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Note 11 - Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020
Notes to Financial Statements  
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

NOTE 11 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

In the normal course of its agricultural operations, the Company handles, stores, transports and dispenses products identified as hazardous materials. Regulatory agencies periodically conduct inspections and, currently, there are no pending claims with respect to hazardous materials.

 

Pursuant to cost-sharing agreements that have been entered into by participants in the Company’s Water Project, $750,000 in funds have been received in order to offset costs incurred in the environmental analysis of the Water Project. These funds may either be reimbursed or credited to participants participation in the Water Project and, accordingly, are fully reflected as deferred revenue as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019.

 

In December 2018, , the Company entered into a Purchase Agreement (“the Agreement”) with El Paso Natural Gas Company (“EPNG”) to purchase a 124-mile segment of the 1904 Pipeline (“the Retained Pipeline”) for $20,000,000. The Company currently owns a 96 mile segment of the 1904 Pipeline, and the acquisition would enable the Company to connect the two pipelines. The Company paid EPNG a non-refundable $2,000,000 deposit towards the purchase price which has been recorded in Other Assets. On January 24, 2020, the Agreement was amended (“the First Amendment”) resulting in an increase to the purchase price of $21,000,000. The First Amendment specified conditions required by EPNG that, upon satisfaction, would allow the Company to finalize the transaction and accept ownership of and utilize the pipeline. In December 2020, the Company was informed that the United States Bureau of Land Management (“the BLM”) had renewed a Right of Way Grant for the Retained Pipeline, triggering a requirement for the Company to accelerate the close of the transaction. On December 4, 2020, in exchange for a non-refundable payment of $1,000,000 to EPNG which has been recorded in Other Assets, the Company entered into a Second Amendment to the Agreement, extending the close date of the transaction to June 2021. Both the $2,000,000 deposit and the $1,000,000 payment are considered to be capitalizable asset acquisition costs and will be transferred to the PP&E once the transaction is finalized and the Company accepts ownership of the property. 

 

On December 14, 2020 the Company entered into a 30 year Right of Way Agreement with the BLM with respect to the Retained Pipeline.  The Right of Way Agreement, which is effective on January 1, 2021, has an annual rent expense of approximately $321,000, with annual defined inflation increases.  The Company prepaid the 2021 rent in 2020 and has recorded the payment in Prepaid Rents.  In addition, on December 14, 2020, the Company deposited approximately $420,000 towards a Performance and Reclamation Bond with the BLM which has been recorded in Other Assets.

 

There are no material legal proceedings pending to which the Company is a party or of which any of the Company’s property is the subject.