Malheur County officials executed a letter of intent on Monday, Dec. 23, detailing the conditions for selling the Treasure Valley Reload Center and the county’s undeveloped industrial park outside of Nyssa.
Jaguar Transport Holdings, a Missouri company, has the exclusive right to buy the reload center and 285-acre property over the next 120 days.
The letter was signed by Malheur County Judge Dan Joyce, Grant Kitamura, president of Malheur County Development Corp., and Doug Story, a Jaguar vice president.
The three “believe an agreement on the purchase price and payment terms can be reached,” the letter said, though no possible sale price was listed.
READ IT: Letter of intent
So far, the project has taken more than $30 million in public funding for construction and management, most of that coming from the Oregon Legislature. The project has stalled, with rail lines unfinished, a warehouse building still in pieces, and no plan in place for what to do with the railroad depot.
The possibility of selling the reload center and the adjacent Arcadia Industrial Park means that the county and MCDC enter the new year on track to solve the development challenges that have bedeviled them for months.
Jaguar seems a suitable buyer, the letter states, with the county and MCDC recognizing the Missouri company is “well established, experienced and can provided added benefits, efficiencies and rail service to the TVRC and the Arcadia Industrial Park,” the letter said.
The letter noted that the three parties going forward would make no public comment about the sale unless all three approved the remarks.
The document clarifies that provisions of state funding and agreements with Union Pacific would be considered in negotiations. The state requires a shipping center that will move cargo off highways and onto rail cars, particularly onions.
Jaguar is required to make a $100,000 deposit, which would go to the county and MCDC if the letter of intent expires with no deal at the end of 120 days.
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