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Park County commissioners ask staff to rework Northwest Healthcare lease, clarify use and pricing
Summary
Park County commissioners removed a renewed lease for Northwest Healthcare from the consent agenda and voted to have staff redraft it to match the county's standard square-foot lease form, clarify the hours and services covered, and add an escalation clause.
The Park County Board of County Commissioners pulled a proposed renewed lease for Northwest Healthcare from the consent agenda and voted to have staff review and rewrite the agreement to match the county's standard lease form.
Commissioners said they were concerned the draft lease described a base annual rent of $1,030 payable monthly (listed in the meeting packet as $85.83 per month), lacked a per-square-foot calculation used in other county leases, and did not specify an annual escalation clause. Commissioner Simone also asked staff to clarify how the leased space is used and whether it is administrative office space or space used for screening and treatment.
County staff said the arrangement with Northwest Healthcare has been in place for many years and that the organization occupies one office at the annex for one day per week (recently increased from four hours to eight hours on that day). Staff said the office is open for use by Park County employees on other days when county staff travel between Cody and Powell. The lease area was described in discussion as roughly 100 square feet in size.
Commissioner Lloyd and others argued the county should be consistent and charge tenants on a square-foot basis with an annual percentage increase, noting that applying the county's standard square-foot rate could change the rent. One commissioner said building-and-grounds staff believed a square-foot calculation might produce an even lower rent for the one-day-per-week arrangement, depending on how the county prorates full-month rental for partial use.
After discussion, the board voted unanimously to send the lease back to staff for revision with three explicit instructions: (1) conform the document to the county's standard lease form (square-foot pricing and an escalation clause), (2) clarify whether the lease covers full-time use or the described one-day-per-week arrangement and how the county will account for partial-week use, and (3) define the services allowed under the lease (administrative use versus health screening or treatment). The board did not adopt a new rent amount at the meeting.
The board approved the broader consent agenda with the Northwest Healthcare lease removed for separate review.
The county will return a revised lease for the commissioners' consideration at a future meeting.
