PORT ANGELES — The eight-month moratorium on new water service connections in the city’s eastern urban growth area was lifted Monday afternoon by Clallam County Public Utility District commissioners.
The move follows a Mason County judge’s ruling last week that threw out a controversial section of the city’s wholesale water contract with Clallam PUD requiring new or upgraded customers to agree to future annexation by the city.
The ruling means that PUD water customers served by the Gales and Fairview systems east of the city limit won’t have to sign so-called “no protest” annexation agreements to receive new or upgraded water service.
It also means any such agreements already signed are voided.
Signed Monday
Clallam PUD commissioners Chairman Ted Simpson said Judge Mason County Toni Sheldon’s final order was signed Monday, so the moratorium could be lifted.
The district had taken applications for new water service during the moratorium but had not required a deposit.
Simpson said as applicants now put down that deposit, they will be put on a waiting list for new water service connections.
Where property owners are located could affect how soon they receive new service, he said.