Mason County commissioners agree to advance Belfair–Bremerton ILA to agenda amid split views on costs and protections

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Mason County commissioners at a Belfair sewer work session agreed to place an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the city of Bremerton on an upcoming commission agenda for further negotiation and possible signature, while continuing to debate whether the county should commit sewer capacity or require Bremerton to pay for feasibility and expansion costs first.

The discussion matters because the ILA sets the framework for negotiations over whether Bremerton may use up to 160,000 gallons per day of Mason County sewer capacity, who pays for design and system expansion, and how the counties will allocate costs. Commissioners said a separate state Commerce grant of about $3 million — described in the meeting as split roughly $1.6 million for Bremerton and $1.4 million for Mason County — could fund design and feasibility work but that the grant language and the ILA’s terms must protect Mason County ratepayers.

Commissioner 3, a Mason County commissioner, warned the board that “we're gonna guess on a lot of things because we don't have a feasibility,” and pressed that the…