AFTER BEING told they could not even discuss the possibility of leasing Flanders Mansion until the latest version of the environmental impact report on the future of the historic house is finished next year, Carmel City Council members unanimously voted Tuesday to authorize city administrator Jason Stilwell to seek expert advice about what to do with a property that’s been the center of debate for four decades.

The discussion arose at the Dec. 4 meeting after council members fielded several proposals in closed sessions earlier this year from people expressing interest in leasing the historic Tudor-style mansion and renovating it themselves — either because they think they could deduct the renovation costs from their income taxes, or because they would live in the house rent-free.

For most of the past decade, the council has focused on trying to sell the house — an action supported by a strong majority of voters in November 2009 — but the effort has been stymied by two lawsuits filed by the Flanders Foundation.

At the meeting, city attorney Don Freeman cautioned the council against discussing the merits of a lease vs. a sale until after the final environmental impact report has been certified. According to a timeline submitted by consultant Denise Duffy & Associates and approved by the council Tuesday, members will receive the EIR in January 2013 and take action on it the following month.

“This evening, what the agenda item talks about is having the city council authorize the city administrator to retain the services of a real estate professional in terms of potentially leasing Flanders Mansion, but because the EIR has not been certified by the city council, we want to be careful about getting ahead of ourselves,” Freeman said. “We don’t want any discussion or decision if it should be a lease, a sale or something else. The city is prohibited from making any decision until the final EIR has been given to you.”

Nonetheless, some members of the public couldn’t resist sharing their opinions, including Carmel Woods resident Joyce Stevens, who said she supports a curatorship agreement in which someone would live in the mansion and fix it on his own dime before returning it to the city.

“The lease option would solve the problem,” she said. “I’m appreciative that this council is interested in pursuing more creative ways of solving the vexing problem of Flanders Mansion.”

Hatton Road resident Skip Lloyd warned the city to take its time in soliciting lease proposals so that it would have a better chance of fielding feasible options, and Carmel Residents Association board member Dick Stiles pointed out the city would not have to pay for another election if the council decided to lease out the mansion rather than sell it.

Flanders Foundation President Melanie Billig said she was also looking forward to the discussion of a curatorship. She questioned Duffy’s proposed timeframe, however, suggesting it would take longer for city officials to digest the information in the EIR and make decisions regarding its comprehensiveness and conclusions.

Billig also praised the council for being open to a lease. “This takes this off a negative route and puts it on a more positive route, thanks to all of you,” she said.

Robert Knight, however, pointed out the amount of time and energy that have gone into the Flanders Mansion issue. Mission Trail park is more important than the mansion, so selling the house would make more sense, he said, while leasing it would saddle the city with the duties of a landlord and not lead to permanent resolution of the debate. Instead, city officials would have to police the tenants and find new occupants if the first lessees didn’t work out.

“If you lease it, it could be fraught with all sorts of questions,” he said, adding that voters resoundingly favored selling Flanders.

Mayor Jason Burnett reiterated the only question to be answered that night was whether Stilwell should be asked to hire a real estate professional to get started on investigating lease options, so that if the council decides to go that route, the research would already be under way.

“All it would be is a real estate professional working with the city administrator in the event you may wish to lease the property,” Freeman agreed.

But councilwoman Victoria Beach questioned whether the consultant should be a real estate professional or a historian, and she said the person should not be in a position to gain financially if the city went with his recommendations.

Councilman Steve Hillyard said the consultant should be an attorney or someone who would evaluate the finances of all options to help the council make its decision.

“We need the financial information, because we can’t just give this property away,” he said.

“I want to talk about how Jason Stilwell is going to select that person and what that type of person should be,” Beach said.

Ultimately, Burnett suggested two experts: one in real estate and the other in finances, and the council unanimously voted to authorize Stilwell to assist the council in the Flanders debate by soliciting such help.

After trying and failing to orally articulate a motion in a way that was clear to the council and assistant city administrator Heidi Burch, perhaps in part because the meeting had already passed the four-hour mark, Burnett took a few minutes to clearly articulate his thinking in writing.

“First, we need financial expertise to compare lease vs. sale vs. other disposition and within one form of disposition,’ such as lease 1 vs. lease 2, he wrote. “Second, we need a real-estate professional who has experience with leases, especially of historic properties, who can help advise us on options.”

The real-estate advisor would be paid by a consulting contract but might eventually be hired to put Flanders on the market for a lease.

“We authorize the city administrator to pursue whatever process he sees fit for ensuring the council has the information we need to make an informed decision at the appropriate time in the future,” Burnett concluded, and the rest of the council agreed with his motion.