HARRISBURG-- Harrisburg city council members Tuesday night unanimously approved a resolution to start eminent domain proceedings to buy a former car dealership to permanently house the city's public works department.

The city has been leasing the building at 1820 Paxton Street from Michael Brenner, of the Brenner Family of Automotive Dealerships, since late 2013.

But the relationship between the city and Brenner soured in 2016 after the city failed to pay taxes on the property as required by the lease because of a misunderstanding, and the property nearly went on the county auction block.

A few months later, when a three-year-lease expired, Brenner refused to allow the city to extend the lease without any explanation. When city officials tried to buy the building, they could not come to an agreement on price, according to city officials.

City officials said they offered Brenner the amount listed on a recent appraisal that Brenner had commissioned for the property, but he refused. The amount Brenner wanted, meanwhile, was much higher than the appraised value, said Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

Brenner could not be immediately reached for comment.

The city stopped paying monthly rent to Brenner about a year ago because city officials said he had become unresponsive to the negotiations. Any settlement with Brenner for the purchase of the property would reimburse him for back rent, Papenfuse said. In 2016, the city was paying $16,000 per month in rent.

After nearly two years of stalled negotiations over the property, city officials prepared the resolution to forcibly purchase the building for fair market value using the eminent domain authority allowed under state law.

"We really would have preferred to do this without court proceedings," Papenfuse said.

There was no discussion of the issue Tuesday night during city council's first meeting after summer break. All seven council members approved the resolution.

With council's stamp of approval, the only aspect left to be decided is the price that Brenner will get for the property, said Neil Grover, the city solicitor.

City officials said they could try to negotiate with Brenner again to avoid court costs. The city is willing to pass that savings along to Brenner, Papenfuse said, but if they can't come to a solution, a judge ultimately will decide what the fair market value is and the city will pay it.

"We're all in at this point," Papenfuse said. "There aren't enough large tracts of land available in the city. This is a perfect location for us, because its accessible and our crews can reach every part of the city."

City officials researched for years to try to find another property that would be suitable for the public works department but none exists in the city limits outside of a flood zone, said Bruce Weber, the city's budget and finance director.

The city's "first responders" can't risk being stuck in high water during an emergency, the mayor said.

City officials would not say how much they offered Brenner during the failed negotiations, but the city budgeted $2.5 million in 2017 to acquire the property.

As part of the development project, city officials already amicably acquired two nearby occupied homes and eight unoccupied homes for an expansion project. The city would like to add a new building on that land to shelter more of the city's fleet of vehicles. As it stands, the current building doesn't have enough room, Papenfuse said.

But the expansion will have to occur in the future, Papenfuse said, as the city currently doesn't have the money or the ability to borrow money.

The approved resolution gives Harrisburg one year to complete the eminent domain proceedings.

Public works employees have been operating out of the rented facility since early 2014, when they had to abruptly abandon their former home at the city's incinerator in late 2013 as part of the deal to sell the incinerator.