“The priority of this community is job creation,” said Snowflake Town Manager Paul Watson during a report to the town council Jan. 13. “We understand the dynamics of this community and that people want to live here, but need to support their families.”
Watson said that when the Catalyst paper mill closed, the town didn’t have control of the railroad, but took control as soon as it could. He explained that when Catalyst liquidated its assets, the Apache Railway was acquired by an investment group whose desire was to liquidate the assets, including the railway within a year. He noted that it has been two years since the closing of Catalyst and the town continues working with the investment group, and federal, state and local entities to get the railway paid off.
“In the meantime, the railroad itself has migrated from a carrier hauling railway to car repair/car storage, which has been self-sustaining, which is a huge hurdle,” said Watson.
Cars are stored on behalf of BSNF, the main rail line, and Apache Railway gets paid to do so. It is certified to take cars in that need repair and has 100 cars in need of repair explained Watson, noting, “We continue to work on federal and other avenues to get the funding to keep the railway.”
In the last two months, Watson has met with representatives of six or seven different industries or organizations that are looking at the Snowflake area as a place to establish industry. “Some of those are moving fairly slowly, others of them are moving fairly quickly,” he said.
Watson noted that often we look at the big picture and forget other things that are happening, such as the pellet plant that has 20 to 30 employees, the moulding mill that employs 19 and the biomass plant, which is in full operation and has partnered with another trucking/log company to put in a mill that will be relocated from Eagar and employ 15 to 25 people.
The town manager said that he would rather have several smaller businesses than one large business, because if they leave the area, the industry goes with them.
Watson told the council that he spoke to a representative of another industry that day and felt that in the next two to three weeks, he would probably make some announcement, but gave no indication of who he spoke to or the type of business.
He also advised the council that the Snowflake and Taylor town managers, town attorneys and mayors met on Tuesday, Jan. 13, to review the intergovernmental agreement that will be the governing document for the joint fire/emergency services.
Watson said that a few minor changes were made, but there should be a final draft for review by both councils some time this week. “We are moving forward fairly quickly at this point,” he said.
In other business, Snowflake Fire Chief Pat Hancock brought emergency equipment, including the Jaws of Life, for display at the meeting. The equipment was purchased with a $66,000 grant. The town’s match was $3,311. He noted that an in-service on the equipment would be held on Saturday, Jan. 24.
