The Powell City Council has approved another extension on the sale of Gluten Free Oats mill and property. 

Since 2010, the East Washington Street property and facility developments were partly financed with more than $1.7 million in grants from the city and state. The city owns the property and facilities, and the company has been paying back the funding through a lease with the city. 

In July, the city agreed to sell its interest to Gluten Free Oats for $742,500. The agreement was set to expire on Dec. 31 and was contingent on GFO owner and CEO Dale Tenhulzen getting financing.

But at the end of the year, First American Title Insurance Company had not received payment from GFO, and so no check had been issued to the city.

Gluten Free Oats requested an extension in January, which the city approved at its regular meeting on Jan. 4, pushing the deadline to Jan. 31. 

Jonathan Roth with Bedrock Group, LLC, which is representing GFO in the sale, said at that time the funds were held up due to a technical issue related to the New Year holiday. Roth told the Tribune he expected the issue to be resolved within the first week of January. 

However, Tenhulzen approached the city council this week to request another extension. He said he had sent out another wire transfer on Jan. 29 — this time to his own bank, the Bank of Star Valley — as he’d had so many problems with the first attempt to transfer the funds. 

Tenhulzen apologized for the delays, adding “I don’t control this situation.” He said the transfer is coming from Toronto-Dominion Bank, which is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

Tenhulzen said he’d been on the phone “all day long and they have not found that wire yet.” He started a “tracer” on the transfer and received a text from his bank saying it could be a few more days. 

“So, it is out there, and it is our amount,” Tenhulzen told the council. 

As soon as the Bank of Star Valley receives the funds, Tenhulzen said, the money would then be wired to First American Title. He offered to provide copies of the wire numbers to the city. 

“I just came here to say I’m frustrated,” Tenhulzen said. “I’ve had sleepless nights over this stuff, just as well as you have.”

Speaking after the meeting, Powell City Administrator Zack Thorington said that, aside from the time city employees and councilors have spent putting together the sale, there’s no other costs to the city for the delays. GFO continues to make lease payments and has paid for all the appraisal costs associated with the proposed sale.