Council delays decision on Limco stock tender offer; asks staff for donor-history check and extension request

City officials told the Santa Paula City Council on June 18 that the city holds 1,488 shares in a Limoneira-related partnership and that Limoneira has offered to purchase shares at $70 each. Council members asked for more time and directed staff to seek an extension of the tender-offer deadline and to research any donor restrictions attached to the shares before deciding whether to sell.

A staff presentation described the holdings as part of a community-center endowment gifted to the city decades ago. Staff said the city’s holdings amount to roughly 1,488 shares; at the purchaser’s offered price of $70 per share, the tender would yield approximately $104,160 if the council chose to sell all shares. City staff explained that the orchard owner proposes converting lemon orchards to avocado production; that conversion would require a multi-year transition in which dividends would be small or nil for an estimated five to seven years while trees mature.

The offer is voluntary; staff reported three options to the council: sell all shares under the tender offer, sell a portion and retain some shares, or decline to tender the shares. Staff also noted that the farmland is surrounded by city limits and that long-term development potential could materially increase value over a longer time horizon, but any development would involve annexation and SOAR protections and could take many years.

Several council members said they were reluctant to decide immediately without researching whether the original donors expected perpetual income for the community center or intended a sale at some future date. Vice Mayor Juarez said she preferred to retain the holdings unless a compelling reason to sell was identified. Councilmember Crosswhite asked staff to contact local historians and archives to find donor information; he and others requested the city ask the purchaser for a deadline extension.

City staff said the tender offer document is confidential but that staff will ask the purchaser to extend the deadline and will return to council at a subsequent meeting (council asked staff to seek extension and re‑agenda the matter for the July 2 meeting). No sale decision was made at the June 18 meeting.