City commissioners want to keep their options open for possibly buying the Clinton Place Apartments at 2125 Clinton Parkway.

The 58-unit complex that provides subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled is going through a foreclosure process. The Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority would like to buy the property to keep it as affordable housing but may need upwards of $500,000 in help from the city to make the deal financially feasible.

Commissioners at their Tuesday evening meeting told staff members to look at ways they would be able to make a $500,000 loan to the housing authority. The owner of the property, though, still has several weeks to pay off the mortgage and stop the foreclosure proceedings.

Commission to sign Farmland agreement

City commissioners also unanimously agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement to review documents and have access to the former Farmland Industries site, which is being sold through a bankruptcy process. The agreement, which is being signed by both the city and the county, will put the two governments in a position to be a possible bidder for the 467-acre property east of Lawrence or be a partner in a public-private partnership to redevelop the site into an industrial park.

Signs OK’d along downtown fences

Downtown business owners will have a new way to market their shops during the downtown waterline replacement project that has parts of Massachusetts Street torn up.

Commissioners unanimously approved a proposal to allow businesses in the 700 and 800 blocks of Massachusetts Street to hang signs from the chain-link fence that has been placed along the street as part of the project.

Each business would pay for the cost of the banner.

No city funds would be used to buy the banners or hang them.