New glitch for a broken system

COWICHE, Wash. -- A year after resolving a heated legal battle over control of their sewer plant, Cowiche and Tieton face new challenges with the resignations of the entire sewer district board.

With no one at the helm, Yakima County is charged with appointing two new commissioners, who, in turn, will select a third. Until the process is complete, the county will assume oversight of plant operations.

"It's not like we're in a crisis situation with the plant. We're very fortunate in that regard," Yakima County Commissioner Mike Leita said. "This is an administrative crisis rather than an operational crisis."

Joe Trepanier, Lisa Wood and Chuck Simmons all resigned from the Cowiche Sewer District board between April 22 and May 14. Wood had no comment about why she resigned, and Simmons said he did so for personal reasons.

Trepanier said he quit because of overwhelming financial pressures.

"I've had enough. I can't charge the city of Cowiche anymore," said Trepanier, former sewer district chairman. "We have to repair all these things at the plant, and we don't have the money. For the last eight months, we've been out of money at the end of each month."

The plant opened in 2002. Two years later, a long and acrimonious legal battle began when two of the three sewer district commissioners resigned and Tieton assumed control.

Cowiche stopped paying its portion of the bills and Tieton deferred making some needed repairs. An arbitrator ended the dispute in 2008 by giving control of the plant back to Cowiche and ordering it to fund Tieton for overdue payments.

But the ruling hasn't solved the financial crisis, Trepanier said, adding that there isn't money to make roughly $100,000 in needed improvements. He said the matter was made worse by Tieton's former plant operator, who wasn't keeping proper records. His actions led the Department of Ecology to temporarily pull his certification.

To help offset costs, the Cowiche Sewer District has gradually increased monthly base rates in Cowiche from $35 to $57 today for residential users. This is substantially higher than the $44.29 monthly fee charged in nearby Tieton. Roughly 350 households in Tieton and 120 in Cowiche have been using the plant.

Living in a small community, Trepanier said he's the one blamed for rate increases, and he doesn't want that responsibility anymore. He personally blames the city of Tieton and the Department of Ecology for letting the plant's maintenance issues fall to the wayside.

"We can not afford this stuff," Trepanier said. "Everyone is complaining to me on when this (rate increases) will end. ... We have to get money from somewhere."

He said he's tried petitioning Yakima County and the Department of Ecology for help and has gotten nowhere. He hopes the new commissioners are more effective at solving the money problems than he has been.

"It's time to move on and let someone else do it," he said. "This sewer plant is a money hole. If I would have known what I know today, I wouldn't have taken the plant back from Tieton. It's in such disrepair."

Plant operator Joe Schons, who was hired in 2008, said Tieton made some repairs while it was in charge of the plant, but that a lot more needed to be done. He said the plant is working efficiently and is in compliance, at least for now.

"If we don't have spare parts, if we don't have stock on hand, if we don't get these stream studies done, the Department of Ecology will turn around and cite us again," he said. "We are violating our permit. Each one can be worth as much as $10,000 a day for each day of violation."

He said Trepanier dragged his feet on applying rate increases for several years because he didn't want to be the bad guy. Now the time has come to launch a rate study, which would show what commercial and residential users need to pay, Schons said. It will also show if the plant needs a government subsidy.

"This place is a poster child of how the whole system failed," he said. "A lot of people were screwing up and sleeping on the job. We had a bad operator with a bad licensing system, bad management and conflict of interest. ... The county needs to figure out what to do."

Rick Frye, who manages all Central Washington permits with the Department of Ecology, said he's aware of the sewer plant's tumultuous history and of the troubling money matters.

Based on how the plant has been managed in recent years, he said it may not reach its 20-year lifespan unless maintenance is improved.

He said he will try to work with the sewer district as much as possible to give advice on government loan programs, but his primary objective is to ensure the plant continues to run properly. He added that saving for capital expenses should be a priority with the district.

"In these tough financial times, all small municipalities are having a hard time coming up with money," he said, adding that his department rarely issues monetary penalties to struggling municipalities. "The sooner you make repairs, the better you are."

Tieton Mayor Stan Hall acknowledges many mistakes were made before he came into office in 2007, and he's not eager to repeat them. That's why he's trusting Yakima County to take action, rather than swooping in to take over the plant again.

"We're not in any rush to do anything," he said. "I'm quite willing to give the county every opportunity on this. I know these things don't happen overnight."

Cowiche Sewer District timeline

* 2000: Tieton and Cowiche team up in 2000 to build a $4 million sewerage treatment plant in Cowiche. They shared the costs of construction and set up a formula to divide operating expenses.

* 2002: The Cowiche Sewer District assumed responsibility of the plant when construction concluded in 2002.

* 2004: Problems erupted in 2004, when two of the three sewer commissioners resigned for personal reasons and one of the plant's two operators quit. Joe Trepanier, the remaining commissioner, couldn't fill the vacancy because he lacked a quorum in which to conduct regular business.

* late 2004: Tieton took over control of the plant in December 2004 and later began paying Cowiche's share of the expenses.

* 2005-2007: Cowiche and Tieton officials spent the next three years arguing over the amount of money owed to one another and disputed who should run the plant -- even after the sewer district gained two new commissioners.

* 2008: An arbitrator ordered Cowiche to pay Tieton about $105,000 for back maintenance and operating expenses. Cowiche, in turn, regained control of the plant that spring.

* 2009: Since April, all three sewer district commissioners have resigned for varied reasons. Yakima County is charged with appointing two new commissioners, who in turn, will choose a third. Until the positions are filled, Yakima County will handle billing issues and operational oversight of the plant.

* Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com

• Jobs
  www.yakjobs.com
• Homes
  www.yakhomes.com
• 
• 
  
• Autos
  www.yakwheels.com

• All Special Pubs Channels YakJobs.com YakWheels.com YakHomes.com Playdate Yakima Bride Yakima Wheels (Print) Home Buyer's Guide Baby Brag Book Graduates 2009 Summer in the Valley Prep Football 2009 Women in Business
• Advertisement