PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles City Council will consider approval of a three-year lease of Rayonier Inc.’s large water tank on its 75-acre property on the Port Angeles waterfront when it meets Tuesday.
The regular session will be at 6 p.m., after a 5:30 p.m. special meeting conducted in executive session to consider selection of a person to fill the vacant seat on the Port Angeles Planning Commission.
The meetings will be in the council chambers at City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St.
The city intends to use Rayonier’s 5-million-gallon tank to prevent sewage from entering the harbor and Strait of Juan de Fuca through the city’s outflow pipes during periods of heavy rainfall.
The lease amount is not listed in the proposed agreement.
City Manager Kent Myers said last week that a few details will be finalized with Rayonier on Tuesday morning, but he declined to say if that includes how much the lease will cost.
The state Department of Ecology has ordered the city to nearly eliminate sewage overflow events per year after 2016.
The tank would store sewage during heavy rainfall events — when it would otherwise overflow into the harbor and strait — and then be drained into the city’s nearby water treatment plant.
The project is estimated to cost between $35 million and $42 million.
Ecology has loaned the city $10 million so far for the project.
The city is repaying the loans through $2-a-month increases in utility rates that have gone on for about four years and will last between 12 and 15 years more.
Public hearings
Two public hearings also will be held at the regular meeting.
One will be on changing the sewer connection charge for the Upper Golf Course Road sewer connection from $7,101.36 per connection to $1,964.20.
The other will be on expanding the city’s Web-based Geographic Information System at a cost of $65,000. This would be paid for with existing utility funds.
The upgrade would allow, among other things, better public access to most of the GIS information through a Web site link.
