Not sewer fast: Residents want a piece of Junction City's flush future
JUNCTION CITY, Ore. - Empty fields plus state money equals thousands of new jobs. Junction City officials are banking on this math to revive an economy previously tied to the RV industry.
Here are two keys to the new math:
- The empty fields near Milliron Road are slated for a new state prison and state mental hospital.
- Nearby, Grain Millers of Eugene has plans for a new plant. The company purchased 100 acres of land near Meadowview Road two years ago for the project.
The state's latest timeline has the hospital opening by Fall 2013; the state prison by Fall 2014. Total new jobs are estimated between 1,000 and 2,000.
"Those jobs, again 1,000 to 2,000 jobs, are of critical need, not just to Junction City but to Lane County," said David Clyne, the Junction City/City Administrator.
To make that happen, the city needs to expand the urban growth boundary to include the prison and Grain Millers land.
That has kicked up some controversy of its own. Some property owners called the "Westsiders" (who live on the west side of Highway 99) want to be included in the expanded UGB. They want to hook up to sewer lines that would run through their front yards.
Eugene attorney Michael Reeder represents the "Westsiders." He said it's unfair that sewer lines will be running through his clients' front yards, but they can't hook up unless they're inside that boundary.
Resident Dave Theophanes told KVAL it makes no sense to leave them out of the expanded boundary area. "Everybody's down right now," he said. "Let us hook up; put us in the urban growth boundary."
However, Clyne said this limited boundary change is the way to go. He's afraid delay could spell disaster, as previous state prison proposals for Junction City were withdrawn in 1996 and 2000.
"We don't want to risk that a third time around," he said. "We think time is of the essence. We think it's very important to move now."
The city council could make some decisions early next week.
