As North Bend City Councilors consider raising sewer rates 46 percent over the next five years, they are also inviting citizens to learn more about their reasons for doing so. The city will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 7, at the Mount Si Senior Center, 411 Main Ave. S.
Before the meeting, an optional tour of the city’s 1954-built sewer plant will be offered. Those interested in touring the plant should RSVP to City Engineer Don DeBerg, (425) 888-7652 or ddeberg@northbendwa.gov, and plan to arrive at the site, 400 Bendigo Blvd. N., shortly before 6 p.m. The tour will take approximately 30 to 45 minutes.
Following the tour, city staff will give a presentation on the need for plant updates and the reasons for the sewer rate increases. Ratepayers will have the opportunity to learn more about the methods used to calculate the rate increases, ask questions, and share comments or concerns.
City staff are estimating that the plant will require about $27 million to remodel for the city’s needs. This estimate includes equipment repairs and replacement for maintenance work that has been deferred for long periods, as well as improvements to increase the plant’s capacity for future growth.
According to the FCS Group, a consulting firm hired to analyze the city’s needs and propose a rate increase structure, North Bend is growing by 4.3 percent annually.
The sewer rate increase now under discussion would fund $15.6 million in plant improvements. The actual increases will vary with each user, since part of the rate is based on water use, but overall, the rates are proposed to increase 12.7 percent this year, 12.7 percent in 2017, 8.25 percent in 2018, 8.25 percent in 2019 and 8 percent in 2020.
The General Facilities Charge (GFC) for a new house will result in increasing the new connection fee from $5,852 to $10,222 (or to $7,699 if the new home is in the assessment area of ULID 6, which has already paid for a portion of the collection system).
North Bend Public Works Director Mark Rigos told the City Council June 21 that all sewer payments must be directed according to their source, so existing ratepayers are funding maintenance and operations of the existing plant, while GFC’s collected go toward projects that add capacity.
A public hearing was opened at the June 21 meeting. After comments from a few members of the public and a discussion by the council, the hearing was continued through July 19, to give members of the public more time to review the proposal and comment on changes.
“In all fairness to the tax payers, we are going to raise their rates, so if they want to comment longer… we owe it to them,” said council member Jonathan Rosen.
He also said he didn’t want to increase rates, but “I think it’s going to have to happen.”
The city has already spent roughly $1.5 million on repairs and updates to the plant in the past two years. Recommendations from former Public Works Director Frank Page, made in 2014, called for $3 million in repairs, in addition to considering a longer-term solution.
Recent issues at the plant included a minor spill May 8, and a major inflow of water last winter during a series of flooding events. The inflow required plant equipment to operate around the clock, with no backups.
Declaring an emergency in order to expedite repairs Jan. 19, the North Bend City Council authorized spending $257,000 for repairs to two ultraviolet disinfection units, each with a capacity of 2.5 million gallons per day, and the installation of a third.
The council also hired a consultant to prepare a capital facilities study to identify the best future approach for the delivery of sewer to its citizens.
Three options were considered: Remodeling the plant; building a new plant in a new location; or contracting with a regional provider. Each option would result in significant rate increases. However, the overwhelming preference of community members sharing input on the issue and at public meetings March 16 and April 26, was for the least expensive option, remodeling the existing plant.
Some council members felt a regional partnership might have been a better long-term solution, but not at an estimated cost of $63 million.
The city council has decided to complete the remodel, along with the sewer rate increases needed to fund it, in phases.
By state law, the city’s sewer fund must be self-supporting, receiving no subsidies from the city’s general fund. This enterprise fund, as it is called, is funded by the system users’ monthly bills as well as General Facilities Charges, one-time connection fees charged on new construction.
North Bend currently has about 1,250 ratepayers, both residential and commercial, on the system. The plant is permitted to treat 2.58 million gallons of wastewater per day and averages about 500,000 gallons.
