PORT ANGELES — Clallam County is partnering with the Flaura’s Acres homeowners’ association to apply for grants to replace the community’s failing septic system.
Flaura’s Acres is a patch of unincorporated Clallam County surrounded by Sequim that has 54 single-family residences, according to its homeowners association website (HOA).
“[The septic system] is in significant danger of failure,” Commissioner Mark Ozias told convened individuals during the county’s Monday work session.
The septic’s conveyance system needs to be replaced, and the drain field is old and failing with no backup, Ozias said.
Janine Reed, a county environmental health specialist, said those issues already are causing sewage to leak into the groundwater.
The most current project estimate predicts it will cost just less than $2 million, although Sequim Public Works Director Paul Bucich said a cost update is needed.
The HOA already has developed a design for the sewer replacement project with funding obtained from the Clallam Conservation District.
The state Department of Commerce (DOC) has been working with the Flaura’s Acres HOA to identify funding sources that could be used to replace the septic system.
However, to apply for the identified funding sources, the HOA needs an eligible entity to apply for the funding on its behalf.
Because the area is not part of Sequim, the city is not positioned to fill that role, Ozias said.
“That leaves the county,” he said. “Obviously, this is not something that the county would love to be focusing on at this point, but it’s, if not an emergency, very close to it.”
One funding source the county is looking at is a state Department of Ecology joint grant and loan. The application window for the program closes in October.
After it reviews the applications, Ecology will publish its offer list in mid-January, according to Cynthia Fuller, a small communities initiative project manager for DOC. The final offer list would come out July 1.
The county would be able to withdraw its application at any time, with no backlash.
“There really is no risk to just applying,” Fuller said.
While waiting to hear from Ecology, Ozias said the county could use that time to figure out the details of how the loan portion could be repaid.
One option would be to create a local improvement district in Flaura’s Acres, he said.
“There would be plenty of time to understand if we could put a district together and how we could go through the process of doing that,” he said.
The ultimate goal would be to get the houses in the neighborhood connected to the Sequim city sewer, Ozias said.
If the sewer, water and roads can all be brought up to city standards, Bucich said the area could potentially be incorporated into Sequim.
Bucich said the Flaura’s Acres’ water system is old and has no water hydrants, so it would have to be redone.
If the HOA elects to replace the water system at the same time it is replacing the sewer system, the county also could apply on behalf of the HOA for a DOC Community Development Block Grant (CGBG), CDBG section manager Jon Galow said.
That grant could potentially be used to replace the loan portion of Ecology’s offer, Galow said.
The county’s next steps include working with the HOA to apply for the Ecology funding before the application window closes in October.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
