With verbal support from tribes and state officials and $250,000 pledged in writing Monday from Jefferson County commissioners, Jefferson County Public Utility District 1 Manager Jim Parker said Tuesday that construction on a Beckett Point septic project likely will resume next week.
The project was stopped May 28 after remains, later identified as Native American, were found in the project's path.
County commissioners Monday agreed to pay up to $250,000 for archeological services. And if that's not enough, commissioners told PUD officials the county is willing to extend a $500,000 line of credit to keep the project going.
"I think we're good to go. It's going forward," Parker said yesterday after the county commission action.
Before it was stopped, the $2.8 million community septic project was on schedule and on budget.
The state Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation has given the PUD permission to proceed with work on a drain field on the hill above where human remains were found on county right of way near the beach, Parker said.
Tribal representatives in the area, including Jamestown S'Klallam, Port Gamble S'Klallam and Lower Elwha, have been cooperating with state and PUD to allow work on the drain field to continue.
Archeologist Gary Wessen of Seattle has been hired to help the PUD work with the tribes.
An archeological monitor will be onsite to watch the progress of work being done by Pape and Sons of Gig Harbor and its subcontractor, Parker said.
PUD commissioners meet tonight at 5 p.m. to review all they have learned over the last week and decide how to proceed.
They met Monday with county commissioners, who pledged financial support.
It was the second joint meeting in less than a week between the two governments. County and PUD officials also met last Thursday with Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, and Allyson Brooks, state historic preservation officer.
After Monday's meeting with county commissioners, PUD Commissioner Wayne King said he isn't much of a gambler and he hoped what the county was offering is enough.
PUD Commissioner Kelly Hays said he thought the project would continue. "I'm not sure how smart it is. There are so many unknown factors."
Jefferson County's willingness to step forward with money for the archeological work - the county expects to get that back from the state eventually - shows it is committed to helping, Hays said.
"We'll have to discuss it Wednesday night, but I'm thinking we'll probably go forward with it," Hays said. "It is an important project for everyone."
PUD Commissioner Dana Roberts said yesterday his sense is that the project will move forward.
Positive joint meeting
At the joint meeting June 14, Rep. Kessler said she wished she could be there with a check, but she was there to support the PUD and what boiled down to solving a water-quality issue.
Property owners petitioned the PUD to build a community septic system because the individual septic systems have problems and some likely are leaching sewage into Discovery Bay.
County Commissioner David Sullivan of Cape George, who has been spearheading coordination of efforts between the county and PUD, repeated his contention that there is an opportunity for the Beckett Point project to become a model in the state for how to solve the problem of treating Native American remains respectfully while also solving pollution issues.
Sullivan suggested the state should come up with the equivalent of "catastrophic insurance" for projects aimed at solving water-quality problems.
Property owners at Beckett Point thanked the officials last Thursday. One noted that a number of people at Beckett Point are on Social Security and that paying $30,000 to connect to a system is "maxing" them out. When the project started, the estimated cost of hooking up to it was half that.
Kessler pointed out that it is in everyone's interest to solve water-quality issues.
"I think we have to find a solution. That's why I think we will find a solution," she said, adding that the drama unfolding at Beckett Point will be a drama played out over and over along the shoreline as roads, bridges and sewer projects get started and some unearth remains from past residents who loved the water just as much as current residents.
Brooks, with the Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation, said that she felt there was a workable solution "that won't be extreme."
"We don't think every piece of property will have something on it. There will be hot spots. Everyone wants the project to move forward," Brooks said, adding that it was a balancing act between caring for and respecting the human remains while getting 102 parcels of property connected to a septic system.
Monday's meeting
Speaking at the commission meeting June 18, Sullivan, a former PUD commissioner, said it was clear the PUD does not have a lot of cushion in its budget for a project that is costing more than anticipated.
"Failure to do this project will have implications for the future," Sullivan told fellow commissioners Monday morning before the joint meeting.
While the PUD was hoping the county would agree to co-sign on a line of credit with a private lender, county commissioners were advised by Administrator John Fischbach they could not "gift" another public agency funds. The $500,000 line of credit would need to be repaid by June 30, 2008, with interest of 6.19 percent, which is the same interest rate the county asked for recently in approving a $150,000 emergency line of credit for Jefferson County Fire District 5 (Discovery Bay/Gardiner).
Attorney Malcolm Harris, who represents PUD 1, said the cost of the project would ultimately be borne by property owners, which is one of the concerns Beckett Point owners have, despite all the pledges of support by state and county officials.
Harris also suggested the PUD get something in writing from the tribes involved so that if more remains are found as the project resumes, the tribes won't stop the work.
Parker noted that legally the PUD can't charge the property owners more than the increase in property value that the project adds once it's finished and up and running. That rule had led to earlier concerns that other PUD taxpayers outside of Beckett Point could also be asked to help cover the extra work.
Parker talked about sharing the risk of moving forward on the project with county commissioners.
"I'm pretty sure this will get done. At what cost, I'm not sure," Parker said.
(Contact Allison Arthur at aarthur@ptleader.com.)]
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