Escrow for Costco moved to Friday

Escrow for land in the Costco deal was supposed to close Monday, but the closing date to turn the land over to Costco was postponed until Friday.

Carson City Manager John Berkich said various pieces of paperwork need to be finished before escrow on the property can close. He said he hoped by Friday, everything would be worked out.

Berkich said he would also like to see the standing dispute with the owners of the site's neighbor, Comstock Country RV Resort, resolved before escrow closes.

Eugene and Judy Lepire, owners of the RV park, appealed the planning commission's decision to give Costco a special use permit. The Lepires share a property line with the Costco site, and the proposed building is along the same edge as the RV park. The Lepires' attorney, Richard Elmore, met with city and Costco officials Monday to continue negotiations on the exact location of a soundwall between the two properties.

If the appeal is dropped and the tentative negotiated agreement between the city and the Lepires is accepted, by Thursday at 8 a.m., the city will pay for $207,300 in improvements to the RV Park and Clear Creek Road. If not, the deal will be null, and the city and the Lepires could end up in court.

A decision to end the negotiations has been postponed three times. The city's Redevelopment Authority and Board of Supervisors are set to decide on an agreement with the Lepires on Thursday.

Also, the city is responsible for some grading and street improvements to the Costco site and Old Clear Creek Road area, and bids on the price for the grading came in $400,000 higher than expected. However, the bids for the street work came in about $250,000 lower than expected, said Andrew Burnham, city engineering manager.

"It's kind of like grabbing a lump of Jell-O and it squeezes out all over the place. Part of it goes over, part goes under," Burnham said. "We just need to adjust some numbers."

The Redevelopment Authority, whose membership is made of supervisors, will consider the cost changes to the original contract Thursday at noon in the Community Center's Sierra Room, 851 E. William St.

The grading costs in the contract between the city and Costco called for no more than $375,000 to be spent on grading and no more than about $600,000 for work to improve Old Clear Creek Road.

Costco is purchasing just over 16 acres of city property for $3.7 million.

Plans call for the construction of a 148,385 square-foot warehouse with about 720 parking spaces and a six-pump gas station on Clear Creek Road just north of Fuji Park.

Jack Frank, Costco vice president of real estate, said in March that construction will start on the store as soon as the company can get its permits. It is expected to open in October.