Largest industrial land acquisition for a public project earns project of the year award

2005 Archived News

King County's Brightwater project, entailing the largest industrial land acquisition for a public project in Northwest history, has been named the 2004 Project of the Year by the Puget Sound chapter of the International Right of Way Association.

Since picking the site for the Brightwater wastewater treatment plant north of Woodinville in December 2003, King County has been buying 28 pieces of property totaling 114.3 acres. Nearly all property acquisition along State Route 9 was complete by the end of 2004.

"This award recognizes outstanding efforts in the right-of way-profession, including successes in permitting, property acquisition and relocation services," said Dan Benson, president of the local chapter.

"The challenge has been to acquire and permit the first new large-scale wastewater treatment facility to serve King and Snohomish counties in more than 30 years," said Christie True, capital improvement program manager for the county's Wastewater Treatment Division. "We've striven to be a good neighbor by carrying out a process that is fair and equitable."

Nineteen people, businesses and organizations originally owned properties at the site. It also contained 17 tenants that required property management and relocation, including private residents, auto repair shops, a soup manufacturing facility, a Grange Hall, a church, and several auto recyclers with a high inventory of cars and car parts. Some tenants were local businesses, and others were subsidiaries of large national corporations.

King County bought all parcels voluntarily. Seventy-five percent of the properties settled without going to mediation, and all the acquisitions are on schedule as planned.

Negotiations were also conducted for land transfers and easements to the state Department of Transportation for widening SR-9, and moving power, sewer and waterlines with the Snohomish County Public Utility District, Cross Valley Water and Sewer District, and other utilities.

The 10,000-member Right of Way Association aids professionals who acquire, manage or dispose of property for public, quasi-public, or private organizations. The local chapter has about 300 members.

When completed in 2010, the Brightwater system will protect public health and water quality by treating wastewater from homes, businesses, schools and offices in south Snohomish County and north King County. King County now treats wastewater from the growing population in the Brightwater service area at plants miles away in Renton and Seattle.

King County's Wastewater Treatment Division serves 18 cities, 16 local sewer agencies and more than 1.4 million residents in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties. The regional wastewater-treatment utility formerly known as Metro has been preventing water pollution for 40 years.