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Oak Harbor selects consultants for downtown infrastructure master plan and utility studies
Summary
City staff selected consultants to draft a downtown-focused infrastructure master plan and citywide water, sewer, stormwater and transportation plan updates to support the 2045 comprehensive plan; work begins this summer and runs through 2028, with an Ecology grant covering part of stormwater NPDS work.
Public Works Director Steve Scheler told the City Council on May 26 that the city will move forward with consultant-led studies tying utility infrastructure updates to the 2045 comprehensive plan and the pending EIS.
Staff presented a coordinated procurement outcome: RH2 was selected for water and sewer system planning (including modeling, condition assessment, and capital project lists), Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (NHC) for stormwater planning and NPDS permit work, and Transpo Group for the transportation comprehensive plan update. Scheler said the work is intended to produce a usable, corridor-level infrastructure master plan for downtown (a redevelopment focus area) and citywide utility comp plans to guide capital investment, impact fees and rate modeling.
Andy Walsh, senior utility engineer, noted the need to analyze aging transmission mains (including a 1940s-era 10-inch main from Anacortes) and to coordinate with Navy-owned lines that cross the city. He said deliverables will include capital project lists, condition assessments and cost estimates to inform impact fees and long-range investment decisions.
Alex Warner, the city engineer, explained transportation mapping and the constraints on how the city can use locally collected transportation benefit district dollars versus state/federal grant-eligible corridors. Staff said the work will inform grant applications and prioritize corridors for strategic coordination of utilities and roadwork to minimize duplicated disruption.
Staff said the project timeline starts this summer and extends through Dec. 31, 2028; the packet noted the city received a $120,000 Ecology grant to help fund the NPDS-related stormwater work. Council members asked about budget sources and carryovers; staff said some costs were already budgeted across multiple funds but that small adjustments and carryovers will be managed through the budget process.
