WOODLAND — Woodland’s city council and port are eyeing a feasibility study to see what can be done with hundreds of acres of city land.
At Woodland’s March 6 city council meeting, Port of Woodland Executive Director Jennifer Keene presented during a workshop the possibility of getting funding for a study looking at infrastructure in roughly 460 acres of land on the city’s west side originally brought into city limits in 2010.
The study would focus on four major areas according to documents provided to council:
To assess the zoning and acreage of vacant and developed land and what uses could be supported, to identify the capacity of existing infrastructure such as sewer and water lines, to determine what upgrades are needed and to determine costs and funding services.
The council was specifically looking into a Community Economic Revitalization Board grant to help fund the study. Keene said the maximum to be received through a CERB planning grant was $50,000 and it requires at least a 25 percent match on total project cost.
Woodland Mayor Will Finn said that based on estimates the study could cost “upwards of $100,000” but funding sources outside of the CERB grant were not identified.
The city and the port hosted a joint meeting in late January to discuss the development, Keene said. During the meeting, transportation needs were one of the major focuses Keene noted, specifically long-term infrastructure capacity.
“We know that there is capacity (now), but when you develop 400 acres and you don’t know what is going to be on there, you may have an issue later,” Keene said.
Keene said although the port doesn’t own the lion’s share of the acreage in question that could benefit from an expansion of infrastructure, it fell in line with the port’s mission.
“The port sees what is important is that we are an advocate for the property owner,” Keene said.
Woodland Councilor Al Swindell expressed a desire to get moving with the study. He acknowledged the city has seemingly dragged its feet regarding getting anything started, though he said the Great Recession “knocked the wheels out from underneath a lot of things for a long time.”
“Now that the wheels are back on, hopefully, we can move forward with this and get this project done,” Swindell said.
A vote on approval to move forward with the grant application was postponed, however, to the next council meeting, set for March 20. The deadline for the application is March 28 according to information presented to council, with a decision on awards likely in late May.
