County and community officials on Oct. 21 asked state legislators to provide $3,350,000 to finalize design and secure right‑of‑way for a proposed $27,000,000 sewer system for Packwood, in eastern Lewis County.

Mindy Brooks, director of community development for Lewis County, said the Packwood area is 80 miles from the nearest economic center and has seen a tourism‑driven rise in housing prices and short‑term rentals that has left workers without affordable homes. "We can't have multifamily without sewer in this area," Brooks said at the roundtable, describing zoning changes the county recently approved to encourage higher‑density housing at the former mill site and elsewhere in the town.

The project is at roughly 60% engineering design, Brooks said. The $3.35 million request would fund work to reach 90% design, purchase facility locations at the mill property and acquire rights‑of‑way for pump stations so construction can proceed. County staff described other secured funding sources, including EPA programs and low‑interest loans, but said the engineering milestone is the immediate bottleneck.

Supporters argued the project would enable multifamily housing needed for workers who staff Packwood's tourism economy and would produce economic returns from lodging and related spending. Jeff Soderquist, Lewis County director of public works, and county legislators urged phasing the ask for the short supplemental session if necessary and combining grants, loans and local community project (LCP) requests.

Representatives and county staff highlighted that earlier ARPA funding intended for the project stalled at the state level and that getting the design completed will preserve momentum and allow the county to take advantage of funding windows. Legislators advised the county to prepare component‑level requests so portions of the project could be funded in a supplemental year and to apply for the coming LCP cycle in late November.

If funded to the requested milestone, county staff said the project could move toward construction in subsequent budget cycles.