Attendees
Lisa-Ann Oliver, Flaura’s Acres
Tom Noonan, Flaura’s Acres
Amie Smith, Commerce, Small Communities Initiative Program
Cynthia Fuller, Commerce, Small Communities Initiative Program
Mark Ozias, Clallam County Commissioner
Allan Cortina, DOH Regional Engineer
Sewer Project
- Tom met with Sequim staff last week and provided videos of collection system. City suggests repairing collection system by digging up sections to repair and lining other sections.
- Solution does not take into account future infiltration/inflow or repairs.
- There is no reserve drainfield and the existing drainfield is 50 years old. If Flaura’s is going to remain on a LOSS system DOH prefers the HOA construct a new system. This was also recommended by Flaura’s engineer.
- Regulations require that any new drainfield also have a reserve set aside in case of failure. No room to site a new or reserve drainfield on HOA property.
- For County to sponsor an Ecology application, an LID would likely be a requirement. Formation of an LID takes time and requires a majority vote of the property owners. Commissioner Ozias is meeting with the County’s attorney to discuss options.
- Ecology has a new program called Small Communities Priority Projects List (SCPPL). This allows a community to apply once and amend their agreement for the various phases of the project (planning, design, construction) without having to reapply each year. Flaura’s Acres is in the City of Sequim’s General Sewer Plan, so they would not need to apply for planning funds. The County could apply to Ecology on Flaura’s behalf for a $0 design loan, which would placeholder moving to construction costs when details about repayment can be worked out with the County.
- Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) would be open to participating in providing funding for the sewer project if the water system was also consolidated with the City’s system. HOA’s are eligible to apply for drinking water directly and would not need a sponsor to apply for a consolidation grant from DOH. CDBG would require Flaura’s to be annexed into the City if they were participating in funding the project.
- The City of Sequim could annex Flaura’s into the city limits through the Unincorporated Islands Method. This method enables the annexation of territory that is wholly or mostly surrounded by incorporated territory and is a much shorter process than required for the petition and election methods of annexation.
- this method is available to cities planning under the Growth Management Act (GMA), and the territory must be within a designated urban growth area. The criteria for annexing these “unincorporated islands” differs somewhat between code and non-code cities. A city council may initiate annexation under this method by resolution.
- Per RCW 35A.14.295, a code city may annex an area under the unincorporated island method of annexation if:
- the area is less than 175 acres and all its boundaries are contiguous to the city (i.e., it is entirely surrounded by the city); or
- the area is of any size and has at least 80% of its boundaries contiguous to the city, it contains residential property owners, and it is within the same county and urban growth area as the city, and the code city is required to plan under the Growth Management Act (GMA).
- The City of Sequim is a code city required to plan under the GMA.
Unincorporated Islands Method (https://mrsc.org/explore-topics/planning/annexation/annexation-methods#unincorporated)
Drinking Water
Lead service line inventory underway.
Next Steps
Commissioner Ozias will organize work session with other commissioners.
Next Meeting
September 18, 2024 at 9 am