PORT TOWNSEND — Major expenses are expected for Port Townsend’s sewer system and a rate increase to help pay for it is likely.
At a City Council workshop meeting Monday evening, council members heard from consultants with RH2 Engineering who said the city is in need of major refurbishments and repairs to its sewer lines, pump stations, treatment and composting facilities over the next 20 years.
All told, RH2 identified more than $140 million in the next two decades for recommended repairs, upgrades and expansions to deal with the city’s aging infrastructure and growing demands.
Some of those needs are less dire than others, but the city is going to need to start working on at least some of the repairs if it wants to stave off critical failures like the one that happened on Water Street just after Christmas last year, said John Hendron, project engineer with RH2. A sewer line near Water and Gaines streets broke on Dec. 27, requiring emergency repairs to be made. Upon inspection of the line, crews determined that the asbestos concrete pipe had deteriorated due to a build-up of gas caused by a blockage in the line.
Hendron estimated it would cost the city roughly $56 million for the city to investigate and refurbish all of its long-term sewer system.
“Forty-five percent of your system is made of materials that I haven’t seen perform well over time, those are concrete, asbestos, cement and vitrified clay,” Hendron told council members.
“I don’t know the condition of those lines, so I’m assuming all of them are bad. To line all of them will be $56 million. We can defer that to later, but we do need to know which ones are the most urgent so that we don’t have another Water Street.”
Hendron recommended the city purchase a new pipeline inspection van — estimated at about $300,000 — so city crews can begin inspecting the sewer lines and figuring out which sections are in the most urgent need of repair.
Hendron noted that the $56 million projection was the cost of adding a protective lining to sewer pipes before they failed. A failure like the one that occurred at Water Street would drastically increase the cost of repair.
“It costs $340 per foot to line an 8-inch pipe,” Hendron said. “It would be about $1,300 a foot to open cut replace it.”
Hendron said the city could possibly defer $40 million of those repairs past 20 years, but it would need to know which sections are in critical need.
RH2 recommended the city budget at least $350,000 a year in annual replacement costs.
Public Works Director Steve King said the city should aggressively pursue grants and other funding options provided by the state and federal governments, but noted that a rate increase also would be likely.
The city is working with FCS Group Consulting to draft rate increase proposals, which then will be presented to the City Council for possible adoption.
King said the city hopes to have those projections by October in time for the city to draft its 2024 budget, with a potential rate increase going into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
Port Townsend already was scheduled to increase its sewer rates in 2024 as the city’s population growth to over 10,000 triggered new requirements under the federal Clean Water Act.
In addition to repairs and replacements to the city’s sewer lines, Port Townsend’s 30-year-old water treatment facility is also in need of repairs and eventual expansion to meet the city’s growth needs. The plant is well maintained, said Dan Mahlum, another engineer with RH2, but it hasn’t had any upgrades since its construction.
“They did a very good job of laying out that site, but there’s no room for expansion without demolishing an existing system,” Mahlum said. “At some point in the next 20 years, you are going to need another clarifier, but there’s no room on the site for that.”
There is a privately owned plot of land across the street from the water treatment plant, and city staff said the owner is potentially willing to sell, but a cost for the parcel hadn’t been determined. Expansion at another piece of city-owned land would require constructing an entirely new facility, Mahlum said.
RH2 offered a placeholder amount of $30 million for long-term expansion and more than $46 million for total facility improvements. The consultants suggested the city begin at least some of those repairs and upgrades as soon as next year, and identified $3.7 million in upgrades for 2024.
Lastly, the city’s composting facility is looking at roughly $4 million in upgrades over the next 20 years, with $488,000 recommended in 2024.
King said at the meeting the city was looking at roughly $25 million in costs in the next five years.
“Every million dollars you spend is $1.28 on your rate, monthly, roughly,” King said. “We’re probably going to have to make some calls because $25 million times $1.28 is a big number for a rate impact.”
Port Townsend is not alone in its need to address aging infrastructure, King said, and though the city is designated as financially distressed, making it more competitive for grant opportunities, many cities in the state are seeking funds for similar projects.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
