The Utah OSR Land Cooperative at the Riverbed Ranch has 1,245 ac. 500 is divided into 2-ac. parcels. One for each of the 250 shareholders. The remaining acreage is made up of roads, right-of-ways, the greenbelt, acreage for the special support projects, the RV/Camp Ground, the Welcome Center-Coop Store, the gravel pits while the rest of it is for multiple agricultural crops, and other activities. These other activities provide goods, services, jobs and income for the whole coop.
The other activities are overseen by the Coop Board of Directors of which there is currently six. When there are shareholders that want to use some of the remaining acreage, the process is as follows: Example one, a shareholder has expressed interest in using an additional 3 acres to raise rabbits. He has been asked to provide a business plan detailing what he wants to do on the 3 acres, how it will benefit the whole coop and what he will get out of it. The purpose in this is to make sure that it is a win/win for both parties, the coop as a whole and the individual shareholder. Example two. four shareholders have approached the board wanting 20 acres for a dairy operation. Again they were asked to submit a business plan detailing what all they were planning on doing, how it would benefit the coop and themselves.
Upon review of the Dairy Group’s proposal, questions were asked regarding risk and adjudication in the event there was some conflict among the group. The group is now considering how they are going to address the concerns.
A third example was with a shareholder who is a pharmacist wanting a small section in the coop store to provide essential medications for individuals as prescribed by their doctors. This request was approved.
Each, proposal is approved or disapproved by the board based on the merits of how the activity provides benefits for both the coop and the entity or shareholders. Any remaining land will be assessed as how it can best be used for the benefit of the whole coop.
The current Board of Director,s term will be up on the 24th of June, 2020 when a new election will be held for 3 of the board and the other 3 will have their term up on 24th of June 2021. Elections are held annually with terms being 2 years.