WES presents roughly $237M five-year CIP with $59.5M wet-weather project; board to consider at business meeting

Greg Geist, director of Water Environment Services (WES), and Jeff Staller, capital program manager, presented WES’s rolling five‑year capital improvement plan. The plan lists approximately $237.2 million in wastewater investments and $27.4 million in surface-water projects over the five‑year horizon.

Staff highlighted major projects planned in the near term: a wet‑weather expansion at the Tri City facility estimated at $59.5 million to add approximately 35 million gallons of high‑flow treatment capacity; an influent pump station renewal that will increase firm capacity from 47 million gallons per day (MGD) to 72 MGD; and the Rock Creek interceptor extension to serve growth in Happy Valley. WES staff also described inflow & infiltration (I&I) work delivered with member cities, noting about $6.8 million contributed to I&I projects to date and that monitoring and multi‑year data are needed to validate I&I program results.

Staff warned of market pressures — longer lead times for electrical equipment, rising construction cost indices, tariffs and reduced availability of SRF (state revolving fund) loans — and said they are accelerating some SRF applications to lock in favorable loan terms. The board directed staff to advance the CIP to a future business meeting for formal adoption; commissioners asked staff to provide I&I performance metrics when the plan returns for approval.