Empire Ranch loan executed; GSR paid

An Empire Ranch Golf Course loan went through in a bankruptcy case and GSR Investments, LLC, has received more than $1.2 million, according to Garth Richards of GSR.

“I was paid late yesterday afternoon,” Richards, who also has the Silver Oak Golf Course and Conference Center, said Friday.

His GSR limited liability company had the first priority lien position in the case with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Nevada in Reno, but the loan moves him out of that position, apparently forestalling foreclosure on Dwight Millard, debtor in possession, and his Empire Ranch, LLC. The $1.3 million loan came from Patricia Thompson, who along with Stanton Park Development had been second in line among the creditors and now moves to the priority spot.

Thompson’s loan, according to court documents, won’t come due until October of 2018 and no payments are required during the interim. The annual interest rate is 4.5 percent on the post-petition loan.

Also a party to the case was Carson City government, which in a recent court filing made various points regarding payment of property taxes and about an effluent wastewater agreement for irrigation that exists between the city and Empire Ranch. Those matters appear to have been taken care of by language in papers filed Thursday morning and obtained by the Nevada Appeal, just hours before the afternoon hearing that cleared the loan action and provided Richards’ payment.

“Debtor in possession loan and security agreement” language included this: “Carson City agrees to supply and the owner of borrower’s real property agrees to accept not less than 790 acre-feet of reclaimed waste water per year, subject to the limitations set forth in the effluent service agreement, the 2004 addendum, and paragraph A.2. therein. At the request of said owner, Carson City agrees to supply additional reclaimed waste water in an amount up to 1,385 acre-feet per year subject to the availability” of it and taking into account other contractual obligations.

The city earlier had filed language with the court to make certain there were no misunderstandings regarding the agreement to ensure flexibility, according to District Attorney Jason Woodbury.

For example, state prison farm lands take precedence over Empire Ranch.

Other reasons may include the fact that, of late, reclaimed waste water effluent has been in relatively short supply, in part due to drought, but if more effluent becomes available the city needs to have places for it. The city can provide the effluent for such irrigation, but due to federal clean water oversight cannot discharge it directly into the Carson River.