Greenbank Farm managers halt negotiations on new contract

The management group for Greenbank Farm tells the Port of Coupeville they can't meet the port's timeline for negotiating a new lease and management agreement.

August 9, 2006 8:00 am

The time for talking is over.

The management group of Greenbank Farm has called off negotiations with the Port of Coupeville over an early end to the management contract for the farm.

In a letter sent to the Port of Coupeville Aug. 7, Tom Baenen, president of the Greenbank Farm Management Group, and Karen Hutchinson, vice president of the board, said talks about a new contract would not continue.

The letter said much work remains to be done on a realignment of operations at Greenbank Farm, and the farm has been working through its busy summer schedule.

“When the environment is conducive and the (Greenbank Farm Management Group) is better prepared to resume discussions to this end, we will look forward to reopening formal discussions with the Port of Coupeville,” the letter states.

In April, the Greenbank Farm Management Group asked the Port of Coupeville to start negotiations on an early end to its lease and management services contract. The port owns Greenbank Farm, a popular tourist attraction, while the Greenbank Farm Management Group is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the farm.

Initial talks over a new contract were overshadowed by the resignation of Laura Blankenship on April 20, however.

Then, in June, the farm’s management group asked for a 12- to 24-month extension on talks over a new management agreement. Port of Coupeville commissioners, though, had hoped to wrap up negotiations by Sept. 15 and have the current contract end on Dec. 31, 2006.

In the letter sent this week to the Port of Coupeville, the farm management group said they talked about the port’s suggested timeline at their last meeting. The management group now says it wants the 10-year agreements to stay in place through 2014.

“The GFMG board does not find it feasible to meet the Port’s requested timeline,” the letter states. “Accordingly, the GFMG by this letter notifies the Port of Coupeville that the division of responsibility for the Greenbank Farm will remain as before, as set forth in the 10-year Lease and Management Agreements contracted through 2014. The GFMG will continue to carry out its duties as delineated in the contract for the foreseeable future.”