PORT ANGELES — The city’s attorney says he is hopeful that the purchase of a large tank and about 12 acres of land from Rayonier Inc. will be finished this week.
Bill Bloor, Port Angeles city attorney, said he will meet with Rayonier representatives Tuesday to try to finish the deal.
Staff members were previously hoping to wrap the purchase by the end of August.
City Manager Kent Myers said that date was “more of a target” than anything, and that the delay won’t affect the city’s timeline for resolving its sewage overflow problem.
The 5-million-gallon tank would be used to temporarily store untreated sewage and storm water that would otherwise overflow into Port Angeles Harbor during heavy rainfall.
The state Department of Ecology is requiring the city to resolve the problem by 2016.
The city and Rayonier have agreed that the tank and 11.86 acres of land at its former mill site in east Port Angeles would be sold for $995,000, but the final agreement has not been negotiated.
The purchase would give the city room to expand its waste water treatment plant, located adjacent to the property, in the future.
The City Council agreed to those terms at its Aug. 17 meeting. The council also gave staff the authority to sign the agreement without bringing it back for final approval as long as the price didn’t change — along with a stipulation that the city would not have to pay for cleanup of the property.
Staff members said they needed that authority because waiting to bring it back to the council may put the city behind schedule.
Bloor and Myers declined to say what has held up negotiations.
The city estimates that the sewage overflow project will cost between $38 million to $42 million.
It must average no more than one overflow at each of its four outfalls a year to comply with Ecology’s standards.
Approximately 32 million gallons of untreated effluent is dumped in the harbor every year.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
