INSIDE

Edgy owners undergo local waterboarding

By Meg Olson

“The commissioners will be sticking to the task at hand. We will not be releasing any connections even if you have a building permit application in process,” said Point Roberts water commissioner Renée Coe, faced with continued requests from property owners to let at least a trickle of water connections be issued.

Engineers delivered the district’s long-awaited water system comprehensive plan of the March 8 meeting of district commissioners, which allowed commissioners to cautiously suggest they could have an allotment process going by summer to distribute the 162 remaining connections the state is allowing the district to issue.

“I’m glad it’s finally ready. Almost,” said commission chair Madeleine Anderson.

Before any connections can be allocated, district manager Dan Bourks cautioned there were steps commissioners needed to take under legal advice from their own attorney, John Milne, and their risk pool attorney, Dan Malove. “They are both recommending we stay on course,” Bourks said.

Before commissioners can adopt the comprehensive plan, a checklist and a determination of non-significance under the state environmental policy act (SEPA) needs to be issued by the district following a public comment period that will end March 27. The final draft of the comprehensive plan can be adopted by district commissioners by the end of March, Bourks accepted, and would then need state department of health (DOH) and county approval.

Included in the comprehensive plan is a 20-year capital improvement plan (CIP). District consultants are using the CIP to update rates and the general facilities charge (GFC) for new connections to the system.

“The most interesting part of the CIP is the source capacity improvement,” said engineer Bill Reynolds. “The most logical and reliable way is to increase your source through your current supplier. Responsibly though we couldn’t include that in the short term.”

As it took nine years to negotiate the existing contract for water with the Greater Vancouver Water District, commissioners agreed it was something to pursue but there needed to be a more immediate answer to the community’s water needs: increased storage. “You’re not increasing your source but you’re increasing your capacity and addressing peak demand,” Reynolds said.

If commissioners pursue a new 3 million gallon storage tank it would allow the district to serve 3,270 equivalent residential units (ERUs), the maximum allowable under existing zoning without a public sewer system.

Commissioners wanted to know if there were other ways they could squeeze more connections out of the water the district is allowed under the existing GVWD contract: conservation measures, reclaimed water, or rainwater collection. “There are some pretty innovative systems out there to collect rainwater and that would be one of the pro-active steps,” Reynolds agreed, adding that some systems offered mosquito-proof rain barrel systems as an incentive for customers to use rainwater for irrigation.

If more water from Vancouver is not a viable long-term solution, Reynolds said the district could look at using existing wells, but that would require expensive treatment facilities. “It’s very expensive water, comparable to desalinated sea-water,” he said.

With the plan adopted, commissioners plan to hold a public meeting on the new GFC in May. “Since it’s going to be a major increase I think we should,” Coe said. Engineers have speculated the GFC could go from the $1,500 before the moratorium to $4,500 or higher to pay for the additions to the system in the next five years needed to add capacity or develop a new source. Rates are also likely to increase to pay for an estimated $10 million in water main replacement needed in the next 20 years.

With a new comprehensive plan and GFC in place, Bourks told commissioners they could decide on an allocation process, possibly including an exchange of a limited amount of ERUs with developers willing to participate financially in building additional storage and removing themselves from initial allocations.

The first connections could be released as soon as the allocation process is determined, Bourks said, adding district legal staff recommended against the more expedient first come, first serve possibility, which would save considerable time and administrative expense.

Coe said the best solution was to limit demand by working with developers. “We know there will be more people who want connections than we’ve got to give unless we can work with certain parties,” she said.