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Corvallis staff aim to annex 1,500 acres for airport industrial park; infrastructure and rail limits cited
Summary
Economic development staff said they plan to submit an annexation application for about 1,500 acres for the airport industrial park and to create a separate enterprise fund; staff also warned that a damaged rail bridge, power capacity limits and wetlands are constraints to attracting industrial projects.
Economic development staff told advisory members they plan to submit an annexation application for about 1,500 acres tied to the municipal airport and airport industrial park, describing the project as among the largest recent annexations.
"Our survey work for the airport industrial park annexation and the municipal airport is due by the end of the month," presenter Chris said. "It's a total of 1,500 acres that will be annexed, which is 1 of the biggest annexation projects in recent memory."
Staff outlined a timeline and revenue plan tied to the annexation: submit the application by May, start a revolving loan program for South Corvallis, and establish an enterprise fund for the Airport Industrial Park (AIP) by June so AIP revenues can be committed to capital improvements for the industrial park rather than go into the airport operations fund.
"Right now, all of our revenues from the AIP go into supporting the airport," Chris said. "We're going to separate it, committed to capital improvements in the airport industrial park."
Advisory members and staff flagged infrastructure constraints that reduce competitiveness for large industrial users. The meeting noted a damaged train bridge and loss of southbound rail service for customers: staff said the railroad has been unable to justify restoring the bridge without committed rail customers and has instead trucked freight for an existing customer.
"That's actually excluding us from a lot of site selection inquiries," Chris said, adding that about half of site-selection leads did not qualify because of rail limitations.
Staff also identified electric-utility capacity and permitting issues — including the time and cost to upgrade Pacific Power infrastructure — and the cost and uncertainty of wetland delineations as barriers to rapid industrial development.
The presenter said participating in state site-selection inquiries helps document the county's infrastructure capacity and makes sites more competitive for future users even when the city does not land a particular project.
No formal council action on annexation or funding was taken at the advisory meeting; staff said the annexation will proceed through planning commission and city council review following application submittal.
