Bids are out for the first phase of a three-phase sewer project in Hadlock-Irondale.

The estimate is each Hadlock resident will pay $28,000 for a hookup into this sewer project, and if this projection follows the same trajectory of most budget estimates, the cost per household will be higher.

Marked by its small houses, double wides, trailers and homesteads, Hadlock is the location of the majority of low income housing on the Quimper Peninsula. The sewer system is likely to price current residents out of their homes forcing them further out on the urban fringes or into the woods.

How honest are the Realtors, developers and county officials barreling ahead with this project? The Irondale Community Action Neighbors (ICAN) poll found 90 percent of residents are against the project. The truth is the cheapest low income housing is a trailer and low density Hadlock-Irondale is a nice place to put it. Low paid front-line workers who have managed to purchase property and a home in Hadlock may be forced to sell to Californians fleeing the global warming fired burning of that more southern state. What I see is dollar signs in the eyes of Realtors, developers and politicians as they force gentrification.

I will support a new sewer system in Hadlock when you get buy-in from the 90 percent who are now against it. There has been no vote. Stop the project. Pull the bid request and do what is really required. Politicians, go to Hadlock, walk door to door just like you should have in your campaigns, and talk to the folks who will be most affected. Show your compassion. Then let there be a vote. Ignore the Realtors and the developers until you have heard the people’s voices.

Otto Smith
PORT TOWNSEND