New reservoir gets water quality OK; city honors two for service

EPHRATA – The City of Ephrata’s new 3.83-million gallon water tower has passed its required water quality tests, public works director Rob Harris told city council members last week.

The 150-foot-tall reservoir is expected to be placed into service following the addition of a telemetry program that links the tower to a new booster pump station constructed at the base of the East Division Avenue hill. That messaging system will enable the booster pump to maintain a designated level within the reservoir based on water use.

“It’s not a big hurdle,” he said during the council’s Dec. 17 meeting.

The new tower, located near Columbia Ridge Elementary School, and related “pressure zone” improvements are expected to help residents on Ephrata Heights, where rapid housing growth over the past decade has increased water demand and lowered pressure, particularly in summer months when people are watering lawns. That raised concern about having adequate pressure for fire protection if needed at such times.

The additions will bolster the city’s municipal water system overall, said Harris, explaining, “We don’t have to push water (from reservoirs) on the west side of town to the east side, then up the hill to the Heights.”

Additionally, the city has extended a water main to the southeast side of town where it can serve Grant County’s new jail facility, which is scheduled for completion this coming spring, and Grant PUD’s pending construction of a new service center, Harris noted.  

Combined, the new reservoir, pressure zone work, and improvements to a city well are part of a capital outlay totaling $12.3 million. The city is also spending $1.09 million to deepen an existing well west of town along Sagebrush Flats Road and drilling a new replacement well near the Ephrata Port District.

Other major infrastructure improvements include a $9.86 million upgrade of Ephrata’s wastewater treatment facility that is nearing completion. 

The projects are largely being funded through long-term, low-interest state loans and grants.

In other business during their Dec. 17 meeting, council members:

-       Approved a professional services agreement with city attorney Anna Franz for continuing legal services.

For a number of years, Franz has been associated with fellow attorney Katherine Kenison in representing several municipalities and public agencies, including Ephrata, but Kenison intends to retire in May 2026. Consequently, the law firm is transferring their existing contracts to Franz. Ephrata's current compensation rate will not change under the agreement.

-       Approved vacating a 10-foot public utilty easement at the rear of an individual residential lot in the Prairie Bluff housing development plat just east of the intersection of Eighth Avenue and L Street N.E.

The vacation was requested by property owner Gary Chamberlain after he placed a small shed on the back of the lot that encroached into the easement, city community development director Ron Sell explained last week and during an initial hearing at the council’s Dec. 3 meeting.

Sell said the city has no future plans to use the area for its utilities and the easement vacation was unopposed by Grant County PUD, which also has an easement right-of-way further east where no additional residential development is planned.

To address council concerns about a piece-meal approach to differing property boundary lines within the plat, Sell said his office would contact adjacent lot owners about similarly extending their rear lot lines so all are consistent.

-       Approved an ordinance requested by city finance director Kristen McDonnell for year-end adjustments to the 2025 budget. The required revisions are needed to reflect fiscal changes that occurred over the course of the year following the budget’s initial adoption in late 2024. Such changes can include unanticipated or revised costs for new hires, benefit payouts, emergency infrastructure repairs, insurance premium adjustments, supplies, equipment, and legal fees.

-       Took no action on a draft ordinance to establish a process that would allow a council member or the mayor to waive being paid for serving in their position. Currently, Ephrata city code designates that council members receive a monthly stipend of $200 and the mayor is paid a stipend of $500 a month.

In a memo to the council, city attorney Franz said many other cities and towns in Washington have a formal waiver process for elected officials to decline compensation and allow the funds to be used in a municipality's general fund. However, no Ephrata council members commented on the proposal and it died for lack of a motion.