ARLINGTON – Plans to double this city’s population from 15,000 to 30,000 people by 2025 could get expensive.
A short-term upgrade at the city’s wastewater treatment plant could cost as much as $14 million. A long-term fix could cost $40 million.
If the city does not find new drinking water by 2010, building moratoriums could be imposed.
Worst cases aside, city officials say Arlington should be able to meet its obligations to provide sewer and water for the people who move here in the next two decades.
Here’s how:
* The city has lined up a low-interest $7 million loan from the state Public Works Trust Fund that will pay for at least half of the short-term fix at the wastewater treatment plant, Arlington public works director Paul Richart said.
The solids handling at the plant is past 85 percent of its capacity and thus, by state mandate, must be expanded, he said. The city already is leasing equipment to deal with this problem until something more permanent is built, he said.
* The City Council already approved increased water-connection rates for new buildings, and the same is being planned for sewer hookups. Early estimates show the new sewer hookup rate might need to jump from $2,700 to $5,000, Richart said.
* The new water connection fees should provide $6 million to buy water from Snohomish County PUD or Marysville and more than $1 million for water rights acquisition, Richart said.
PUD would first have to improve its pipeline system to carry the additional water, and final negotiations cannot occur until an official population target is set, possibly weeks or months away, Richart said.
* The city is considering injecting treated storm water into the ground to replenish aquifers near municipal wells.
* To keep growth from outpacing these efforts, temporary building moratoriums would be used as a last resort, planning manager Cliff Strong said.
That was added to address concerns by county and state planners that Arlington’s sewer and water plans fell short, particularly for an expansion east of the city limits exceeding 300 acres.
“Having the ‘M-word’ (moratoriums) included may satisfy these entities,” Strong wrote in a city memo.
Strong and Richart said they believe calling such timeouts on growth won’t be necessary.
Still, avoiding that could be a tight squeeze. The City Council has set a 20 percent water supply reserve as a buffer for emergencies, but with a 30,000 population target for 2025, the current water supply could drop below that reserve by 2007. If no new sources of water are found by 2010, state rules would force a building moratorium, Richart said.
Final answers will not be available until August, when the city’s Sewer Comprehensive Plan is expected to be finished, according to a Richart memo. The final water plan is expected by March, he wrote.
Those issues were due to be settled by now, except that the City Council revised its 20-year population projections, opting for faster growth.
City staff originally had been working on providing sewer and water for almost 21,000 people by 2025 – until April, when the City Council adjusted that upward to as much as 30,000 to take in some additional land.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
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