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Council asks staff for ERU reconciliation, groundwater plan and cost estimates for future sewer upgrades
Summary
Facing inconsistent consultant memos and different units (ERUs vs population), Bainbridge Island councilors directed staff to produce a consolidated, ERU-based sewer capacity table, add the groundwater management plan by reference, standardize people-per-ERU conversions, and provide order-of-magnitude cost and funding options for a 2040 plant upgrade.
Councilors pressed staff on June 9 for clearer, consistent data tying wastewater capacity to land-use decisions.
Interim City Manager Ellen Schroer and City Engineer Peter Corella showed maps and math that used different boundaries and different units (population, dwelling units, ERUs) in several consultant memos. Council members said the inconsistency created confusion; multiple speakers argued that ERUs should be the consistent unit for sewer planning.
Deputy Mayor Debra Maritopoulos moved (and council approved) a request that staff prepare a sewer-capacity reconciliation table expressed in ERUs that lists existing connections, homes on septic within the sewer service area, capacity committed to approved but unbuilt development, projected demand to meet state housing allocations (HB 1220 numbers), projected commercial demand (or a note where that cannot be projected), total available capacity now and after each planned upgrade, and funding status for each upgrade. Council also asked staff to standardize the people-per-ERU conversion factor and to document the methodology.
Separately, council asked Public Works to provide a preliminary order-of-magnitude cost estimate and potential funding mechanisms for the second planned wastewater-treatment-plant upgrade (scheduled approximately 2040) and to flag any regulatory hurdles. The city agreed to insert the groundwater management plan by reference into the capital facilities element.
Why it matters: councilors said planning-level zoning and upzoning decisions must be grounded in a clear, auditable understanding of whether utilities can serve the density being proposed. They directed staff to return with reconciled tables and feasibility notes so that final plan adoption can proceed with transparent capacity accounting.
What happens next: staff will assemble the ERU reconciliation, standardize conversion factors in the sewer update, add the groundwater management plan by reference, and report preliminary cost figures and funding options for the 2040 upgrade.
