Town pursues plans to boost water system

The Cathlamet Town Council on Tuesday reviewed progress on a variety of fronts, including upgrading the town water plant.

The plant's intake from the Elochoman River has limited capacity, and the state Department of Health has threatened to impose a moratorium on new connections unless the town improves the intake.

Public Works Director Duncan Cruickshank reported favorable progress after a meeting with a representative of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to review potential project plans.

Water comes into the plant from a perforated pipe buried in the river bed. Town officials have learned a second line is buried, and they hope to find it and return it to usable condition.

Cruickshank said they want to use an underwater camera that can measure exact depth and location to find the pipe's intake. Next a diver would try to open the pipe so it can be used.

"He (WDFW representative) was very positive," Cruickshank said. He added that the town's consulting engineers are preparing permit applications, and Cruickshank himself will prepare a grant application to help cover the estimated $14,000 cost.

Cruickshank also reported on a problem with the new wastewater treatment plant's drying beds. The beds, which are large cement slabs, are covered, but the sides are partially open, and rain blows in during story weather and hampers the drying process.

The beds work well in the dry season, Cruickshank said, and turn out Class B biosolids that can be applied to farmland under tightly controlled conditions. However, in the current condition, they're not drying and are building up.

A possible solution, Cruickshank said, would be to purchase pressing and drying equipment. These would produce Class A biosolids that are clean enough for public use as fertilizer and would be easy to dispose.

"We're looking at the math," Cruickshank said, referring to the cost of the equipment.

Council members agreed to suspend charges for water system customers who have shut off or abandoned their utility connections.

City hall had started billing a monthly charge last November, but some customers complained about the change in billing policy. The past practice was to discontinue charges once water was requested off.

Council Member Richard Swart commented that the policy had been changed in 2012 to maintain a revenue stream for the system.

Former town attorney Bill Faubion had written a letter to complain about the fee being assessed on two vacant properties he owns. They had been disconnected and had no fee charged, and suddenly, without notice, a "fee was imposed suddenly based on a new interpretation of the ordinance."

Town officials agreed the process hadn't been handled well.

Council members agreed to form a committee to investigate the issues and also to suspend the fees and penalty billing until they decided how they want to assess them.

Council members also passed, for the first of three readings, an ordinance that would allow the mayor or council members to waive their monthly payments.

The current ordinance says the compensation "shall be paid" and thus doesn't allow officials to waive all or a portion of their pay.