Red Lodge Leases Lack Documentation
Records request raises more questions than it answers
In response to a September 19 formal public records request to view all current leases for land owned by the City of Red Lodge, six documents were pulled on October 4. Three seemed complete and three seemed to be lacking documentation. In a continuation of the original public records request, full documentation was requested and questions regarding the reviewed leases were submitted on October 11 and followed up on the 18th, 19th and 20th. To date, no further information on the leases has been received.
The leases were requested after Kristen Cogswell, mayor of Red Lodge, suggested several times in public meetings that City-owned land should be better planned and managed, usually referencing the airport.
Three leases were provided and seemed complete and in order. They were for the Carbon County Arts Guild (no rent), Red Lodge School District ($1 per year) and Red Lodge Rural Fire District ($500) . The other three seemed to be lacking documentation.
A sublease without its ‘Exhibit A’ describing the subject property was provided for the Chamber of Commerce property. The unanswered questions are: “Is there a master lease for the Chamber of Commerce sublease? May I have a copy of the ‘Exhibit A’ that was mentioned as attached?”
The lease with Rocky Point LLP provides for rent of $5,040 per year with no provisions for escalation; the mayor stated in a public meeting that the rent is $8,000 per year. The unanswered question is: “Is there an addendum or other documentation that was not provided?”
Also presented was a pasture lease that was unsigned by the City. This lease purported to rent out 80.1 acres on top the East Bench to City employees for $600 from May 1, 2019 through October 31, 2019. The unanswered questions are: “Is there a fully executed pasture lease in effect between the City and Jim Bushnell and Eric Bottorff? Has there been a competitive bid process? How was the $600 per year number arrived at?”
A search of the City website revealed a few pieces of information on the pasture lease in the June 26, 2018 council meeting minutes, the agenda packet for July 10, 2018 and the July 10, 2018 council meeting minutes.
In 2018, City Council minutes state that they were implementing a lease “to formalize grazing that has been taking place for years” by City employees. The Land Use and Planning Committee at that time “felt it was appropriate to let this expire this year to give them time to come up with a better way to do this in future years” and also “felt the lease should have to be advertised so the public was aware that it is available to anyone.”
Further research uncovered that Cadastral lists the current worth of the grazing rights as $2,136.00.
Perhaps the suggestion made at the last council meeting to do an inventory and analysis of all the City’s properties will take hold and the undertaking will move community understanding forward as Red Lodge develops government, growth and development policies that reflect the needs and values of its citizens.