A $1-million grant from Island County should further help Oak Harbor keep sewage rates under control.
Still, residents will continue to see a sizable increase in their rates over the next five years to pay for the new sewage treatment plant that’s being built downtown.
Last week, the Island County commissioners awarded grants from the Rural Counties Economic Development fund. County Budget Director Elaine Marlow explained that the money is a sales tax rebate from the state that’s supposed to be earmarked for economic development projects.
Members of the Council of Governments went through the applications earlier this year and agreed on the awards, Marlow said. The body that consists of elected officials from the county, municipalities and port districts in Island County.
The largest award was $2.7 million for a Freeland sewage treatment facility, which is estimated to cost $10.25 million. The grant comes with the stipulation that the money will only be released if the remaining funds and permits are secured.
In addition, a $100,000 grant was awarded to the Port of South Whidbey to support the Island County fairgrounds and $25,000 to the Port of Coupeville to fix a fire suppression system at the Coupeville Wharf.
Oak Harbor City Administrator Doug Merriman said the grant application for the funds positioned the sewage treatment plant as an economic development project. The plant was designed so that it can be expanded in the future, which could be vital if large development projects need sewage capacity.
In addition, the grant will help the city with sewage rates.
City officials in Oak Harbor said they are diligently looking for ways to keep the rates as low as possible, especially after an early estimate of the cost of the facility was significantly higher than originally expected.
The highest estimate came in at more than $113 million, but city officials now expect the final cost of construction to be around $100 million. Merriman said the city should have the final cost estimate by year’s end and updated sewage rate projections shortly thereafter.
Grants, low-interest loans and low-interest bonds will have a real impact on rates. Oak Harbor City Engineer Joe Stowell predicted that the rates will be “within spitting distance” of the original rate study, though that was based on a treatment plant projected to cost millions of dollars less.
Merriman explained that the city secured $8.5 million in grants — including the newest grant — and $70 million from a state program that provides loans at a very low interest rate. The city also issued $26 million in bonds at a low interest rate of 3.43 percent.
Currently, people in single-family residences pay $64.75 a month in sewer rates.
Under the ordinance passed in March, the rate will increase by 20 percent to $77.70 in 2017; it will be $89.36 in 2018, which is an additional 15 percent increase.
