Published: February 27, 2020 |

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On Tuesday morning, the Linn County Commissioners unanimously approved zoning amendments that allow Knife River Corporation to design a construction and mining training center for development on 155 acres at 35973 Kennel Road southeast of Albany.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the request for a comprehensive plan text amendment, zoning map amendment and a code text amendment on February 11.

Center trainees will learn how to operate heavy equipment such as bulldozers and excavators used in the construction industry.

Matt Ropp, Knife’s River’s local land planning manager, told the commissioners that the proposed site — which has been used as a rock quarry for several years — offers water features that will allow employees to learn to work around water, including dredging.

“Open water training is highly specialized,” Ropp said.

According to Ropp, extensive training is difficult to provide during the summer months because staff and equipment are busy on construction projects. There could be 200 trainees per month during peak training months, January through April.

The proposed training center will allow staff to train year-round indoors and outdoors, thanks to a 60-foot tall, 200-by-350-foot fabric dome held up by air. A training building will include four large classrooms, instructor offices, locker rooms, restrooms and a kitchen. There will be several outdoor heavy equipment training sites, plus a city-like environment where operators can learn about underground conduit, overhead lines, buildings and traffic conditions.

After the meeting, Ropp said the company has had employee training programs for years, but instructors travel to them. The new center will be the program’s headquarters. Instructors will remain locally and employees will travel to Linn County for courses that last from a couple days to 15 days.

“It will operate full-time, year-round,” Ropp said. “There will be several courses underway at a time.”

The project will now enter the detailed design phase, Ropp said. Once land use is approved, the company would hope to begin construction within a year.

Linn County Land Use Planner Alyssa Boles said the Department of State Lands notified the county of potential wetlands issues on parts of the property. 1,000 Friends of Oregon is concerned with a proposed “expansion” area and questioned why the outdoor training area needs to be 100 acres and why the project could not be undertaken in an industrial zone.

Commissioner Tucker praised the training center concept.

“This is going to bring a great number of trainees to Linn County. It’s going to help train future employees with a much-needed skill set in jobs that pay good wages. They will spend money while they are here,” Tucker said.

He added that the company is wise to plan for future growth now.

Commissioner John Lindsey pointed to the electrical training center in Tangent as an example of a successful program. He said this project will fill a need in the construction trades as well.

Linn County Roadmaster Darrin Lane said it would appear the dome structure would not be affected much by an earthquake since its support is not contingent on solid walls or a metal frame.

“Could this be used as an emergency shelter?” Lane asked.

Ropp said he hadn’t thought about that, but added, “It’s logical. It makes sense.”

Knife River — formerly Morse Bros. — is a member of the MDU Resources Group family of companies based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Knife River employs more than 5,600 people in 15 states from the West Coast to Minnesota and Iowa, and has a total revenue of more than $2 billion. Its local office is located in Tangent.

Source: Democrat-Herald

To stop by Knife River’s website, CLICK HERE

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