PARCHMENT, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — City officials in Parchment announced that they have completed a deal to purchase the remains of a former paper mill facility that has been sitting vacant for much of the past decade.
On Friday, December 20th the city announced that they had finalized the acquisition of the former Crown Vantage paper mill from previous owner River Reach Partners.
The firm had bought the troubled site in 2008 for just $1, with long-running plans to remediate the contaminated property and construct 350 apartments, retail, and office space as part of a redevelopment agreement with the city of Parchment.
The Crown Vantage mill was one of numerous paper producing plants that put the community on the map as “The Paper City” before closing for good in 2000.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (formerly known as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality) gave $2 million dollars to the redevelopment initiative after the first purchasing agreement was announced in 2008. Half that money was allocated for brownfield site reclamation and the remaining portion as a low-interest loan via the Clean Michigan Initiative to compensate the city’s clean-up efforts.
The Parchment city government also paid River Reach $420,000 in management fees as stipulated in the 2008 takeover agreement.
As part of the deal, demolition work by River Reach Partners would be required for any development going forward. Though some demolition had commenced around 2010, Company officials said previously in 2018 that they would need more time to tear down the plant past the 2020 deadline hoped for by the city.
City leaders voiced their frustration with the slow pace, and sought to obtain the property after the firm fell back on it’s promise of meeting demolition within the approved timeframe.
Fires have ravaged the property since the former owners ceased development activity in 2013, including a large blaze which severely damaged a large area of the former mill.
Adding to the urgency was a water sampling report in July 2018 showing an even higher level of toxic PFAS contaminants found in the city’s drinking water supply, with possible linkages to past pollution at the vacant paper mill. Some levels in the Kalamazoo river near the paper mill were 164-times higher than the limit for drinking water at 11,500 parts per trillion.
The Parchment City Commission is now working with the Kalamazoo County Brownfield to redevelop the 67 acre property. They’re considering using grant funding from the EPA, and Michigan Economic Development Corporation, as well as additional funding from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to address contamination at the location.
In 2016, former Mayor Robert Heasley estimated that it would cost the community $8 million dollars to tear down remaining portions of the plant.
While the purchase has been welcomed by Parchment, the city has not announced a concrete timeline for any development plans, but commissioners have voiced continued interest in using the former industrial site as a mixed-use area as previously planned.
