Light dam won’t be sold for now; two-year lease to be bid in April

    Selling the land was suggested for consideration last month, but Imperial city council members will continue to lease the Imperial light dam property—for the next two years anyway.
    At Monday’s meeting, the council decided to continue a two-year lease program, with bidding to take place at the April 4 meeting.
    The current lease held by Scott Clements dba Frenchman Valley Ranch, expires April 30. Clements now pays $8,000 a year for the lease.
    At the Jan. 3 meeting, City Clerk/Administrator Jo Leyland asked the council to consider selling the property.
    With the lake dried up and her belief the water won’t return, Leyland said in January the area is “not being used for anything good anymore.”
    She took Imperial’s summer interns to the area last year to look it over.
    “The spillway is just a canvas for awful things and there’s plenty of that out there,” she said Jan. 3. “It’s a blight on the city.”
    At this week’s meeting, council member Doug Gaswick agreed, saying, “It’s a dead asset to us.”
    “It’s not worth keeping,” he added.
    Gaswick noted land prices are at an all-time high right now. Leyland said a realtor told her they could get up to $1,200 an acre for the property.
    The property includes 640 acres about seven miles southwest of Imperial. The property, when it had running water, housed a city-owned hydroelectric plant decades ago.
    Others at the meeting were uncertain about selling the land, most bringing up potential future needs of the city.
    “It’s a guessing game,” said council member Chad Yaw.
    He said if it was to sell, the money should be used for a specific city benefit or project.
    Ron Berry of Imperial attended the meeting, saying he can’t see why the city would consider selling the light dam section.
    “What will the city need 20 or 30 years from now? It’s not costing the city anything now,” Berry said.
    He noted as a child, the lake was filled, but the unwelcome activity there is nothing new.
    “What is going on now went on 50 years ago,” he said, adding the unsavory activity is likely less since the water is gone.
    Issues noted now include graffiti on the site, and shell casings on the spillway. Leyland said a neighbor reported a gunshot coming close to him.
    Public Works Supt. Pat Davison said he sees a few youths out there once in awhile. He believes fewer people are out there today then previous years.
    Like Yaw brought up last month, Berry also wondered if they could allow only walk-ins to the property, and ban vehicles.
    The possibility of a parking area set up outside the property  was again suggested.
    The city receives some tax breaks since the light dam is considered public property, so it cannot restrict public access, according to Leyland.
    Council President Charlesa Kline suggested looking into limiting access to foot traffic only.
    City Attorney Josh Wendell was not at the meeting, but will be asked to look into the access issue.
    While a longer lease came up Monday, the council favored keeping it at two years.