The McKenzie Valley's Weekly Newspaper
October 18, 2007
Volume 30, Issue 8
Log Cabin Resort's
revival is underway
Drillers have been boring 30 inch diameter holes down to bedrock to form anchor points for new cabins at the Log Cabin Inn complex.
MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Foun-dations are being poured and framing is going up as the reconstruction of the Log Cabin Inn got underway last week. Steve McGhehey, president of Redstone Construction Services said his Sisters based firm will oversee infrastructure work like electrical, plumbing and septic systems. Dorman Construction of Eugene is the subcontractor responsible for reconstructing the reconfigured resort, which will have 22 free standing cabins, plus three living units on the restaurant's second floor. One unit, the Hoover Cabin, will be renovated to its original condition.
On site last week, McGhehey pointed out logs that were saved during salvage work and will be used to side the new restaurant. Other features that have been retained include close to 95 percent of the sites original garden plantings.
In addition to the Hoover Cabin, two new ones will be on high ground. The rest are being built on piers in the meadow area, on a flat closer to the river. "We're boring down to bedrock with a 30 inch drill, then pumping out the groundwater before pumping cement in," McGhehey said. "It's like building the Golden Gate Bridge." Each meadow area cabin will be mounted on about 14 of the cement filled piers, which extend from four to five feet underground.
To make sure the work is done correctly, Redstone has hired an on-site inspector who checks each bore hole before concrete is poured. The design is based on a similar project the company built on the Oregon Coast 25 years ago.
McGhehey said the $11 million project is only about 90 days off its intended schedule, which called for a June starting date. He said construction should be complete in about 18 months, with an opening date set for the spring or summer of 2009.
"We're blessed to be able to build it," McGhehey said. "This is a beautiful setting, overlooking the river."
Endangered fish
found at confluence
Researchers last week indentified twelve Oregon chub that were captured at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers.
Researchers on Green Island, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers, have discovered Oregon chub in the old McKenzie River channel. The Oregon chub was added to the Endangered Species List in 1993. The discovery adds to a long list of both federal and state listed species found on Green Island, including spring Chinook salmon, western pond turtle, red-legged frog, bald eagle, and bull trout.
Twelve adult fish were found in a limited trapping effort, raising hopes for a healthy population there. The presence of Oregon chub speaks to the overall health of the floodplain and the water quality of the site.
The discovery along with the other listed species found at the island is a testament to the importance of Green Island from a biological perspective, according to Joe Moll of the McKenzie River Trust, which manages the property. "The island complex provides a diversity of important habitats, including backwaters, oxbows, sloughs, and other off-channel sites that are critical areas for spawning and rearing of young," Moll noted.
Oregon chub is a small minnow species that persists in slower moving, off-channel areas. Chub numbers have declined dramatically due to habitat loss from changes in seasonal flows. Those changes have been linked to dam construction, channelization, drainage of wetlands, and other human influences such as the introduction of non-native species like large and smallmouth bass, bluegill, and western mosquito-fish.
"The Trust is working to restore more of the active floodplain processes that contribute to this habitat diversity and productivity.," Moll said. "Just this week, contractors began taking down 2,700 feet of earthen levees on the interior of the island. This will allow high river flows during winter to spread out over more of the island, creating more habitat for the migratory birds, wildlife, and fish, like the Oregon chub, that depend on these seasonal floods."
The Trust purchased Green Island in June of 2003, after being approached by the family of Karen and Les Green, who were interested in seeing their farmland restored for fish and wildlife species. Many scientific assessments had highlighted the confluence area of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers for its current habitat values and restoration project potential. Seven of the eight habitat types in the entire Willamette System have been located in the 1,400 acre Green Island complex.
EWEB board to consider new boat landing
VIDA: The EWEB Board of Commissioners will hold a public meeting at the Vida-McKenzie Community Center next Tuesday night, October 23rd, to take public input on the location of a new boat landing near Leaburg Lake. Before the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., utility board members will tour the sites being considered.
EWEB's construction of a new boat landing has been on the discussion table for several years, but has gained momentum over the past several months. Utility staffers have held two public meetings since early summer to discuss alternatives and get public reaction. Tuesday night's meeting marks the first time that the EWEB commissioners have met to hear public comments on the topic.
The utility has identified five alternative sites for a new boat landing; including expanding the existing Ike's Landing, or constructing a new site at Indian Creek, or at a point on Leaburg Lake directly across the highway from the Old McKenzie Fish Hatchery. The others are a location known as "The Goodpasture Site" just downstream from the Goodpasture Bridge, or at the east end of EWEB's Lloyd Knox Water Board Park.
"Pros and cons have been identified at each site, with each site having its supporters and detractors," says EWEB Public Affairs Manager Marty Douglass. "I think it's fair to say that regardless of the action we end up taking, some folks will be happy and others will not."
EWEB hired a Eugene engineering firm, OBEC Consulting Engineers, to conduct an engineering evaluation of each potential site. OBEC produced an initial evaluation late in the summer, which was the subject of a public meeting on September 20th. That report identified difficulties with expanding Ike's Landing or building a new facility at either Indian Creek or at the Old Hatchery. The utility heard from several people that there also were problems with the Goodpasture Site and the Water Board Park Landing.
"Generally," Douglass notes, "the problems identified for most of the sites have to do with highway safety and, for a couple sites (Ike's Landing and the Old Hatchery), potential floodway problems associated with putting fill into the lake."
He said EWEB is continuing to work with OBEC to address issues that have been brought up.
"There is only one agenda item for Tuesday night's public meeting; to take public input on the issue and all of the potential sites," Douglass said. "The utility will likely not make a final decision until sometime late this year or early next year."
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