Stimson pledges to find industrial buyer

Stimson pledges to find industrial buyer -
Company says it will clear any environmental waste

By PAMELA J. PODGER

of the Missoulian

A representative of Stimson Lumber Co. sought to reassure the community Monday they would work diligently to find an industrial buyer for the defunct Bonner sawmill.

Stimson also will clean up any environmental issues on the property before a sale, in part to reduce the company’s liability, said Don Moody, vice president of the commercial real estate firm C.B. Richard Ellis in Tacoma, Wash.

His firm is marketing the 155-acre property for the Portland, Ore.-based timber company.

Speaking at the Bonner Milltown Community Council, he invited anyone to call him – even anonymously – with information about possible environmental problems.

Last week, Stimson officially announced it would not resume operations at the Bonner sawmill and is asking $16 million for the site.

If no buyer emerges in the next six weeks, Stimson will hold a two-day auction on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 for the sawmill equipment.

The site, which has about 825,000-square-feet of manufacturing space, is likely to attract interest from the West Coast and overseas, Moody said.

"I started drooling at these buildings. If I had this on a West Coast market, it would be a $50 million site," he said.

Instead of prepared remarks, Moody took questions from about two dozen people in the audience and five council members. People voiced their concerns, which ranged from the fate of the former millworker houses to the prospects of a foreign buyer, given the weak U.S. dollar.

A manufacturer was more likely to buy the property instead of another timber company keeping a sawmill running, Moody said.

Bruce Troutwine, a former millworker, asked if any railroads had been contacted to see if they would consider buying the property as a repair facility.

Moody said "railroad was a real potential."

At one point during the public forum, Missoula developer Scott Cooney, who owns property adjacent to the plant, began questioning Moody why his "exclusive offer" had not been accepted.

Cooney reiterated that his full-price offer was contingent on the sawmill staying intact.

Moody said Cooney had the only offer so far, but he was waiting for a written buy-sell agreement.

"I never heard the $16 million offer, but everybody is doing their best to work with you on the site," he said.

The extent of cleaning up environmental damage on the site, including soil tainted by resins, oils and PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, is likely to be a large factor in any deal.

Stimson hopes to conclude its assessment of environmental problems on the site by late September.

State Rep. Tim Furey asked Moody about the environmental problems outlined earlier this month by Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Moody said Stimson will do soil borings and move earth to assess the extent of the problem.

"We don’t think the contamination is very deep, but you never know," Moody said.

He said community support was crucial in landing a good buyer in response to a question by council member Kathy Whitman.

Dick King of the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. said he was "delighted" Stimson had gone about marketing the acreage in a "responsible" fashion.

"Industrial property is very difficult to find," King said. "This is a great opportunity."

Doug Ardiana, superintendent at Bonner School, asked the council to send a letter drafted by the community’s land-use group. In part, the letter urged Stimson to retain the millsite as an "industrial anchor"?for the area and not become a bedroom community for Missoula.

He also said Stimson would prefer one buyer, but would consider more working in tandem to use the building space.

"On a property like this you might have three legitimate offers," Moody said after the discussion. "In my opinion, it will be a satellite manufacturing site."

After the discussion, newly appointed council member Mike Mosley said he appreciated Moody’s expertise in marketing these types of properties.

"We want to maintain this as heavy industrial,"?he said. "Where we get nervous is when you talk about mixed use with service industry and minimum wage jobs."

Bonner resident Mary Erickson said she thought the session was informative.

"Stimson bought a lot of existing environment problems and so could the next buyer," she said. "But I think we’re at the time in our society where you say, ‘Whoa.’ "