PORT ANGELES — The City Council agreed Tuesday to buy a large tank on Rayonier’s former mill site and a portion of the property for $995,000, even though a purchase agreement had not been drafted.
The council’s vote of 6-1 — with council member Max Mania opposing the move — allows city staff to complete a purchase agreement with Rayonier Properties LLC, which includes the 11.86 acres of land around the 5-million-gallon structure, without coming back to the council for final approval.
The move gives the city a way to resolve its sewage overflow problem and room for expansion of its waste water treatment plant next to the 75-acre property.
The city will use the tank to temporarily store untreated sewage and storm water that would otherwise overflow into Port Angeles Harbor during heavy rainfall.
It would help the city come into compliance with a state Department of Ecology mandate that the city allows no more than one overflow at each of its four sewage outfalls a year beginning in 2016.
No finalized agreement
Staff did not have the finalized agreement available for council review because the terms of agreement for a purchase — which includes a commitment from Rayonier that the city will be indemnified for the environmental cleanup of the land — were not sorted out between the city and the company until Monday, said City Attorney Bill Bloor while apologizing for the position the council was put in.
But he urged the council could not wait because the city must have ownership of the tank by the end of the month to remain on schedule with complying with Ecology’s mandate.
A document may not be finalized for another two weeks, and that put the city at risk of missing that deadline if it was brought back to the council, he said.
Bloor also said the terms of the agreement, also approved by the council Tuesday, will not be changed.
Those terms give the city the property and rights of way it needs to use the tank and keeps it from paying for cleanup of the land.
Mayor Dan Di Guilio and City Council member Cherie Kidd expressed concerns with not having the document ready, but supported the move due to the need to have ownership by the end of the month.
“We’re up with our backs against the wall,” Kidd said.
Mania maintained his opposition against the use of the tank.
Mania said the city should look at other options, such as mandating the disconnect of roof drains from the sewer system and forms of development that prevent water run off.
“In my mind, the idea of using the Rayonier tank is an outdated business-as-usual approach,” he said.
“Prevention is always better than treatment,” he added.
Public comment
Three people spoke during public comment either against the use for the tank or encouraged the city to reduce overflows by focusing on disconnecting storm water from the sewer system and promoting “low-impact development.”
Darlene Schanfald of the Olympic Environmental Council, who has been a frequent critic of the plan, said that the solution is too shortsighted and doesn’t fully resolve the sewage overflow issue.
She encouraged the council to look for other solutions, including the reuse of storm water rather than just treatment.
“You have the chance to be leaders, to join others in Washington state, the nation and the world,” she said, “to recycle rain water, to naturally clean storm water, beautify the area by using sustainable methods, to be a role model on how much you can educate its public using long-term sustainable storm water handling methods.”
City Manager Kent Myers promoted the use of the tank as an economical and expedient way to meet Ecology’s deadline.
“The use of the tank is the method that is most beneficial to the harbor and has the least expense to our citizens,” he said.
Myers also said the city is beginning to further promote its discount for homes that disconnect downspouts from the sewer system.
He also said it prevents new roof drains from connecting to the sewers.
The city was expecting the Harbor-Works Development Authority to acquire the tank for it.
The city decided to move for acquisition of the tank itself when became clear earlier this summer that negotiations between Rayonier and the public development authority for a sale of the former mill site began to falter.
While city staff say the tank is not large enough to prevent every overlfow, it is expected to put the city in compliance with Ecology’s mandate.
Price tag
The city estimates the total price tag of that solution will be about $38 million to $42 million.
Steve Sperr, city deputy engineering director, has said disconnecting the stormwater pipes and roof downspouts from the sewer system would cost about $80 million to $90 million.
City utility customers are paying a $10.25 per month fee to cover the costs of the sewage overflow project. That rate, established about five years ago, will increase about $2 a year until 2015. But utility customers will pay the fee for another 20 years.
Approximately 32 million gallons of untreated effluent is dumped in the harbor ever year.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
