Ending more than a year of negotiations, the Coos County Board of Commissioners has signed a road improvement agreement with the Portland-based company that plans to mine chromite ore south of Bandon.
The agreement with Oregon Resources Corp. requires the company to pay the county $333,000 a year for the first three years and $125,000 every year after. Additionally, if there is a substantial breakdown to the roads because of the hauling operations, the company will pay for reconstruction. The money will go into a special road fund to be used only for the specific roads Oregon Resources will be traveling.
The commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday to the contract terms, which outline Oregon Resources’ responsibilities. The routes include not only West Beaver Hill, but also Mullen Road and Edwards Street leading to the processing plant in Bunker Hill, with Center and Howard streets as an alternate path. The remaining driving will be done on U.S. Highway 101, which is under state jurisdiction.
Oregon Resources, which plans to remove 600,000 to 700,000 tons of mineral sands per year for 20 years, hired URS Corp., of San Fransisco, to do a traffic impact analysis the summer of 2008. The report estimated how much it will cost to keep the roads in good condition with the additional usage.
In December 2008, Oregon Resources originally offered to pay the county $200,000 per year. Then-interim roadmaster and Commissioner Kevin Stufflebean balked at the offer. Over the span of 20 years that would come to $1.5 million more than the current deal. But County Commissioner Nikki Whitty said the original contract didn’t have a clause that held the company responsible for covering additional road damage.
“The worry was, ‘What happens if there is some major damage and we don’t have enough to fix it?’” Whitty said. “Now, if there is an incident, they have to step in and pay their share.”
The contract appoints the roadmaster to determine road conditions and any damages. However, current county Roadmaster John Rowe said Tuesday that he had no part in the analysis and was unaware of the terms of the agreement. Whitty said Stufflebean was the most familiar with agreement negotiations because he was roadmaster in 2008, however, Stufflebean did not return several call this week seeking more information.
There will be an estimated 67,000 trucks each year leaving the mining sites north of Bandon en route to the processing plant 19 miles away, which amounts to about 10 round trips per hour.
