Town proceeding with water intake upgrade

The Cathlamet Town Council addressed issues ranging from the town water system to updating the town ordinance implementing the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) ordinance when they met Monday evening.

Public Works Director Duncan Cruickshank and consulting engineer Bob Hinton reported progress in the effort to increase the intake capacity for the town water plant. The town needs to increase the intake capacity, or state officials will institute a moratorium on new connections because the plant would not be able to satisfy demand.

Workers have located a tee on the intake line to the water plant which can be equipped with an emergency surface intake, said consulting engineer Bob Hinton of Gray and Osborne Engineer.

The cylinder shaped intake would be close to the bank and easy to install, Hinton said.

"This is a temporary plan," Cruickshank said. "If it works well, we can make an argument that this is a permanent solution," Cruickshank said. "Otherwise the permanent solution is another pipe under the river that will cost as much as $750,000."

Hinton and Cruickshank said they would present a proposal for action in May.

Councilmembers discussed if and/or how they want to see enforcement of the county's junk and solid waste ordinance inside the city limits.

The ordinance sets up a process to handle complaints about people having junk on their property that is having and adverse impact on other residents.

Councilmember Ryan Smith opposed having a junk control ordinance.

"It opens up a proverbial slippery slope," he said.

Citizen Marsha LaFarge, who served on the committee which drafted the county's ordinance, said that the ordinance is very lenient. There is public support; in an advisory vote, 282 town residents showed support for an ordinance and 54 opposed.

Fred Johnson, former attorney for the town and for Wahkiakum County, commented that the ordinance seems to be written so that it includes land inside the city limits.

The council took no action on the issue.

Ryan and Councilmember Dick Swart said they would look into the idea of setting up some solar generating equipment on town buildings.

The pair said they had no idea yet of possible cost and revenue; they need to do research. They do feel the concept is promising.

"We've hit the tipping point where solar is going on," Smith said.

Council member Sue Cameron suggested the council hold a workshop to discuss details.

"That would be part of it," Smith said.

"When we get the information you speak of, we'll look into it," Swart said.

The pair will research the issue and make a report at a future council meeting.

The council approved a first reading of an ordinance to repeal an ordinance that would have terminated a contract with Wahkiakum PUD to sell water to the Puget Island Water System when the contract expires.

The council voted not to renew the contract months ago as negotiations with Wahkiakum PUD were stalled. The town and PUD have since approved contract updates.

The council also approved for first reading an update of its SEPA ordinance. The ordinance only adopts updated SEPA policy, attorney Johnson commented.

The ordinance at this point has blank lines and optional sections. Town staff said they'd address those spots for the May meeting.