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Lane County outlines Goshen–Creswell wastewater plan; MWMC signals support, but capital costs loom
Summary
Public works staff briefed the board on a multi-decade plan to connect Goshen and Creswell to the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) system, citing operational and environmental benefits; staff proposed using MWMC's SDC buy-in model and a 5% out-of-network surcharge, while commissioners noted pipeline construction could cost in the tens of millions.
Lane County public works staff updated commissioners on the Goshen and Creswell wastewater initiative, a multi-year regional proposal to extend sewer service from the county's Goshen industrial area to the Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) trunk system and to address Creswell's municipal treatment deficiencies.
"I want to share some good news. We met with MWMC about a month ago ... the commission was supportive," Director of Public Works Dan Hurley said, describing MWMC's willingness to provide a letter of support that would assist a Metro Plan amendment to allow connections outside of existing urban growth boundaries.
Staff summarized prior work: a 2013 Goshen regional economic plan, a wastewater feasibility study and a 2017 financial/administrative study, and a 2022 preliminary engineering report that recommended two 10-inch force mains largely along Highway 99 for full buildout. MWMC's consultant (Jacobs) performed initial capacity checks and generally found sufficient capacity while identifying a few locations that require further analysis.
On costs and the buy-in model, staff proposed using MWMC's system development charge (SDC) model for connection charges and said they would apply a proposed 5% out-of-network surcharge for new flows. Staff noted the cost estimates presented use an earlier dollar base and will be updated when MWMC completes its SDC update in the coming months.
Hurley highlighted operational and environmental benefits: eliminating leachate trucking from Short Mountain Landfill, addressing Creswell's DEQ mutual agreement order and moratorium on housing in parts of the city, and advancing Goshen's industrial-site readiness. He cautioned that Goshen buildout and resulting connection fees would occur over decades and not all fees/flows are immediate.
Commissioners welcomed the regional approach but underscored funding hurdles. Commissioner Buck noted the likely scale of capital needs: "...we're in like the $70,000,000 range," and said securing federal and state infrastructure funds would be necessary. Staff and commissioners discussed connection-fee estimates in packet materials (a Springfield connection charge of approximately $3.1 million was cited as an illustrative figure) and said subsequent work will include joint planning commission hearings (Feb–Mar), a joint elected-officials public hearing in April, and deliberations in May.
Next steps include completing engineering analysis on capacity questions, updating intergovernmental agreements with MWMC and the cities, refining cost estimates when MWMC updates its SDC model, and pursuing funding strategies for large capital investments.
Provenance: presentation began under Item 11b and ran through a detailed Q&A with commissioners. The board did not take final action on funding at this meeting.
