Snohomish gets $1 million grant for sewer plant upgrade
Published 11:44 pm Monday, February 11, 2008
SNOHOMISH — The city secured a $1 million state grant last week to pay for upgrading its wastewater treatment plant and reducing sewer overflows to the Snohomish River.
Any money that the city can get for the $20 million work will ease the burden on residents and businesses, city manager Larry Bauman said. The City Council approved increases in utility rates last month in preparation for paying for the work.
“We are going after every grant,” Bauman said Monday.
The city has hired a lobbyist for the 2008 Legislature to lock in more grants and loans, Bauman said. The city has applied for additional $5 million grant, but competition for state money is fierce.
“We will probably not get $5 million,” Bauman said. “If we get anything during this biennial, it will be a success.”
The work is required by a 2003 settlement that Snohomish reached with Puget Sound Keeper Alliance, an environmental group, city officials said.
The city needs to finish a series of projects to reduce sewer overflows to the river by 2011, and it must upgrade the sewer treatment plant west of Highway 9 along the river by 2013, Bauman said.
In addition to the $1 million grant, the city has secured $4.92 million in state grants and $6.5 million in state loans for the projects, Bauman said.
Every small grant will add up, Mayor Randy Hamlin said.
“We are kind of shifting our strategy to go after multiple smaller amounts instead of going after a big one,” he said.
Meanwhile, city residents are about to see increases in their utility bills.
Under the new rates, a homeowner using eight units of water is expected to pay $100.14 for sewer every two months, city officials said. That’s an increase of 39 percent. Last year, the same homeowner paid $72.30.
The city calculates sewer rates based on water use because it has no way to measure sewer outflows. One unit of water equals 748 gallons.
Rates for water and storm water are also expected to climb over the next five years.
“Understandably, a number of ratepayers are concerned about the increases,” Bauman said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
