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City and property owner plan costly Ash Creek daylighting at mill site; funding discussions begin
Summary
City staff said they are preparing to daylight and relocate the North Fork of Ash Creek at the former mill site, a project staff estimate could cost "tens of millions of dollars," and which officials say would reduce flood risk and allow larger, more marketable redevelopment parcels.
City staff told the Economic Development Committee on a combined meeting that a multi‑year, multimillion‑dollar effort to daylight and relocate the North Fork of Ash Creek through the millsite property is moving from planning into discussions about funding and permitting.
The effort grew from a Business Oregon grant to study the corridor and is being led in part by Jacobs Engineering, city staff said. The proposal would pull the creek out of long culverts, relocate it farther south across the site and create a consolidated parcel better suited to industrial or mixed‑use development. City staff said the work could also allow a future FEMA flood‑map revision that would remove some properties from the floodplain and reduce flood‑insurance burdens for homeowners.
Why it matters: committee members described the creek relocation as a prerequisite to meaningful redevelopment of the site. Staff said the work addresses both flood control and land‑use constraints that currently fragment the parcel and make it less marketable to industry and multi‑tenant developers.
What staff reported: the consultant team will identify next design steps and costs, and staff expects those next steps to show the project will be expensive — “tens of millions of dollars,” according to staff — requiring a package of local reserves, stormwater revenue, system development charges and outside funding such as state special public works funds, DEQ programs and federal sources. Staff noted some early work — engineering, permitting scoping and bridge relocations on Main Street and Uglow — can be advanced in ways that reduce in‑water disturbance by building a new channel in dry conditions and then diverting flow into it.
Flood‑map benefits: staff said a parallel study of the North Fork had identified missing or outdated flood data on the mill site. Because the 1980s FEMA study did not include the site, maps have shown gaps; the ongoing work aims to generate data to request flood‑map revisions that would remove many residential parcels east of the site from mapped floodplain, lowering insurance requirements for those owners.
Next steps and funding: staff said the city has limited reserves in stormwater and a healthy position in system development charges that may fund early steps, but construction will require stacked funding from loans, grants and other external programs. Staff did not provide a firm construction timetable. They said the consultant will return with a list of specific next tasks and cost estimates for staff, the property owner and elected officials to consider.
Community concerns and committee reaction: committee members repeatedly said the creek relocation and flood control are top priorities for making the millsite marketable. Several members also asked staff to coordinate the creek work with transportation planning and with rail‑crossing implications, because road and bridge changes will factor into project costs and permitting.
Staff cautioned that environmental permits will still be required but that building a new dry channel and diverting flow can reduce in‑stream disturbance relative to other approaches.
Ending: staff said they will return with costed next steps from the consultant for committee and council consideration and that the city will pursue state and federal funding options alongside local stormwater revenues.
