PORT ANGELES — Clallam County will not participate in a newly formed coalition to lobby the Legislature for sewer infrastructure in rural areas, the three commissioners decided Monday.
Instead, county officials will work directly with elected representatives to fund the operations and maintenance of county-owned sewer systems in Clallam Bay, Sekiu and eventually Carlsborg.
The cities of Port Angeles and Shelton have agreed to create a coalition to secure ongoing revenue for unfunded sewer mandates.
The group will lobby the state Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee for multi-year grants and educate state officials about the economic and environmental benefits of sewers in rural cities and counties, a memo states.
“I think it’s an affront to our legislators,” Commissioner Mike Chapman said.
State Reps. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim; Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim; and state Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, helped secure grants and a $10 million loan from the state Public Works Trust Fund for Clallam County’s long-planned project to treat Carlsborg wastewater.
“They’ve worked really hard for our sewer project,” Chapman said.
“I think it would be offensive for them to read in the newspaper that we were hiring a lobbyist to lobby them.”
Next spring, crews will break ground on a pump station off Carlsborg Road that will transmit waste from the unincorporated community to the existing sewer system in Sequim.
Sequim city officials also will consider signing up with the coalition.
It costs $500 for a city or county to participate for one year.
The Shelton-based coalition estimates that cities with populations of 25,000 or less will need more than $3.2 billion to satisfy sewer mandates in the next decade.
Clallam County’s small sewer systems in Clallam Bay and Sekiu will need major repairs in the next few years, officials have said.
Last year’s efforts
Last year, the sewer funding coalition identified a special fund for sewer grants, collected research and drew interest from about 60 rural cities and counties.
Chapman said he would be more inclined to join a lobbying effort led by the Washington State Association of Counties, which lobbies on behalf of the state’s 39 counties.
“This really looks like it’s a city-driven issue,” Chapman said.
“The fact that it spends a dime, one, I just can’t support a lobbyist.”
Doherty, too, expressed reservations about the county’s participation.
“Consultants promoted this,” Doherty said.
“Personally, I’m not big on these independent lobbying groups. They tend to grow, then they want new staff, then they’ll need an office.”
Elected officials are more effective in securing infrastructure funds than unelected lobbyists, Doherty said.
The 24th District delegation “really came to bat” for Clallam County when it was in danger of losing its funding for the Carlsborg sewer, Chapman said.
“We didn’t need a lobbyist,” he said.
“We needed good legislators who knew the issue and good staff who went down and met with them and Commissioner [Mike] Doherty’s efforts.”
After hearing from his fellow board members, Commissioner Jim McEntire suggested the effort be carried out by the state associations of cities and counties.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
