Leavenworth, East Wenatchee To Get $575,000 For Emergency Repairs

The Washington State Public Works Board (PWB) is sending emergency funding to East Wenatchee and Leavenworth for critical infrastructure repairs. 

Leavenworth is getting $400,000 to repair the rapidly deteriorating Pine Street Water Main, while East Wenatchee is receiving $175,000 to replace a failed segment of the stormwater line on North Baker Avenue.  

Both cities started the projects and will be reimbursed upon completion with a low interest loan at 1.38 percent and some grant money.

Public Works Board Executive Director Karin Berkholtz says the East Wenatchee project needed immediate attention.

"It was an important project for them to pursue ASAP, because of the public health and safety issue, with there being a school there, to being a major arterial for buses, with being approximate to a low/moderate income neighborhood" said Berkholtz.

Berkholtz says the Leavenworth project is labor intensive and is being fast tracked.
"They're replacing a six inch water main that's approximately 700 linear feet," Berkholtz said. "They're replacing 29 water services and two fire hydrants, and repaving the whole area. And their goal is to have that work done before Thanksgiving."

The Public Works Board offers emergency construction loans to repair, replace, and/or reconstruct infrastructure that will restore essential services. 

The funding is available to Cities, Counties, Special Purpose Districts and Quasi-Municipal Organizations.  

The money can be used for infrastructure systems dealing with Domestic Water, Roads/Streets, Bridges, Sanitary Sewer, Solid Waste/Recycling/Organics and Stormwater. 

A total of $400,000 in emergency funding ($340,000 loan and $60,000 grant) will repair the Leavenworth Pine Street Water Main.  

According to a release from the Public Works Board, 26 single-family residences, three businesses, and two fire hydrants served by the main are at risk for substantial water service interruptions and a potential for non-existent fire flow.  

The project will install a temporary water system to serve affected customers during construction, replace the deteriorated water main, and repave disturbed asphalt. 

East Wenatchee is receiving $175,000 in emergency funding ($148,750 loan and $26,250 grant) for the stormwater line on North Baker Avenue.  

The Public Works Board says the city will replace a failed section of the stormwater system, which has caused pavement above the line to settle. Preliminary results show the remaining pipe is also in imminent danger of failure.  

A natural spring runs through the system that produces an estimated 30 gallons per minute year-round. If another section of the pipe were to fail in an area with soils highly susceptible to erosion, the results could be catastrophic to the integrity of the system.  

The second phase of the project will utilize a replacement line to mitigate this risk and extend the system’s remaining life.