Bullhead City obtains grant; Much of 283-acre parcel will be a park

By Neil Young

News West

BULLHEAD CITY - Bullhead City secured its largest grant in history on Oct. 18: $2,120,00 to cover most of the cost of taking over the lease for Section 12.

"This is a really big deal for our city," said Bullhead City Mayor Jack Hakim.

The grant will not require a match from Bullhead City.

Late last year, Bullhead City assumed the lease for the 283-acre parcel, bordering the southern edge of Community Park and running east across Highway 95.

The city was to have received the money last month, according to Hakim.

But the deal was held up while the Arizona State Parks Department took additional time to look into the agreement between former lease-holder Rick Holloway and Silver Shores LLC and the Bureau of Land Management that allowed Bullhead City to take over the 50-year lease.

"This was focused not on Bullhead City but between Rick Holloway and the Bureau of Land Management," Hakim said.

The city will receive the State Lakes Improvement Funds grant as soon as it gets the parcel re-appraised.

"We're going to be finding an appraiser ASAP," Hakim said.

The grant will also cover the costs of a $100,000 master plan for Section 12 and the $20,000 re-appraisal.

"(City Grants Administrator) Karla Brady deserves a lot of the credit on this for her hard work," Hakim said.

"Grant writing is not an easy chore."

The entire parcel was originally appraised at $14,040,000.

After 10 months of negotiations last year, Silver Shores agreed to transfer its interest to Bullhead City for $2.5 million, plus a "charitable donation" of the remaining value of $11,540,000.

Laughlin Ranch also agreed to contribute $500,000 toward the acquisition, but the city ended up paying the tab for that due to Laughlin Ranch's recent financial problems.

City officials will use the parcel's shoreline to expand Community Park and its recreational facilities.

They envision some commercial development on the parcel east of Highway 95, possibly including a privately built arena or event center, an aquatic or community center, shops and housing.