CARLSBORG — The long-awaited Carlsborg sewer and water treatment plant could be up and running by late 2012 or early 2013, a consulting engineer told Clallam County commissioners Monday.
The county has budgeted $4 million to build the $15 million sewer system. The rest will come from grants and assessments to property owners who decide to tap in.
“We’re not going to put up those dollars unless we have public support,” Commissioner Steve Tharinger said.
Clallam County Public Utilities District No.1 will own and manage the facility after it is built.
John Wilson, an engineer with Seattle-based BHC Consultants, provided background, cost estimates and funding strategies for the project Monday.
No action was taken in a lengthy commissioners’ work session.
“The funding is still a little loose,” Tharinger said. “We need to tighten that up.”
He said there is a good chance the county will find grants or a low-interest loans to pay for the project. A sewer in Carlsborg has been in the works since 2006.
Local utility district
This summer, the three PUD commissioners will consider adopting a local utility district that defines the boundaries where the assessments will be made.
The PUD has the task of making assessments to determine how much each property owner would pay to use the sewer.
“It’s a complicated assessment process that the PUD is going to have to assemble,” Wilson said.
Costs to property owners remain unclear until the funding sorts itself out.
“These are all conceptual, preliminary estimates,” Wilson said. “Somewhere in the next several months, some decisions are going to have to be made.”
Depending on how much funding is available, a typical homeowner would pay between $170 and $120 per month to use the sewer system.
The county may apply for a loan through the Public Works Trust Fund of the state Department of Commerce to be paid over 30 years at 0.5 percent interest.
Another loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Administration would be paid at 33âÑ8 percent over 40 years, with a possible grant covering 30 percent of the cost.
Planners in the Clallam County Department of Community Development are reviewing a draft sewer facilities plan, which will likely be adopted next month and submitted to the state Department of Ecology for approval.
Near Carlsborg Road
A main trunk for the yet-to-be designed sewer will run north and south somewhere near Carlsborg Road. The water treatment facility and percolation basin will be built near Runnion and Carlsborg roads.
The treated Class A water would then filter from the percolation basin into Matriotti Creek to recharge the aquifer.
An estimated 170 to 200 customers are expected on the initial hook-up.
“I’m close to saying, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,'” Commissioner Mike Chapman said.
But before the county commits $2 million for the permits and project design, Chapman, Tharinger and Commissioner Mike Doherty said all will gauge public support at the PUD hearings on the sewer district.
Wilson provided a map showing strong support on the north and south ends of the sewer system, with virtually no support in the Alta Vista neighborhood near the center of the main trunk.
Carlsborg residents and business owners who use a septic system could tap into the sewer if their on-site septic system were to fail.
An earlier proposal for Carlsborg to tap into Sequim’s sewer system may also come back to the table. That alternative was scratched last year because of higher costs.
But with new leadership in the Sequim City Hall, the county and PUD will consult with the city.
“It would be useful to see what they suggest,” Wilson said.
Plan in place
The county needs to have sewer or sewer plan in place for the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area to comply with the Growth Management Act. The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board declared the area noncompliant with the 1990 legislation in April 2008.
That distinction prevents some industrial and residential landowners from developing on their property.
County planners said the sewer system will help bring the urban growth area into compliance with the law.
The county will hold a public hearing June 15 to extend interim zoning controls for Carlsborg, which will expire July 1.
Temporary zoning is keeping the county in line with the Growth Management Act while the sewer project gets off the ground.
Of the estimated total cost to build the sewer facility, the collection system itself accounts for $7.75 million. The treatment facility will cost another $5.2 million, and the reuse system would account for about $2 million.
According to the latest timeline, the county expects to finish the design and permitting phase in the mid-2011 with construction beginning late next year.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
