County buys pumps to combat annual flooding in Mutiny Bay

By Laura Guido lguido@whidbeynewsgroup.com • October 4, 2017 8:00 am
Justin Burnett/The Record — Island County Public Works employees slog through flood waters at the intersection of a Pine and Cedar streets in Mutiny Bay in January of 2016. The county is installing permanent pumps in the area to combat the ongoing problem.
Justin Burnett/The Record — Island County Public Works employees slog through flood waters at the intersection of a Pine and Cedar streets in Mutiny Bay in January of 2016. The county is installing permanent pumps in the area to combat the ongoing problem.

The Island County Board of Commissioners signed a contract for $162,000 on Tuesday to install pumps in a waterfront Mutiny Bay neighborhood to address annual flooding.

“It’s been an ongoing problem for decades,” Public Works Director Bill Oakes said.

Two submersible pumps will be installed at the intersection of Pine and Cedar streets, a low spot just off Mutiny Bay Road. The primary pump will turn on first when the water reaches a certain level on the road and the second will kick in if the water continues to rise.

The contractor, Dungeness Construction of Langley, has 45 days from the signing of the contract to start construction. There won’t be any extended road closures during construction, Oakes said. The company has 17 days to complete the project, weather allowing.

The intersections usually floods every year, Oakes said. The county currently has to send staff to operate pumps when there is visible standing water on the two county roads.

“To have the pumps there, and to have them come on automatically, will help to perhaps get a little ahead of the game,” Oakes said.