Council gives thumbs up on wastewater treatment plan and EMS levy

The Othello City Council on Monday unanimously approved creation of a comprehensive wastewater treatment plan “to provide future treatment capacity and to improve treatment efficiency, reliability and operation” for the next 20 years.

The plan, which has been added on to Varela & Co.’s existing contract to create a comprehensive water plan for Othello, will cost an additional $369,000 — half of which will be covered by a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The rest will come from the city’s sewer fund.

According to Varela engineer Jesse Cowger, Othello will need to figure how to deal with wastewater, especially if more industrial water users arrive in the city.

In early May, the city approved creation of a comprehensive water plan to secure new sources of drinking water as well as find ways to reuse treated water — such as for watering lawns. 

Council member John Lallas wondered if the plan would involve a video inspection of the city’s sewer lines — some of which were old and beginning to fail.

“Ecology will want that? There are a lot of clay and concrete pipes, and this is becoming an issue, and are backing up and causing problems,” Lallas asked.

“We’re working with public works on that,” Cowger said, adding that PVC sewer pipes are “pretty solid” and should be in good condition.

The council also unanimously approved a six-year renewal of Othello’s current EMS levy of 40¢ per $1,000 in assessed value to fund ambulance and emergency medical services.

“I believe in having our ambulance service here in town is a real benefit,” Dorow said. “If it was a private service based in another town, that would be a half-hour to an hour wait.”

“That’s a long time to wait when you need an ambulance,” Dorow said.

The ambulance service is based at Othello Community Hospital but is paid for in a special levy, which raises around $525,000 every year.

“I don’t see a scenario when we won’t need an ambulance in Othello,” said Mayor Shawn Logan.

The EMS levy is now set to appear on the Aug. 1 primary ballot, and needs 50 percent plus one vote to pass.