Town, A-Square enter lease

By BRENDAN
BURNETT-KURIE and BEN HOCKING
Reporters

Six months after completion of the new A-Square facility on the east side of town, the Glenrock Town Council unanimously approved a lease agreement with the high-powered rifl e manufacturer during its July 26 meeting.

The lease was signed June 18 by A-Square President Art Alphin, CEO Mike Blank and General Manager Jay Lesser. The copy of the lease provided to the Independent had not yet been signed by Mayor Steve Cielinski nor Clerk Donna Geho.

The fi ve-year lease went into effect June 1 and requires A-Square to pay $3,750 a month in rent, which adds up to $45,000 per year. Over the course of the fi ve years, ASquare will pay the town $225,000 in rent.

“We look forward to being a stable and contributing member of Glenrock,” Alphin said.

The town held a public hearing at the start of its July 26 meeting, but no public comment was offered.

The lease includes both the new building, built by McMurry Construction of Casper with a $1.5 million Wyoming Business Council grant, and the old paint factory, which A-Square has been leasing since May 2007. The rent for the paint factory was waived as long as A-Square was pursuing the grant and construction of the new building.

A-Square is responsible for all utilities on the property, as well as taxes, insurance, repairs, upkeep and maintenance. A-Square is required to maintain at least $1 million in insurance on the property.

If A-Square wishes to purchase the property at the conclusion of the fi ve-year lease, it will have to pay $750,000 minus the amount paid in rent ($225,00) leaving a difference of $525,000. A-Square has 60 days before the end of the lease to declare if it intends to purchase the property.

The town also reserved the option of selling or leasing a portion of the land, if A-Square agrees. If A-Square goes on to purchase the property, it will receive half of the proceeds from the partial lot sale or lease.

During the council meeting, Cielinski noted that the town has spent merely $36,000 so far bringing ASquare to town.

“It’s obviously been a project that the town, state and A-Square have been working on for a few years,” Cielinski said. “It’s a few months behind, but nothing signifi cant in the long run. We would have loved to have it done in January, but now it’s (happening) in August and it’s perhaps bigger than we thought.”

Construction on the new facility began March 17, 2009, with a Sept. 15 completion deadline. On Oct. 12 the council approved a two-week extension to its deadline. Two weeks later, the council approved a 37- day extension for exterior construction, extending the deadline to Nov. 25. On Dec. 28 the council postponed declaring substantial completion, but Alphin presented the town with one month’s rent ($1,500). Finally, at the end of January, the building was complete.

In its development agreement, A-Square is required to employ the equivalent of 21 full-time employees “within a reasonable time.” In order for A-Square to have the option of purchasing the facility, it must have employed them for at least one year before the expiration of the lease.

This is part of the July 29, 2010 online edition of The Glenrock Independent.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you. Click here.