With the departure of the Organic Farm School from the Greenbank Farm, Port of Coupeville staff are looking at ways to generate income and foster further economic development in the spaces the school is vacating.

Executive Director Forrest Rambo recently proposed to turn part of the Jim Davis House and the outside yard area into a satellite cafe.

His idea entails finding a tenant who would rent the space and bring in the necessary equipment to operate some kind of coffee cart/snack bar business.

Existing tenant Whidbey Pies Cafe has already been approached about the idea as a sort of “first right of refusal” since the business already serves coffee on the farm.

The idea was met with some enthusiasm by tenants, said Kristi O’Donnell, events coordinator at the farm. She said gallery tenants liked the idea of having something else to draw visitors to the other end of the retail portion of the farm.

Rambo’s pitch was met with some interest from commissioners. They raised some concerns about the permitting process, which Rambo said he’s already talking to the county health department about, and any possible impact on the septic system.

No decisions were made but the officials decided to explore the idea further.