Sewer project still going nowhere

To The Eagle:

The town of Cathlamet and its library committee have concluded that a good temporary location for the library during town hall remodeling would be up in the Shell station plaza on SR4. A couple of weeks ago, the mayor presented the county commissioners an elegant idea: if the county would be willing to waive its hookup fees to the legendary "Sewer to Nowhere" that lies a-molderin' in the ground by Boege Road, then the mall would be able to hook up to it, preempting any potential sewer problems caused by the library's tenancy. But it turned out that a plan that solves immediate and future problems, costs no money, and saves a local business $40,000 is just too good to be true. The ensuing brouhaha provided entertainment at two commissioner meetings and has now been relegated to a "workshop" where all sorts of experts can present nuanced considerations.

Part of the hullabaloo was contention about how much was spent, whether or not it was a loan, who owed what to whom and whether it would be ethical to give away tax funds -- all of which drove me to my attic Eagle morgue for a jaunt though the first quarter of 2006. In a nutshell, our economic development gurus decided a cluster of 17 condos squished onto the edge of the golf course would attract a bevy of wealthy golf enthusiasts, sold the scheme to a developer, who in turn demanded a sewer extension from the town. The town wanted to play but couldn't pay, so turned to the county who approved dumping $311,000 of taxpayer money into the sewer with reassurances that we would get our investment back from hookup fees.

A number of citizens testified, both in public meetings and the pages of The Eagle, that there was no chance that any phase of the project would work, nor would the payback arithmetic work unless over a hundred homes materialized on the hillside. But sexy economic development always trumps grouchy old taxpayers, so the sewer got built and paid for (for somewhat less than 311K), and then...nothing happened.

Now, six years later, we have an opportunity to get some use out of this ill-conceived investment, simply by waiving administrative fees, and they are just that -- an arbitrarily set price for "buying into the system." New users still have to pay the actual cost of digging and plumbing. Our PUD has shown leadership by waiving fees to get more customers into their water system, and the Town of Cathlamet is crafting a similar policy, but the county commissioners seem obsessed with the idea that foregoing funds they were never gonna collect is somehow giving away money. Nonetheless, you have to admire them for their firm stance, which suggests a strong advertising slogan: "Wahkiakum Clean Green Sewers -- We take no (fill in your own S-word) from anyone!"

Howard Brawn

Puget Island