Columbia Basin communities awarded development grants

OLYMPIA — Six communities across the Columbia Basin are among the recipients of $10.8 million in Community Development Block Grants announced Monday by the Washington State Department of Commerce.

According to a press release from the Department of Commerce, the grants are intended to “improve rural water, sewer, streets, community facilities and fire protection systems” as well as promote affordable housing and rural economic development.

The local recipients are:

— Lind, which is receiving $29,662 for a groundwater supply assessment study;

— Mattawa, which is receiving $685,000 for the Government Road multi-use pathway;

— Odessa, which is receiving $580,725 for sewer system improvements and $30,000 for a water system asset plan;

— Royal City, which is receiving $900,000 to improve the city’s water system and $30,000 to redo the city’s water system plan;

— Soap Lake, which is receiving $897,000 for water system improvements.

Royal City has some old steel water lines that were put in around 50 years ago and are near the end of their life, said Royal City Finance Director Shilo Christensen.

Christensen said the $900,000 grant will cover less than half of the $2 million cost of the water main replacement, and the city is seeking a combination low-interest loan and grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program.

“It’s not scheduled to start yet,” Christensen said. “It’s a few streets, so it’s not a small project. But a street in Royal City is not like a street in Moses Lake.”

In an email, Soap Lake Mayor Alex Kovach stated that the grant will be used to further the work of replacing old (asbestos concrete) water mains and telemetry throughout the city.

“This work will be completed with additional sewer work next year,” he wrote.

Soap Lake is in the midst of a nearly $9 million project to replace nearly 10,000 feet of sewer and water lines across the city.

Lind, a town of 560 on the rolling wheat plains of Adams County, will use its nearly $30,000 to evaluate the city’s four wells and its water supply.

“It’s to make sure there’s enough water for everybody for the long term, and what to do as we go forward,” said Steve Nelson, a project manager for Century West Engineering in Spokane Valley, which is overseeing the study.

Nelson said the study should be finished by next fall and hopefully no later than next spring.

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