SEQUIM — Democrat Linda Barnfather on Tuesday called for the lifting of a development moratorium on Carlsborg while her Republican opponent, Jim McEntire, urged that a sewage treatment plant for the urban growth area be built immediately.
The candidates for a Clallam County commissioner seat spoke before about 50 people attending a Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce luncheon at SunLand Golf & Country Club.
‘Economic driver’
“That’s a huge economic driver that’s waiting to happen,” said Barnfather, who is vying with McEntire in the Nov. 8 general election for the District No. 1 Dungeness Valley seat being vacated by Steve Tharinger, now a state representative.
Carlsborg business owners face a 3-year-old moratorium while Clallam County officials address a ruling of the state Growth Management Hearings Board.
Growth area invalid
That ruling declared Carlsborg’s 21-year-old urban growth area invalid — a decision the county is fighting in court.
Since 2006, Clallam County and the Clallam County Public Utility District have teamed up to investigate the feasibility of building and funding a wastewater treatment and water reuse system for the Carlsborg urban growth area.
The Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board in 2008 ruled that, in fact, Clallam County was required to provide wastewater service to maintain its urban growth area designation.
While Barnfather said the treatment system needed to be built in a “smart and efficient way,” McEntire said such a system needed to be built immediately.
“If that measure is a wastewater treatment plant, let’s get it done yesterday,” said McEntire, a first-term Port of Port Angeles commissioner from Sequim.
The issue has divided Carlsborg residents who oppose a sewer system and the business owners who support it because it would lead to lifting the moratorium.
County officials have said pollution from septic systems in Carlsborg threatens the groundwater supply.
Sewage system
Clallam County has already committed $4 million to the sewer project, which was approved for a $10 million state loan.
Barnfather, a legislative assistant for Sequim Democratic state Rep. Kevin Van De Wege and a Sequim native, said a more exact cost of the proposal to build a sewage system for Carlsborg needs to be determined.
The Carlsborg system, as proposed, would reclaim waste water and treat it for reuse, such as the system expanded last year for $11 million to serve the city of Sequim.
McEntire supported rallying the community to mobilize and volunteer to help government meet public needs.
Barnfather said the county should be sensitive to the growing demands of an aging population.
Tourism needs the support of county government, both candidates said.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
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