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Residents urge careful study of Bremerton sewer expansion and criticize building‑department permitting
Summary
Public commenters at the Mason County meeting urged a rigorous feasibility analysis for a potential Bremerton sewer expansion and criticized the building department’s permit practices, citing costly requirements for small projects.
Two members of the public addressed county commissioners during the Jan. 6 open‑forum period with separate concerns.
Randy Lewis urged the county to require a comprehensive feasibility study for any Bremerton sewer expansion that quantifies financial consequences, includes stress testing under adverse scenarios, and isolates the incremental cost the county would bear if Bremerton does not share expansion expenses. Lewis said the study should evaluate scenarios in which Bremerton customers do and do not contribute to expansion costs so Mason County taxpayers are not left holding unexpected liabilities.
Later, Skip Parker criticized the county building department’s permitting approach for small homeowner projects, recounting a case in which a homeowner was told to obtain engineer and architect drawings for a side door, at an apparent cost of about $1,500 for a $500 door. Parker argued some small projects should be exempt from such requirements and urged the county to ensure staff are qualified to make reasonable judgments without requiring unnecessary consultant work.
Commissioners acknowledged the public comments; no formal action was taken during the meeting on either issue. Commissioners and staff did not provide a timetable or directive for follow‑up during the session recorded in the transcript.
