Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
By Drew Lawson
The Times
Davenport – Farmers and ranchers can now officially bid to enter into a contract with the city for the land at the sewer lagoons on the northeast side of town just above the baseball fields. Council approved the contract, where farmers and ranchers will bid a lump-sum for consideration, at its Jan. 27 meeting.
Contractors can prepare bids to farm four areas utilizing reclaimed water from city lagoons. The areas include an irrigated, 38-acre north circle, an irrigated, 21-acre south circle, 14-acre irrigated standby fields and 53 acres of dry land.
An additional bid can be made for 50 acres of dry land at the airport property. That agreement would go into place after the city’s runway construction project is finished. Construction is expected to begin this summer.
The previous contractor, rancher Dave Hubbard, used the land to grow alfalfa for his ranch. New contractors have flexibility on what to do with the land, provided they don’t grow human-consumable food, as the irrigation water is not safe to do so. Farmers could use the crop grown on the land for their own farm’s gain, as Hubbard did, or sell the crop.
Prospective contractors will bid a lump sum to pay the city. Previously, Hubbard was in a one-third/two-third agreement with the city, but council elected to change the new contract to a lump sum to incentivize good work being done at the field. For example, if the winning bid totals $20,000, but the farmer only nets a $10,000 crop, the farmer will have taken a $10,000 loss. However, if the farmer were to net a $30,000 crop, they would take a $10,000 profit.
Submittals to the city are due no later than 5 p.m. on Feb. 19. An informational meeting will take place Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. Council meeting documentation states the city will rank and evaluate bids based on key personnel experience, experience farming with treated wastewater supplied irrigated crops, approach to farming the proposed fields, past performance/references, best lump sum offer over $12,000 a year and an optional bid on the airport land.
The contract states that the city will provide the water needed to farm the land, while the contractor must provide necessary labor, equipment and materials.
Other council news
Council also approved an agreement with Johnson Family Towing of Harrington, which will provide towing services at no cost to the city, provided the city goes through a legal process when tabbing vehicles needing towing. The council packet cited a growing problem with junk vehicles around the city as being the reason for such an agreement.
Council’s next regular meeting is Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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