City marks completion of Gateway stormwater pond

The city of Blaine held a ribbon-cutting dedication for the Gateway stormwater pond project on January 13, officially putting the project into operation.

City-contracted Stremler Gravel finished construction of the project in November and the state department of ecology certified the dam in December, mayor Bonnie Onyon said in her dedication speech.

The city first discussed creating a large pond on the Gateway parcel after Blaine Municipal Airport was decommissioned in 2008, but the project was delayed due to the dearth of buyers of the property. 

The department of ecology requires stormwater management when developing municipal land for industrial use.

Construction began in mid-2019 but in October 2019 was halted until May because of inclement weather, then completed in November, said Greg Burg, city public works’ maintenance and operations manager.

The project is designed as a controlled-flow pond, meaning it accumulates water and discharges it at the same rate as a natural forest. Through this process, the pond will treat and control runoff that collects pollution like oil and pesticides before flowing into larger bodies of water. Burg said the pond limits discharge into a tributary that leads to Cain Creek.

The pond functions to improve water quality, reduce pollution and prevent flooding. Wetland plants were also added to the pond to pull metal and other pollutants from water, Burg said.

“It’s totally awesome from an engineering point of view,” he said. “The pond functions exactly as designed, but when you look at it, it’s just a pond.”

Expected completion was extended from May until September because of permitting and funding, Burg said.

“It greatly allows you flexibility for the properties being served by it, it allows you a lot more usage types like industrial uses and parking lots,” Burg said. “This gives you a tremendous amount of [development] flexibility.”

Burg said the one-third-mile path that surrounds the pond has added a community aspect to the project, located between Boblett Court and Pipeline Road.

“We hadn’t even had acceptance of the project and people were already using the trail,” he said. “You can’t go out there and not find people on the trail.”

During the dedication, Onyon thanked public works staff, former interim public works director Bob Hammond and city manager Michael Jones for their help making the project feasible.