🚧 Water Main Breaks & Red Rag Clog Mystery in Bingen - April '26

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🏛 April 2026 Municipal Round-up

Agencies Covered: Bingen City Council

The Bottom Line: Bingen is grappling with the immediate physical and social impacts of regional growth, balancing unanticipated infrastructure failures against frustrated resident pushback over state-mandated housing density.

The Vibe: Pragmatic and slightly tense. City officials are working diligently to secure grants and manage aging utilities, but are simultaneously fielding heat from residents caught off guard by rapid structural and zoning changes.

Executive Summary:

🔎 What Changed

• STEP Housing Authorized: Adopted Ordinance 2026-02-782, establishing the local zoning and notification rules for state-mandated emergency and supportive housing.
• Traffic Codes Updated: Adopted Ordinance 2026-05-785, formalizing new stop signs, no-parking zones, and cul-de-sac rules, including a new 4-way stop at Ash and Jefferson.
• Sewer Upgrades Initiated: Approved a $630,000 engineering loan contract with the Department of Ecology to design essential wastewater treatment plant improvements.

⚠ What Escalated

• Downtown Flooding: A contractor installing a new crosswalk struck an unmarked water main, flooding several downtown businesses and prompting the city to mandate stricter utility-locating procedures for future digging.
• Density Pushback: Lois Lane residents issued formal complaints protesting a new triplex on their narrow private road, alleging the city failed to adequately notify homeowners before approving "middle housing" code changes.
• Sewer Clogs: Non-flushable items, specifically red cotton shop rags, are severely impacting the functionality of the wastewater treatment plant.

🧭 What’s Next

• July 2026: Federal funding for the BNSF railroad "Quiet Zone" becomes active, triggering a diagnostic site visit.
• July & September 2026: Phased move-ins begin for the 80-unit McKenzie River apartment complex.
• City Property Audit: A newly formed Building Committee will begin assessing major maintenance needs for all city-owned properties, starting with the Gorge Heritage Museum.

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Bingen City Council

🏘 Housing & Zoning

Resident Backlash Over Middle Housing Transparency

• Lois Lane residents, represented by Maggie Johnson, submitted a formal letter protesting a planned triplex in their neighborhood.
• Residents cited severe concerns over narrow private roads that already struggle to accommodate two passing cars, increased traffic, and a loss of views.
• Johnson criticized the city's notification process, stating that residents were unaware of the 2023 "middle housing" zoning changes because the city allegedly only mailed a single notice via utility bill inserts in September 2024, rather than sending direct mail.
• In her letter, Johnson predicted the city would defend itself by stating it fulfilled its legal notification obligations, expressing frustration that council members will not personally bear the impact of the increased density on the small road.

While the state requires municipalities to increase density by allowing "middle housing" (like triplexes) in traditionally single-family zones, the local jurisdiction is left to manage the fallout. Because Bingen adhered to the legal minimums for public notice, residents felt blindsided by the changes. This highlights a structural blind spot: state mandates solve macro-level housing goals but create micro-level infrastructure concerns on private roads where the city has limited jurisdiction to intervene.

STEP Housing Ordinance Finalized

• Council adopted Ordinance 2026-02-782, creating BMC 17.58 to regulate the siting of STEP Housing.
• The council amended the final draft to require a 750-foot notification radius for neighbors when a facility is proposed.
• The ordinance also mandates that operators hold at least two public meetings before establishing a facility.

Similar to middle housing, STEP housing is driven by state-level directives requiring cities to make space for emergency and transitional shelters. By aggressively expanding the notification radius to 750 feet and requiring two public meetings, the Bingen Council is attempting to reclaim a measure of local control. This legislative friction shows the council trying to build a "buffer" of public transparency to prevent the kind of neighborhood backlash currently happening on Lois Lane.

🚧 Public Works & Infrastructure

Downtown Flooding and Utility Protocols

• On April 15, a contractor building the new crosswalk (RRFB) struck an unmarked 8-inch PVC water main.
• The resulting flood damaged several businesses, including Studio CBC, Carmen’s Kitchen, Mugs, and Chips.
• The city's insurance pool (RMSA) is actively handling the damage claims.
• Going forward, Bingen will require "potholing" for all future excavation projects to physically verify utility locations before heavy digging begins.

Why this happens: Underground utility strikes are a common municipal headache when dealing with older, non-metallic PVC pipes that lack the metal "tracer wires" required by modern locators. When detectors fail to find a signal, city crews are forced to rely on decades-old historical maps that are notoriously inaccurate due to undocumented field adjustments made by past crews. That seems to be exactly what happened here. Public works marked the location to the best of their ability with available maps, but the contractor was drilling about five feet away from that locate mark when the pipe burst.

Wastewater Capacity & Treatment Woes

• The city authorized a scope of work with Gray and Osborne for a wastewater capacity analysis study, sharing the cost with White Salmon (78% White Salmon / 22% Bingen).
• The study will explore how to process higher-strength waste within the plant's existing physical footprint.
• Upgrades to the plant's headworks are delayed by six to eight months while this study is completed.
• The plant is currently struggling with severe clogs caused by non-flushable red cotton shop rags entering the system.

The water main break exposes the risks of dealing with unmarked utility lines, forcing the city into a reactive, defensive posture requiring physical verification for future construction. Meanwhile, the wastewater delays highlight the complex interdependence between Bingen and White Salmon. Because both cities share the treatment plant, Bingen cannot simply upgrade its hardware; it must wait for costly, shared engineering studies to prove the existing footprint can handle the region's overall growth and changing waste composition.

🚨 A Friendly PSA (and a Local Mystery): Watch What You Flush

First, a quick but critical public service announcement for everyone on the Bingen/White Salmon sewer line: No matter what the package says, "flushable" wipes are not actually flushable. Municipalities across the Gorge, and the country, are currently enduring wild, unexpected maintenance costs simply because folks are flushing these items. These "flushable" wipes do not break down in the water, and they wreak absolute havoc on our existing and aging infrastructure. Please, do our public works team a solid and toss all wipes straight into the garbage can.

Now, onto the mystery...

Right now, our local wastewater treatment plant is battling a very specific, very stubborn nemesis. The pumps are currently struggling with severe clogs caused by a highly distinctive item: red cotton shop rags. Which brings us to a bit of a local whodunit! Are you a mechanic? A woodworker? A very messy painter with a downstairs bathroom? We need your help solving the Case of the Red Shop Rags. If you know someone (or are someone) who might be accidentally treating their toilet like a shop hamper for their red cotton towels, it's time for us as the community to put on our detective hats.

Help us solve the mystery, save our sewers, and keep our treatment plant running smoothly and keep rate costs low for all of us. If you have a lead on our Phantom Red Rag Flusher (or just want to confess anonymously) reply to this email!

🚦 Traffic Safety & Rail Crossings

The BNSF Quiet Zone

• Funding to establish a train Quiet Zone officially becomes available on July 1.
• A diagnostic site visit with BNSF is scheduled for late July to review required crossing upgrades.
• The Walnut Street crossing remains a major hurdle: a building owned by SDS Lumber encroaches on the space needed for standard quad-gates. If SDS cannot modify the building's corner, the city may be forced to permanently close the crossing to achieve the Quiet Zone.

Crosswalk and Pedestrian Safety

• Council adopted updates to traffic codes, officially designating a new 4-way stop at Ash and Jefferson to deter speeding.
• Resident Alicia Andrews submitted a memo detailing dangerous conditions at the Walnut Street and SR-14 crosswalk, heavily used by Sage Tech and Airbus employees. She noted the solar-powered pedestrian lights fail to work when not fully charged, prompting the city to look into battery backups.

🏛️ City Property & Administration

Museum Lease & The New Building Committee

• The council approved a 3-year lease extension for the Gorge Heritage Museum but included a 6-month notice clause in case environmental remediation forces a closure.
• The museum building requires significant maintenance, including roof repairs, exterior paint, and potential asbestos abatement in the basement.
• In response to these mounting maintenance debts, the council directed the creation of a formal Building Committee to audit and oversee all city-owned properties.

Immigrant Community Support Statement

• Councilor Grinstead-Mayle drafted a resolution supporting the local immigrant community and upholding 4th Amendment rights in response to federal ICE activities.
• The council reached a consensus on the language, and the City Administrator will format the document for a formal, binding vote at an upcoming meeting.

The Growth Management Act (GMA):

Washington State's GMA requires fast-growing cities to plan for increased density. Recent legislative updates essentially banned single-family-only zoning in many areas, requiring cities to allow "middle housing" (duplexes, triplexes) to combat the housing shortage. Local councils cannot override this state law, which frequently results in localized friction regarding parking and traffic.

🛠 Jargon Buster

• STEP Housing: An umbrella term for Shelters, Transitional housing, Emergency housing, and Permanent supportive housing.
• RAS Pumps: Return Activated Sludge pumps. These are critical components in a wastewater treatment plant that recycle active biological sludge back into the treatment process to break down sewage.
• Potholing: A construction technique where small, exploratory holes are dug (often using a vacuum excavator) to visually confirm the exact location of underground pipes and wires before heavy machinery is used.
• Quiet Zone: A stretch of railroad track where the Federal Railroad Administration allows trains to bypass blowing their horns at crossings, provided the city installs specific, expensive safety upgrades (like quad-gates or medians) to prevent cars from driving around the barriers.

How to Join & Learn More

Bingen City Council meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 6:00 PM.

• Attend: In-person at City Hall (112 N. Ash, Bingen, WA) or virtually via Zoom.
• Resources: Agendas, zoom links, and public comment instructions are posted on the City of Bingen Website.

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