Remember the $1.53 million party house the City of Piney Point Village bought back in April? The one it wanted to use as City Hall, because City Hall was being kicked out of a strip center outside city limits? Remember how Mayor Carol Fox was all excited about it, and didn’t think they’d even need to redecorate? And how local residents were all upset about a City Hall in a Party Pad moving into a quiet residential neighborhood and having visitors park in a church lot across the street? Sure, the place looked cool, but what would it be like holding police court in the pool room?

Well, it didn’t work out. The mayor backed down, City Hall moved to a third-floor suite in an office building on Woodway, and the house was put back out on the market for bids, which are due today. There were 30 showings, but only three bids had come in by Monday. How will Piney Point Village do on its city hall flip? Stay tuned!

Most of the fun throughout this adventure, of course, has been eavesdropping on politicians trying to play the housing market:

Councilmember John Ebling asked the council to allocate about $3,500 for painting and minor repairs to make the house more attractive to potential buyers. Councilmember Susan Jones objected, saying that most buyers want to do their own painting.

• Council opening bid Friday for Piney Point house [Memorial Examiner]
• Kicked Out of Strip Center, City Hall To Move to Area House, Spook Neighbors [Swamplot]
• 230 Blalock [HAR]