Port of Chelan County to fund airport acquisition

CHELAN - Councilman Ray Dobbs was the only one who voted against finalizing and executing the interlocal agreement between the Port of Chelan County and the City of Chelan to purchase the Kelly property near the Lake Chelan Municipal Airport.

The Chelan City Council meeting on March 12, was the end to back and forth negotiations between the two parties. “We have been working on this non-stop since the previous council meeting, we heard the conversation with the council and we tried to address each of those items ... but I feel much confident that we have reached an agreement that we should all be happy with,” said City Administrator Mike Jackson.

He informed the council members that the Port’s sole purpose for the purchasing the property is so they can turn it back to the airport as soon as possible. “They are not trying to use it for other purposes, so we have built safe guards to this interlocal to make sure the property transfers to the airport,” he clarified that night.

The agreement’s intent is to have the City purchase the property but it would be entirely funded through the Port of Chelan. “The purchase price would be $294,500, the extra $500 that we have not discussed before is for the consideration for an extension of a closing date deadline,” said City Attorney Quentin Batjar. He said that Mr.Kelly wanted $500 to move forward with the extension.

Once the property is purchased it would be assigned to the Port, then they would administer the property  and do their storage business. The payoff made whole to the Port would be taken from the revenue created of the three acre property. Total payback of the property should be by Jan 1, 2035 or sooner with 2.5 rate in return on purchase price. “Some of their expenses are going to be operating and maintenance and capital expenses, they have a load of trailers there that they are going to do something with. That’s going to cost them money,” said Batjer.

If the Port doesn’t recover their money from the storage revenue by the date agreed, the City wouldn’t have to pay the remaining balance.

Jackson mentioned that Port Director Jim Kuntz proposed investing money into the storage units and concrete floors. “They are looking at about $100,000 in capital expenses in 2020.”

For councilman Tim Hollingworth, the Port and the City have a good division of labor. “It’s closer to the Port’s mission to take on a long term development at the airport, as a City we have a lot of demands on our capital budget, so I think this is the Port doing what its mission tells them to do and the city is going along with that,” he stated.

Chelan Mayor Mike Cooney. referred to the deal as a good partnership, “they are thinking of it as growth, they are thinking of it as potential,” he said.

With the council’s  approval, the item will move on to the Port of Chelan Commissioners. They were scheduled to meet on March 19 to hear on this item. The next City Council meeting is scheduled for March 26 starting at 6:00 p.m.