The Mason County Commission has been asked, again, to slow down the Belfair Sewer project. About 100 people crowded the North Mason School District Administration Building Tuesday night for the County Commissioners' "Fifth Tuesday Meeting in Belfair". The only topic on the agenda was the latest draft of the final rate ordinance for the sewer system that will serve the Belfair Urban Growth Area. Under that proposed ordinance, the County will charge $3,000 to connect to the system and $96 per month per ERU or Equivalent Residential Unit. The ordinance also explains that an ERU is 155 gallons of water use daily and businesses will pay more depending on the type of businesses. This cost does NOT include building the line from a home or business to the sewer main which will vary depending on the distance from the main, obstacles such as creeks or wetlands, the topography of the property, and type of sewer line (gravity or pressurized). Some properties will need a grinder pump which adds an electrician's cost to the connection process. The County will supply some properties with the grinder pumps while others will have that added cost. The rate ordinance also includes two possible timelines for phase two of the project which is mostly residential along with rate increases for future years. Many of those to attend the meeting live in phase two and asked the County to delay construction of that phase and create an advisory committee to look at the phasing and rates of the system. Residents also said the delay will allow time to see how phase one, which is the core of Belfair, develops. Some asked that the County wait until the economy improves before requiring home owners to connect to the system while others suggested they wait until a septic system fails before making people hook up. All said the cost to hook up is too high and that will drive people out of the homes and force businesses to close. The rationale from consultants and County staff about moving to phase two earlier is that the cost will be substantially more if they wait given the current favorable construction bidding climate. The additional cost to add phase 2 to the $44 Million project is estimated at $18 Million. However, staff believes that cost will actually be around $7 Million. The Mason County Commission is holding a public hearing on the rate ordinance at 9:30 AM December 20th. The latest draft of the ordinance will be available Friday online at www.masoncountywastewater.com. If you need more information on the Belfair Sewer Project, call the project hotline: (360) 801-2482.