QUILCENE — Anne Ricker was glad on Wednesday night to see a Jefferson County Public Utility District water system in this economically challenged community’s future after more than 10 years of trying.
And that future could arrive as soon as late 2006, utility district officials said.
“Over the years, about 30 businesses haven’t been able to locate here because we didn’t have the water,” said Ricker, co-owner of a Quilcene coffee stand and a former Quilcene-Brinnon Chamber of Commerce president.
Now there’s a chance to turn that around, said Ricker, who along with retired Quilcene resident Bob Henderson started and finished efforts to press government leaders for a piped water system along the U.S. Highway 101 business corridor.
The system will replace benzene-tainted wells around Quilcene’s commercial core on Highway 101.
The utility district water system becomes a reality after the U.S. Forest Service, represented Wednesday by Quilcene Ranger District ranger Dean Yoshina, handed over to Jefferson County Public Utility District commissioners its existing system adjacent to the Highway 101 ranger station and visitor center.
