A truck moves down Trans-Pacific Parkway past the new railroad spur under construction on the North Spit. The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay agreed this week to sign a letter of intent to try to buy 1,300 acres of vacant land from Weyerhaeuser for industrial development. World Photo by Lou Sennick

Weyerhaeuser wants $25 million cash.

The port wants every single square foot of the company’s North Spit industrial land.

Thursday night, the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay agreed to sign a letter of intent on an option to buy the property. With the OK, port Executive Director Jeffrey Bishop pushed over the first domino in a line of maneuvers port staff hopes will lead to the rebuilding of industry on the North Spit.

At the center of the deal is nearly 1,300 acres of vacant Weyerhaeuser land that once held a containerboard mill employing hundreds of workers. As the defunct mill comes down piece by piece, Bishop and port staff are assembling plans to bring in a new generation of industry.

The first prospective buyer already is in line.

“By taking action tonight, the port is not indebting itself. It is not binding itself,” Bishop told the commission.

But that’s precisely where the port wants negotiations to go.

Bishop began lining up the pieces 10 months ago when he settled into a seat at the head of the port’s table. He began talking with Weyerhaeuser officials. He moved ahead negotiations with Jordan Cove Energy L.P., a company that wants to build a liquid natural gas import terminal.

Thursday, port commissioners OK’d domino No. 2. Bishop also will be signing a second letter of intent to sell or lease the liquid natural gas developer up to 200 acres of the land. The port has a two-year window to close both deals, but it was clear the director has no intention of waiting that long.

The main player

Bishop’s presence is hard to miss. He’s a tall man with a big handshake.

As Thursday night wore on, his smooth forehead was flushed. Somewhat out of character, he didn’t quote the words of any great thinkers. He sat far right of the port commissioners, down behind a laptop computer projecting proposals onto a big screen. Methodically, he set up the scenario.

The plan isn’t complicated, but all of it is contingent on siting the LNG terminal, Bishop explained. The five port commissioners listened and watched. Not one said a word, though the night’s talk had started with an hour-long commission meeting behind closed doors.

Bishop went on, his metal-framed glasses glinting above the computer monitor.

With Weyerhaeuser’s land on either side of the Roseburg Forest Products wood chip facility, the port wants to develop a ship-docking berth. The large triangular harbor could accommodate up to two ships. The east side would be for offloading liquid natural gas. The west side would accommodate ships moving general cargo. There would be a turning basin dredged right on the edge of the shipping channel.

All of it could tie in with the port’s secret Project TK — domino No. 3 — in which a Japanese firm is considering building a manufacturing plant here. No one’s to the point of negotiating yet, but potentially it would produce a silicone product, creating hundreds of jobs. The firm had wanted Weyerhaeuser’s Henderson marsh parcel, but the land wasn’t available. Over the months, Bishop said, the scope of the project has grown to require more land than the port alone could provide. Now, they are evaluating the mill site.

And now, Weyerhaeuser wants to sell.

The next step is immediately starting work with federal agencies on obtaining permits to develop the ship berth encompassing 50 acres and the 1,600-foot ship turning basin nearby.

“It’s a large moment,” Port Commissioner Caddy McKeown said letting out a big breath. “I thank you for the effort that’s come forth here. It’s a long time coming.”

And then there was a long silence.

Rippling reaction

These meetings rarely attract a crowd, as port staffers ramble on about day-to-day operations. Thursday night, fewer than two dozen people sat in the Coos Bay City Council chambers listening to Bishop outline what could be the biggest endeavor the Port of Coos Bay has ever undertaken.

Most were port officials.

Two were longshoremen.

In the first minutes of the meeting, Marvin Caldera, president of the Local 12 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, addressed the commission. He lamented missed opportunity and years of port inaction. Local 12 Secretary Jennifer Gumm stood up next.

“The upper bay from the bridge up is absolutely obsolete,” Gumm said of the private docks.

“We have to focus on the only property we have left on the North Spit,” she added later.

Neither had any idea what Bishop was about to reveal.

By the time the port director was done outlining his plan and discussing a North Spit cargo terminal, Caldera and Gumm were shocked and humbled. And very pleased.

“Wow,” Gumm whispered to Caldera.

Fewer than 60 longshoreman work on the Coos Bay waterfront now, Caldera said later, guessing that four years ago there might have been twice that many.

Over the last 20 years, vessel calls to Coos Bay have dropped from 271 to about 50 in 2004.

Weyerhaeuser has been a factor in the dwindling traffic as it shut down a sawmill, then a wood chip export facility, then large-scale logging operations and two years ago the North Spit mill. The timber giant’s concession was a surprise to some.

“I’m really amazed to see a letter of intent sitting here from Weyerhaeuser so quickly,” said port President Dave Kronsteiner.

“They’re done,” Bishop said, summing it up after the meeting.

The port director left the meeting wondering how the announcement will be perceived in the community. He walked out into the dark, down the steps of City Hall, seeming confident he has begun to push down the barriers that have long prevented the port from prospering.

“That’s what they hired me to do,” Bishop said.

Then he headed off alone, down toward the port’s offices overlooking Coos Bay.