Vanessa Crossgrove Fry is the executive director of Citizens for Smart Growth, based in Hailey.
By VANESSA CROSSGROVE FRY
The city of Hailey is considering extending sewer services to developments outside the city limits. Extending sewer lines can have significant unintended impact to development patterns, the environment and future city budgets. The policy for when sewer services should be extended is therefore important, far-reaching and should be discussed in the clean air of open public discourse.
Citizens for Smart Growth is concerned that on Monday, Jan. 14, the city appeared surprisingly close to approving an agreement to extend sewer services to developments outside the city with neither a policy in place to guide them nor adequate public opportunity to comment.
We are confident that the motivation behind this action was well intentioned. At the center of the issue are two worthy community projects planned for Croy Canyon—a new assisted-living facility and a new school. The developer of Spring Canyon Ranch (located on the old Democrat Ranch, site of the historic Hailey Hot Springs Hotel) has negotiated a deal with the city to pay for sewer access for the Croy Canyon Ranch assisted-living facility and the school, as well as to donate 10 acres and $1 million to the Croy Canyon Ranch and give a significant contribution of $750,000 to the city.
Citizens for Smart Growth would like to make clear that we support the Croy Canyon Ranch (assisted-living) project. Yes, we'd prefer to see it in downtown Hailey where residents could walk, enjoy and contribute to a vibrant downtown. However, we understand the reality of acquiring expensive land and the generosity of the gifted property. Our issue here is twofold:
First, as advocates for well-informed development decisions that build community and protect the land, we call into question the conventional wisdom that sewer extensions are always the best solution.
Second, given the historical impact of sewer extensions, Citizens for Smart Growth believes strongly that prior to one-off, precedent-setting agreements such as this, a strong sewer extension policy should be put in place after vigorous, informed, public discussion.
Fortunately, there are better alternatives. Water is an increasingly precious commodity. Water quality and quantity are central issues to growth and development decisions. Citizens for Smart Growth has a long history of supporting the best available wastewater technology. We were instrumental in working with the county, the Health Department and specific developers in promoting the latest science and technology for rural wastewater solutions, including decentralized package treatment plants. We supported and applaud the county for its recently enacted Onsite Wastewater Management Program. We also strongly support making important water development decisions in the broader context of regional planning with involvement of the county, other cities and stakeholders.
It may come as a surprise to many, but the trend and technology with wastewater is away from centralized sewers and toward decentralized solutions. Even urbanized countries like Germany—a leader in sustainable development—are promoting decentralized local treatment. Treating the water where it is and returning it to the local groundwater is increasingly the preferred and more sustainable solution. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is one of the main proponents. Sewer lines have the disadvantages of being very expensive, having a propensity to upset local hydrology by lowering groundwater and adversely affecting wetlands and well quality, and eventually infusing clean groundwater from leakage or accidental rupture. Sewer extensions also tend to promote sprawl.
Citizens for Smart Growth believes there are better solutions than extending a sewer line over a river and approximately two miles out a narrow canyon with sensitive wetlands. A better, win-win solution for the citizens of Hailey, the developers and the environment would be a well-thought-out, distributed wastewater-treatment solution. We'd be happy to discuss options with the city and the developer and we encourage the community to attend the public hearing on the Sewer Services Extension Policy slated for the City Council meeting that begins at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, at Hailey City Hall.
