Consultants from CONSORT presented the city's updated general sewer plan at the Sept. 16 Port Orchard City Council work study, outlining a six-year capital improvement program and a longer-term (6–20 year) planning horizon for sewer capacity and asset replacement.

The presentation matters because the city's sewer system includes decades-old infrastructure and gaps in condition data that could change the timing and cost of repairs. Council members and operations staff said more video inspections and an improved asset-management database are needed to move from reactive repairs to planned maintenance.

CONSORT production manager Eric Skyler and staff described how the plan used a baseline of spotty condition work that began in 2023 and incorporated the city's most recent population projections and the 6‑year CIP. They said the plan prioritizes capacity constraints first and obsolescence second; pump stations and lift-station mechanicals, which typically have shorter service lives than gravity pipe, are a particular focus. Skyler said the project team completed condition assessments at specific pump stations and included those findings in the CIP.

Council members questioned the completeness and accuracy of underlying data. A council member noted that only a portion of the system has been televised and asked how staff estimated pipe replacement needs when the city has not yet inspected the entire network. Operations staff said condition information was assembled from as-built drawings, construction photos, interviews with long‑time operations personnel and limited TV inspection; staff estimate parts of the system were installed in the 1970s–1980s and that typical pipe service lives are treated as 50–100 years while mechanical equipment is reviewed on a roughly 25‑year cycle.

Staff said the system has not been fully TV‑inspected: the last full-system TV noted in discussion was 2018, and the city has completed about 23.1% of gravity line CCTV to date. They also reported 3,259 open sewer-related maintenance tasks in the city's work-order system and said TV and smoke testing crews require sizable teams and equipment to execute properly.

Next steps described to the council included submittal of the plan to state Ecology and county health for review (staff noted reviews can take about 60 days and that Ecology reviewers sometimes have schedule constraints), continued refinement of the asset-management database and coordination with the concurrent sewer rate study so operations and financing are aligned.

Council members requested more detailed, council‑level briefings on staffing needs, TV inspection coverage (what percentage of pipe has been inspected), and the timeline and costs to complete the remaining condition assessments. Staff agreed to provide follow-up material and to present condition‑coverage metrics for the public hearing and upcoming budget discussions.

The presentation closed with staff and consultants emphasizing that the general sewer plan is a living document: as more inspections and GIS data arrive, the timing and priority of CIP projects will be adjusted.