Citizens of La Center,
In 2015-16 the city and the tribe came to agreement that they could tie into the city wastewater system and send sewage to our plant. They agreed to pay for the line that was ran from the overpass at I-5 to our plant. This line was put in but before it could be turned on, the county and George Teeny (at the time he was the single owner of the Frontier & New Phoenix card room) sued to hold up the joint venture. They said it was not allowable under the GMA. They were correct.
Our wastewater plant was last updated over 20 years ago. The funds for this upgrade were provided to the wastewater facility by the city as a low-interest loan, as required by law. Currently, La Center charges a fixed rate for all family sizes, meaning a single-person household pays the same as a six-person household, despite varying wastewater usage. Due to the initial setup and lack of review of this system, the city has only received interest payments on the loan, with approximately $15,000,000 still outstanding. We are currently conducting a study to address this issue, aiming to implement a fair and appropriate charging system. This will facilitate loan repayment and enable much-needed upgrades to the facility.
The Tribe is building more commercial infrastructure at the junction. Instead of expanding their plant they can tie into the line that was ran down La Center road, but there were some hurdles we would have to go through before that could happen. We would need to change the GMA law to allow us to service outside of the UGB and then do some upgrades to handle the potential capacity.
We successfully amended the GMA during the last legislative session, with unanimous votes (96-0 in the House and 48-0 in the Senate). This amendment was so successful that it was broadened to allow all cities to service tribes outside their UGBs.
With the planned growth that the city knows is happening at the junction and the potential growth the tribe is going to do, it makes sense to use the pipeline to the city and send the wastewater there. This will help the residents of La Center and the Tribe from having to spend 10’s of millions of dollars by combining forces to achieve what both entities need.
The wastewater is just one of the challenges I am being faced with (roads is another), and with city staff, we are working hard to resolve it. Some of the other issues that I have faced and tackled since becoming mayor are:
- Police and public safety
- Revenue to sustain the lifestyle that La Center demands
- Tribal relations
- Washington State government relations
- Federal government relations
- Representation in our local governments
Sincerely,
Mayor Tom Strobehn
