Senate committee advances bill to let Mapleton water district assume sewer operations to access grants

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire voted to recommend passage of House Bill 3,910 A after testimony that the Mapleton sewer provider is at risk of insolvency and recent infrastructure failures created public-health hazards.

Proponents said the bill would allow a water district to exercise sanitary district powers, provided affected sanitary districts or other service providers hold a public hearing and give written consent. Representative Wright, who sponsored the bill in the House, described it as “pretty simple” and said it is intended to allow small, often unincorporated, communities to combine water and sewer governance so they can pursue grants and avoid long delays creating new special districts.

The Mapleton case was the focus of testimony. Ryan Seneca, vice chair of the Lane County Board of Commissioners, told the committee the Mapleton Commercial Area Owners Association’s wastewater system is “at the precipice of both bankruptcy and infrastructure failure” after an infrastructure failure in 2024 caused months of unchlorinated effluent to discharge into the Siuslaw River. Seneca said the association’s 509(a)(2) public-charity status makes it ineligible for state and federal grants or forgivable loans and that converting to a special district would take more than two years. He said both the association and the Mapleton Water District boards have voted unanimously to merge and have submitted letters of support.

Pam Sievers, vice president of the Mapleton sewer district and manager of Maple Lane RV Park, described immediate local consequences if the sewer service is lost: “Without a sewer district, my RV park would close almost immediately. If our tanks are full, it is about $6,000 to empty them all.” She said local businesses including Randy’s Riverview Market and Mapleton Food Share, which serves up to about 30 families, rely on the sewer service.

Arthur Donnelly, vice chair of the Mapleton District Board of Commissioners, asked the Legislature to give the community “the power to use your power to give Mapleton this tool to use in building our own solution.” He said the bill’s language had been refined with input from DEQ staff and the Oregon On-site Wastewater Association.

The committee chair noted the House had recorded no nays on the bill and opened a work session. Vice Chair Nash moved HB 3,910 A to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the committee voted to advance the bill unanimously. During the work session the chair said the bill declares an emergency and is effective upon passage, and he invited a senator from the area to carry it in the Senate.