PORT ANGELES — Clallam County will tap into a $9.5 million pool of state money earmarked for rural communities in a bid to upgrade the aging sewer system that serves Clallam Bay and Sekiu.
Instead of applying for the $100,000 minimum to widen and repave the area around the Clallam County Housing Authority, county officials decided Monday to apply for the maximum allocation — up to $1.2 million– to fund the much-needed and long-awaited sewer project on the West End.
Since a county can only apply for one project in the Small Communities in Rural Counties grant, Clallam County will seek another source of funding for the smaller paving project.
“We only get one request, and we figured there’s a lot of different ways we can do that (paving project),” County Administrator Jim Jones said in the commissioners’ work session.
“This is probably the only way we can get this money for the sewer.”
The total award for the non-matching, two-year grant is listed between $750,000 and $1.2 million.
If approved, Clallam County would correct the inflow and infiltration problems and upgrade the pump systems of the aging sewer.
An upgraded sewer would cut the inflow and infiltration by an estimated 30 percent to 50 percent.
“This is a project for which we would be excavating sewer lines in trenches that have been previously excavated, so archeological issues aren’t really going to be there,” County Engineer Bob Martin said.
Martin added that the project could begin “reasonably quickly.”
Public works projects in the grant are intended to create construction jobs and long-term employment opportunities in small communities.
The three commissions on Monday amended their agenda for today’s board meeting to include a supplement with the state Department of Transportation obligating $871,416 for the Deer Park safety improvement project.
The money will be used to negotiate right of way for the proposed underpass of U.S. Highway 101 near Buchanan Drive east of Port Angeles.
County officials changed the original proposal to build an overpass at the location, selecting an underpass instead.
Since U.S. Highway 101 would span the proposed county road, which would be dug beneath the current highway grade, county officials are referring to the underpass as an over-crossing.
A public hearing on the new proposal is planned but has not been set.
Ross Tyler, Clallam County engineer, said he is in discussions with Lakeside Industries Inc. to minimize the affect of an upcoming closure for asphalt work on a 300-foot section of N. Brooke Ave. — one of the busy access roads to the Safeway store and adjoining strip mall at 2709 E. Highway 101.
A date for the closure has not been set.
Tyler said the closure will last a maximum of 12 hours, but will likely take half that long.
Lakeside will advertise the closure with a big sign posted at the site three days in advance of the closure, Tyler said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
