For full article see Herald and News, April 13, 2016
MERRILL – Progress is being made on a Dollar General store off of Highway 39 in Merrill as well as a proposal to construct a more than 60-acre solar farm near the town.
The store is scheduled to be finished in May if everything goes according to plan, said Dick Carleton, a city councilor and planning commission member for the city of Merrill. Workers from Kinsman Construction in Klamath Falls continued work on the building on Tuesday during a respite from the spring rain.
“It doesn’t take long to put up that type of building,” Carleton said. “The original plan called for 100 days but they got held up on the front end of it because of the weather.
“It’s going to bring six to 10 jobs,” Carleton added.
It isn’t the only development on the horizon for Merrill.
Proposed solar farm
The city of Merrill has also held two public hearings on a proposed 67-acre solar farm northeast of Merrill, and will hold a consultation meeting Wednesday night.
Origis Energy USA, based in Miami, is proposing to have approximately 3,800 solar panels constructed that the company says would generate enough solar power for 1,400 homes, electricity that would be sold to Pacific Power. The proposal has not been finalized but is currently in the permitting process. The firm said the project’s construction could generate 100 to 200 onsite jobs but it was unclear as of press time if the jobs would be from local contractors, according to a power-point presentation document from the firm.
Origis Energy also detailed plans to hold a job fair in Merrill prior to the project. The firm estimated $8 million could be generated locally from the project utilizing services in engineering, surveying, environmental, administrative and hotels and restaurants during the construction process.