MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake is moving forward with building a new area to drain water from street and catch basin debris.

It is after the city delayed accepting bids on the project.

The council held a study session recently after residents living near the Road 4 facility questioned the project. The new decant station will replace an existing concrete pad the city's street division uses to drain debris before it's taken to the Grant County landfill.

"The street division has always had a catch basin cleaning program, therefore, all the catch basins are fairly clean," Municipal Services Director Gary Harer wrote. "The catch basins that are susceptible to debris are cleaned yearly and the others are cleaned at least once every three years."

Harer stated normally the basins hold about two feet of water in the bottom, which is removed when they are cleaned. About seven loads a day will be dumped at the decant station to let the water drain into the city's sewer system. Presently, the water drains off the pad into a nearby ditch.

The change is due to new state stormwater regulations from the Department of Ecology, Harer said in a previous meeting.

Harer's report continues, stating they picked the site because it's an extension of the street division's maintenance area and office. There are existing water and sewer mains and road improvements. 

"This site is more than 600 feet to the nearest residential home," he wrote. "There is minimal odor when the debris is dumped and when it is mixed, but it isn't detected for more than a few hundred feet away."

Several residents questioned Harer's report, bringing up concerns about the smell, dust and noise.

Bo Hancock, a resident living near the area and Moses Lake employee, said the new vacuum truck the city purchased is more efficient than its previous truck.

"Every 300 feet, they're going to have a half a yard of debris in the truck," he said. "That's just like if you're fishing anywhere around here, if you check any of these lakes or towns, if you go into that mud that sets in the bottom, it smells. There is a lot of odor."

Harer disagreed with Hancock, saying the basins are cleaned often enough that the silt won't build up the same amount of smell.

"The ones that we know of that get a lot of debris in it, they get cleaned every year," he said. "So, it's not like that sediment is sitting in there for long periods of time like it could be in a lake or canals and things."

Hancock also said the city has a concrete pad at the sand dunes treatment facility it could use to construct the decant station.

Mike Holmes, a resident, said the homes affected by the city's facility are north of the facility and the predominant winds in Moses Lake come from the south and southwest.

"Those winds carry any dust or any odors directly over our community," he said. "My main concern with the project, again, is odor."

Responding to questions from a resident, Harer said he is confident the smell won't get to Road 4, but it if does, the city will work to remedy the situation.

"If there is (any odor,) no matter what time of day, give me a call and I'll come out and sit down with you and have dinner," he said.

Jennie Sloane, an Road 4 Northeast resident, said when the operations facility was constructed area residents were told it wouldn't impact them.

"We found out with the previous project, we didn't even know the things to be concerned about," she said. "That's why we're so adamant that we thoroughly investigate this."

Sloane said she still felt the odor could be a problem, and she was concerned about her property value dropping.

"We're homeowners. We're long term. This is where we hope to retire. We love our neighborhoods," she said. "We see a lot of places where this kind of thing (happens) and the neighborhood around it is going downhill fast."

She complained the back-up warning sound on the equipment is unbearable, saying the noise is almost constant. 

"If you had to live by a construction site every day of your life, except for weekends ... five days a week, any time you're out in your yard trying to work, any time you're out there you're going to be listening to, 'Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep,' whenever they're working," she said. "If it isn't that machine, it's something else. It's dump trucks. It's loaders. It's whatever else they have going on out there."

Sloane said it didn't seem possible to undo the current problems, but she opposed adding anything to the facility.

"I just don't see this not having an impact," she said.

Several councilmembers said they wanted to be good neighbors. Councilmember Karen Liebrecht suggested planting shrubs to block dust, smell and noise. 

Councilmember Richard Pearce said at the end of the council meeting to put the decant facility on the agenda for the next meeting. 

Pearce was acting as mayor pro tem. None of the councilmembers present objected to continuing with the bidding process and dealing with landscaping at the facility separately.