Report: Elmer City sewer options will cost a lot

Whether they continue to share a wastewater treatment facility with Coulee Dam, or build their own, Elmer City ratepayers are looking at higher sewer rates, but how much higher remains to be determined. 

The Elmer City council watched a presentation from Project Engineer Nancy Wetch of Gray and Osbourne last Thursday night. 

Wetch’s report compared the estimated cost of building Elmer City’s own wastewater treatment facility to the costs of renegotiating their current agreement with Coulee Dam, which expires at the end of 2024.

The report looks at the cost estimates for six years into the future, as well as the 20-year accumulated costs, and even the 50-year accumulated costs.

The costs of building their own plant was, ultimately, presented as much more costly than renegotiating with Coulee Dam. 

The 20-year accumulated costs of renegotiating with Coulee Dam is estimated to cost $4.6 million, compared to $7.75 million to build their own plant. Most of the difference between the two options is found in additional capital costs and operations and maintenance costs.

Either way, Elmer City’s 166 rate payers, reflecting about 500 people, can expect increases to their bills ranging from $10 to $174 a month, depending on choices the town makes and what level of success might be found in a search for “non-traditional” funding.

Wetch presented estimates, emphasizing that they were estimates, of what rate payer’s bills could go up to.

With sewer rates currently at $62 a month, Wetch’s estimates show that in renegotiating with Coulee Dam, rates could go up to somewhere between $108-$125 a month, depending on how much of the costs associated with Coulee Dam’s new plant are covered by grants and how much by loans, as well as the details of the renegotiations.

The costs of upgrading pump stations are also factored into those estimates.

Building their own plant would send rates up to the range of $160-$235, she estimates.

Mayor Jesse Tillman seemed particularly upset at the numbers. 

“So either way, our town is screwed,” he said. The mayor said he knows some residents on fixed incomes have a hard time paying an extra $5 a month. 

“It’s a very hard pill to swallow,” Wetch said, noting that she was at another town’s meeting where their rates had to be raised to $105 a month.

Wetch told The Star Tuesday that the next step is to try to “reverse engineer” the situation towards the goal of getting the monthly bill down to $72 a month, or 2% of the median income in Elmer City, the standard used by state and federal funding agencies.

The process includes finding out how much grant or financing the city would need to get the costs down to their target.

“Some communities scratch and claw and still can’t get to 2%,” Wetch explained about the process.

At next month’s council meeting, Wetch said she would talk about non-traditional ways of funding projects that could help get the monthly bill down, and where the city might look for that money. 

Non-traditional ways of funding include having discussions with various agencies in trying to locate funding, with Wetch mentioning the Colville Tribes as one potential source.