Warden finalizes $1 million land sale to port
GABRIEL DAVIS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 3 months AGO
The Port of Warden purchased 69 acres of land, pictured, from the city of Warden that sits next to several other properties the port owns to the north of the city.
GABRIEL DAVIS/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
A diagram showing a parcel of land previously owned by the city of Warden, highlighted in red – the Port of Warden purchased 69 acres of the approximately 80 acres highlighted, according to Grant County records. The blue highlighted portions of the diagram indicate other nearby land owned by the port.
Gabriel Davis is a resident of Othello who enjoys the connections with his sources. Davis is a graduate of Northwest Nazarene University where he studied English and creative writing. During his free time, he enjoys reading, TV, movies and games – anything with a good story, though he has a preference for science fiction and crime. He covers the communities on the south end of Grant County and in Adams County. | September 28, 2023 5:21 PM
WARDEN — The city of Warden finalized the purchase of 69 acres of industrial land on the north edge of the city to the Port of Warden for approximately $1 million Monday, according to Grant County records.
“We've been working on it for years and the city just didn't want to sell,” said Pat Millard, the port’s executive director. “But finally, we sent them an offer and they responded and said they would sell it.”
Port representative Patrick Boss said that it made more sense for the port to own industrial land next to other industrial properties because the port is better suited for industrial developments compared to the city, which is better suited for residential developments.
“I think the reason it worked out well was because we already had some industrial property right next to it,” Boss said. “That property that the city owned is sort of surrounded by a canal and it was kind of by itself, but then our industrial property was on Road U, so now our industrial property connects with all that property. Now it's one big contiguous piece.”
Boss and Millard said that their future plans for the land are at least partially covered by one or more non-disclosure agreements, but Boss said that there are multiple companies interested in the property and that it will most likely be some sort of food processing or food warehousing project.
“That's very likely what will happen,” Boss said. “I wouldn’t say it’s 100% but it's definitely a good probability that something like that will happen in the next couple of years. These things take time, these projects, there's permitting and there's a lot of due diligence, and maybe at some point along the line something doesn't work out. But, we hope that it does work out.”
Warden City Administrator Kriss Shuler explained why the city finally decided to sell the land.
“The city had used that property as a wastewater property when we were in the industrial wastewater business,” Shuler said. “The city is no longer in industrial wastewater, so that was surplus property.”
Shuler said the city wanted to support the port’s projects.
“When the port had approached us, they had had a number of developers look at some projects in Warden but they didn't have enough property to be able to accommodate these types of projects that were being looked at here. So the city felt that it was in the best interest with property that was not being used to be able to put it to a good development use,” Shuler said.
The benefit to the city from a development includes more than just the profit of the sale.
“Now that we sold that…if the Port of Warden finds a prospective developer or builder or something, that wants to purchase that property for an industry, then that property would go back and become taxable property and then all of the taxing districts within the Warden area would benefit from that,” Shuler said.
The city also hopes the industrial development will bring more jobs into town, Shuler said, which would in turn bring more housing developments and enhance the Warden community in all aspects.
“We always are happy to work with the port,” Shuler said. “We think we do a really good job working together, promoting Warden and trying to do the best for the community. We’re really thankful for all that activity that they do and the developments that they try to bring here.”
Gabriel Davis may be reached at [email protected]. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.
ARTICLES BY GABRIEL DAVIS
Work-based learning lets students build their own futures
MOSES LAKE — Work-based learning provides education opportunities for the workforce to receive hands-on training and technical education and prepare themselves to enter various industries. Educators and workforce development professionals from Eastern Washington discussed some the training they offer and the benefits of their programs. Next Generation Zone, an affiliate of WorkSource based in Spokane, provides job training opportunities for youth and young adults ages 16 to 24. Program Coordinator Kate Martin said there are multiple benefits to the program. “One of them is a paid work experience, and that’s where we reach out to area employers who are willing to take a young person and train them,” she said. “This is a short-term learning experience, so it’s typically about 240 hours; sometimes it could be longer or shorter. We’re the actual employer; we cover all of their wages, taxes, the L&I, and the employer just agrees to give them the experience and train them in whatever field it is that they’re wanting to go into.”
Serving schools: ESD superintendents reflect on operations, priorities
MOSES LAKE — Educational service districts are government-mandated agencies put in place to provide services to school districts across the state. ESD Superintendents discussed what they do and their priorities in operating their districts. ESD 105, led by Superintendent Kevin Chase, serves four counties, including Kittitas, Yakima and portions of Klickitat and Grant counties and provides support for 25 school districts – including Royal School District and Wahluke School District – and more than 66,000 students. “We help them collaborate with each other as well or collaborate with other partners,” Chase said. “(It’s) a lot of advocacy work, either regionally or across the state, or even federally, working on different issues that impact our education. And we provide very specialized services in certain situations in order to meet the needs of our students in our region and of our school districts.”
Columbia Basin Project making headway through Odessa Groundwater program
CASHMERE — The Columbia Basin Project is making gradual progress toward completion with particularly significant accomplishments for the Odessa Groundwater Replacement Program in the last six months or so, according to Columbia Basin Development League Executive Director Sara Higgins. “When we’re dealing with a project of this size, advancement is kind of like watching paint dry, but yes, there have been (developments),” she said. “There are a lot of exciting things happening right now.” There are more than 300 miles of main canals, about 2,000 miles of lateral canals and 3,500 miles of drains and wasteways in the irrigation project, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation website. The CBDL advocates for the operation of those waterways and for the project to continue “build-out.”