Cost of light dam lease jumps 37.5%

    Like the price of most things today, the lease of the Imperial-owned light dam section for the next two years jumped 37.5% in bidding last week.
    Auction of the 640-acre piece of ground that has 500 acres of grazable ground was held as part of the council’s April 4 meeting.
    Mayor Dwight Coleman conducted the auction between two parties—current lease holder Scott Clements of Imperial and Dave Brown of Champion.
    Clements retained the lease for the next two years, but will be paying $3,000 a year more starting May 1.
    His current per-year lease at $8,000 will increase to $11,000 for the next two years. The lease runs May 1 to April 30 each year, and this one will continue through 2024.
    Clements was first to bid on the lease, starting at $8,500. Brown came back with $9,500, then Clements offered $10,000. After one more bid from Brown at $10,500, Clements retained  the lease at $11,000 per year.
    Prior to the bidding, council members discussed limited vehicle access to the section after city officials received some complaints from neighbors.
    Wanting to limit use of the ground to only walk-in access in the future, the council directed City Attorney Josh Wendell to work up a resolution to be considered at next week’s meeting.
    The city of Imperial once operated a hydro-power plant that generated electricity on the light dam section now being leased.
    While they discussed selling that land earlier this year, the council opted to continue leasing it with two-year contracts.