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An effort to redevelop the former Blue Heron Paper Co. mill site is moving ahead with input from its new owner.

Oregon City officials are working with George Heidgerken on small tweaks to a master plan developed by Portland-based Walker Macy, city planner Christina Robertson-Gardiner said. Heidgerken, a Tacoma, Wash.-based developer, in May purchased the 23-acre industrial property for $2.2 million.

The plan was designed to be flexible, and most of the changes are minor, Robertson-Gardiner said.

“We did this whole thing this whole year with no owner, so we had to cross our fingers,” she said. “So far, (the new owners) have a lot of the same big-picture vision as us. That’s been great.”

Public hearings will likely take place in September or October before the plan goes before the Planning Commission and City Council for approval, she said.

Meanwhile, Oregon City officials this summer are working closely with Metro on a preliminary easement that would allow for development of a bike and pedestrian path along the Willamette River through the site. With approval, Oregon City officials will start raising money to pay for design and construction.

The project would give the public access to Willamette Falls for the first time in decades, and potentially spur private development of the site, Robertson-Gardiner said.

“We know fundamentally there needs to be a catalytic project,” she said.

The city, via the Willamette Falls Legacy Project (), is continuing to inform the public about potential site redevelopment. Interest is high, and three public tours of the site scheduled for July 26 are sold out, Gardiner-Robertson said. More tours will take place Sept. 13 during the Willamette Falls Festival, she said.

University of Kansas student David Trimbach, a fellow of the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, is collecting surveys at and conducting interviews as part of a research project to assess the feasibility of forming an official community group to support site redevelopment. He said he has received 70 requests from people willing to be interviewed; he plans to issue his findings in August.

“The Willamette Falls Legacy Project is such a huge project, so the impact is enormous,” Trimbach said. “People are so excited about the project. They want to see something happen.”