The Bonney Lake City Council approved a design contract for the new Eastown sewer system Sept. 14, effectively locking in the location of the pipes and allowing development to finally move forward.

“This is the first step,” Mayor Neil Johnson said after the vote. “This is very important.”

The approval of the design contract went to RH2 for a cost of $370,000. The design should be completed by next spring.

Originally, a private developer agreed to do the design work, but according to Johnson it didn’t work out, forcing the city to return to square one.

This summer, the city took over the project in the hope of spurring development.

“It’s important for the city to invest in Eastown so we can get some of the benefit of this area,” Johnson said.

According to Public Works Director Dan Grigsby, the design contract is a good faith effort to show landowners in the area that the city is willing to partner with them to extend sewers into the area. Connecting to the city sewage system is a requirement for development in Bonney Lake.

“If there’s no sewer system, property owners can’t develop their property,” Grigsby said. “The city has decided to move forward with the design.”

Plans from the city show gravity sewer lines headed east and west along state Route 410 from 221st Avenue and then heading north underneath the highway at 226th Avenue. A new road is to be located between Emerald Links Driving Range and the used car lot to the west.

From there, sewage will flow to a lift station where it will be pumped back to the main sewage lines and transported to the treatment facility in Sumner.

“We’re putting it where the future road right-of-way will be built,” Grigsby said.

There are a total of 21 sewer-related projects scheduled for Eastown. But while the city is funding the study, there is not yet money to complete the work. Grigsby estimates construction could cost more than $3 million.

“The question will be who will fund construction?” he said. “That issue has not yet been resolved.”

One of the possibilities being discussed is a latecomer’s agreement, in which the city pays for the development up front but collects money from developers looking to hook into the system as their projects are developed.

Grigsby said the next step is to collect easements from property owners in the area so the pipes can be put in the ground.

But the design, which is expected to be completed by April, will essentially finalize exactly where the new lines will go.

“It locks in where the future sewer system will be built,” Grigsby said. “We’ll see how it develops, but at least we’ll have a plan.”