POML offers Sonico extension on lease

MOSES LAKE - Sonico Inc., may be able to avoid a break in business if the aircraft maintenance company and the Port of Moses Lake finalize an 18-month lease extension agreement.

Sonico President Bill Perdue said port commissioners told him recently the company can have until Dec. 31, 2014 to vacate one of its buildings at the Grant County International Airport.

Perdue said if the port draws up a formal agreement, Sonico will accept it.

In February, port officials told Sonico it had to vacate Building 408 by July so structural repairs could be made. During a commission meeting in April, Perdue told commissioners Sonico would need more than six months to move operations to another location.

Perdue said operations would have been interrupted if Sonico couldn't get an extension.

"We would have closed down for sure, and frankly we would have left Moses Lake if we had to be out by this summer," he said Friday.

Sonico currently employs about 40 people, according to a previous Columbia Basin Herald article.

Perdue said he would have preferred to have at least two years to be able to move out of Building 408.

"Eighteen months is just not enough, but it's one of those things where if it's all you've got, you've got to make do," he said.

Port commissioner Kent Jones said the port has been working with Sonico to establish a schedule for vacating the building that works with both parties.

"We were looking at three issues, one was the safety of those people working there," he said. "The other issue was how do we keep those people employed, how do we keep Sonico in business."

Jones said the other major issue was making sure the port's insurance carrier would continue to insure Building 408. He mentioned the engineering reports over the years that have expressed structural concerns.

"The tresses for that roof are made of wood, and they are deteriorating," he said. "So the question becomes how much longer will they hold up."

Jones said according to one of the reports, the existing condition of the roof tresses creates a potential risk for structural failure under normal snow load.

He said the port is concerned about the safety risk for Sonico employees as well as the liability risk for the port if they can't get insurance for that building.

"One of the things we don't want to do through some unexpected event is bankrupt the Port of Moses Lake because we don't have insurance," he said.

Jones said he thinks the port's insurance carrier will be satisfied with the 18-month solution.

Perdue said although the extension agreement hasn't been finalized yet, Sonico is moving forward with plans to vacate Building 408 and move to a new building.

"We've met with architects and have a schedule that fits 18 months," he said. "We're on a pre-bidders list for builders, we've commenced conversations with bankers and have looked into getting some assistance with small business lenders."

Perdue said Sonico will build a 42,000 square-foot, two-story facility on an estimated six-acre parcel of land on the corner of Randolph Road and Patton Boulevard. Perdue said his family bought the property years ago.

"This will get us out from under the problem that we've given the port by being in Building 408," he said.

Perdue said Sonico will also move the building next to Building 408, which houses the company's administrative offices, to the new site.

Sonico currently leases five buildings from the port, he said. Eventually, the functions of those buildings will be moved to the new site as well, said Perdue.

"The priority though is to move from Building 408 first," he said.

The construction of a new building is estimated to cost Sonico between $4 million and $5 million, said Perdue.

Jones said the port has not made a decision about what to do with Building 408 once Sonico is moved out.

"Based on preliminary discussions, we're probably going to tear down the building," he said. "Depending on where you start and stop with the work, it may not make any sense to repair."

Jones said it could cost up to $1 million just to fix the roof tresses. Since it's an older building, there are other repairs that would have to be made as well, he said.