Sweet Home is a community willing to work together for a common good, members of the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training siting committee members were told Monday night by more than 100 persons.
The meeting, held at the Jim Riggs Community Center, brought together DPSST siting committee members with townspeople intent on learning more about the possibility of moving the state police and fire training facility to the community from Monmouth.
Sweet Home is on the “short list” of communities being considered, along with Salem, Scappoose and Monmouth. The new facility would cost an estimated $50-$60 million in buildings alone, said Bob Karau project coordinator.
The overall economic impact of siting the facility in Sweet Home was not known but would be extensive, all agreed.
Siting officials said they are looking for approximately 165 acres.
Sweet Home along with Willamette Industries, has offered a 160 acre site that formerly housed W.I. mills off 18th and Tamarack. About 30 acres of that site is leased to Fullmer Lumber operating a division known as Santiam Forest Products, a custom drying operation that brings in products from several foreign countries, as well as domestic.
Owner Ted Fullmer said he and his father, a lifelong timber and lumber man, started Fullmer Forest Products in 1973. The company leased the local property from W.I. four years ago. Today, 40-60 persons are employed. The company has an annual payroll of $1 million-$1.4 million. Workers earn about $11 per hour, plus full benefits.
“We spend about $250,000 annually in Sweet Home for parts and services,” Fullmer said. “A part of our lease pays taxes and sewer and water on the property.”
Fullmer said he wants to work with the DPSST and the City of Sweet Home to remain in operation and to be a good neighbor to the academy. He said he welcomes a “win-win” situation for all parties involved, as Sweet Home benefits from economic diversification and growth.
Some 15-20 trucks per day haul materials into and out of the plant, Fullmer said. The company is helping make Sweet Home known throughout the world, with clients in Canada, Chile, Russia and Latvia among others.
Fullmer said the possibility of moving his operation to another local site would be nearly impossible, since the kilns are 50 years old. He projected replacement at some $11 million.
DPSST officials explained that the current academy is located on the campus of Western Oregon University in Monmouth. That relationship has existed since the early 1970s. The academy has outgrown its current facility and is being directed to locate a new site for a complex that will allow all training to be completed at one location. Currently, classroom work is accomplished at the WOU campus, while outside training exercises are held at WOU and other sites, including the Corvallis airport some 20 miles away.
A 160 acre parcel will allow the construction of academic centers, dormitories, food service, outdoor and indoor shooting ranges, and an Emergency Vehicle Operations Track where high-speed simulations and other reality-driven projects could be undertaken.
Noise from the shooting ranges could be muffled through proper siting and landscaping. Training would be undertaken both day and night, including driving and firearms but officials said the actual noise impact on most members of the community would be minimal.
As one local resident noted, the noise couldn’t be worse than that made when the local mills were in full operation, which brought a chuckle from the crowd.
The current academy provides training in seven week blocks but that will be increased to 16 weeks, officials said. Some 300-350 students could be on site at any given training period.
The academy would employ about 80 full-time staff members and bring in part-time staffers from a pool of 350 persons located primarily in the Willamette Valley.
From 1997 to 1999, the academy trained some 4,260 students on campus and another 14,000 in regional outreach training programs.
Most training will occur Monday through Friday but there could be special weekend training programs, especially in a public-private cooperative venture.
“We are projecting a 19% growth in constituents from 1998 to 2008,” said Bob Karau, project coordinator.
The community will benefit from the influx of students into the community each week as well as special events, such as the nearly 800 persons who might attend a graduation ceremony. Although not all of the current staff members would move into the community, many might, depending on housing availability. One community member pointed out that the cost of housing in the community is lower than the other sites on the short list.
At a previous meeting, Willamette Industries officials said they would work closely with DPSST concerning the cost of the property, even noting it might sell the land for the cost of building removal.
Most of the students will attend classes Monday through Friday and return home on weekends, but as one community member noted, the Sweet Home area provides an abundance of recreational opportunities. Students might choose to have their families join then for camping or other activities around the lakes or forests.
The Willamette property would be taken off the tax rolls, once it is owned by a state agency but local entities could be eligible to receive Payments in Lieu of Taxes to ease the loss of those tax funds, officials said.
Officials said they are looking at a minimum of 165 acres and are also wanting to find property that is not bound by residential areas. The Willamette property is not bordered by residential areas to the north or east.
There is a possibility that the academy could be phased in rather than built all at one time. Most jobs within the academy would be technical, but there also would be opportunities in building operations, housing, food services and others.
Facilitator Chris Roach asked the group to provide a list of advantages and disadvantages the academy would pose.
Among the advantages were the fact the community has so many recreational opportunities, it is already fairly safe, an increase in high-paying jobs, the medical clinic is expanding, it is looking for smart growth, the academy is environmentally friendly and the community is willing to work as a team to reach solutions.
Disadvantages include a possibility of excessive EPA regulations since the facility is close to the river, increased traffic, decreased property tax payments, a loss of jobs if Santiam Forest Products closed or moved away, increased impact on city services such as water and sewer and increased pressure on the school system if more families with children move into the community.
City Councilman Jim Gourley read a letter from State Senator Mae Yih pledging her full support of siting the academy in Sweet Home.
“Sweet Home, a timber-dependent community, has suffered great economic loss due to the reduction of timber harvests and resultant mill closures,” Senator Yih noted. “It is in the best interests of the citizens of the state and particularly rural communities, that this facility be sited in a rural location such as Sweet Home. The stable economic boost that the facility will provide through its job base and service needs would become a crucial component to Sweet Home’s continuing economic recovery efforts.”
Sen. Yih noted, “It is in the best interests of the citizens of the state as well as the community of Sweet Home that you give full consideration to siting this facility in Sweet Home. The economic benefits and reclamation of currently underused land would be a “win-win-win” situation for all. I urge your favorable consideration.”
John Pascone also read a letter of support from County Commissioner Roger Nyquist on behalf of the board of commissioners.
DPSST officials said they were impressed with the openness of those attending the meeting and the group’s desire to see Sweet Home grow, diversify and prosper.
The committee will spend this week and next visiting the other potential sites. They hope to make a recommendation by the end of the month.