Washtucna receives $750,000 from Community Development Block Grant for new well

In September, the Town of Washtucna was notified they received a $750,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) program.

The money from the grant will go toward drilling and constructing a new water well, which will be located next to the old railroad well.

According the CBDG website, the program awards grants to cities to use for improving rural water, sewer, street and fire protection systems, or in some cases supporting affordable housing and community planning.

Since 1982, the program has awarded more than $508 million in grants to over 1,418 local community development projects.

The Town will not have to contribute any matching funds for the grant.

Washtucna Mayor Brian Hille said the Town has received similar grants in the past to help fund water system improvements and repair water lines.

Hille explained Washtucna’s old railroad well was having issues with contamination in the early 2000s and town employees stopped using it.

As time progressed, employees took steps in hopes of using the well, such as flushing out the old well water and running it to the sewer lagoon, and inspecting it with a camera.

“We only use it for emergencies, but we came to a decision to where we said ‘we need this well up and running,’” Hille said.

He explained having another well on line would help ease the use of the Town’s main well.

Another benefit of having the railroad well operational, is the town can use it as a water source if there is a problem with the main well.

Once it is installed, Washtucna would use the railroad well along with the main well during the fall and winter months. During the spring and summer, the railroad well would be shut off and the Town would use its spring wells.

The spring wells, which produce water year-round, are used in the warmer months to keep up with irrigation.

Hille said staff contacted Dave Jepsen, a senior engineer with Anderson Perry, for consultation services. Jepsen helped the town research and apply for grants.

When Hille learned of the grant opportunity from the CBDG program, he immediately completed all of the paperwork to apply for it, which included a draft of projects, a report summary and survey results.

Hille said construction for the new well is scheduled to begin in April. He is currently waiting for additional paperwork such as the Historical Cultural Review report and the monitoring report from the Washington State Department of Health.

Hille added DOH Grant and Loans Officer Dennis Hewitt has been helpful to the town and is supportive of the railroad well project.

Hille is also reviewing the project’s scope of work while Anderson Perry will in charge of the bidding, contracts and making sure the project is completed in a timely manner.