Snohomish County Council chambers took on the feel of a construction zone Wednesday as union workers clad in orange safety vests and red, yellow and white hard hats filled the room.
Their request sounded simple: Lift a moratorium so the proposed $1.35 billion Brightwater sewage treatment plant could be built near Highway 9 in south Snohomish County.
After more than an hour of testimony from Brightwater supporters, though, the council let stand the six-month moratorium against accepting permit applications for large sewage treatment plants and other "essential public facilities," including jails and hospitals.
While Snohomish County Council members decided to keep the moratorium in place, they stressed that it didn’t mean the project would never be built.
"This is a temporary freeze on the status quo," Snohomish County Council chairman Gary Nelson said.
Once the council has adopted an ordinance that regulates how public facilities are sited, the moratorium would be lifted, he said.
The council adopted the ban Oct. 22 after a state growth management hearings board rejected regulations the council had adopted that required conditional use permits for such public facilities.
Without the rules, council members were worried that King County’s Brightwater project would get "vested" and wouldn’t need a special permit before construction could begin north of Woodinville.
King County officials have since said the moratorium means an unwarranted and unlawful delay in the construction of Brightwater.
That criticism continued Wednesday.
Christie True, Brightwater’s project manager, said King County is concerned about the moratorium. She said it violates the state’s Growth Management Act because it bans essential public facilities.
Most of those who testified said the plant, which would serve both King and Snohomish counties, would bring needed jobs to the area.
"It’s the right thing to do for the whole county," Bob Monize said. "Because of jobs."
Mike Sells, secretary-treasurer of the Snohomish County Labor Council, said the moratorium sends the wrong message about the business climate in Snohomish County.
The project means 20,000 family-wage jobs, 6,000 in construction alone, and an expected payroll of $400 million, Sells said. The project also will pay $88 million in mitigation fees, he added, and includes an educational center for environmental issues.
Donald Sprouse said he lives near the project site and doesn’t have a problem with it in his neighborhood.
"Makes it easier for me to get to work if I get a job," Sprouse said.
"I hope you get a job sooner than construction starts on this site," Nelson quipped.
Not everyone wanted the moratorium lifted. Some people who live nearby said the moratorium should be kept in place. They said it wasn’t right that King County could condemn and take private property for Brightwater in Snohomish County, where residents don’t have a vote on the project.
Reporter Brian Kelly: 425-339-3422 or kelly@heraldnet.com.
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