News-Times Whidbey
INSIDE: Tour Whidbey’s kitchens. A11
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2012 | Vol. 113, No. 67 | www.whidbeynewstimes.com | 75¢
Olympic Homecoming
New plant may double, triple Oak Harbor sewer rates Navy decision biggest factor to determine costs By JESSIE STENSLAND Staff reporter
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Oak Harbor grad plans her return By REBECCA OLSON Staff reporter
It’s the excitement of the sport that keeps this 26-yearold coming back to achieve higher and higher honors. And in her medal-winning competition at the Olympic Games in London, there was no shortage of exhilaration as she threw Italy’s eighthranked judo star for the win in under three minutes. Marti Malloy, a 2004 graduate of Oak Harbor High School, was the second woman from the United States to win an Olympic medal for judo, and the United States’ 11th judo medalist overall. “It was great!” Malloy’s voice was still charged with excitement as she spoke
about her experience at the Olympics, although she recently returned to her home in San Jose, Calif. “It was kind of like an electric atmosphere from start to finish.” Just making it to the Olympics was a dream come true for Malloy, but “being able to come back with a medal was kind of like the icing on the cake of the whole experience,” Malloy said. Despite the pressure to perform in her medal-winning match, Malloy said she forced herself to stay calm. “It felt good,” Malloy said of competing. “Obviously, I was pretty nervous. I tried to think of it like any other judo tournament I was fight-
ing in. I tried to tell myself to enjoy it and I’m glad I did.” Malloy, who has practiced judo since age 6 and said for years that she planned to make it to the Olympics someday, anticipated earning a medal at the Games but she didn’t anticipate the whirlwind afterward. Media, interviews, photos — it all blended into a thrilling tornado. What she can remember is the moment she learned she had earned a bronze medal. “It’s actually one of the weirdest sensations I’ve ever had. It’s the happiest you’ve ever been but you’re crying,” Malloy said. “At the same time, I felt disbelief, in shock that I had a medal and it hit me all at once. It was a
really great feeling!” Her entire time in London was great, Malloy said. Her parents, Marty and Merry Malloy of Oak Harbor, joined her in London and they had the opportunity to visit Tower Bridge and see Big Ben. The famous London landmark Malloy saw the most of was the Tube, “because I was riding the train everywhere,” Malloy laughed. Olympic Park was particularly thrilling to Malloy, the See Malloy, A10
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By the year 2020, Oak Harbor residents could pay anywhere from $86 to $116 a month to flush their toilets. Shawn Koorn of HDR Engineering spoke via Skype during last week’s special workshop on the future wastewater treatment facility and laid out the many variables that could affect the rates residents pay for sewer service. What’s clear is that the rates will more than double, and possibly even triple, in the next eight years to pay for an estimated $93.5-million wastewater treatment facility. The current residential rate is $36.52 a month. The City Council voted last week to build the state-of-theart, membrane-bioreactor plant next to Windjammer Park downtown in the area of the old Chevrolet dealership. Koorn explained that the biggest variable is Navy participation in the project. The city currently manages the sewage treatment at lagoons on the Navy’s Seaplane Base. The Navy contracts with the city and pays a rate in exchange for the treatment of
sewage from Navy property. In an interview last week, City Engineer Eric Johnston said Navy officials are aware of the city’s plans, but they haven’t made any decision about sewage treatment. The Navy could continue to operate the lagoons on their own, or work with the city. Under the best case scenario, Koorn estimated that the Navy would contribute $17.5 million to the construction of the wastewater treatment plant. That would result in an estimated rate of $86 a month per household by 2020. If the Navy only contributed $8 million, the rate would increase to $92 a month. In a not-so-great scenario, Koorn said rates could more than triple to $116 a month by 2020 if the Navy doesn’t contribute anything and the city gets a 20-year bond at 6 percent. At a more-realistic 4.75 percent, the rate would drop to $104. A 30-year bond at 5.25 percent would further lower the rate to $98. Koorn pointed out that the numbers don’t take into account possible grants or low-interest loans. Johnston told the council that the city can start pursuing grants now that the sewer siting decision is made.