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Commissioners outline partnership path for Thimble Creek land after college meeting; technical working group planned
Summary
After a meeting with Clackamas Community College leaders, Oregon City commissioners said the college is open to a range of education‑focused uses for its newly purchased Thimble Creek property and asked staff to form a technical working group to pursue early partnership opportunities.
Oregon City commissioners reported positive early results from a meeting with leaders of Clackamas Community College about the college’s recently acquired Thimble Creek property and laid out next steps to move planning beyond study to action.
Commissioner Mitchell, who chaired the college meeting, told the commission that college officials said the property — purchased with bond funds — is restricted to educational uses but that they have not yet selected a specific plan. Mitchell said two primary obstacles are common: fragmented private ownership around the site and the lack of on‑site infrastructure such as interior roads and sewer connections.
Despite obstacles, commissioners said the college expressed interest in partnership opportunities — for example, aligning a campus agricultural or industrial training center with adjacent light industrial parcels to create internships and training pathways. Commissioners noted the site’s adjacency to community college facilities creates a rare opportunity to colocate education and light industry.
To advance the work, the commission reported the college and city proposed establishing a technical working group composed of planners, a site selector, market and financial analysts and — where necessary — bond counsel to evaluate eligible uses under the college’s bond constraints and identify small, catalytic steps. The working group is intended to focus on implementable, near‑term opportunities (one or two small parcels or pilot projects) to demonstrate feasibility and spur broader momentum among property owners.
Commissioners also flagged expected constraints: bond counsel will need to confirm allowable uses given the bond funding source; BPA power lines and other easements may limit developable areas; and property owners have differing timelines and price expectations.
Next steps: city economic development staff and college representatives will identify members for the technical working group and define an initial scope and schedule. Commissioners said the approach aims to produce a small, demonstrable project that can attract additional private interest and overcome fragmentation through a partnership model.
