Ephrata Council Introduced to 10 Year Sewer Capital Project Improvement Project

Ephrata city council will be presented with an introduction to the ten year capital improvement project, 2020-2030 Sewer Comprehensive Plan, at the Wednesday evening meeting. The plan would update and improve the collection and treatment system.

The collection system is 44 miles of pipes and the treatment system is the 20 year old, formerly high tech, recycling sewer plant.

"We have three main reasons for doing these improvements," said Wes Crago, city administrator. "One is safety; backups of sewer lines due to collapses, plugs are just generally old, sewer lines causes a lot of property damage. We need to improve our technology. The third reason, the state of Washington has mandated we make some improvements."

The total cost is projected for roughly $7 million, but the rate increase would only be $5 per month that would implemented gradually over ten years. The gradual rate increase would begin in 2021. Crago estimates about a $1 per year for five years.

"Looking at a per year cost, it's a pretty small increase. We've got a couple of bonds that'll be paid off shortly, it'll also keep those costs down

There will be three public hearings before the council formally approves the plan.