A picturesque RV park along Washington's Columbia River is at the center of a firestorm between a local industrial firm suing port officials. Columbia Riverfront RV Park in Woodland, Washington touts its "900 feet of sandy beach," along the river, while an area mineral buying firm says the port sold that river access to the park for pennies on the dollar.
In a story carried by The Daily News Online, Columbia River Carbonates (CRC) claims the Port of Woodland failed to stand up for the public when it sold a 1.35 acre strip of river frontage to the park, allegedly at a quarter of its real market value. The company's complaint is not 100% altruistic, as CRC says in the suit that it had asked the Port to be notified when the property came up for bid. The outfit's attorney says no notification was ever made, and that the Port simply sold it outright to the RV park.
CRC's attorney, Charles Klinge told the newspaper, "As most of the public knows, you do that [sell public property] by holding a public bidding process, advertising the property for sale or listing the property with a real estate broker — you market the property to get the highest price to protect the taxpayers." None of this, alleges Klinge, was done. A port official told the news outlet that the port acted in good faith under the direction of its attorney. RV park representatives had no comment.
If the suit goes through as CRC hopes it will, the deal on those 900 sandy feet would be rescinded. The port has two weeks to respond to the lawsuit. A person answering the phone at Columbia Riverfront RV Park told an rvtravel.com editor that only the park's owners could comment on the issue; they won't be available until the end of the month.
photo: columbiariverfrontpark.com
