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Consent agreement approved by council after tumultuous stretch with Capital Rivers
DAVENPORT—A dispute at the Municipal Airport between the city and Capital Rivers, Inc. regarding a consent agreement surrounding the lease of AirLift Northwest appears to have reached an end. City council approved a new consent agreement Wednesday evening, Nov. 9 that was sent to the city Wednesday morning by Capital Rivers CEO Greg Aguirre.
The agreement would effectively end the potential for litigation that was hanging over the city in recent weeks, though Aguirre maintained throughout the process that such action was “the last thing I want to do.”
Sacramento-based Capital Rivers is developing the new AirLift Northwest hangar and living quarters at the airport and banks through Five Star Bank.
“After discussions with Five Star Bank’s legal counsel, exchanges were made in the city’s
favor,” Mayor Brad Sweet said Wednesday after council took a 15-minute executive session to discuss the matter with city attorney David Bingaman.
Aguirre had been upset with the city, accusing Bingaman and city administrator Steve Goemmel of preventing him from securing new financing for the hangar by refusing to negotiate a new consent agreement for the ground lease.
Goemmel responded by saying the city had received legal advice to not give in to these requests, stating it would “eliminate all previous agreements” at the airport.
The bad blood between the two parties reached a peak last week, when Aguirre accused Bingaman of refusing to have calls with his legal counsel and told The Record-Times he was “going to sue.”
“Had I known that this is how the city of Davenport operated, I would’ve never gotten involved in any projects in that city and I would recommend no one get involved with any projects at the airport,” Aguirre said last week. “I’ve never experienced such difficulty, particularly in a city where we’re trying to bring in a life-saving service.”
A subsequent conversation with Goemmel said Aguirre called the city administrator and cursed him out in frustration. Goemmel related a different story about his own difficulties with Aguirre’s attorneys.
“His counsel never replies to any emails,” Goemmel said last week. “I take that to mean Greg doesn’t have any legal basis to his complaints…he talks a lot and gets his facts wrong.”
The mudslinging could be water under the bridge now, as the new consent agreement approved by council Wednesday led Goemmel to say that litigation “shouldn’t” be on the horizon.
“The bank recognized what Greg’s been arguing about wasn’t fair,” he said Wednesday night after council’s meeting.
In other council business Wednesday, a vacation of a portion of the Sinclair Street right-of-way was approved for the purpose of access to a proposed residence.
Council also agreed to a grant discussion to possibly receive funding toward a new well in the city.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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