Kilmer tours infrastructure efforts in Jefferson County
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer of the 6th Congressional District, which includes the Olympic Peninsula, toured two Jefferson County sewer projects for which his office is seeking federal funding on Wednesday.
Officials in Port Townsend and Port Hadlock are seeking funds to install sewer projects in hopes of lowering the cost of constructing housing and thereby lowering the cost of housing.
Kilmer is seeking federal funding for those projects. He said the sewer projects had been included in a spending bill — House Resolution 8294 — that passed the U.S. House of Representatives in July. The spending bill is now in the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
“We are going to work like heck to get this across the finish line,” Kilmer told officials in Port Hadlock as he toured a site that Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County aims to turn into affordable housing, which would be served by the sewer.
Kilmer is seeking funding for the projects through a mechanism known as community project funding, formerly known as earmarks. He said he was able to successfully advocate for these projects because of their support in the community.
Port Hadlock has been seeking funds to upgrade its sewer system for nearly 20 years, county Commissioner Kate Dean said during the tour, but the cost of the project was difficult for rural communities to manage.
House Resolution 8294 provides $3 million for the Port Hadlock sewer project and $2.5 million for the City of Port Townsend to install a sewer pump station in the Evans Vista area, a move that city officials say will facilitate development of a city-owned plot of land.
The projects toured Wednesday were just two of 15 community project funding requests Kilmer said he was able to get into HR 8294.
Kilmer sits on the House Committee on Appropriations and said he’s confident Congress will pass a spending bill before Christmas with all 15 of those projects funded.
The projects were chosen after Kilmer’s office held meetings with local officials and organizations to find projects that already had broad community support.
“One of the things that the appropriations committee, which I serve on, takes into account when it’s deciding,” Kilmer said at the Port Townsend site, “is whether there’s broad community support.”
Kilmer said many of the projects his office looked at dealt in some way with affordable housing. By providing the infrastructure to undeveloped parts of the region, government officials are hoping to ultimately lower the cost of construction for developers.
“Investment in basic infrastructure is not super sexy, but it actually really matters,” Kilmer said.
In Port Hadlock, a sewer system will allow for denser housing than currently allowed, according to Jamie Maciejewski, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of East Jefferson County.
The Habitat chapter owns a 17-acre parcel adjacent to the Jefferson County Library and Chimacum Creek Primary School and has plans to build permanently affordable homes at the site. Without a sewer system, zoning rules allow only three housing units on the 17 acres, Maciejewski said, but once it’s built, between 120-200 units can be constructed.
Maciejewski said Habitat isn’t now considering building that many units, but the ability to expand would be useful as it aims to construct both low-income housing and affordable workforce housing.
In Port Townsend, city officials have plans for an affordable housing development on a 14-acre parcel of land purchased in 2021 with funds from the state.
The city already has secured $3.6 million of what is projected to be a $6.1 million project, according to Steve King, Port Townsend Public Works director. He said if the federal funding comes through, construction on the first units could begin within two or three years.
Kilmer’s seat is up for reelection this year, and Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat, faces Republican challenger Elizabeth Kreiselmaier, also of Gig Harbor, in the Nov. 8 general election.
In addition to Jefferson and Clallam counties, the 6th Congressional District covers all of Kitsap and Grays Harbor counties and parts of Mason and Pierce counties.
By: Peter Segall
Source: Peninsula Daily News