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New website opens window on Croman Mill property By Morgan Rothborne Updated: Aug 22, 2022 05:09 PM A A A 1960s photo shows lumber mill operations at the Croman Mill site in southeast Ashland. [City of Ashland photo from www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=18242] Property has been under scrutiny by Ashland City Council following neighbor complaints about noise, dust, trucks Neighbors of the Croman Mill site in southeast Ashland have an opportunity to keep a closer eye on the 70-acre property thanks to a new page on the city’s website, www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=18242 . The webpage includes the Croman Mill district plan, a schedule of upcoming meetings, links to Croman Corporation truck logs and Department of Environmental Quality reports. The Croman Mill site, located off Tolman Creek Road, is under scrutiny by Ashland City Council for an unlicensed soil operation allegedly carried on at the site over 10 years under the guise of a cleanup and reclamation project necessary to develop the land. The Community Development Department presented information last week to City Council focused on a renewed effort at transparency after a decade of unanswered complaints from Croman Mill’s neighbors about noise, dust and as many as 50 trucks per day of soil going out and fill from construction excavation going into the site. “We visit the site frequently, in drive-bys for code compliance,” Community Development Director Bill Molnar told the council last week. “It’s a large site; there’s a lot of actions going on.” While an excavation permit issued to the Croman Mill site mandates quarterly reports, Molnar said staff have now requested monthly reports. “A lot of material that has been removed from the site is largely organic material; it’s a fine woody debris. There was also a significant mound of asphalt grinding removed. When they sift through ... you can see there’s garbage inlaid with a lot of the material,” Molnar said. Trucking logs describe several tons of garbage taken off site and to the landfill, Molnar said. Neighbors also have expressed concern about unaddressed contamination from the lumber mill operation that operated there for 62 years, from 1934 to 1996. “When we hear words like contamination, and we don’t understand what the contaminant is or the depth and breadth of that contamination, our imaginations can go to fun places,” said Councilor Paula Hyatt, who urged people to watch for the DEQ reports on the new site. Senior planner Brandon Goldman said the Community Development Department will regularly update the website, and he added that city efforts to keep people informed about Croman won’t end with the website. “We’ve talked about working with the property owner with setting up neighborhood meetings, for when substantial changes on the site are going to happen,” Goldman said. Townmakers LLC, a property development company, has gone through a pre-application stage and presented a concept for development of Croman Mill to the Community Planning Department, Goldman said. Information about the plan is available on the website as well. The Croman Mill property is expected to be quiet for the next four to six weeks, Molnar explained. Staff have been told the lull in activity is due to extreme fire danger. DEQ assessment of the site will continue, along with work done by SCS Engineers, a Portland firm hired by the Croman Corporation that specializes in environmental assessment and cleanup, Goldman said. Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected] or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.