Water utility board approves $247.8 million 2025–2030 capital plan; solids-handling at Kellogg deferred

Sitting as the Water Environment Services (WES) Board of Directors, the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners voted 4–1 to advance the Water Environment Services 2025–2030 Capital Improvement Plan to a future business meeting for formal adoption.

The five-year plan, as presented by Greg Geist, Director of Water Environment Services, identifies roughly $247,750,000 in planned capital spending through 2030. Geist said WES serves about 200,000 residents and treats about 7,000,000,000 gallons of wastewater per year, and that the CIP is a rolling projection of what the utility intends to build and when, separate from budget and financing decisions.

The plan allocates roughly half its projects to growth-driven needs and half to replacing or rehabilitating aging infrastructure, Geist said, noting some assets are roughly 50 years old. He highlighted investments at the Kellogg treatment plant, including administrative remodels, disinfection upgrades and—later in the five‑year window—solids‑handling work intended to reduce truck traffic from the site. Geist said the ultraviolet disinfection system at Kellogg is the first installed in the state and is roughly 40 years old, making replacement a near-term priority.

Why this matters: the CIP sets the county’s near-term construction priorities for wastewater treatment and collection. While it is not itself a financing plan, the schedule and scope of projects drive future budget, reserve and debt decisions that influence rates…