by AMANDA WINTERS
Sequim Gazette

Clallam County commissioners entered into a revised agreement with the Clallam County Public Utility District on March 8 to move forward in determining the cost and re-examining the facilities plan for a proposed sewer system in Carlsborg.

 

The revised inter-local agreement is needed to move forward with a benefit analysis that will determine, on a parcel-by-parcel basis, whether or not hooking up to a sewer system would be beneficial, Clallam County Senior Planner Carol Creasey said at the March 7 work session.

 

“The appraiser will be looking at the value of the house with sewer and without a sewer,” Creasey said.

 

The agreement also outlined the maximum $188,100 the county will spend to finalize the draft facilities plan approved by the county and PUD last summer, respond to comments on the plan by the Department of Ecology and Department of Health, form connection and hardship policies, perform the benefit study and preliminary assessment and hold public workshops on the preliminary assessment.

 

“For over 20 years we’ve had this issue in front of us,” Commissioner Mike Doherty said before voting in favor of the agreement March 8. “For some of us, it’s a matter of getting more facts on the table so we can make appropriate decisions.”

 

Three residents of Carlsborg spoke against the agreement and asked the commissioners to flat-out abandon the proposed sewer project.

 

Elizabeth Carson, 65, of Carlsborg, had her caregiver read a letter on her behalf. After detailing the medical and financial challenges she faces, Carson accused commissioners of “squeezing the life” out of people like her. She said the commissioners should find another way to please the small business owners who support moving forward with the project.

 

“I think, as you’ve heard from the testimony, there’s a concern and rightly so about how this will impact the value of their property,” Commissioner Steve Tharinger said.

 

Before voting for the agreement, Tharinger said approving it was a necessary step to take to get the cost analysis.

Reach Amanda Winters at awinters@sequimgazette.com.