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It’s too early for a final tally, but Olympia’s bill is $500,000 and climbing, spokeswoman Cathie Butler said, and a clearer report will be given to the Olympia City Council tonight. Lacey and Tumwater leaders said it’s too early to say what their bills will be. And costs are on the rise.
“That million dollars, let’s be clear, is only for the public works side of this,” said Thurston County Commissioner Karen Valenzuela. She said the impact on the county’s budget depends on whether it receives federal disaster aid.
“We hope that we’re not completely on the hook for all these costs,” she said.
Thurston County declared an emergency, along with the State of Washington and the City of Olympia, which may qualify them for the federal funds.
The county’s budget for emergency response is $362,000, said Jack Lane, the county’s interim road operations manager.
The final bill is not in because the work is not done. Public works crews continued to remove debris around the county Monday and even reopen some roads that were still closed. Lane said it will take months to dispose of all the debris.
Krupp toured the county Monday with Valenzuela and Lane. Among problem areas were southern Thurston County, including the Prather Road/Michigan Hill area and the Rochester and Yelm areas. “We had as many as over 100 (road) closures in the county,” Krupp said.
Olympia crews continued to clear debris in the areas of Cooper Point Road and Division Street in west Olympia, said Rich Hoey, interim public works director. Capitol Way and West Bay Drive were other focus areas.
“There are a handful of roads that are still closed,” Hoey said Monday afternoon.
The old oak trees that line Legion Way, some of the city’s most visible, were severely damaged.
Todd Stamm, planning manager for Olympia, said some Legion Way trees were removed, and four crews are assessing the city’s street trees.
“By the end of this week, we’ll have a much better handle on what we’re confronting,” he said.
Thurston County released a list of places where residents can take storm debris for free starting Wednesday. Hoey said the city was putting together a plan of drop-off sites for tree debris, which he expected to release today. He said he would also have a better cost estimate today. But it appears bad.
“Our budget is pretty limited for snow removal,” he said. “I’m expecting without seeing the number that this will have fully consumed that annual budget.”
Olympia garbage crews were working extra hours to pick up trash that couldn’t be hauled off last week.
The power outage hit area sewer and water facilities hard. Hoey said power is still out at some Olympia pumping facilities, but they are all on generator power. Electricity was lost to all the city’s water facilities, but no water service was lost.
At one point during Thursday’s ice storm, 18 of 19 Lacey water wells were without power from Puget Sound Energy, public works Director Scott Egger said. At one time, all 49 sewage lift stations lacked power.
“Personally, I applaud what our crews do,” he said. “They worked on this all day.”
Egger said he didn’t have an estimate of Lacey storm costs yet. Nor did Tumwater city administrator John Doan.
“We just appreciate everybody’s patience,” he said. “We heard a lot of stories about neighbors checking on each other.”
Amid the doom and gloom, there was a bit of good news in the storm’s aftermath. There was no major damage reported to public buildings. Flooding, which forecasters feared with melting snow, didn’t materialize. And there were no weather-related deaths or serious injuries reported.
STORM BRIEFING
• The Thurston County Board of Commissioners will meet Tuesday, Jan. 24 and is expected to formally approve a resolution declaring an emergency. The board meets at 2 p.m. at the Thurston County Courthouse, 2000 Lakeridge Drive S.W., Olympia. The commission has canceled a public hearing on its proposed prairie ordinance that was scheduled for Saturday.
• The Olympia City Council will get a briefing on storm damage at its meeting Tuesday evening. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 601 Fourth Ave. E.
DEBRIS DROP-OFF
Residents can drop off storm debris such as trees free of charge at the following locations from Wednesday through Feb. 29. The sites are open from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday to Friday except for the Waste and Recovery Center, which is open from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on weekends.
The sites are:
• Griffin Athletic Fields (parking lots), 6924 41st Ave. N.W.
• Burfoot Park (front entrance parking lot), 6927 Boston Harbor Road N.E.
• Kenneydell Park (ballfield parking lot), 6745 Fairview Road.
• Waste and Recovery Center, 2418 Hogum Bay Road N.E. (No fee for residential customers, but businesses or commercial haulers will be charged their regular fee. City of Lacey residents are directed to take their debris to the center at no charge.)
• Rainier, vacant lot behind Rainier Market, corner of Minnesota and Rochester streets.
• Sargent Road Gravel Pit, 16500 Sargent Road S.W.
Source: Thurston County
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
