City discusses water for Ski Hill Drive and Cemetery plotting

The City of Leavenworth had a brief discussion on Ski Hill’s current water needs that would require an additional water reservoir in preparation for future development and wildfire threats. The council also contemplated the implementation of pre-lined burial plots to increase the number of available plots.

The meeting began with the absence of Lilith Vespier and Mayor Carl J. Florea, resulting in Mayor Pro Tempore Anne Hessburg stepping in.

Chelan County Corporal Monika Haynes gave a brief public safety report and listed Leavenworth as the third highest area for Chelan County call-ins.

After brief clarification on the minutes, the council proceeded into the public hearing portion on the Upper Ski Hill Water Association Water System Consolidation Feasibility Study (or water feasibility study). This study highlights a possible water connection that could be made between the Upper Ski Hill Water Association and the City’s water facilities, with additional upgrades that would need to be made to the Association’s water system.

Tom Wachholder reminded council that this period would only be for discussion, and also  reported that this study was conducted by Gray & Osborne, with funding from a $30k Department of Health Grant.

The elevation for Ski Hill Drive homes are currently above the city’s service areas and if coupled with a possible development boom without the development of a new reservoir, the area could be facing issues with insufficient water pressure.

Here is an excerpt from the study regarding additional reservoirs:

“A new Zone 3 would serve connections between 1,300 - 1,400 feet while a new Zone 4 would
serve connections above 1,400 feet. These new zones would be established concurrently
with proposed development, and additional information on these proposed projects is
provided in the  City’s Water System Plan (WSP).”

Wachholder stated that the city would need $6.4 million to start the project, which would also need to compete with the competing water needs for the city and would be ineligible for a grant since they did not have current water issues, and could defer to a loan as an option for project funding.

Wachholder introduced Gray & Osborne Civil Engineer Adam Miller to answer any questions the council had. Councilmember Marco Aurilio stated that water will most likely be a big issue in the Ski Hill area due to it being in a prime wildfire location and the potential density growth in that area.

Miller reassured Aurilio that Zone 3 would provide the services that Aurilio described and would maintain adequate water pressure with the installation of larger pipes and additional hydrants.

Councilmember Jason Lundgren asked if it was the landowners on Ski Hill Drive that approached the city or if it was the other way around due to the potential growth factor, to which Wachholder replied that correspondence began back in 2019 or prior.

Finance Director Chantell Steiner explained that in the study they conducted back then, Leavenworth would have had the highest rate increases due to the Association’s current low rates.

Miller illustrated that future construction could prove difficult since it would have to be done on private property.

Linda C. asked if the improvements would be considered after the city fixes their distribution issues. Wachholder said they would focus on the city’s current needs before starting this project.

Public comment section closed and transitioned to the next action item regarding cross connection control, offering an alternative monetary penalty rather than shutting a tenant’s water off.

Councilmember Sharon Waters asked if people knew of the backflow testing, and Wachholder said they could send communication to those who need to test. Christie Voos reassured that people can learn more on the city’s website.

Aurilio asked if there have been backflow instances, Wachholder said not they know of but they had low chlorine levels which suggested one might have.

There is a charge for getting the backflow preventers tested. Steiner said the city used to contract certain testers but it was a huge cumbersome issue and changed the procedure to have the owners hire and schedule the testing. The change in the ordinance passed unanimously.

The next item was Ordinance 1655 pertaining to excavations in the city’s right of way. The changes included corrections in language and added a requirement for a maintenance bond for contractors, this was passed unanimously.

The last discussion item on the agenda was a review of the cemetery plan for platting out the additional space at the city cemetery. Staff is currently reviewing platting section C of the cemetery. The platted area at the cemetery is down to three adult-sized plots remaining. One option staff discussed with the council was to contract with an engineering company to plat the vault locations and install pre-lined burial sites at determined locations within section C. Pre-plating and installing liners would improve the efficiency of the grave site layout and reduce the human error element of digging individual graves one at a time.

The current price of an adult lot is $650, the cost to pursue a liner program would increase the price of a burial site purchase to $1500 and the capital project upgrades would be $1.5 mil. The platting and size of plots are determined by pre-liners.

Councilmember Zeke Reister asked about urns and asked where people could place their ashes and noted the Peshastin Cemetery has a place for urns. Since this was merely a discussion item, the council agreed to talk about this issue further and then transitioned into council reports.