Bridge Street phase of Brewster water project underway

BREWSTER – Portions of Bridge Street from the Bridge Street Bridge on the south to Lakeview Way on the north will be closed or restricted for the next couple of months while construction crews work on the latest phase of the city’s ambitious water upgrade program.

At this writing workmen are busy on Bridge south of Main Street connecting the water main that runs along the east side of the street to water users on the west side of the street. To accomplish that a channel must be excavated at nearly every block to allow for the connecting pipe to be installed.

City public works director Lee Webster said the renovation project that will also take in a sizeable portion of Hospital Way will involve about 14,000 linear feet of waterline.

“It’s supposed to be done by the end of October,” said Webster, “However this is a pretty old town and we’re finding lots of things while digging.”

The implication is that many of the “things” found were not anticipated and need to be addressed while laying the new line.

Webster said the cross-street water line connections involve at least 39 properties on the west side of Bridge and the project cost will total more than $3 million.

Another part of the project just now in the materials staging process involves the building of two well houses that will cost another $3 million-plus.

“One well house be for the well above the lower reservoir and the second will cover the well south of State Way,” Webster said.

The plan calls for both houses to be raised and enclosed by winter so workmen can do interior finish work during the cold months.

NCB provides funds

North Cascade Bank (NCB) has established a line of credit with the city to provide interim financing for the water project. In a media release last month NCB announced its involvement with Brewster’s new municipal wells and transmission lines and the city’s goal to reduce manganese levels in its water supply.

“Manganese has been a problem for the city’s water utility for years, clogging city pipes, pumps, and meters causing low water pressure for residents,” said the NCB release. “The new wells and transmission lines, along with a new water reservoir, will allow the city to support existing residents and future growth.”

City clerk/treasurer Misty Ruiz said this is NCB’s first participation in the water project.

“They are providing $2.6 million to us and USDA will purchase that loan from them,” said Ruiz, “so the loan is guaranteed by the government,”

Brewster has been an NCB customer since 2002 and worked with the bank’s Vice President of Municipal Landing to arrange the transaction.

The latest water work is part of a project that began three years ago in August 2017 when the city received a multi-million-dollar government grant to upgrade its aging water system. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved a $6.3 million Rural Development Grant that, combined with a $2.8 million loan allowed Brewster to both address its manganese issue and shave years off its 20-year water development plan.

The windfall was substantially larger than the $5-6 million the state received annually to disperse for RD projects statewide.

The money gave Brewster the funding to establish two new water wells with well houses, a utility building with some covered storage, about 17,000 feet of water line, 4,000 feet of water main and various interconnection pieces, hydrants, and valves.

City engineer Steve James of J-U-B Engineers in Spokane said the USDA funding was “probably the largest RD grant that we’ve seen for quite a while in Washington.”

To top off the package, the grant comes with a 70 percent forgiveness, Webster said.

An earlier Community Development Block Grant allowed the city to rehabilitate its water reservoir storage complex and double the city’s water storage capacity to 1.5 million gallons.