In this aerial file photo taken on Oct. 9, 2009, a planned site for a potential dam outside of Pe Ell is seen.
The Board of Supervisors of the Chehalis Basin Flood Authority Zone District met on Wednesday to discuss its next steps after Lewis County commissioners authorized the board to act as the project sponsor of a water retention facility on the Chehalis River near Pe Ell.
The board of supervisors is made up of commissioners Gary Stamper, Edna Fund and Bobby Jackson, but is a separate legal entity that will move the dam forward.
“This is your project. As a district if you guys don’t want it or aren’t enthusiastic about it, it will die,” Glenn Carter, of the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, told the board. “You are the ones that have to push it forward.”
The water retention facility is one of four alternatives that was proposed in the state Department of Ecology’s programmatic environmental impact statement, which aims to provide flood protection and aquatic species enhancement. The statement was released in September 2016. A
fifth option to do nothing was also included in the EIS.
At the meeting, Erik Martin, the county’s public works director and the flood control zone district administrator, outlined the next steps for the board, which include drafting a budget, retaining outside legal counsel and drafting a job description for a project manager who would be hired later on.
Martin said much of the work will require funds up front, likely from the state, to get the board through 2017.
Both the House and Senate have allocated funding for the Chehalis Basin, but have not yet determined the final price tag as the budget has not yet been finalized. The Senate version proposes $42 million while the House version proposes $48 million.
Carter is currently helping the board get established, but he said outside legal counsel will be a necessity.
“It’s the most important project for the future of Lewis County you have ever dealt with and will ever deal with,” he said, adding it has statewide importance. Because of the large scale of the project, Carter said it will attract a lot of outside attention, especially once the initial permit is issued.
There will inevitably be a challenge to the dam, Carter said.
“That challenge will attack the very roots of this process, which are today,” he said.
To be prepared for that, Carter said, the board would need to retain a firm with experience permitting large controversial projects. That will come with a high price tag, he said.
Carter also expressed that transparency is a must. The board will need to have a separate website, agenda and meetings in a public setting.
Moving forward, Martin said the supervisors will have to craft an agreement to define its role as project sponsor. The board of supervisors still needs to agree to become the sponsor of the project, a move that will take place at a future meeting.
Martin said he would craft a preliminary budget by the end of next week.
