After a long wait, the City of East Wenatchee will soon begin construction on an infrastructural improvement project.

The city’s Public Works Manager, Garren Melton, says visioning for the project was first done nearly a decade ago.

“This is a project that’s been in the works for many years,” explained Melton. “All the way back in 2014, the city purchased the property at the corner of 19th Street (NW) and Northwest Cascade (Avenue) from the Washington State Department of Transportation with the intention of using it for a regional stormwater facility.”

The Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) initially issued a grant for the project in 2016, but had to rescind it due to financial constraints.

In 2018, DOE re-issued the grant, which the city has already used a portion of to conduct a lengthy cultural resource study.

Now that the study has concluded, Melton says the city is ready to move ahead with finally realizing the project.

“Now we’re at the point where we’re ready to partner with the county. We’ve received another $2.3 million from the Department of Ecology to finish the design and construct the stormwater portion of the project. And we’re partnering with the county through an interlocal agreement to try and get additional funding to complete the project.”

The total estimated cost of the project is $5.3 million, with the city’s portion being approximately $450,000, which Melton calls “a really good value” for the city’s money.

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