and it has shrunk by 77 since 1990.

The population decline has hurt schools because state funding for education is based largely on student enrollment.

In an effort to save money, the school board for the Smoky Valley school district considered a motion to move seventh- and eighth-graders from Marquette Elementary School to Lindsborg Middle School. But the motion failed last month 3 to 4.

“It kind of got people fired up again,” Piper said. “We were working on this before, but that was kind of a shot in the arm to get things really going.”

Moving the two grades would have allowed the district to eliminate several jobs, saving between $70,000 and $100,000, said Supt. Glen Suppes. Lindsborg and Marquette are just nine miles apart.

Even though the school board hasn’t publicly discussed closing Marquette’s elementary school, which has about 125 students, Suppes said it’s a legitimate concern for residents.

“I think if I were a Marquette resident, I would be proactive and do what I could to allow the town to flourish,” he said.