An Olympia-based developer's $2.2 million bid to buy the defunct Blue Heron paper mill, near Willamette Falls, passed a big hurdle Monday, when a consortium of local governments decided to stay out of the bidding for the site.
The mill site, mired in bankruptcy since 2011, has long tempted officials with Metro, Clackamas County and Oregon City, and has been the subject of months of planning and community feedback. But officials from Metro say the potential buyer, Megarock LLC, has been noncommittal about using that community feedback to guide its redevelopment of the site.
Metro Sustainability Center director Jim Desmond said he's had one conversation with Megarock's representatives, about two weeks ago. He described the talk as "brief and introductory."
Last week, Metro and Oregon City considered a plan to outbid Megarock's $2.2 million offer for the site. But after an executive session of the Clackamas County Commission this morning, North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District director Gary Barth called Desmond to say the county wasn't committed to an overbid.
"Any overbid would have needed to have the full cooperation of all three agencies," Desmond said Monday afternoon, referring to Metro, the county and the city. "Without that, we think it's inappropriate to submit an overbid."
According to a press release from Clackamas County, there wasn't enough time to vet a proposal to buy the site.
"The County remains committed to the vision for this site and the public partnership that has been working diligently over the last couple of years," Clackamas County Commissioner Tootie Smith said in the press release. "There just isn’t enough time today to fully examine the commitment we are being asked to make."
After Clackamas County demurred, the Metro Council decided the site's liability was too great to consider buying it outright.
"Whoever owns the property will have a significant amount of responsibility," Desmond said. "The vision set forth, that the public has supported in the master plan, requires a significant redevelopment of the site from its current condition.
"There's a tremendous amount of infrastructure on the site today," Desmond said. "There's a significant amount of liability and expense associated with that."
But there's also incentive – $5 million in state money, backed by lottery bonds, to help pay for site planning and preparation, provided the site's owner commits to dedicate part of the site to public access to the falls.
Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette, whose district includes Oregon City, said it was always the regional government's intent to partner with others.
"Going it alone was really not where we wanted to go with the site," she said.
Collette said she's looking forward to the site's next chapter.
"It's an amazing site. Everyone who's seen it recognizes that," she said. "I hope the developer that buys it shares some of that vision, but they may also have a different vision. It'll be interesting to deal with a private owner now, and figure out what we do next – how do we move forward."