SEQUIM — A long-planned project for the City of Sequim to drill a new, deeper well — Silberhorn Deep Well No. 4 — is anticipated to start next week, depending on the contractor’s schedule, city staff said.
The $3.8 million, two-phase project includes drilling the well up to 600 feet below the Dr. Standard Little League Park between the T-ball fields closest to Silberhorn Road.
It will include a new municipal water supply well and a motor control center with pipelines to connect to the existing water distribution system.
According to Sequim’s 2022 Water System Preliminary Plan for 2023-2032, the city’s water system includes four sources with three active for daily supply.
The Silberhorn Wellfield has seen two wells with decreasing capacity, city staff previously said, so the deeper well will help balance the pressure in the overall system, improve water quality and meet forecasted water demands through 20 years.
In December, Sequim City Council members approved a first-phase digging contract with Holt Services Inc. of Edgewood worth $598,623 with a 10 percent contingency. The company was the only bidder.
Construction was set to begin in late January, but associate engineer Austin Wagner said in an interview that Holt had some delays with its current project, and it hopes to begin drilling the week of Feb. 12.
Public works director Sarah VanAusdle said construction on phase 1 is anticipated to be completed in mid-May with a short stoppage in April for material design and procurement.
Phase 2 would begin sometime in 2025, staff said.
The city received a 20-year loan from the Washington State Public Works Board at a 1.39 percent interest rate to cover the project. Staff report it will be repaid at $275,000 annually from water revenues.
When construction begins, it’ll take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. City staff ask residents to avoid the park and heed construction signs and park closure signs.
Staff are coordinating with Sequim Little League to have minimal impact on the upcoming season, they said.
Paving for the first phase of the park’s main parking lot led by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe was completed by Lakeside Industries the first week of February after delays due to inclement weather.
For more information about the project, call Sequim’s Public Works Department at 360-683-5062.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
