Proposed road project equals tough decisions for Battle Ground manufacturer
Big changes are coming to Main Street in Battle Ground.
According to Battle Ground Mayor Mike Ciraulo, the city plans to extend Grace Avenue through a facility owned by Andersen Plastics, Inc. And while the city and Andersen might disagree on the specifics of the move, the plastics manufacturer might have no other options but to make way for the road project.
"This is a complex deal, but the Reader's Digest version is we want to extend and straighten Grace Avenue within the next three years … and the businesses in the way will need to move," Ciraulo said.
Jack Dunn, manager at Andersen Plastics, said the company "was not forced to do anything," although he said the possible use of eminent domain by the city may leave the company with few options.
"If they are going to run a road through the middle of our business, we won't have much of a choice," he said.
Grace Avenue is currently cut into two sections in downtown Battle Ground, forcing north and southbound motorists to make turns onto often heavy rush-hour traffic along Main Street. The city plans to unite both sections of Grace Avenue, with a rerouted thoroughfare running through the Andersen Plastics facility.
According to Ciraulo, a deal with Andersen Plastics to relocate their operations to a bigger facility elsewhere in Battle Ground would create an additional 200 jobs.
However, Dunn pegged the number of possible additional jobs at 30. Currently, Dunn said there are 40 employees working at the Grace Avenue plant.
Dunn said the company had already considered and rejected several possible locations for a larger, relocated facility – including a location near Battle Ground Village, which he claimed was unsuitable for his company's needs.
When nearby Andersen Dairy decided to start a plastics manufacturing division at the site of the former Cenex Supply store on Grace Avenue in 1987, the facility's easy rail access and proximity to the company's milk processing plant at 305 E. Main St. made it an ideal location, according to Dunn.
Andersen Plastics is currently renovating another former Cenex Supply store in Brush Prairie to open as another manufacturing plant.
If the company fails to strike a deal with the city of Battle Ground, the planned Andersen Plastics facility in Brush Prairie could expand to include displaced workers from the Grace Avenue plant, according to Dunn.
"The discussion is open right now, but they've got to get the money to fix the road first. Until that happens, we are staying put," Dunn said.
Ciraulo said that while nothing was immediate, he had applied for federal stimulus funding and that Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) had expressed support for the project.
"We're planning on moving ahead," Ciraulo said. "Though they [Andersen Plastics] might not be comfortable going public with that."
Dunn said the Andersen Plastics management team still had plenty of time to consider their options, even with the prospect of possible stimulus funding expediting the city's Grace Avenue project plans.
"Three years is a very long time," he said.
