PORT ANGELES — The sawmill planned on a controversial 113-acre site near Edgewood Drive will be built instead on a 30-acre site formerly used for log storage in Eclipse Industrial Park.
Port Angeles Hardwood LLC, a division of Mount Vernon-based Washington Alder, expects to begin construction in the industrial park south of U.S. Highway 101 and west of Port Angeles in the first three months of 2005 and begin operation by early 2006.
The company will buy the land from B&D Properties, LLC. Sale price was not disclosed.
The $23 million alder processing plant will be identical to one the parent company has operated in Mount Vernon since 1998.
It is expected to employ up to 95 people with an annual payroll of more than $7 million.
Eclipse Industrial Park is located two miles west of the Tumwater Truck Route interchange with U.S. 101. It is home to the Fields Shotwell recycling facility.
Outside city limit
City officials Monday welcomed the news, even though the new sawmill will be outside the city limit.
If the $23 million mill had been built inside the city — on a controversial piece of property near Fairchild International Airport — it could have meant as much as $70,000 in annual tax revenue to the city’s general fund.
“It’s still a huge win for all of us,” said City Economic Development Director Tim Smith.
“Although the city missed out on increased tax base, we still get the jobs — excellent paying jobs, too.
“I think it is a terrific addition to our local industrial base. It is good news to hear the company has completed negotiations and can move on to the mill itself.”
Clallam County commissioners chairman Steve Tharinger said he thought Eclipse Industrial Park was a good choice since industrial activity is already in it.
Olympic Wood Products operated a smaller mill in the industrial park until last year.
Tharinger, D-Dungeness, said he didn’t think the project would have any permitting problems at the county level.
