Two bids were received
Linn County Commissioners Roger Nyquist, Sherrie Sprenger and
Will Tucker have agreed unanimously to sell the former
Willamette Industries mill site in Sweet
Home to Sweet Home Real Estate Restorations for $800,000.
At the board’s Feb. 1 meeting, two bids
were received. In addition to the bid
from Sweet Home Real Estate Restorations there was a $450,000 bid from
Sweet Home Mill Site, whose principal
is Scott Lepman of Albany.
County Property Manager Rachel
Adamec told the commissioners the
Sweet Home Mill Site bid did not comply with bidding criteria.
Adamec said
materials submitted to the county by
Sweet Home Mill Site after the bidding
deadline were not opened and could not
be considered.
Owner Josh Victor said after the meeting
that he intends to begin the process of
developing a road system to provide access to the neighboring property.
Linn
County has already given to the city of
Sweet Home, the former Morse Bros
(Knife River) rock quarry. The city plans
to create a venue for the Oregon Jamboree and other community events at the
250-acre property.
Victor said his plans include both housing and commercial development of the
154-acre property.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
Board Chair Nyquist provided a short
summary of the history of the property,
noting that in 2010, Linn County received the property in lieu of more than
$500,000 in back taxes per state statutes.
Nyquist said former County Assessor
Mark Noakes gave owner Dan Desler of
Western States Land Reliance Trust numerous “last chances†to make tax payments before the county was forced to
foreclose.
Nyquist said the county realized an environmental assessment was needed at
the site and that was accomplished with
a $360,000 grant from the Department
of Environmental Quality. The county
has been working with environmental
agencies since that time and has mitigated most of the areas of concern.
Commissioner Tucker has previously
said he believes the remaining areas of
concern could receive an environmental
approval within a year if the mitigation
process were to continue.
--Bruce Armstrong| Post Date: 2022-02-14 11:52:49 | Last Update: 2022-02-14 12:51:36 |
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