NORDLAND — None of the 410 protests to an island-wide public water system on Marrowstone Island has been verified because of the Easter weekend, and officials who will decide the fate of the $4.4 million plan differ about how they want to proceed.
The issue is further clouded by state law that leaves the Jefferson County Public Utility District in the position of having to make an arbitrary decision.
Two PUD commissioners reached Friday and Saturday offered opposite points of view about what decision the three-member board should make.
The third, realizing he is the swing vote on the issue, said he’ll wait until the next PUD commissioners’ meeting to make his view known.
The water system issue is heightened by the fact that many privately owned wells are fouled by saltwater intruding into them.
Commissioners Dana Roberts, Wayne King and David Sullivan have several public water system options to choose from, including:
* Approval of the island-wide system as proposed.
* Denial of the current plan.
* Reducing the boundaries of the proposed local utility district for public water only to areas where it has the strongest support.
State law, which says a majority of the parcels have to protest in order to defeat the proposed local utility district, puts the decision in the commissioners’ hands.
The law doesn’t automatically approve the system if the majority isn’t reached.
