County Will Float Ideas On Stormwater Payments

Suburban flooding in southeast Spokane has drawn a lot of attention from county officials in recent years.

An engineering plan to control stormwater problems on Moran Prairie, Glenrose Prairie and Browne’s Mountain was completed last year.

County commissioners are holding public meetings next month on ways to pay for construction of storm sewers.

“We’ve had a number of homes up here that have flooded and are suffering the impact of flooding,” said Susan Brudnicki, head of the Moran Prairie Neighborhood Association.

She is one of two association leaders who have been asked by the county to sit on a citizen advisory committee to talk about funding stormwater collection systems.

Also, the county’s utilities division is expanding work on flooding problems on the West Plains.

The county has started negotiating with a Seattle engineering firm to develop a watershed plan for flood-prone areas west of Sunset Hill on both sides of Interstate 90.

Brenda Sims, county stormwater utility manager, said the contract could cost $200,000 or more.

Groundwater problems have slowed construction of a new B.F. Goodrich manufacturing plant along Interstate 90 at Hayford Road.

Sims said that problem demonstrates the need for a stormwater collection system in the area.

The West Plains, she said, is a maze of connected wetlands and fields with high water tables. Water collects in depressions in the impermeable basalt bedrock not far below the ground’s surface.

Initially, engineers believe a collection system would include the creation of a large evaporation pond somewhere on the plain, she said.

The West Plains is one of 14 basins that comprise the stormwater service area in the urbanized parts of the unincorporated county.

Property owners within the service area are paying annual fees for the planning work, but the county still needs to come up with a way to finance construction.

Meetings to be held in March will give residents some choices about how best to pay for stormwater collection systems.

The times and locations have not been set, but the dates are March 23, 24, 30 and 31.

Sims said one idea is to raise fees just enough to pay for projects on a year-by-year basis.

Another is to sell revenue bonds to finance a big construction effort over a few years.

The other issue involves developing a fair way to assess fees.

Property owners in areas with fewer flooding problems may object to paying higher fees to finance solutions in areas like Moran Prairie, Sims said.

“Our initial reaction is it should be spread throughout the county,” Brudnicki said.

Sims said one option is to continue collecting assessments throughout the entire service area for engineering and planning work.

Construction costs could be paid by property owners in each basin by creating separate funds and assessments for the basins needing work, such as pipes and evaporation ponds.

MEETINGS The times and locations for the stormwater meetings have not been set, but the dates are March 23, 24, 30 and 31.