Bluewater Yachts hopes to restart business and production after its new owner reached a memorandum of understanding with the government of the Minnesota county where it is located.
The Kanabec County Board last week approved the memorandum, which will encourage new owner Aries Investments LLC to reactivate its manufacturing business, the Kanabec County Times reported.
The term extends from now until Aug. 31, 2014, to give Bluewater adequate time to sell the business to another new owner. If no permanent lease is signed by then, Aries Investments, doing business as Bluewater Yachts, must remove buildings or other structures on county property at its expense.
Aries Investments CEO Doug Bassett told the Kanabec County Times that the company hopes to restart the business with 14 employees and expand to about 30 this summer as the company builds models that he hopes to feature at boat shows. He also said he hopes to ramp up production next year.
Aries Investments is owned and managed by Klapmeier Lending Co. LLC, which intends to sell the company to a prospective new owner.
Because Bluewater has buildings on county property, the memorandum will allow Bluewater to, in turn, lease that real estate to a successor in the boatbuilding business.
Under terms of the memorandum, a lease would be developed between Kanabec County and Bluewater or its successor. The lease will extend a minimum of 25 years at a cost of $1 a year, and all real estate and personal property taxes must be paid on time and in full, including all delinquent back taxes.
There would be no restrictions on how the property leased from the county could be used, except that such use must comply with local, state and federal laws and regulations and any hazardous waste must be cleaned up at the company’s expense.
In the event the lease is canceled or expires, the company would need to destroy any buildings on county property at the company’s expense.
The company also must carry at least $1 million in general liability insurance and list the county as an additional insured on the policy.
