COQUILLE — The city of Coquille is in the beginning stages of working out a deal with Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative Inc. for the sale and development of a 2.67-acre piece of the old Georgia-Pacific mill site.

The Coos-Curry proposal is not set in stone, but Coquille City Manager Terence O’Connor told city councilors about the project this week.

This proposal isn’t the only project in the works for the former mill site. In the same meeting, O’Connor told the council that engineers had visited the site of a proposed McKay’s market. Engineers were planning site preparation on the approximately half-acre parcel in anticipation of building the store.

“They are moving forward.” he said.

Most of the discussion Tuesday was focused on the power company.

“The decision tonight is to determine whether the City Council wants to move forward,” O’Connor said.

The response from the council was a simple yes.

“Why would you want to develop the G-P site after 20 years?” Councilor Bruce Parker joked.

The Coquille Urban Renewal Agency tentatively agreed to help Coos-Curry with a expansion of South Mill Avenue to the west end of the property. The cost of building the 500-foot road extension is estimated at about $768,000. Coos-Curry and the Urban Renewal Agency would split the price.

That price was a bit of a shocker for agency members.

“I’ve got to know how 500 feet could cost that much money,” Agency Chairman Loran Wiese said.

O’Connor said the city engineer’s estimate may have been high and the road would be built to highway standards, due to the possibility of heavy trucks using it.

No official vote was taken, but the agency members agreed to offer the cost sharing proposal if Coos-Curry buys the parcel.

“What we are talking about is helping them with this cost if they agree to other negotiations,” Wiese said.

O’Connor said the development would be subject to local taxes, and therefore would contribute to urban renewal funding.

Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative General Manager and CEO Roger Meader said the deal would move the cooperative’s office from Second Street in downtown Coquille to the parcel on the former mill site, adjacent to the Mast Bros. Towing and Collision Repair facility.

“We’ve been there for 70 years,” Meader said. “We would prefer to be here.”

The deal is far from finalized, Coos-Curry still is looking at four other properties. Of the five locations, three of them are in the Coquille area, which Meader considers the best location for the cooperative’s northern office.

“We do like the G-P site best,” Meader said. “We like the city of Coquille.”

The utility also has a warehouse between Myrtle Point and Coquille. Having the office and warehouse at same location will save time and money for the cooperative. The downtown facility would be put on the market once a new facility is built.

The 70-year-old office in Coquille is about 2,000 square feet if not bigger, Meader said. The new office would be about 1,500  to 2,000 square feet, with room to expand and the warehouse would be connected in the same building. The facility plans include a pole and equipment yard, and place for storing vehicles. A chain-link fence with decorative security slates would conceal a portion of the site.