Public hearing to focus on new water system plan

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An upcoming public hearing will focus on a new comprehensive water system plan prepared for the city of Blaine.

The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Monday, August 26 during the city council meeting that starts at 6 p.m. The city council chambers are located at Blaine city hall, 435 Martin Street.

The last comprehensive water system plan was completed in 2009. This year, CHS Engineers, LLC has prepared a new plan that considers the city’s water needs for the next two decades and what system improvements should be made to ensure a safe and reliable supply of water for Blaine residents.

“The city has a long-range plan to continue to reliably provide safe and cost effective water to its service area,” said Rodney Langer, a project manager with CHS Engineers.

According to Langer, the biggest change since the last plan has been Whatcom County’s completion of its overall comprehensive plan in 2016, including an update to its population estimates. The county’s population data was applied to the Blaine water service area by CHS Engineers during its recent analysis.

The new water system comprehensive plan looks at what upgrades need to be made to water storage tanks, pipelines, pumps and other water infrastructure if the county’s projected population growth materializes. “There are a lot of capital improvements if the growth comes as forecast,” said Langer.

He said millions of dollars of improvements will need to be made to the water system in the coming decades. Some of these costs will be paid for by private developers, some will be paid for by existing ratepayers and some will be borrowed by the city of Blaine.

“It’s like putting new tires on the car,” explained Langer.

During the public hearing, residents will have a chance to offer comments on the new water system plan, which can be viewed online at cityofblaine.com.

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