Wind company eyes Oakesdale business office

Oakesdale’s business incubator may be the center of wind farm development in eastern Washington.

The city council unanimously approved a lease with wind power firm First Wind to rent the incubator at its April 19 meeting.

Council approval of tenants and a review of their business plans is one of the steps in renting out the office space, which was remodeled by the city last year.

Ben Fairbanks, First Wind’s western region business development manager based in Portland, Tuesday told the Gazette his firm is looking at setting up a central office in eastern Washington.

He said the firm will need to review the final terms of the lease before it agrees to rent the space.

“Once we see a final lease (proposal) from the city we’ll make a decision whether we want to move forward,” Fairbanks said.

Oakesdale Clerk Mary DeGon told the Gazette last week that City Attorney Stephen Bishop is drawing up the lease agreement.

The incubator space is located on the second floor of the downtown building that houses the Oakesdale library. It was formerly part of the town’s fire station.

Whitman County awarded Oakesdale more than $41,000 last year to remodel half the building into office space. The town was last week awarded $27,600 to remodel the second half of the building.

“The space is just beautifully done,” said Fairbanks. “Oakesdale’s in a good, central location and the place is move-in ready.”

Fairbanks stressed the company’s search for office space does not indicate a pending siting of a wind farm nearby.

“Part of the diligence in any project is to establish an office to work with those in the community,” he said. “We’re going to want to have eastern Washington roots if we get ready to propose a project.”

First Wind has installed meteorological towers at several spots in Whitman, Adams and Spokane counties to measure the strength and consistency of wind on the Palouse. The company has not filed with the county for any permits to install turbines.

Oakesdale city clerk is working on options for the city fire siren, which is located above the business incubator on the roof of the building. The fire siren lets off a city-wide blast once a day at noon and could be a nuisance for a business moving in.