Ten families still living in the 16 homes received eviction notices from Stimson on July 18, saying they must vacate the premises by Sept. 1. The company plans an “expansion of the stud mill log storage yard,” according to the letter. The residents would be allowed to rent other company-owned homes in the town if they wished.
The news came as a partial surprise to Ray Mavity, who lives in the three-bedroom No. 59 in the middle of the line of houses. He was packing belongings into moving boxes Tuesday afternoon.
“They told us these might be for sale toward the end of June,” Mavity said, looking at his letter. “But it takes a while for reality to set in. I've been here nine years. I've got to find new schools for my daughters. A lot of things are uncertain right now.”
The change is good news for the lifespan of the stud mill, according to mill manager Bill McKinley.
“Right now, the plans are to fill that area with logs,” McKinley said Tuesday. “We're going to increase that log yard maybe 25 (percent) or 30 percent. And some projects we're planning to do this summer and fall are efficiency projects inside the mill itself. It's a very positive development.”
The stud mill is at the north end of the Stimson compound, where the canyon along the Blackfoot River begins to narrow. The huge plywood mill log yard on the southern end is empty, but too far away to serve the stud mill.
“It just cost us too much to transfer the logs from one to the other,” McKinley said of using the existing southern yard. Delivery trucks will continue to use a gate at the northern end to bring timber to the stud mill. He did not expect it to affect traffic on the highway more than current operations do.
The demolition will involve a dozen houses on the highway and four on White House Lane, plus numerous garages, sheds and other outbuildings. McKinley said it is doubtful there's much salvage value in the buildings.
All buildings will be checked for asbestos and other hazardous materials before demolition. Four houses in the area were demolished last year in another log-yard expansion.
The two mills used to employ close to 1,000 hourly workers. Now the remaining stud mill has 110 employees. Mavity lost his job July 6, along with about 130 colleagues, when the plywood mill ran its last shift.
Stimson allowed laid-off workers to continue to rent the company homes, which cost between $300 and $500 a month for three- to five-bedroom homes.
Mavity is thinking about getting a commercial driver's license and becoming a truck driver.
“Going to the vo-tech isn't a good option for me,” he said. “I can't see how I can live off unemployment for two years.”
News of the evictions was upsetting to several Bonner residents who refused to identify themselves for fear of losing severance benefits or jobs at the mill. One longtime resident said it was essentially “pulling up Bonner's history.” The houses were built when the Anaconda Co. owned the mill around the turn of the last century, or as Mavity put it, “before electricity and indoor plumbing.”
Most of the homes are dilapidated and need extensive maintenance, other residents said, but they possess extensive memories. Large trees in the yards were planted by millworkers' children, which are now big enough to support tree houses.
Mavity's father's house was noticeable from the highway for years because of the collection of flowers and garden ornaments in the front yard.
“For a long time, I knew everybody,” Mavity said. “Then the layoffs started happening and I didn't any more. In a way, I'm kind of glad I'm getting out of here. I'm probably going to end up in the Bitterroot. I'm not sure where.”
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