A lot of changes are happening around Philomath with a new street behind the elementary school, a new bike lane on Applegate Street and of course the new look to the downtown.
But what about businesses that are coming and going? As the city manager, Chris Workman has a pretty good handle on what’s happening with relocations, new establishments and properties for sale. As the old saying goes — well, at least since the 2010s — Philomath is open for business.
“There’s definitely a buzz — there’s a lot of activity, a lot of excitement about what’s going on,” Workman said.
Let’s start with Philomath Pharmacy. The owners are planning to move to a different part of town with the construction of a new building on the corner of Applegate Street and South 11th Street.
“That’s a vacant lot right now and that’ll be turned into a new very nice-looking building,” Workman said. “It’s going to look great — the drawings are terrific.”
The drive-through pharmacy has been very successful in its current location at 1640 Main St. but there can be challenges with space if a long line of cars forms.
“The new building’s been designed so that they can get a few more cars in the queue and they’re not spilling out onto the highway,” Workman said.
Access to the new Philomath Pharmacy will be off South 11th.
“They’re very excited about the new building and we’re thrilled to have them building and becoming a property owner in town instead of just a tenant,” Workman said. “We’re excited for them and for that project to be moved forward.”
In the middle of town at 1219 Applegate St., the complex that was formerly occupied by Philomath Family Medicine remains on the market.
“It’s actively being listed and there’s no intent to hang onto that for a couple of years or have it sit empty,” Workman said. “Several people have looked at it.”
The location where Sissi’s Donuts had been located on North 13th Street is also on the market.
“That building’s up for sale and I’ve talked to several potential buyers, I’ve talked to several potential tenants,” Workman said.
The city manager receives a good number of calls from people interested in locating a business in Philomath to share ideas, learn more about the area and to ask questions on things like zoning and building permits.
Folks are probably noticing the building going up on Main Street between 15th and 16th (next door to the Fir Country Cottage rental). Workman said the business going in will host special events (think bridal or baby showers) with a wine-tasting piece to it. There is also a drive-through coffee shop planned down the road (lot next to the old Myrtlewood building) to give Philomath another caffeine option.
Elsewhere, as reported earlier this year, the Benton County Schools Credit Union plans to build a 3,400-square-foot structure on the corner of South Seventh and Applegate. The branch is currently working out of a building on South 19th.
“They’re building their own building and becoming a landlord themselves,” Workman said. “They’re adding additional square footage … so they’ll have a space that they can rent out to another business owner. So that’ll be a nice addition to the west end of town. It’s going to be a beautiful building.”
Of course, there was also the recent big news of Timberlab’s plans for the former Interfor sawmill and planing mill locations on Industrial Way and near the Highway 20/34 intersection. The company’s president told me early this week that the location of a new cross-laminated timber (CLT) facility will be located within a 25-mile radius of Philomath — that announcement is apparently coming Feb. 3.
Dirt Road Brewing on the corner of Main and 13th is expanding its operation to not only accommodate more customers but to move his brewery onto the site. Eats & Treats on Main Street remains up for sale — that’s not only a restaurant but also includes a mill that produces and ships gluten-free dry mixes.
2. Local government meeting with the public
This past year, Philomath City Council members started hosting what it called Councilor Coffee — an opportunity for the public to chat with their city representatives on a designated Saturday at the local coffee spot.
Those continued through the winter and into the spring until the council moved its accessibility event to the Philomath Farmers’ Market.
Meanwhile, Philomath School Board member Sandi Hering wanted to arrange an opportunity for the public to meet with them. I believe a listening session type of event may have occurred back in May.
Now, City Council and School Board members appear to be joining together for a meet-and-greet opportunity. So, those who may not want to approach one of these entities in the formal setting of a meeting can communicate with their representatives face-to-face. It appears as though a county commissioner may also be at the table.
The School Board’s Sandi Hering and the City Council’s Christopher McMorran shared details at a recent meeting. They’ve scheduled one for 9-11 a.m. Oct. 12 at Timber Towne Coffee.
“That’s the plan — to have some City Council representation, county commissioner representation and the School Board and I’ll put out something to the fire board to see if they’re interested,” McMorran said.
McMorran said the idea evolved out of the Councilor Coffee events as well as a discussion with Hering.
“County Commissioner Pat Malone had reached out to just join one of them and I was talking to Sandi earlier and I was like, wait a minute, idea,” McMorran said. “What if we also got the School Board and just kind of turned it into a one-stop shop for any community members that wants to chat local government.”
In these past few years since COVID, I’ve noticed public meeting attendance has significantly dwindled. Perhaps people are watching online or maybe interest in such matters is no longer a priority with a trust in the officials they elected to handle the matters at hand. A crowd will gather if something with an element of controversy is going on — for example, a recent public hearing about an annexation and rezoning issue drew a bit of a group.
Beyond the meetings, there are folks who reach out to board members and city councilors via email with concerns or questions. Situations apparently come up with folks writing to the wrong representative.
“There’s a lot of people that come to the city for a county issue or come to the school district for a city issue and you know, it’s nice if we’re all just sitting around the same table. Then we don’t have to tell people to email someone else,” McMorran said, providing an example of why the event might be beneficial to the public.
By the way, based on the Oregon Department of Justice’s Public Records and Meetings Manual, it appears that if a quorum of one of the participating organizations shows up at such an event, it would not be a violation of the state’s public meetings law as long as no deliberations or decisions are made and they avoid crossing over that line during the gathering.
Still, I’d be cautious if there are any situations when a governmental council or board gets together with enough members for a quorum. Actually, I’ve always appreciated the Benton County Board of Commissioners online calendar, which includes events of any kind that may have two or more commissioners in attendance.
Time will tell if the idea takes hold and all involved find it to be beneficial.
Said McMorran, “Worst case is no one shows up and we just get to have a great time and catch up with each other.”
3. More online news sites publishing public notices
For those who follow Philomath News, you may have noticed that we are now publishing public notices for the City of Philomath, the Philomath School District and a few other governmental entities. The Hoskins-Kings Valley Rural Fire Protection District, Philomath Fire and Rescue board and Mount Union Cemetery Association have also purchased public notices with us. The Alsea School District has stated that it will publish notices with us this coming school year.
For Philomath News, this started back in 2023 when we were designated as the newspaper of record by the city for publishing its public notices. (I wrote about it in a past column). The state legislature’s approval of House Bill 3167 and the governor’s signature opened up the publishing of public notices to online-only news sites as long as specific criteria were met.
The result is needed revenue for news operations trying to serve smaller cities and more visibility to the targeted audience for the participating entities.
The Yachats News recently published a piece about how it’s now publishing public notices. Publisher Quinton Smith put together a nice explanation of the process that illustrates the importance of this move for his region.
As Smith wrote, some local governments have been hesitant to move to online-only public notice publishing because of some unclear language in the 2023 legislation. For those publishing with Philomath News, their own attorneys have reviewed the revised law and come to their own conclusions that it is legal. It appears as though the legislature may revisit the issue again in 2025.
Besides Philomath and the Yachats News, other online news sites publishing public notices include the Ashland News and Salem Reporter.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
