Another Belfair sewer hearing scheduled

County factoring in varying residents viewpoints

Matt Baide | Mar 31, 20220

Mason County commissioners and staff will partake in a third Belfair Sewer public hearing at 6 p.m. April 5.

This is the third Belfair sewer public hearing in three months. The first hearing was Jan. 31 and lasted more than four hours, with staff presenting, the public asking questions before providing comment and commissioners ultimately deciding to host another hearing in 30 days.

The second hearing was March 1 and lasted about two hours with the same format of presentation and public comments, and commissioners once again decided to host a third public hearing Tuesday.

County staff has been working on gathering more information during the past two months, and county Administrator Mark Neary said staff has spent a lot of time digging up information.

“Looking at all the different options that are there and the work that has been done and the studies that have been done, trying to answer all the questions we’ve received from our commissioners as well as the public to make sure that they have the information that they need in order to make a decision,” Neary told the Journal.

Neary said his goal for the hearing Tuesday is to make a decision. There are options and more options that branch off of the initial option. Commissioners will first have to decide whether to continue with the project, and if so, figure out how to pay for it and what the plan is.

Having started as county administrator in November, Neary has had to get up to speed on the history of the project, everything that’s going on with the project and be ready for a decision about the project’s future.

“It’s a lot, there’s a lot of history there. I was reviewing it to understand how did we get to where we are today but I think my focus now is really starting to transition, I just wanted to be aware of some of the history associated with it,” Neary said. “But now, this is what we have, how do we move forward? I feel like that focus is starting to change now, I feel like I have, obviously don’t have all the history associated with it all, but I do think that I have the important components of how we got to where we are and now we’re focused on how do we continue to move forward.”

The county has received more public comments on the project in the past month, but not nearly as much as before the first hearing, according to Neary. He said the project is much broader than the sewer and are about planning for development within Belfair, potential traffic effects and the state Route 3 freight corridor and recognizing residents’ views on living in a rural community and how to maintain rural and urban areas.

“I think that those are all factors that come into planning for development within this area but there’s a lot of coordination that needs to occur as we continue to move forward,” Neary said. “It’s bigger than just do we extend the sewer? I think the comments I’ve been hearing from the public is they really want to know what the plan is.”

Whatever decision commissioners Kevin Shutty, Sharon Trask and Randy Neatherlin make, Neary said county staff will be ready to figure out the next steps for the project.

“There’s a lot going on in Mason County that is really positive and so being able to focus on those other things and get acclimated to the job in a broader sense more than just Belfair Sewer, I’m excited,” Neary said. “I think we have some amazing staff and I’m really looking forward to getting into additional details in those areas.”