MLIRD moves forward with sale of mobile home

MOSES LAKE - The Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District is one step closer to selling its mobile home, after board directors established a minimum bid of $65,000 for the unit during a meeting this week.

The mobile home was purchased around April 2012 for about $79,000 and intended to house a full-time employee at Connelly Park. According to directors, the manufactured home is currently located in Hermiston, Ore.

The MLIRD board of directors decided to sell the mobile home during their February business meeting. Before the sealed bid process could move forward, directors needed to establish a minimum bid amount.

Director Ron Covey made a motion Tuesday night to set that minimum at $65,000, rather than staff's recommendation of $50,000.

"I think a reserve of $50,000 is just too low to start with," he said during the meeting.

Board chair Ken Kernan said Wednesday the board chose to set the minimum at $65,000 because the district needed to recapture as much money from the sale as possible.

Both Covey and Kernan voted in favor of the motion to set the minimum bid at $65,000, while director Mick Hansen voted against it.

The board also continued discussion on the possible purchase of a CAT D6-T bulldozer during Tuesday night's meeting.

MLIRD General Manager Curt Carpenter told the board last month that staff would need the new equipment to keep up with dredge projects scheduled for this year.

MLIRD currently operates a D5 bulldozer, according to Carpenter. He said the D6 has a 60 percent capacity increase over the D5 model.

MLIRD accepted bids for the new equipment in February. Carpenter previously told the board the district could purchase the new equipment from the lowest bidder for about $201,773, with a trade-in value of $72,000 for the D5 included in that price.

Carpenter also told the board there would be about $65,000 left for new equipment needs this year if the purchase of the D6-T bulldozer was approved.

Covey initially made a motion during Tuesday's meeting to award the contract to the lowest bidder, which was seconded by Hansen. Following board discussion, Covey withdrew his motion.

Covey said he was concerned about future expenditures the district could encounter, and wanted to hold off on the equipment purchase.

Kernan shared that sentiment and said he would be open to revisiting an equipment purchase later this year, once he had a clearer picture of the district's financial condition. He said MLIRD was anticipating expenses later this year, and wasn't comfortable spending that much of the budget just yet.

"I'm hesitant, but at this point in time I know the guys can make do and will make do with what they have to operate with now," he said.

Hansen was also in favor of putting the purchase on hold.

"We need to look out for the taxpayer on this," he said.

Hansen also said he wanted to make sure MLIRD really needed a newer bulldozer before revisiting the idea of a new equipment purchase.

"Let's see if this is our holdup point," he said.