It is a deep irony to me how simple ideas can produce unexpected consequences.

Since the establishment of the Eastsound Urban Growth Area, the Eastsound Sewer and Water district’s goal has been to connect every home and business inside the UGA boundary to the sewer by May 2019.

The logic of this is simple: the sewer district needs to comply with county and state laws designed to protect critical habitats, including the aquifer that is our source of drinking water. Protecting the critical aquifer recharge areas from septic effluent will assure clean drinking water into the future.

The purpose of designating a UGA boundary in Eastsound was to limit growth outside the UGA by making minimum building lot sizes much larger than inside the UGA.  The logic, again, is simple: small lots inside the UGA boundary should make developing property for individual homes less expensive than outside the UGA. A booming real estate market would see to it that price would force the hand of prospective homeowners, especially those of modest means, such as working and retired people on fixed incomes.

With the boom turning bust, starting in 2006, many properties now are worth considerably less than before the decline in prices began. Selling a house purchased during the boom will be a money loser, if a buyer can be found.  Growing numbers of defaults further depress the values.

So here is one irony: if you sell a house outside of the UGA, all the seller loses is the difference between the purchase cost and what the home sells for. Inside the UGA, if the home isn’t already connected to the sewer, the home is required to be hooked up upon sale of the property. This will add $10,000 or more to the cost of the home.

Here is another irony. The sewer district has been experiencing increasing numbers of defaults starting at least as long ago as last summer. With its commitment to hook up all homes inside the UGA based on projections that are now a poor substitute for anything but wishful thinking, the sewer district is left with declining revenues to pay for fixed costs and maintenance. This means that the cost to the homeowner will invariably increase at the very time that these same people are being hit with ever higher prices and job insecurity.

And the last, and perhaps deepest irony is that there is no conclusive evidence that the policies the Eastsound Sewer and Water District have implemented will produce any beneficial impact on the Eastsound aquifer (see Septic System Discharge Assessment, May 2010 commissioned by Eastsound Sewer & Water District).

Roger Adams

Candidate for Sewer Commissioner position #5