By Andru McCracken


Raj Basran at his mill / 2015 file photo

BKB Cedar has re-opened. Owner Raj Basran said that getting the mill running took everything they had and then some.

“It’s a pretty big investment for us,” he said.

Its first day of operation, March 1st, wasn’t flawless.

“We’re close, but we’re not actually running yet,” said Basran.

He said a conveyor belt was frozen to the ground and prevented work from getting started.

“We didn’t even think about all that until we applied power to it,” he said. “The motor would turn, but the belt didn’t want to go. There are a lot of little things like that showing up.”

Basran said the main part of the mill is running fine.

“It’s just a matter of getting everything else all around it,” he said.

Basran is starting with a crew of six people.

The mill has been closed since a 2017 fire put it out of commission.