PORT ANGELES — After Sequim School Board members asked for an indefinite extension to connect Greywolf Elementary School to the Carlsborg Sewer Project, Clallam County commissioners considered whether an update of the project’s ordinance is needed instead.

Starting April 2, the permit review fee based on equivalent residential units (ERUs) for each sewer connection went from $1,500 each to $8,000 each.

For the school district, that’s a difference between $24,000 prior to April 2 for its 16 sewer lines and now $128,000 minus construction costs. Previously, school district maintenance staff estimate construction could run $200,000 to $250,000, so to connect could cost the district upward of $378,000.

School Board members Brian Kuh, Robin Henrikson and Jim Stoffer attended the commissioners’ March 25 work session to see if an extension was a possibility.

“Failure of the Greywolf system is on the horizon,” Kuh, the board’s president, said. “We don’t know when. What we’re here to ask is if there’s the ability to receive the discounted amount for an indefinite amount of time. The district does not have a specific amount [of time] in mind. Frankly, there are conflicting priorities in terms of expenses in the district.”

Kuh said finishing installation of new portables was a priority last fall along with demolishing the Sequim Community School when they began discussions about connecting Greywolf to Carlsborg’s sewer system.

“Those [projects] are all part of a new discussion as to what’s next for the district,” he said. “We have approximately $4 [million]-$5 million in critical infrastructure needs. A punctuated need I can point to is the middle school needs a new roof. That’s a sizable expense.”

However, an extension wasn’t possible for the school district without submitting a permit review fee of $24,000 for its 16 ERUs, said Clallam Civil Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Stanley.

“The only way under the ordinance as it’s currently written [to maintain the rate] is to get the permit in before April 1,” she said.

Meggan Uecker, Clallam County solid waste coordinator, told commissioners that once a permit is issued, it lasts four months and the director of Public Works can issue an extension, if needed.

She said Greywolf could potentially be the system’s biggest customer if it were to connect.

Under the ordinance, the school would need to hook up to the system if its septic system failed, a new building with sewer connections was constructed, or if the state Department of Ecology determined the property’s groundwater nitrate level was too high.

Multiple county staff members said updating the ordinance quickly wasn’t possible and it brings in issues of fairness to those who already connected at a discounted rate.

“[Updating the ordinance] is not a small undertaking,” Uecker said.

County Engineer Ross Tyler said commissioners have the ability to modify the ordinance.

He said new options for residents to connect to Clallam Public Utility Distirct’s water service could create new customers too if deadlines were extended.

County Commissioner Mark Ozias said there are a number of factors that could lead them to review the Carlsborg Sewer Project’s ordinance.

“It makes sense to me, generally speaking, to do that from time to time,” he said.

Fellow Commissioner Randy Johnson noted there were a lot of unknowns when the ordinance was finalized.

“We probably need to go back to that ordinance,” he said.

Tyler said he wanted to investigate the ordinance as soon as possible to see if a revision is possible.

“I can’t give you a timeline,” he said. “I think we’re at a point where we should bite the bullet and just do it.”

Whether or not certain rates can be extended or maintained is to be determined, county staff said.

Uecker said Carlsborg’s customer base is less than Clallam Bay/Seiku’s and the permit review fees and monthly base rates were worked out to help the system become self-sustaining.

“No future ordinances are predictable,” Stanley said of a possible update. “Some rates might actually raise or lower.”

Schools projects

Kuh told commissioners that the School Board considered turning in a design review permit fee but there were some justifiable concerns from staff and board members.

“If we did that, it wouldn’t be necessarily in good faith because we don’t know the timeline,” he said.

At the March 18 school board meeting, Sequim School District Superintendent Gary Neal said the sewer plan never appeared on any long-term plans dating back to 2008 and those prioritized projects have been delayed ever since.

“Every time we do something that’s not on this list, we keep pushing away from our reserve,” he said.

Uecker suggested to school board members on March 25 that they consider updating the district’s Capital Facilities Plan to include the sewer project for possible grant opportunities.

Both Ozias and Johnson expressed an interest in working with the school district.

“My position is that if there’s any reasonable way to work with another tax district to reduce the amount of taxpayer dollars spent then it’s a good thing,” Ozias said.

“We need to work with our schools. That’s No. 1,” Johnson said.

Clallam County crews completed the Carlsborg Sewer Project in the summer of 2017 to send waste to Sequim for residential and business owners in the Urban Growth Area (UGA).

For more information about the Carlsborg Sewer Project, visit www.clallam.net/publicworks/Carlsborg Sewer.html.

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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 mnash@sequimgazette.com.