Sewer plan scrutiny criticized

Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District extended an olive branch to the City Council that held thorns for Planning Director Doug Smith.

At Tuesday’s Liberty Lake City Council meeting, Sewer Commissioner Frank Boyle read a letter meant to encourage cooperation between the city and district. However, the letter also said Smith has delayed issuing a building permit for the $11 million sewer plant expansion.

During a phone interview later, Boyle expressed frustration that plans already approved by Spokane County and the state Department of Ecology are being further scrutinized by the city. The only thing delaying the project, Boyle said, is the city.

“We would be moving dirt today if it wasn’t for that,” said Boyle, adding that the district submitted its paperwork Aug. 30.

After the meeting, Smith said his department is requiring that the district do additional environmental impact studies because he isn’t comfortable with the three-year-old State Environmental Protection Act report the district provided.

Saying that “Ecology isn’t the only agency out there,” Smith said the city wants area Indian tribes and other municipal dischargers to review the plans, as well.

“I’m just not going to put the city in the position of issuing a building permit if adequate review hasn’t been completed,” Smith said.

The fight over the permit comes against the backdrop of a larger battle for control of the sewer district.

Last November the city passed an ordinance, which started the ball rolling toward taking over the district. The district filed a lawsuit in December to block the takeover attempt.

A superior court judge recently ruled the city’s ordinance was invalid and ordered it to conduct environmental impact studies and hold a public vote allowing city residents decide who they want to control their utility.

During the meeting, the council addressed what one member called the “social costs” of the ongoing lawsuit by passing a resolution detailing how the city would run the district.

However, the resolution isn’t binding as policy or law.

The timing of it puzzled Councilmember David Crump. “We’re putting in a resolution before we have intent by the council (to resume the takeover effort) or the feasibility study,” Crump said.

A draft version of the feasibility study was circulated among the council, which had one closed-door meeting with the principal engineer. The Spokesman-Review requested a copy of the draft under the state open records law. The city declined to provide a copy.

Among goals stated in the resolution are forming a utilities advisory committee to ensure that customers from both inside and outside the city are represented and to maintain lake protection standards.

The city and sewer district did, however, find common ground to participate in Spokane Regional Wastewater Alliance.

In the past week, both the sewer commissioners and the City Council voted to join Spokane, Spokane Valley and Spokane County in participating in the regionwide forum to gather information on the best means to handle the region’s wastewater crisis.