Washougal residents are troubled over the cost of their water bills. Washougal city council members are troubled over the cost of mandated improvements to the city’s water system.
There’s no doubt that water — and how to pay for it — continues to be a troublesome topic in Washougal these days.
To that end, leaders are working with outside parties to update the city’s water system plan, which will include a list of recommended projects, estimated costs and potential funding options, and complete an analysis of the city’s much-maligned utility rates.
Murraysmith, a Portland-based public infrastructure engineering firm, is helping the city to update its water system plan, which “evaluates system compliance with respect to Washington State Department of Health requirements,” Murraysmith principal engineer Brent Gruber told the council during its meeting on Aug. 22.
Gruber said the city should implement a series of upgrades and improvements to its water system during the next 20 years that will cost an estimated $53.2 million, a number that elicited a combination of surprise, concern and befuddlement from several council members who wondered if they might have to raise the city’s utility rates to help pay for the upgrades.
The city council will hold a public hearing and vote to adopt the plan during its Sept. 26 meeting. City leaders will then submit the plan to the Department of Health for approval.
The current utility rates, adopted by the city council in 2018, will remain in place through 2023. The average water rate in Washougal is $40.38, according to the city of Vancouver website. Rates for other cities in Clark County are between $23 and $31.
Earlier this year, the city council approved a $196,714 contract with FCS Group, a Redmond-based consulting firm, to analyze the city’s utility rates.
The contract also contains an agreement with Barney & Worth, a Portland-based strategic planning and communications company, to provide public engagement services. Barney & Worth, a subsidiary of Murraysmith, is “known for helping communities engage with their communities in very difficult situations, particularly in the area of utilities,” Scott said during a workshop session on May 9.
Scott said the study is currently in the “data-collection stage” and will evaluate utility revenue requirements; recommend rates necessary to fund the city’s water, wastewater and stormwater systems from 2023 to 2028; provide a comparison of current water, wastewater and stormwater system costs and operations against industry benchmarks; and develop and execute a plan for communicating information about utility costs, financing and funding, operations, rate structure, and rate changes to customers throughout the process.
Barney & Worth is preparing to launch a community engagement program that will include an eight- to 12-member citizens’ advisory committee “representing a cross-section of customers which will serve as a sounding board throughout the study and be involved in the review and analysis of the options,” according to Scott; stakeholder interviews; two public meetings on yet-to-be-determined dates; a fact sheet; information on the city’s website and social media channels; and a video that will communicate the purpose of the study, provide context about the utilities and encourage people to participate in the process.
