By Matthew Nash
Olympic Peninsula News Group
SEQUIM — There appears to be a lot more sewer talk among Sequim city staff members in the months and years to come.
City staff are considering adding a new employee for the 2018 budget to oversee Clallam County’s Carlsborg Sewer Project and eventually a system connected to the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe in Blyn.
Sequim City Council members will discuss managing the Carlsborg project in a work session with Clallam County commissioners at 5 p.m. Monday, July 31, at the Sequim Civic Center, 152 W. Cedar St.
Sequim Public Works Director David Garlington said the purpose of that meeting is about the city handling operations and management for the $9.22 million Carlsborg system, which transports residents’ wastes via piping into city limits.
“We would treat the county-owned equipment as our own equipment,” he said.
“We’d pass all of our costs on to the county as well as charge an overhead allocation of 25 percent.”
Garlington said at the council meeting July 10 that representatives of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe indicated they want to connect to the city’s sewer treatment plant, similar to the Carlsborg Sewer Project, as soon as possible.
Annette Nesse, chief operating officer for the tribe, said it’s something the tribe has discussed for years and now it is shooting to connect tentatively to the city by the third quarter of 2019.
“As the tribe has continued to grow, we’ve taken the opportunity to analyze wastewater and water needs, and we did a utility master plan analysis for wastewater,” she said.
The tribe considered a system on-site but opted for connecting to Sequim, Nesse said.
A tentative connection would run from the tribe’s northern campus along U.S. Highway 101 and onto Whitefeather Way in city limits, she said.
Nesse said the project tentatively would cost about $7.5 million. The tribe would seek a long-term loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Before anything moves forward, though, she said the tribe will need a right of way from the Department of Transportation, a sewer agreement with the city of Sequim and proper county approval as well.
“We are continuing to coordinate with the city similarly to what the county has done,” Nesse said.
As for the proposed sewer position, Garlington said if approved, the full-time employee would start in July 2018, making it in effect half-time for the city’s budget next year.
He said city staff are looking at planned retirements in public works and filling those needs along with considering this new position.
If council members and county commissioners do want to partner on maintenance, Garlington said the employee would only clean and maintain equipment and not interface with county residents about the sewer.
Garlington said managing the Carlsborg system “will be tight because we don’t have a lot of excess employees.”
“If we do need more hours, it’ll be logged and billed to the county,” he said. “If they have a problem with hours, then we’ll sit down with them.”
For more information on the Carlsborg sewer system, visit www.clallam.net/publicworks/Carlsborg Sewer.html.
To reach the city of Sequim, call 360-683-4139; for Clallam County commissioners, call 360-417-2233.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
