A regional sewer partnership by any other name …

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Those lines from “Romeo and Juliet” have been recycled so many times — so what’s once more? On May 18, elected officials from Clark County, Clark Regional Wastewater District and the cities of Battle Ground and Ridgefield met to, among more serious issues, pick a name for the regional sewer partnership. The alliance has been years in the making and has had to overcome a lack of trust among potential partners.

The working title was “Clark Clean Water Alliance,” which as we blogged about earlier, Commissioner Steve Stuart thought was a little too flowery.

Commissioner Marc Boldt, who has been representing the county in the regional sewer discussions, joked to Stuart and Commissioner Tom Mielke a few days before the May 18 meeting that he worried it would take too much time to agree on a name. People from the cities didn’t like that “Clark” was in the title, Boldt said.

Pete Capell, director of Clark County Public Works, said Tuesday that to the officials’ credit, the selection process was fairly quick. Boldt liked “Clark Clean Water Alliance,” because he felt there should be a geographical reference in the title, but then Clark Regional Wastewater District Commissioner Neil Kimsey suggested “Discovery Clean Water Alliance,” a moniker that takes out the offending “Clark” and refers to the Discovery Corridor, the area along Interstate 5 that has potential for growing businesses but that lacks infrastructure. Ridgefield Mayor Ron Onslow and Battle Ground Mayor Lisa Walters agreed.

According to a news release, the alliance “would not replace existing sewer providers but instead regionalize major sewer lines and treatment plants, thus eliminating the need for duplicative facilities in each service area. Customers would continue to receive service and bills from their existing provider. Each provider would pay for its proportional share of wholesale conveyance and treatment costs to the alliance based on actual sewage flows.”

There are still several steps to take before the partnership becomes a legal entity.