If the stars line up, construction of a $10.5 million effort to bring sewers to Freeland’s commercial core could begin as soon next summer.

Freeland Water and Sewer District commissioners have been steadily chugging along with the project for about two years, and the transition from dream to reality now isn’t too far off.

They’re ready and eager to pull the trigger, but they want one thing first — the community’s endorsement.

Hoping to engage what one commissioner described as a seemingly unengaged or disinterested public, the district is hosting an informational meeting next week on its sewer plans. It begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, at Whidbey Water Services, 5585 Lotto Ave. in Freeland.

The meeting will provide a project update but is largely geared toward getting the public to weigh in.

“We don’t want to get far down the road and find out, why didn’t we get public interest on this,” Commissioner Eric Hansen said.

“Please, let us know if you have concerns — that’s the idea,” he added.

Discussions and plans for sewers go back many years, but new infrastructure has never materialized. The last big attempt was in 2010 when what’s commonly dubbed the “$40 million plan” sank under public uproar.

It resulted in a largely new board of commissioners and, later, a revised plan. Rather than trying to provide sewers for the entire Freeland area all at once, the district split the project into more financially digestible phases. For example, the current proposal calls for sewers only to the commercial core at a cost of about $10.5 million.

The area encompasses 84 acres of what’s a rough rectangle located between Myrtle Avenue and the intersection of Scott Road and State Highway 525. It now includes the Main Street Sewer District, which will be incorporated into the Freeland Water and Sewer District.

Funding for the project, however, remains uncertain. The district has already secured about $3 million in grant money and is hoping to convince the Island County commissioners to release another $2.7 million of Rural Economic Development funds that was promised years before.

If successful, that still get’s the district only halfway to the finish line, Hansen said.

“We can’t really expect 73 property owners to foot the bill for $5 million,” Hansen said. “That’s too much.”

The hope is to get additional grant money from the county and state, enough that rate payers in the area will only get stuck with about one-fourth of the tab.

Public support is also somewhat unclear, and district commissioners may just get their wish for public participation. While a small host of those affected have regularly attended meetings and largely appear to support the project, others grumble that the project is actually too narrow in scope and have urged the board to broaden the boundaries to the west.

“I think Plan A is too little, and I don’t think it’s going to meet the hemped-up needs of growth for the area,” said Gary Reys, a member of the Freeland Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors.

“Just doing it down Main Street isn’t going to accomplish anything,” he added.

These are all areas that are already developed, and the district should be focusing on rural areas that need infrastructure to grow.

“I think it should begin on the south side of Highway 525 near Woodard and pick up the whole area,” he said.

Representatives from businesses such as Windermere and Island Athletic expressed similar sentiments at a past meeting late last year. Reyes said it makes no sense to make those who actually want to grow wait for later phases.

“All they (district commissioners) are doing is trying to appease the state and the county,” he said.

One of the primary objectives of building sewers is to meet state rules.

The Growth Management Act requires urbanized rural areas like Freeland to plan and work toward urban services, such as sewers, within a 20-year period. District commissioners, however, have repeatedly said they won’t force the project on the public.

“We can’t make people do this, and we won’t try,” Hansen said.

Another emphasis of the project is the ability to remove increasing levels of nitrates in ground water, which district officials say is a threat to Freeland’s wells. Sewers also offer opportunities for growth, as property now reserved for septic systems and drain fields would become commercially developable.

According to Hansen, if the public says “no,” the district may pass the reins to the county and have it pursue sewers.

“We’re making our second or third run at this, but we’re not going to make it a career,” Hansen said.

“This is our last shot at it. If it doesn’t happen this time, we’re done. It’s do or die.”