Leetsdale officials have taken out a loan to buy the borough’s Veterans of Foreign Wars’ parking lot.

Council voted 6-0 on April 9 to pass an ordinance approving borrowing $203,000 from Huntington Public Capital Corporation at an annual interest rate of 4.13%.

Councilman Scott Zahner was absent.

Negotiations between the borough and Leetsdale VFW Post 3372 have been going on for several months.

The VFW’s lot is next to Henle Park, the borough’s major recreation site.

Council wants to acquire its 36 off-street parking spots at 515 Beaver St. in order to provide public parking to residents and visitors of the park. Post 3372 officials want to retain ownership.

“We’re still in negotiations and it would be nice if the residents could stand up for the VFW,” Cmdr. Bill Davis said April 15.

No formal offer to buy the lot has been made as of press time on April 16.

According to the ordinance, annual repayments begin next year at $25,600 and conclude 2033 at $32,640.

Borough solicitor Dan Conlon said council may choose to not use all of the $203,000 to buy the lot from the VFW.

Part of it may be used for repaving the lot, landscaping and other park benefits.

“We’re trying to arrive at a final number with these folks and were not at the final number yet,” Conlon said on April 15. “That loan amount is not indicative at all of what the borough is going to pay the VFW. … I think we’re going to know something here by next month.”

Allegheny County property records list the VFW building as having an assessed value of $197,800 and its land at $76,700. The fair market value would likely be more.

Council president Maria Napolitano said she did not have a public update to the negotiations, and the plan remains to come to a mutually beneficial agreement in which both the borough and the VFW can use the lot.

Failure to come to an agreement may result in a lengthy legal process for the borough to take the land.

Council passed an ordinance on Dec. 11 declaring its intention to acquire the lot by eminent domain or “other methods.”

Eminent domain allows governments to take private property even if the owner doesn’t want to sell. State law prohibits its use for private business.

The law states that the taking of private property can be done for public use “in return for just compensation.”

The borough filed a declaration of taking in Allegheny County Courts on Jan. 28.

Conlon said council has not pressed further legal action and no related hearings have been scheduled.