SNOHOMISH — An old water line in Snohomish sprang a leak on Christmas Eve four years ago.
“Not again,” Brian Mills, 65, thought.
Mills lives along Pine Avenue in Snohomish in the same house where he was raised. When he bought his parents’ home, he also signed on as a public works volunteer.
Mills’ house and 19 other homes in northeast Snohomish are on a private water system, even though they live within city limits. The Aldercrest Water Users Association is responsible for fixing its own leaks, reading meters, sending out bills and testing the water regularly.
“It’s time for us to get out of the water business,” Mills said.
The city of Snohomish received funding from the state Department of Health to connect Aldercrest customers to the city water system. That would require a water main to be built along Cypress Lane, which is estimated to cost about $114,000, according to a Snohomish public works report. The Department of Health offered to cover half of the project’s expenses, and to loan the rest.
Construction could start as soon as next spring.
The Aldercrest water system is more than four decades old, said Steve Schuller, public works director and deputy city manager in Snohomish. Some pipes are only a few inches wide. It spans Pine, Terrace and Park avenues, as well as Cypress Lane.
The water association used to be much larger. In the early to mid-1970s, there were 56 households, Mills said.
“When we needed to do something — repair a line, install a meter — we just put the word out,” Mills said. “On the weekend, 25 people would show up and the ladies would bring lunch and we’d do the project. That doesn’t happen anymore.”
When a water line began leaking Christmas Eve four years ago, it was Mills and a neighbor who fixed it. Most people in the association are now retired, Mills said. Some aren’t physically able to help anymore.
“The biggest challenge recently is being able to meet all of the federal and state regulations,” Mills said. “They’re all designed to make sure people are getting safe, reliable drinking water, but when you’re a volunteer water organization, we don’t get paid anything.”
The water association had to hire a state-certified operator to do the testing.
Schuller said the project would cost each household about $5,600, according to the public works report. That includes buying into the system, as well as any future and hard costs, such as purchasing new meters. It usually costs homeowners about $6,900.
“They pay their fair share of their impact on growth,” Schuller said.
In 2013, the city got sideways with some homeowners on the western edge of town who learned city officials failed to collect building and water connection fees from a developer before the homes were sold. The city tried to bill homeowners for the mistake, saying its hands were tied. The council changed course and agreed to waive the fees when it came to light the city had known about the problem for years.
Aldercrest customers would have the option of paying fees upfront or over the course of 10 years. In that case, an estimated $49 would be added on to each monthly bill, according to the report.
A few people have reservations.
Several Aldercrest homes are off the main road. Mills would have to run 300 feet of piping at his own expense in order to reach a place where a meter could be installed, he said. At the minimum, 13 of the 20 households must sign on for the project to move forward, according to the report.
About a dozen other private water associations in Snohomish are in similar situations. In the past, property owners have asked the city to take on their older water systems at no cost, Schuller said. That would violate city code, he said.
“They couldn’t give us a big Christmas present because they would be forced to give everyone else a big Christmas present,” Mills said.
Caitlin Tompkins: 425-339-3192; ctompkins@heraldnet.com.
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