PORT ANGELES — A Seattle law firm’s contract has been boosted to $407,500 to represent the city of Port Angeles in an industrial water facilities dispute with the National Park Service.
City council members Tuesday unanimously approved increasing the budget for the legal services agreement with Lane Powell LLC by $185,000, nearly doubling a contract council members approved June 7, 2016.
They approved the increase even as city officials continue negotiations with the National Park Service on reaching a settlement over water facilities the federal government built to mitigate the sediment impact on city water of removing the Elwha River dams.
The project to remove the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams — the largest such effort in U.S. history — was completed in 2014.
Public Works Director Craig Fulton said Wednesday that he and City Engineer Jeff Bender will travel June 21 to the Park Service’s Denver Service Center headquarters.
There, he said, Fulton will huddle with federal officials to discuss ways to lower the repair estimates and operating costs of the water facilities, which the Park Service wants to turn over to the city.
The water is utilized by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe for its hatchery and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for its fish-rearing channel.
It also will be used by the now-shuttered Ediz Hook mill purchased March 31 by Mexican-owned McKinley Paper Co. .
“Everyone wants to reach a settlement on this,” Fulton said Wednesday in an interview.
“We are looking for a new contract with a new scope of work.”
City council members were of one mind on increasing the contract with Lane Powell.
“For me, this is all about the original agreement,” Mayor Patrick Downie said.
Deputy Mayor Cherie Kidd recalled then-Mayor Jim Hallett testifying before Congress in 1992 and the city agreeing to dam removal as long as the water supply was protected, paving the way for passage of the 1992 Elwha River Ecosystem and Fisheries Restoration Act.
“We will fight for the water rights we have been guaranteed,” Kidd said.
The new budget for Lane Powell “is a big number,” Councilwoman Sissi Bruch said.
“Compared to what we have and what we could lose, [what we could lose] is way higher,” she said.
“We are talking about millions and millions and millions of dollars.”
City Attorney Bill Bloor said in a memo to the council that the funds for Lane Powell will be drawn from a city water treatment plant account.
“As one part of the resolution of the city’s claims against NPS, one goal is to reimburse the treatment plant account for all funds used to resolve the Elwha dam removal issues,” Bloor said in the memo.
“Unfortunately, the facilities that were built by the park service on the river to protect the city’s water failed, and they weren’t adequate, and as a result of that the city has been in negotiations with the Park Service to remediate that situation,” Bloor told council members Tuesday.
Fulton said he is optimistic about the upcoming meeting in Denver.
“One of the things we will be looking at is, are there ways that the existing facilities can be improved and made more efficient and less expensive to operate.
“We are very heartened that the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation have agreed to host these facility discussion meetings.
“No idea is off the table.”
But Fulton said one route is a no-go: having the city pay for water facility improvements that city officials say are needed for the facilities’ long-term operation.
City officials have estimated it would cost $20 million over 20 years to maintain them.
“The city has no money to pay for any facilities, any improvements,” Fulton said.
There’s also another certainty, he said: “The city owns the property and will eventually own the facilities.”
The three industrial water users pay for the cost of the industrial water service as part of their utility rates, Fulton said Wednesday in an email.
“Hence why we are moving forward with a cost of service study for industrial water,” he wrote.
“It is the city’s intent to ensure the industrial water customers receive the quality and quantity of water they received prior to dam removal, at a reasonable cost.
“Because so much is at stake, the city has undertaken an extensive due diligence effort to fully investigate the condition of the facilities and to insist that [the National Park Service] make any repairs that are necessary to provide for reliable, cost-effective operations in the future.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
