Would provide help to build community trail
By Ann McCreary
A revised agreement with Lloyd Holdco for in-kind services to help build a community trail will come back to the Twisp Town Council again, after the Lloyd family has a chance to review the new terms.
Intended as compensation to the town for Lloyd Holdco’s withdrawal of a promised trail easement along the Methow River, an agreement for $18,700 worth of in-kind services was approved in July by the Twisp Council.
Mayor Soo Ing-Moody brought a revised version to the council at its Aug. 23 meeting. Prepared by the town’s attorney, the revised agreement includes more details about how it would be implemented and how the in-kind services could be used.
Among the new provisions, the agreement states that the in-kind services — such as materials, labor and equipment — would be used for construction and maintenance of a community trail, or for another project in Twisp that receives funding through the state Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO).
The RCO has awarded a grant of about $200,000 to Twisp for development of a community trail.
The revised agreement stipulates that Lloyd Holdco will “have the discretion of determining the contractor and allocation of in-kind materials” and will provide the in-kind services “according to the timeframe and schedule established by the town, and in compliance with any RCO grant funds requirements.”
It also provides that if Lloyd Holdco is unable or unwilling to make the in-kind contributions according to the town’s timeframe and schedule, the company will provide 90 days notice that it is unable to meet the schedule, and pay the town $18,700.
Lloyd recuses himself
As he has during previous council discussions of the agreement, Bob Lloyd, a Town Council member and one of four family members doing business as Lloyd Holdco, said he would recuse himself from the council, and speak on behalf of the family business.
Lloyd Holdco owns 110 acres of land east of the Methow River that was originally proposed for development as an industrial/business park.
Lloyd moved from his chair at the council table and took a seat next to the table where town staff and community members sit. Some council members addressed him as “citizen Lloyd,” during the discussion.
“I would like to ask a question of citizen Lloyd,” said council member John Fleming. “As you see it now, do you see any reason that Lloyd Holdco will not agree to this?”
“I don’t foresee that. My only question is whether we want to address in more detail how that value [of the in-kind services] is arrived at,” Lloyd said.
He suggested that a process for determining the value of the services be described before the town and Lloyd Holdco begin negotiating on the work to be done “so neither of us can hold the other up.”
Council members had received a copy of the revised agreement just before the meeting began last week, and said they wanted time to review it before taking action.
“My recommendation would be to let the rest of the family look at this,” Lloyd said.
“You suggest language, and we could consider that in good faith,” said council member Hans Smith.
Ing-Moody asked Lloyd to prepare language for the agreement after discussing it with family members and provide the family’s suggestions to her before the next council meeting.
She said the town is eager to finalize the agreement so that the value of the in-kind donation can be applied to the town’s required matching funds for the RCO grant. The town is waiting for final authorization from RCO before beginning work on the community trail project.
Contacted after the meeting, Lloyd said the $18,700 amount proposed by Lloyd Holdco for in-kind services was based on “what they [the town] had estimated on phases of the new trail” development.
He said the family business has no development plans in place at this time for the 110-acre parcel on Twisp’s east side.
Years in planning
Twisp has been developing plans for a community trail for several years, and has acquired property through easements and rights-of-way on the west side of the Methow River near the town park for the trail.
Plans initially called for the trail to cross the river at the bridge and continue on the east side of the river on property owned by Lloyd Holdco, following the route of the former Wagner Street. Wagner Street was vacated by the town in the early 1990s at the request of the Lloyd family as part of plans for the industrial park.
An agreement for a trail easement along the river was signed by the Lloyds in 2014, but was rescinded by the family last year. Bob Lloyd said family members had concerns about “security” if the trail were to be built.
Zoned for commercial and industrial development when the Lloyds first proposed developing an industrial/business park, the Lloyd property is now zoned for residential and commercial development.
More than $1 million in site preparation work for the industrial/business park was completed through state loans obtained by Twisp as part of a public/private partnership entered into more than 20 years ago between the town and Lloyd Development, a family-owned development company.
The development has never gone beyond site preparation. The Lloyds have said the development did not progress because of unfavorable economic conditions and the past shortage of municipal water in Twisp.
