The mayor of Clearwater says “everything is gone” at the site of the Vavenby Mill which is now fully shut down.

Merlin Blackwell says the Canfor mill was closed for good about two weeks ago, after news came out in May that the mill would be shuttered this summer.

“The yard is completely clean. There’s a skeleton crew doing a little bit of cleanup, but it’s mostly security. Because it’s right next door to the Trans-Mountain pipe storage at the old Weyerhauser property. There’s a lot of activity in the area still, but as far as things are going for the Canfor mill at this point it is completely shut down and mothballed.”

He says people aren’t making purchases or going out and using local services as they start to deal with financial uncertainty.

“The trickle down impacts of the mill closure and people being laid off are noticeable everywhere. You see some guys in coffee shops that you haven’t seen out in daylight for years. And, summer holidays, so people are out there cautiously having a normal summer.”

More than 170 direct jobs were lost as a result of the Vavenby mill closure, which was the largest employer in the North Thompson.

Blackwell met with Forest Minister Doug Donaldson in person last week, and says he wanted to relay to him that the mill shutdown shows a shift in the economy and there are things that can be done in the short-term to soften the blow, and long-term to adjust to a changing environment for forest products.