PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners on Tuesday voted 3-0 to authorize the repayment of a $10 million state loan to build a Class A sewer and wastewater treatment facility in Carlsborg with the county’s rural economic development fund.
A financing package for the infrastructure project in the unincorporated urban growth area west of Sequim will give residents and business owners a sense of what it will cost to connect to the sewer.
“What this does is gives us flexibility in how we move forward in developing the costs for the individual property owners for this system,” said Commissioner Steve Tharinger, whose district covers the eastern third of Clallam County including Carlsborg.
The Clallam County Public Utility District — a partner in the project — received the $10 million Public Works Trust Fund Loan in May.
The PUD will operate the sewer if the county decides to build it.
The decision to open the county’s Opportunity Fund repay loan brings the project closer to fruition.
“I think it’s the right use of the Opportunity Fund — the rural economic development fund,” Tharinger said.
“I would hope there’s no question about the need for this infrastructure in Carlsborg that will give the property owners the options that they deserve.”
Carlsborg property owners have been limited in how they can use their land since 2008, when a state Growth Management Act hearings board ruled that the urban growth area was invalid and noncompliant with state law because it lacked adequate urban infrastructure or sewer financing.
The county has promoted a sewer to meet the requirements of the urban growth area to foster economic development and to prevent groundwater pollution from existing septic systems in the area’s shallow aquifer.
Carlsborg has been an urban growth area since 2000.
Vocal opponents of the project have asked the county to abolish the UGA and rezone the hamlet as rural.
Most opponents have cited unknown costs as their chief concern.
Tharinger, who was casting his final votes as a county commissioner on Tuesday, acknowledged the controversy in the decade-old issue.
“There’s been a lot of support out of the community, and maybe not as much support from other parts of the community,” he said.
“But we remain steadfast.”
Tharinger, who is also a state representative for the 24th District, did not seek a fourth term at the county.
The Opportunity Fund comes from a 0.09 percent state sales tax.
The state in 1998 dedicated the funds to rural counties that receive little sales tax revenue.
The money can be used for public infrastructure projects that lead to economic development.
Clallam County can use up to $450,000 per year, or about half, of the Opportunity Fund to repay the loan. The 0.5 percent interest loan has a five-year deferral.
In a related matter, the commissioners on Monday signed a letter to the city of Sequim thanking the city for reconsidering Carlsborg as a customer for the Sequim sewer system.
The letter said the county has decided to pursue the “inclusive Carlsborg option” because it will cost less and happen sooner, Tharinger said.
“At this time, it doesn’t look like it’s beneficial for us to pursue [the Sequim] option,” Tharinger told PUD commissioners in a Monday briefing.
The PUD is considering a proposed local utility district that would help pay for the $15 million to $17 million sewer infrastructure.
Tharinger said the Opportunity Fund “gives us quite a bit of flexibility in setting what the rates would be for hook up and operation and maintenance to both the industrial/commercial users and residential users.”
“In effect, I think that makes the LUD [local utility district] a moot issue,” Tharinger said.
“What this funding mechanism gives us is the flexibility to get to that price point, to address the economic development issue, the need for the infrastructure, and the groundwater piece.”
PUD Commissioner Will Purser said he would not sign the letter because it presupposes that there will be a sewer in Carlsborg.
“We started the LUD process that said a majority of participants in Carlsborg would have to agree to form the LUD,” Purser said.
“We’re trying to identify what this is going to cost a property owner.
“Until people in Carlsborg know what it’s going to cost them to connect and use this sewer system, they’re not going to agree to it.
“And if they don’t agree to it, then I guess I can’t agree to it.”
Tharinger said: “Obviously I’m not going to have a vote on this, but I think that for Clallam County, and I include the PUD in that, we need a sewer system in Carlsborg.”
The PUD commission agreed to send its own letter to Sequim about the project.
“I don’t want to be unreasonable, but I think we need to send a message that the PUD is not pushing this,” Purser said.
“We have the expertise, we are in the infrastructure utility business, and that’s the reason we’re at the table.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
