King County expects to pay $124 million to buy property, clear the way and get permits to build its Brightwater sewage treatment plant and portals along the pipeline route.
About 35 acres had already been purchased before Monday’s decision to build the plant off Highway 9 just north of Highway 522.
Meanwhile, Snohomish County Council members are weighing their options on an appeal of King County’s final environmental impact statement.
"We certainly haven’t made any decision yet" to appeal, Councilman Dave Gossett said.
The Highway 9 site was the most expensive option out of the six finalists that King County examined for the $1.35 billion treatment plant.
The cost for each parcel varies depending on what buildings are on the property or what building permits had already been secured by the owners.
Appraisals on the rest of the land along Highway 9 have been finished. King County has made offers on all of the land, said Christie True, Brightwater’s project manager. Altogether, more than $124 million has been budgeted to buy 114 acres for the plant and several more acres along the pipeline route.
Many of the offers have already been accepted, but King County didn’t want to buy more land until the decision was final.
The land that has already been purchased is mostly at the north end of the plant’s footprint. King County officials are not disclosing how much they are paying for the land, which has an assessed value of more than $6 million, according to Snohomish County Auditor’s Office documents.
Some buyers, who signed confidentiality agreements with King County, assume the county doesn’t want future buyers to know what has been paid.
Opus Northwest, a commercial development company that owned eight acres on the site, constructed a building on the site last year and had another in the works. Under threat of condemnation, the company was forced to sell the land to King County in September.
Opus designed the buildings for Quality Business Systems, a copier marketing and repair company.
Mike Ruhl, a spokesman for Opus, said the company was frustrated because it bought the land in 2001 and couldn’t do anything with it because of the Brightwater proposal.
"Financially, we were taking a hit on it," Ruhl said.
The first building was completed last year, and Ruhl said the assumption was that the value of the property would have increased significantly.
"You would’ve thought so," he said. "But this wasn’t a typical process. We took a little bit of a hit" based on the investment in construction.
King County is preparing relocation packages to pay companies for moving their operations to other areas. Those could include moving costs and hooking up utilities at the new location, True said.
"We’re very interested in making sure those businesses survive and relocate in the area, and provide those jobs," True said.
The Snohomish County Economic Development Council is expected to hold a workshop today for companies being moved out of the site, True said.
The Stock Pot soup plant, which sits on about eight acres and is owned by a partnership that includes Lynnwood property owner Pat Echelbarger, will come with a hefty price tag.
The soup plant wasn’t originally part of the Brightwater plan but was added in the most recent environmental review. That’s actually good news for Stock Pot, which otherwise may not have been guaranteed a relocation package from King County.
"That culinary campus abutting a sewage treatment plant doesn’t work for us," said John Faulkner, a spokesman for Campbell’s Soup Co., which owns Stock Pot.
Stock Pot sits on land that has an assessed valued of more than $6 million. It will cost millions more to move the operation, Faulkner said.
"It will be more expensive the second time around than it was the first time," he said. "We will be working with the county officials, and we’re confident we can work this all out. (Brightwater) is a major, billion-plus-dollar initiative."
It isn’t difficult to justify choosing the most expensive option, True said.
"I don’t know that everyone wants things done as cheaply as possible," she said. "I think people want things to be done well."
While some Snohomish County Council members are frustrated with the process used to decide where to put Brightwater, the council hasn’t decided whether to file an appeal.
Snohomish County has dozens of consultants and attorneys reviewing the final environmental documents. Stephen Dickson, who is managing the county’s Brightwater technical review, said King County has "been very responsive to the questions that we raised."
Snohomish County, or anyone else interested in appealing the environmental review, must file a notice with King County by Monday. The actual appeal isn’t due until mid-January.
"Speaking for myself, I’m going to take a look at the staff analysis," Gossett said. "I expect there will be some issues."
Construction on the plant is expected to start in 2005, with the whole thing up and running by 2010.
Council chairman Gary Nelson said Snohomish County has already found eight areas in the environmental review that officials feel haven’t been studied enough.
Political considerations have played a part in finding a final site for Brightwater, Nelson said. He added that King County cannot submit an application to build the wastewater treatment facility until Snohomish County lifts a six-month moratorium on such plants.
To be sure, Brightwater will remain a high-profile issue with county decision makers.
Residents are "extremely irritated" that King County will be able to condemn private property in Snohomish County to build the treatment plant, Nelson said.
"They’re angry," he said. "And there’s nothing like an angry group of constituents to get your attention."
Reporter Brian Kelly contributed to this story. Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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