Council directs staff to pursue modest rate path after stormwater plan update; plan recommends staffing and $7.8M of 10‑year projects

City staff and consultants presented an updated stormwater management plan to the Sedro‑Woolley City Council on Aug. 27, outlining system needs, recommended capital projects, staffing requirements and three funding scenarios; the council directed staff to pursue the midpoint funding scenario (scenario 2).

Kyle Anderson, assistant city engineer, introduced the presentation and said the plan is the city’s first comprehensive update since 1997. Stacy Clear, a principal with consultant Gray & Osborne (presentation name transcribed in the meeting as a similar firm), described the system inventory: four major drainage basins, miles of pipes and ditches and regulatory obligations under the city’s stormwater permit (referred to at the meeting as the "m p d s phase 2 permit"). Clear identified key problems: corroded pipes, locations where culverts are too small for fish passage as identified by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and older…