Canton mayor 'cautiously optimistic' about potential buyer of mill site

May 15—Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers believes the town can find common ground with a potential buyer of the paper mill site.

Pactiv Evergreen announced Wednesday afternoon that it has chosen Spirtas Worldwide from more than 30 interested buyers for the mill site and has now entered exclusive negotiations with the demo-and-redevelopment firm.

Upon learning of the buyer's agreement, Smathers got on the phone with the owner and founder of Spirtas, Eric Spirtas.

"I am cautiously optimistic that Mr. Spirtas understands the importance of doing right by the people of Haywood County — those who are here now and also honoring those who came before," Smathers said. "I believe a prosperous future of Canton can be built, but it has to coincide with what the people of Haywood County want, and I think he understands that."

Smathers said it was a promising "starting point" of the conversation. But he also expressed caution.

"It is important for everyone to understand, this is not a done deal. This is the start of a process. It is a big swing," Smathers said.

Smathers said Eric Spirtas contacted him promptly after Pactiv Evergreen shared the news with town officials in a briefing Wednesday afternoon.

"He texted me and I called immediately," Smathers said. "It was a good conversation. I was very clear, and I think he understood that this cannot be another project. This is our home and we need to work together and listen to the people of Haywood County on the next best steps."

Smathers said the conversation covered a lot of ground, including the fate of the Lake Logan dam, the wastewater treatment system, the company's landfill and the importance of honoring the mill's history in the community.

"We talked about a lot of high level issues," Smathers said. "I think he understands that the importance lies not just in what's next for that site for the people here, but honoring the ones who came before us. It's not a good idea for everything to come down, there's a lot of history down there. And I think there's a lot of reuses for down there, but that's something we'll work with him on. I just want to establish, Mayor to owner, the importance of doing right by our people."

While there's been a lot of talk about the next chapter in the mill story, Smathers said it is important to remember Evergreen still has responsibilities for which they will have to answer.

"This is the beginning of a new chapter, but Evergreen is going to still be held to what they legally have to be held to," Smathers said."I've always known, as many others have, that Evergreens always wanted to transfer the liabilities down there. I think there are groups like Spirtas that have experience in managing and mitigating those. That's important to us, obviously, but also that is not a situation where Evergreen is going to be able to hand the ball off and not be responsible for what they did."

As to what happens next, Smathers cautioned it will take time.

"This is the start of a process. This is not a done deal," he emphasized. "I'm treating this as due diligence. We play a role in that, the state plays a role in it. There's a lot of questions to be asked, and they're going to ask us a lot of questions."

Smathers said that all we can do is corporate, ask questions and work through issues that arise.

"Again, this is Evergreen's call just like closing was. And we are now dealt the results of that decision, but we are not going to change anything with the desires we have and we are going to keep advocating to see that through," Smathers said.

Even though the property may soon be in the hands of a demolition and redevelopment company, Smathers said he has not given up hope the site can be home to manufacturing in some form or fashion.

"I still see that site as an economic furnace. I think everything is possible. I want every job replaced down there and more," Smathers said. "There's so many unknowns right now. But I always see there's a ton of potential across the board at that site."

After his conversation Wednesday, Smathers said he felt Spiritas shared that view.

"I don't want to promise false hope," he said. "We are still heartbroken and suffering through very difficult times. This did nothing to fill the $1 million hole in our budget. I won't sleep any better tonight than I have for the last 365 nights."