New Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon has formally asked King County Executive Ron Sims to include a Snohomish County official on the regional board that makes wastewater decisions on issues such as the new Brightwater sewage treatment plant.
In a letter sent Monday, Reardon said that part of the reason people in Snohomish County have opposed the $1.35 billion plant is because they didn’t feel they had a voice in the process.
"Decisions made by this committee affect Snohomish County citizens," Reardon wrote in the letter. "It is time for Snohomish County to have a formal voice and vote on regional policy and plans."
A spokeswoman for Sims said the King County executive supports the idea and will work with Reardon to make sure Snohomish County is represented on the Regional Wastewater Quality Committee.
"He agrees that it makes sense to have a Snohomish County representative on the committee," said Elaine Kraft, Sims’ communications director. "There may have to be some changes to existing legislation, and we’re still not sure what form (Snohomish County’s representation) will take."
Kraft said Metro, which eventually merged with King County, was originally intended to have a Snohomish County representative on it. But she said a move by Snohomish County commissioners in the late 1950s effectively left the county out of the loop.
When Metro — the regional agency that was created as a way to clean up Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish — started around that time, Snohomish County commissioners opted to form their own wastewater corporation, known as Snomet.
But Snohomish County’s agency never materialized and the county wound up contracting with Metro for service. Snohomish County was never included on the wastewater quality committee.
King County wants to build a 114-acre sewage treatment plant along Highway 9, just north of Highway 522. The county last month filed its final environmental impact statement, which is intended to outline all of the environmental effects the project will have on the area and the plans to fix them.
Snohomish County is among those agencies and people who have filed notices to appeal the document. The appeals need to be filed by Jan. 19.
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
The Snohomish County Council will hold a public hearing 4-7 p.m. today regarding the adequacy of King County’s environmental statement for the Brightwater sewage treatment plant. The meeting will be at the Snohomish County PUD Auditorium, 2320 California St., in Everett.
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