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Council tables Dairygold wastewater addendum after staff request for final review and clarification of back charges
Summary
Chehalis staff presented an addendum to the wastewater discharge agreement with Dairygold that would formalize year‑round discharge, add entry-and-testing rights and adjust lease payments to capture past due charges; council tabled the item to allow final legal review and to return a fully vetted document at the next meeting.
The Chehalis City Council on May 27 tabled consideration of an addendum to the city’s wastewater discharge agreement with Dairygold after staff and the city attorney said the version before council required final review.
Public works staff explained Dairygold’s discharge has been year‑round since May 2019 following a discharge failure, but the existing contract contemplated only seasonal discharge and a lease payment structure that did not account for year‑round flows. Staff said the addendum would update the contract to reflect continuous discharge, add a right of entry for sampling and testing, and adjust lease payments to include past‑due amounts.
Staff presented a calculation showing an increase in the lease payment to capture arrears; the addendum documents a past‑due amount (described in staff presentation as roughly $1.2 million in back charges) and a repayment schedule to spread those charges across three years, after which the user would transition to the city’s standard industrial user rate structure when the contract terminates in 2027.
The wastewater superintendent said he had coordinated the repayment schedule with Dairygold, but the city attorney reported that she had not yet seen any final edits from Dairygold’s counsel and could not confirm that the version before council reflected any returned edits. Given that uncertainty, a councilmember moved and the council seconded to table the addendum until the final reviewed document is available; staff committed to bring the corrected final for council consideration at the next scheduled meeting.
