Yakima City Council Will Get an Update on the Old Mill Site

The Yakima City Council will hold a study session tomorrow morning, outlining the initial steps needed to begin development of the old mill site along I-82.  The city is looking to purchase the nearly 200 acres of land to prepare it for development. Yakima City Manager Tony O'Rourke says the council will get updates on several issues regarding the property.  "The council will get an update on the proposed I-82 interchange project, proposed local road projects near the site and updates on the environmental analysis, and also looking at going forward with an economic analysis, what's the best and highest use and what is the marketability of this site."

The property is now owned by the Office Max corporation based in Boise and Yakima Resources based in Oregon.  However, they have no plans to develop the property because of the cost to clean it up. The property was once a dump and also a mill which employed hundreds of people.

The study session begins at 10:00 tomorrow morning at Yakima City Hall.
If the city purchases the property O'Rourke says the city would then be eligible for millions of dollars in federal and state cleanup funds.