Deal for blighted Remco industrial site could transform Willits gateway

A defunct Willits industrial site that for decades was a toxic, lawsuit- generating eyesore is now a hot commodity.

Two organizations - the Skunk Train and a group of local developers - are vying to purchase a nearly 10-acre Main Street property located near the “Willits, Gateway to the Redwoods” arch and across from the Safeway shopping center.

“This is actually a really big deal. It’s a huge parcel that will affect the character of the town for years to come,” Willits City Councilwoman Holly Madrigal said.

Skunk Train general manager Robert Pinoli has the priority bid, which is in escrow, he said. He declined to divulge the price. The second-in-line bid is by the developers, who include Willits Mayor Bruce Burton, Madrigal said.

Both plan to retain and rehabilitate most of the property’s buildings, which requires the blessing of city officials under an agreement with the property’s federal court-appointed overseer, the Willits Environmental Remediation Trust. The city years ago had been promised the buildings would be torn down before the property could be sold, Madrigal said.

Most of the chemical and heavy-metal contamination generated by industrial uses has been removed from the property, but the trust will continue to be responsible for monitoring and controlling groundwater contamination on the property, she said. Trust officials could not be reached Friday.

The former Remco Hydraulics Inc. - founded by Willits industrialist Robert Harrah - was operated as an industrial machining and manufacturing business from approximately 1945 through 1995 and was once the city’s largest employer. A variety of hazardous chemicals were used at the site over the decades, but hexavalent chromium - used to electroplate hydraulic cylinders between 1963 and 1995 - generated the most health concerns and lawsuits. Hundreds of people sued over the contamination, claiming it made them sick.

PepsiAmericas, which inherited the toxic liabilities when it purchased companies that once owned the plant, settled with at least 300 plaintiffs for undisclosed amounts of money.

Pinoli said his purchase contract excludes any liability for the contamination.

Pinoli plans to move the Skunk Train’s existing Willits’ station into a section of the facility’s 180,000-square-foot warehouse, which would be rehabilitated and fronted by a new façade and landscaping. It also would house a large souvenir shop, a train maintenance area, a place to store engines and possibly a restaurant.

The Skunk Train, after years of financial woes, now is thriving and needs more space so it can expand services to meet increasing demand, Pinoli said.

Pinoli said he expects the improvements to cost about $2 million. It will be completed in stages with the expectation that the Willits station - the Skunk Train also has a Fort Bragg station at the other end of the line - will be operating from the new location in 2016.

“We’re excited about it,” Pinoli said. “We are going to be taking what is the gateway to the city, something that has been a blighted piece of property, and breathe new life into it.”

Neither Mayor Burton nor his main partner, Ed Mitchell, could be reached Friday, but Madrigal said their plans include housing a yet-to-be revealed brewery at the facility and a redwood furniture manufacturing facility. They also have said they would build a new Willits fire station on the property, then lease it to the fire department. Pinoli said he would consider making a similar offer to the department.

Because the city has some say in the matter, officials plan to host a public meeting to present the plans to city residents before July 28, when escrow closes, Madrigal said. She said she believes her fellow council members - minus Burton, who must recuse himself because of his financial interest - will support allowing the industrial building to stay.

“This is a really big impact on the town,” she said. “I would be thrilled to see either of these move forward,” she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.

Editor’s note: Robert Pinoli is general manager of the Skunk Train. An earlier version of this story accurately named him as an owner of the operation but did not include his title.