Scott Swanson
The subject of what to do with the former Willamette Industries-Weyerhaeuser Sweet Home Mill site brought together approximately 100 people Tuesday, Aug. 25, to discuss the issue.
The meeting was the first step of a process, funded by a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in which Linn County is moving forward with an environmental assessment on the Weyerhaeuser property, located between 18th Avenue and Clark Mill Road a little north of Main Street.
Neighbors of the east Tamarack Street site and other city residents and staff members spent two hours eating a dinner paid for by grant funds, watching a video about a similar brownfield restoration project in the Portland area, and talking among themselves.
“We were really pleased with the turnout,” said Rick Partipilo, one of the organizers. “I would like for us to build on that. (Sweet Home Planning Services Director) Laura LaRoque and the city did a really great job of getting the word out.
“We were very encouraged. We didn’t know what we might expect.”
City Manager Craig Martin told the crowd that the meeting, the first of several planned to address the clean-up and future use of the site, would hopefully bring some “benefit to the community after about 30 years.”
The property includes about 200 acres formerly owned by Western States Land Reliance Trust, which also owned about 220 acres of Knife River, formerly Morse Bros., property to the north. Linn County foreclosed on the property on Dec. 30, 2010 for six years of unpaid property taxes, about $500,000.
The county is working with the Sweet Home Economic Development Group to grant the Knife River portion of the property to SHEDG, which has already largely been cleaned up.
Partipilo, who is Environmental Health program manager for the Linn County Health Department, said officials want to hear from residents what they know about the property and its history and “what you want for it.”
The purpose of Tuesday’s meeting and subsequent sessions, he said, “is to keep you informed and hear from you.”
Officials from several agencies emphasized that they want ideas and feedback, particularly any historical knowledge of the site that people might have.
They said that information gathered, including soil samples that will be taken by a contractor soon to arrive on the site, will be presented to the public at a future meeting.
Partipilo said the assessment phase of the project – testing and analysis – will likely occupy a year or two.
Over that period, he said, the county will hold a number of community meetings and along the way will make information available in as timely a manner as possible.
He said the next community outreach event will likely occur when test results back from initial sampling. It will begin shortly, in next month. OHA will review, then talk about risk assessment.
“We want to keep the community informed,” he said.
Participants at last week’s event jotted ideas and comments on whiteboards and slips of paper.
Some “dreams” listed included shelters for the homeless, park facilities designed for fishing, jogging and picnic activities and a casino “to bring business.”
Concerns listed included the presence of toxic materials such as asbestos and arsenic, how the “dreams” would get paid for, loss of riverfront access, privacy concerns and drugs.
Eric Andersen, coordinator for the South Santiam Watershed Council, was one of those jotting comments.
“I think this is an amazing opportunity for Sweet Home,” he said, noting that balancing different needs in “such a large area” is “This kind of thing doesn’t happen very often.”
Local resident Bill Davis said one of his suggestions is to extend Tamarack east to Clark Mill Road, which, he said, would provide access to the property and improve transportation options in the area.
Darren Dones, a local resident who has been active in SHEDG planning efforts, said he’s pleased to see efforts being made to clean up the property.
“I grew up here,” he said. “I love this community. I love to see it grow.”