By Paul Alleva, The Chronicle, 5/14/2002
Chehalis Public Works Director Jim Nichols told the Chehalis City Council Monday that Centralia's supposedly less costly alternative to the Twin Cities' sharing a regional wastewater treatment plant would probably still cost Chehalis more than building its own new plant.
''The numbers don't show a cost savings,'' he said.
Centralia's proposal is that Chehalis use its existing plant to treat some of its winter wastewater, then pump the rest to Centralia's existing plant. From there Centralia would use its pipeline to pump both cities' wastewater to Centralia's new plant, which it plans to build at the Flying T Ranch off Goodrich Road, roughly eight miles northwest of Chehalis.
Centralia proposed this idea weeks ago as an alternative to its original proposal of the two cities' sharing a regional treatment plant at the Flying T. Chehalis officials have declined to share the cost of a new regional plant with Centralia because they say they would have to spend $25 million more to pump to a regional plant than to build their own new plant.
Nichols described Centralia's proposed alternative to the council.
''During dryer times, the new plant would handle flows from both cities and Napavine and Lewis County Sewer District No. 1,'' Nichols said. ''During winter months, when Chehalis' flows can be up to 13 million gallons a day, both existing plants would handle above and beyond what the new plant could handle.''
He said the new plant could handle up to 10 million gallons a day. The amount of wastewater above and beyond what the new plant could treat would be 5 million gallons per day per entity, Nichols said.
For Chehalis to try this proposed alternative, he said, it would first have to upgrade and floodproof its existing plant at a cost of $10.2 million. Adding the cost of upgrading and floodproofing to the proposal's other costs makes the idea less cost-effective, he said, than Chehalis' building its own plant.
He then suggested three ways the Twin Cities might share the costs of implementing this idea.
According to projections Nichols said he and a representative of the engineering firm Gibbs & Olson arrived at during a recent meeting, if Chehalis paid half the cost of a regional plant, plus its pumping cost, the upgrading and floodproofing costs and the extra engineering costs that go with them, the city would have to pay $33.3 million.
If Chehalis paid the difference between the cost of a regional plant and that of a separate plant, plus upgrading, floodproofing and extra engineering costs, its bill would amount to $26.4 million.
If Chehalis paid the difference between the cost of a regional plant and that of a separate plant, plus the upgrading and floodproofing but only half the extra engineering costs, the city would have to come up with $24.7 million.
Nichols said the most reliable estimate places the cost to Chehalis of building its own new plant at $24 million.
In addition to the higher cost, another problem with the idea, he said, is that Chehalis would have to spend time and money to revise its general sewer plan and facilities plan.
''The new plant has got to be up and running by January 2008,'' Nichols said.
Redoing and resubmitting the general sewer plan, and redoing the facilities plan, which is almost complete, could cause the city to miss the January 2008 deadline, he said.
Another consideration is that the Washington Department of Ecology must approve the proposal before the cities can implement it, he said.
Centralia proposed this idea as a stopgap measure, Nichols said, rather than a permanent arrangement.
''This would be a temporary situation,'' he said. ''During the same time, we would be working on our I and I (infiltration and inflow) problems to reduce the excess amount of water that enters the pipeline.''
He said Centralia suggested that once Chehalis had found a way to keep storm water and ground water from seeping into its pipelines, it could eventually phase out its existing plant.
However, Nichols told the council, ''you never totally get rid of I and I. Eventually it comes back,'' as pipelines age and the city's population grows, he said.
Jim Haslett, who represents the city of Napavine on the sewer operating board, said his only concern is keeping the cost of service to Napavine residents as low as possible.
''Napavine is on the hook for 15 percent to 20 percent of Chehalis' cost,'' he said. ''We want the cheapest possible way to meet our consent decree.''
Bill Allen, commissioner for Lewis County Sewer District No. 1, agreed.
The council voted to send Centralia officials the report Nichols presented before taking any other action.
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Paul Alleva covers municipal government and public issues for The Chronicle. He may be reached by e-mail at palleva@chronline.com or by calling 807-8239.
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