It’s official: Clackamas County closed on the purchase of the West Linn Blue Heron property, which could be a big boon to the city of West Linn.

The 39-acre site is near Willamette Park, bordering the Willamette River, and is the former property of the bankrupt Blue Heron Paper Co. that was based in Oregon City.

After Blue Heron declared bankruptcy, Clackamas County’s Water Environment Services purchased the site this spring with interest in the site’s valuable outfall permits. Those permits will allow WES to release treated wastewater into the Willamette River. WES is working on behalf of the Tri-City Service District and Clackamas County Service District No. 1. The service district and the Tri-City Service District provide wastewater services to most of urbanized north Clackamas County.

The sale closed July 19 at the price of $1.75 million. The purchase includes the land and environmental assets, including not only the outfall into the Willamette River but pipes, easements and existing environmental permits. The districts will use the site’s outfall to meet the challenges of increasingly stringent rules regulating mixing zone and heat discharges into the Willamette River.

Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality is working with the districts to transfer Blue Heron’s environmental permits to their ownership. A small portion of the site will be reserved for future use by the two districts, while the remaining acreage will be available for other public uses as determined by the city of West Linn.

Although the county officially owns the property, it is willing to make an agreement for West Linn to redevelop the site. No formal agreement has been made yet.

Working with WES, the city of West Linn has drafted a work program for the creation of a master plan for the site.

The lagoon site contains a 15-acre settling pond, which has between five and 15 feet of sludge at the bottom. Wetlands and habitat conservation areas lie between the pond and the northern edge of the property, which is steeply sloped.

Planning for the future

West Linn has plenty of time to think big as WES will not officially take over the site until August 2013, when NRI Global Inc., which purchased the mill’s equipment, will decommission the mill site. So, until then, West Linn citizens can explore potential uses for the site.

Because of the environmental restrictions on the site, the city does not envision any commercial development on the site, but instead maybe a regional park with trails. The city has already gathered a number of ideas for the site during its Highway 43 visioning process last year, and WES has gone out to the Willamette neighborhood to gather ideas.

The city plans to form a task force with citizens and key stakeholders, such as PGE, which owns the riverfront easement; West Linn Paper Co.; neighborhood associations; Willamette Falls Heritage Area Coalition; the chamber of commerce; Willamette Main Street; Riverkeepers groups; and civic organizations.

To fund the planning process, the city plans to use $25,000 of parks system development charge funds and $25,000 from the general fund. The city council will be updated about the planning progress in November and again in February 2013.