Ephrata sees higher sewer rates, perhaps a roundabout

EPHRATA — Ephrata has a new city administrator.

City residents will also pay higher sewer and water rates over the next few years, and may have to cope with yet another roundabout in the city limits.

City council members on Wednesday unanimously voted to hire Police Chief Mike Warren as the city’s next administrator, replacing Wes Crago, who has overseen the day-to-day running of Ephrata since 2003.

Crago will start as Spokane’s new city administrator in February.

“I have some pretty big shoes to fill,” Warren told the Columbia Basin Herald on Thursday. “I’m looking forward to it, but I’m not really sure what I don’t know yet.”

Replacing Warren as interim police chief is Ephrata Police Cpt. Erik Koch. He swore in new Ephrata Police Sgt. Todd Huffman on Wednesday.

“At some point, we will look for a new police chief,” Warren said. “But we need to let some dust settle first.”

The city council also unanimously approved the city’s 2020-2025 comprehensive sewer plan, which will incrementally raise city sewer rates $1 per year over the five years to pay for improvements to the city’s sewer pipes, lift stations and sewage treatment plant.

The city expects to spend roughly $3.1 million on improvements and replacements to the city’s sewer pipes and lift stations and nearly $4 million on repairs and upgrades to the sewage treatment facility south of town.

Finally, outgoing City Administrator Wes Crago told members of the city council that the state Department of Transportation is considering replacing the intersection of state Route 282 and Nat Washington Way — the location of Ephrata’s Walmart — with a roundabout.

Crago said officials with the DOT approached the city and are seeking Ephrata’s participation in the project, which was first considered in 2006.

“The city spent $65,000 for an engineering study of a roundabout, but it never happened,” Crago said. ”I feel we’ve participated pretty substantially already.”

Crago said there was no timeline on the project, and that the state was just seeing how much interest or support there might be for a roundabout at that location.

It took DOT about a year to go from the first proposal to completion of the roundabout at SR-282 and Dodson Road/A Street SE (which itself was built in five days), Crago said, but he expected any roundabout at 282 and Nat Washington would be a much bigger project and likely take far longer to build.

“I’m guessing it will look a lot like what Mattawa has,” Crago said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at [email protected].