March 4, 1985: The council writes a letter to the LCSD regarding Memorial Field, informing them of a policy on the field's use. Basically, it was a letter saying, "We're planning to use the field for economic development, and it may not be there if you want to use if for games."
Jan. 6-March 12, 1986: The council holds hearings on, applies for, and receives designation as a state enterprise zone. The designation depends on the state calling Toledo "Economically lagging," which the state does. The Enterprise zone gives Toledo the opportunity to take advantage of economic development incentives for business.
July 26-Aug. 20, 1986: The council discusses accepting the donation of about 25 acres from Georgia-Pacific, which includes the old plywood mill which closed in 1984. With the addition of city-owned land, the total comes to approximately 35 acres. Then-City Manager Dan Ousley said he had contacts from "several" people interested in putting parts of the building or land to use, including the Colonial Bakery in Lincoln City, which wanted to put a cookie factory on the land. The council finally accepted the donation Aug. 18, as an outright gift.
Sept. 4, 1986: a COG representative told the council she had been in contact with a Huntington Beach, Calif. emery board company looking to expand and/or relocate. She also told the council that 6-8 G-P suppliers could use a warehouse in Toledo to store supplies for the mill. Finally, the representative, Jennifer Miles, told the council that a moulding firm, an import/export company and a "start-up" company which manufactures trusses might be interested
Sept. 20, 1986: the council receives a request that a citizen's group be formed to held with development of the land.
Nov. 22, 1986: the council votes to apply for a technical assistance grant, which would allow the city to hire someone to do economic development planning on the site. This is eventually done by The Benkendorf Associates Corporation of Portland and Westech Engineering of Salem, splitting the property into 21 lots ranging in size from one-half to five acres.
Dec. 3, 1986: The council selects TIP as the name for the land, froma contest of Toledo citizens.
March 7, 1987: The council changes four acres of the TIP property from Public Lands to Industrial for an emery board company which has put "earnest money" on the property.
Aug. 12, 1987: Kaward, Inc. a crane and marine construction company from Waldport, inquired about the TIP property. The company expressed interest in relocating to Toledo. "We would be willing to negotiate demolition work as some exchange for tent," said Bill Pankey, making the presentation to the council that evening. Pankey also suggested local employees would be hired.
Aug. 19, 1987: The council granted a lease to Kaward for one acre of TIP property on the waterfront south of NW First St. The lease covers three years, with an option to renew, for $150 per month. Kaward said it was aware the area is sometimes flooded at high tide or during storms.
Jan. 13, 1988: Toledo hires industrial development specialist Bruce Bullamore from Lewiston, Idaho to develop and promote an economic development plan for the city. The story says that the completion of the development plan done by Benkendorf resulted in four lease agreements: Kaward Crane; Pelco, Inc., a small wood products industry; O'Law, Inc., a fish net repair and manufacturing company; and Dave Jones Trucking, a timber hauler. Bullamore also indicated he wanted to attract tourists to the area; one way to do that is to develop a crafts industry around the town's history. Other plans include developing a 20,000 square foot incubator building for start-up industries; a center for boat repairs, marine engine repair and related activities.
March 16, 1988: The council votes to send a letter of commitment to the Soft-Tub company, a spa and bathtub manufacturer interested in relocating to the TIP property.
Aug. 10, 1988: The council hears a proposal to salvage the materials from the old plywood mill, made by Leonard Hays and Keith Brooks. They talked of using the materials- for some reconstruction on the waterfront, for an activity center, craft center or "incubator type" business center. Hays said he wanted to be done by November. The city talked of either selling the building and letting them deal with it, or letting them bid for the dismantling while the building is still in city hands.
Oct. 5, 1988: A representative of the firm Custom Reef stomps out of a council meeting, saying "Your economic development program doesn't exist. When you guys get it together, maybe you should contact us." The comments apparently came because of a perception that the council wasn't dealing with the firm's interest in a timely manner. The firm was looking for an acre of TIP property, to do research into possible uses for discarded auto tires. A miscommunication was apparently the reason for the discussion, as the council planned to send a letter to them stating the intention to grant the lease, while the company thought the council would have a lease agreement at the meeting. The council wanted to make sure it was dealing with a sound company before doing anything concrete.
Nov. 23, 1988: The city decides to move ahead with construction of the Hanna Nickel building, using as much as a quarter-million dollars of city economic development funds if necessary. The council also approved set of policies and procedures for managing the property: if firms are seeking special incentives or considerations, they will be subject to extensive background checks. If not, city staff will be given authority to approve the least to streamline the process. This comes just six weeks after they received criticism on the perceived slowness of the process.
Dec. 19, 1988: The building materials for the Hanna Nickel building arrive on site.
Jan. 23, 1989: The council appropriates $160,000 in city funds for construction of the Hanna Nickel Building.
April 19, 1989: The committee appointed by the council to study development policies for the TIP property. Mike Knight, who represented the committee, told the council that the original idea of encouraging only industrial development on the TIP site was too restrictive. The commission asked to explore park, fairgrounds and other possible uses for the site. Knight said other, potentially more promising industrial park sites had been identified. He added that about half the TIP site was limited because of wetlands issues.
May 17, 1989: The council approves a 50 percent increase in the economic development budget, as part of its 1989-90 city budget. The total for economic development jumps to $2 million, $506,000 of which is city money. What is this being used for?
Jan. 31, 1990: Hal Looper collects enough signatures to put a measure on the ballot that would require voter approval before Memorial Field is sold. The wording has to be reworded when Toledo officials word it as "This initiative would severely restrict possible economic development options."
The issue was to be on the May ballot, but is bumped back to the June ballot, where it passes.
Jan. 31, 1990: City Manager Jim Allan names City Attorney Jim Ruggeri as the city's new economic development director, apparently taking Bruce Bullamore's place. "We want a person to playa hands-on role," Allan said in a short speech to the Toledo Chamber of Commerce. Allan mentioned the James Property Industrial Park. What's happening there? He also said the old plywood mill will be tom down within 3-5 months.
May. 9, 1990: the council hears that the city's application for a dredging permit in Depot Slough has been approved. The permit will allow not only dredging, but construction of floating docks, marine ways and piers. It lasts until March 31, 1993. Ruggeri also tells the council that a boat repair and fabrication service, and a fish processing plant have expressed interest in the TIP property.
June 27, 1990: Ruggeri said the next step is to level out the property, using dirt from sewer project. Is that done? The city mayor may not see reconstruction of the Hanna Nickel building, he added. If a tenant is not found, it will be sold. Was it sold? what happens to the profits? What happens to the $150,000?
June 27, 1990: the DEQ temporarily halts burning of the plywood mill because of citizen complaints regarding the smoke. The city burned it down maintaining it was a safety hazard and was a training exercise for the volunteer firefighters.
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