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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: DECEMBER 20, 1997

Sewer questions don't hold up Evergreen museum project

By SCOTT BALLO
Of the News-Register

Despite a citizen's concern over additional strain on the sewer system, the McMinnville Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously forwarded to the City Council a proposed annexation for the Evergreen Museum that will house the Spruce Goose.

"I'm not excited to see McMinnville become a destination town, but based on the facts there is no reason to deny the annexation request," said Vincent Lowe, planning commissioner.

Mark Davis, a McMinnville resident and longtime critic of the city's sewer system, was the only person to formally object to the annexation request. He claimed that the city should not add any discharge to a system that already bypasses raw sewage into local waterways during heavy rain.

"The city has only one sewage treatment plant and the entire collection system feeds into that plant," Davis said in written testimony. "Any development on the annexed land, regardless of the quality of the sewage collection system in that section of town, connects with and adds to the sewage overflows caused by the failing collection system."

City staff disputed Davis' claims. The proposed museum would add 3,500 gallons of flow per day to the sewer system, or .4 percent of the total for the airport basin, staff said. Staff also pointed to major improvement to the system and blamed the majority of the problems Davis cited on unusually high rainfall.

The approval followed a detailed proposal presentation by Gary Thompson, director of special events for Evergreen, and a parade of consultants and engineers working on the project.

The tremendous amount of information presented to the commission left the body with a favorable view of the project and the presentation.

"When voters passed the annexation ordinance, they wanted to see what they were going to get," Commissioner Bob Smiley said. "With this project, there is no question as to what they are getting."

The proposal shows a huge hangar-like center that would feature large glass windows showcasing the main floor of the museum where the Spruce Goose would be housed. Architectural drawings also show several aircraft of differing historic eras surrounding the world's largest aircraft.

A long drive off Highway 18 leads to a large parking lot surrounded by trees.

The $20 million project would create the largest building in the area, a 165,000-square-foot structure that would tower above anything in the area with a rooftop 125 feet above the ground.

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