PORT COMMISSION POSTPONES VOTE ON COLUMBIA WATERFRONT LEASE (6/20/07)

For Immediate Release

VANCOUVER, Wash. - After more than an hour of discussion, Port of Vancouver USA Commissioners today postponed a vote on the proposed 50-year lease agreement to its regular commission meeting on June 26.

Approval of the lease was expected today, but during discussion of the lease several concerns arose. Commissioners Arch Miller, Brian Wolfe and Nancy Baker requested that port staff and legal counsel make modifications consistent with discussion.

The action item will again appear on the agenda for the regularly-scheduled Port of Vancouver Commission meeting on Tuesday, June 26, 2007, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

The lease agreement would provide 3.26 acres of port property under lease for 50 years, with two 15-year extensions. Monthly rent, per the proposed agreement, is $16,492, with annual increases.

If the lease is approved, the property may be used for retail, office, hotel/motel, public access, restaurants, a pedestrian plaza, and other commercial activities. The port maintains reasonable approval rights for the Columbia Waterfront LLC’s design for buildings on the leased property.

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The Port of Vancouver, USA, created by Clark County taxpayers in 1912, is one of the major ports on the Pacific Coast. Its competitive strengths include available land, versatile cargo handling capabilities, vast transportation networks, a dependable labor force and an exceptional level of service to its customers and community.

- POV -