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Council hears update on updated interlocal sewer agreement for Lift Station 12 bypass
Summary
Public works staff presented an updated interlocal agreement that would let Lynnwood send overflow from Lift Station 12 into Mountlake Terrace’s trunk line during emergencies, replacing an old monitoring feed with monthly flow-meter reports; council asked about tradeoffs and redundancy but no vote was recorded.
Lynnwood public works staff on Monday presented an updated interlocal agreement (ILA) with Mountlake Terrace that would govern emergency use of a bypass line at Lift Station 12.
"That lift station for where it's at has a bypass that ties into Mountlake Terrace's trunk line that we're able to use during emergency situations," said Nick Stokes, the city's water and sewer utility manager, describing the operational purpose of the connection and noting the trunk line runs to the regional treatment plant.
Stokes told the council the principal change from the old documents — the most recent of which date to 1977 and 1982 — is procedural: instead of installing a real-time fiber-fed monitoring link, Lynnwood will share monthly flow-meter and SCADA reports with Mountlake Terrace so staff can know when the line is used. "Now that we're able to use a flow meter rather than tying in fiber lines and giving them a direct feed, we do give those monthly reports," he said. Staff also summarized the cost formula: the city would pay Edmonds' treatment charge plus a 20% overhead for diversion volume.
Council members asked operational questions. "Is this the only pump station that has the need for this kind of redirect overflow?" asked Councilmember Lutweiler. Stokes replied Pump Station 12 is the only station with a piped connection into another city's sewer system, while most other pump stations have generator backups and multiple pumps for redundancy.
Public works director Jared Bond framed the ILA update as an administrative, not construction, action: the document modernizes monitoring and financial terms but does not authorize bypass construction work. Bond thanked Mountlake Terrace staff for their cooperation and said Mountlake Terrace is expected to adopt a similar update.
No formal motion or vote on the ILA was recorded during the work session; staff said the update is intended to provide Lynnwood an operational option during maintenance or emergency outages.
What’s next: staff will return with any recommended ordinance or consent-agenda language if council action is required; councilmembers signaled general interest but pressed for clarity on operational tradeoffs and billing mechanics.
