Around the City

Blaine sewer rates are going up again.

“It’s the next step in our wastewater plan,” said Blaine public works director Steve Banham at the November 14 city council meeting. “We’re on a plan of steady increases between now and construction of the new wastewater plant.”

Blaine’s sewer rate jumped 25 percent in 2005 and will go up another 12.5 percent on January 1, 2006 to $56.14 for a single-family home. The sewer general facility fee will also increase by $475.
The ballooning rates will be paying for $30 million in improvements to the outdated sewer system, including a new wastewater plant on Marine Drive and equalization storage under the road to prevent sewage overflows.

The cost of a water connection in Blaine is also increasing if it earns city council approval. “The effect is pretty modest but it will allow that fee to keep pace with costs,” Banham said. The fees will go up by 1.2 percent, as linked to the current consumer price index.
City council will take final action on the rate increases November 28.

City council approved a change to the contract with Ebenal Construction to remove the rubble that had been previously dumped at the site in order to allow piles for the boardwalk to be driven into stable material.

Blaine public works director Steve Banham said the contingency funds built into the funding for the project would be sufficient to fix the problem.

We’ve run into just about every issue you could run into getting out of the ground,” said Banham at a November 14 city council meeting. “What we’ve discovered is these sites were used for dumping rubble and we need to get it out. There aren’t a lot of alternatives. It’s a necessary evil.”