Letter to the Editor: Consider the costs before purchasing the water system from Seattle

To the Editor:

With regard to the purchase of the water system by the City Of Shoreline, costs must be considered before decisions are made.

(1) Currently the Seattle Public Utility (SPU) pays a 6% franchise fee to Shoreline as revenue to its General Fund. If Shoreline acquires the water system, this revenue would cease; a significant loss to the operating budget of the City.

(2) Currently costs are shared by everyone receiving their water from SPU, from the King/Snohomish border all the way to Burien. Sharing costs across a large customer base lowers costs to everyone. A smaller system means economies of scale are lost.

(3) If Shoreline purchases the water system, trained employees are needed to read meters, for water quality tests, and union-trained workers with large trucks and backhoes to maintain, repair and replace watermains, hydrants, etc. Meeting those costs will be Shoreline’s responsiblity. An example is repainting the elevated water storage tanks at Crista, which will cost over two million dollars.

(4) Currently the materials necessary to repair or replace all parts of the water infrastructure are stored in a warehouse operated by SPU; a necessary expense of any water system. Shoreline will have to build its own warehouse and inventory.

(5) Regulating water supply during different parts of the day and different times of the year requires computerized controls, which currently exist in SPU. Such computer controls would have to be duplicated inside Shoreline, or agreement reached with SPU to do so at Shoreline’s expense.

(6) SPU uses a proven method of computerized asset management to save money. If Shoreline runs its own water system, it will need to hire experts at its expense for asset management.

Details are available for Shoreline’s City Council if they ask.

Dennis Lee

Shoreline