District hopes to tell property owners how much sewer system will cost

Freeland Water district commissioners awarded a contract for a sewer feasibility study at Monday’s business meeting.

It’s a significant next step in the quest to build a new sewer system in town, which will serve as the launch pad for expanded growth in the South End’s commercial hub.

Representatives from two firms were interviewed last week. Commissioners chose Tetra Tech/KCM, Inc., an engineering firm from Seattle.

Tetra Tech compiled the Freeland Comprehensive Sewer Plan and Engineering Report/Facility Plan for Island County, a plan that was approved by the board of Island County commissioners earlier this year.

The feasibility study will examine the costs associated with constructing the sewer system and a treatment facility for Phase I of the comprehensive sewer plan.

Tetra Tech will be updating cost estimates associated with its comprehensive sewer plan. The company will also look for funding to help build the facility and infrastructure for Phase I of the sewer system, which will serve Freeland’s business district.

The sewer plan has already been approved by the county and the Department of Health, and is pending approval at the state Department of Ecology.

District commissioners selected Tetra Tech over the engineering firm HDR.

“Tetra Tech did a much better job responding to the issues we want addressed,” said Gary Hess, an engineer working with the water district.

The contract with Tetra Tech will be signed at the December meeting of the Freeland Water District. The district hopes to have the study wrapped up by spring.

“We hope the feasibility study can be completed in two or three months after the contract is signed,” Hess said.

The feasibility study will include costs connected to building the sewer system, as well as a breakdown of public funding or other grants that may be available to help pay for the sewage-treatment system.

Funds for the feasibility study were raised by the Freeland Chamber of Commerce. The chamber worked with nearly 100 property owners in the business core to get money for the study.

Work on a new sewage treatment plans were stalled by legal problems earlier this year. Those hurdles are pretty much cleared at this point, however.

“Once we got past Main Street Sewer’s objections to the plan we could start moving,” Hess said. “When that case was settled it solved a lot of issues.”

The Main Street Sewer District filed a series of legal challenges to become the sewer entity for Freeland that were shot down by the state and the county this summer. Main Street lost a lawsuit against the state Department of Health, and withdrew from a second suit with the state Department of Ecology.

Once the feasibility study is completed, property owners in Phase I will get a detailed look at the cost of the sewer system and then decide if they want to move forward.

If property owners support moving forward with sewers, a Utility Local Improvement District, or ULID, will be formed.

For Phase I, the sewer system must be supported by property owners in Freeland who own 60 percent of the assessed property value in the area to be served by sewers. That means property owners who own the most valuable land will carry more sway in the decision.

In the engineering study, Tetra Tech recommended building the treatment facility off Bush Point Road. Water would be recycled at an 800-acre tree farm west of Mutiny Bay Road.