Bubbler / Stormwater
BUBBLER / STORMWATER INFORMATION
Lacamas Shores Maintenance
The mission of the organization is to assist in maintaining Lacamas Shores as a premier residential community. This includes a commitment to protecting and enhancing the quality of life, the natural environment, and property values within the neighborhood.
For 2025, the primary objectives include complying with the Consent Decree related to the biofilter refurbishment. This encompasses the construction of a bubbler, implementation of wetland mitigation efforts, as well as ongoing water sampling and monitoring activities. The organization also aims to meet the requirements of the City of Camas stormwater facility inspections scheduled for May 2024 and January 2025. Additionally, establishing a comprehensive wetland and stormwater maintenance plan (with adequate funding to ensure proper execution) is a key goal.
These initiatives must be carried out within the context of several constraints, including legal obligations, a complex regulatory landscape, strict project deadlines, available funding, and the organizational bandwidth required to manage and complete the work effectively.
Definitions
Wetland “A” – Wetland A is a 5.92 acres palustrine forested wetland with a hydroperiod that ranges from seasonally saturated to semi-permanently saturated.
Tributary A and Tributary B emerge from bubblers B-1 and B-2 respectively and flow through Wetland A with defined bed and banks and defined ordinary high water marks indicated by changes in slope, plant abundance, and plant community.
Wetland “A”, Tributary A and B are jurisdictional waters of the US (USACE, 19 Jan 24)
Biofilter – use grass or other dense vegetation to filter sediment and oily materials out of stormwater.
Bubbler – French drain uses a level spreader design to distribute water into the wetlands
Exhibit “A” – referenced as the “Project” or the outfall system designed by Landau Associates
Mitigation – required actions for wetland impacts…includes invasive species removal, planting , wattle installation, etc.
Monitoring – systemic observation and assessment to ensure that mitigation efforts are successfully offsetting impacts from construction. Required for 5 years.
Consent Decree Requirements
Settlement Agreement
Regulatory Requirements
Project Deadlines
Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to commonly asked questions about the project.
What special assessment is being proposed?
a) There is a proposed one time payment in September, 2025 of $700.
b) Starting in 2026 our annual dues will increase by $477.
What is the one time $700 payment for?
Both the Operating Account and the Reserve Account balances will be approaching zero at the end of the year. $500 will be used to increase the Reserve Balance by $126,500.00 and $200 will be used to increase the Operating Balance by $50,600.00.
What is the $477 dues increase for?
a) To make an annual contribution of ~ $70k to our reserve fund with ongoing planned maintenance of our assets.
b) To test and maintain the biofilter area quarterly as mandated in the consent decree.
c) To increase our legal budget based on previous year’s spend, as well as the rewriting of our CCRs based on news that we are required to do so.
We just paid a special assessment of $1700 in the previous year. Why are we being
asked to pay another special assessment?
There are two factors driving the need for another special assessment.
i) The BioFilter project cost has increased for a couple of reasons. The cost of the project increased by ~ $200k relative to the initial assessment. Also once we started engaging with the government agencies they identified additional action needed not originally scoped as part of our assessment.
ii) Our Operating Budget cost have increased due to three factors:
(1) New Management company cost are much higher
(2) Legal costs continue to be higher than projections
(3) Maintenance costs have increased due to age of assets
What BioFilter project expenses have increased since our last assessment and how did we arrive at the current costs for the bubbler and stormwater work?
The last special assessment value was calculated with the best information
available at the time. Several increased costs have become apparent, during the
lengthy litigation, design, and permitting processes for the Biofilter project.
1.) Fine: A $10,000 fine was paid to the Department of Treasury for Clean Water Act penalties
2.) Permitting and Design: The bubbler and associated mitigation plan required permits from city, state, and federal regulators. The lengthy 13 month process required multiple design revisions and new permitting assessments, such as an archeological review of the impacted area ($8k), adding considerable cost to the project.
3.) Engineering Cost Assessment versus Actual Construction Costs: Given the challenge of building in the wetland, surveying and anticipated construction costs were much greater than anticipated. Multiple construction companies were solicited to bid on the project once the plans were permitted and the area was surveyed. Green Construction was selected due to their expertise and value with a bid of $217,000 (versus the engineering estimate of $110,00).
4.) Mitigation: The court-ordered bubbler also requires mitigation to reduce the impacts of construction on the wetland and improve Biofilter functionality. This mitigation plan was approved by federal, state, and city regulators and is mandated by the consent decree. Anticipated costs for the mitigation executed by Riparia Environmental (formerly Olson Environmental) have been contracted for approximately $71,000.
5.) Water Sample Analysis and Monitoring: The Consent Decree requires Lacamas Shores HOA to execute a stringent water sampling program on the Biofilter for a period of five years. Additionally, the wetland mitigation must also be monitored for five years after construction to ensure proper compliance with wetland regulations. The costs for the sampling and monitoring are anticipated to be approximately $15,000-$20,000 annually and were not previously accounted for in the 2024 Special Assessment.
6.) Additional Storm Water Management Facility Maintenance: The City of Camas inspected multiple Lacamas Shores Stormwater Facilities in 2024 and 2025. Multiple issues were noted during these inspections and require timely fixes during the dry season in 2025. Riparia Environmental is contracted to execute $36,000 of these projects including cleaning the common area swale, settling pond, and cleaning several sediment vaults. AMS is seeking bids to address additional deficiencies in other facilities around the neighborhood and anticipate the costs to be approximately $20,000.
7.) Increased Legal Costs: Two appeals were made to the Bubbler Project permits after the settlement agreement and consent decree. Ultimately, the City of Camas denied these appeals; however, the HOA continues to incur increased legal costs defending such attempts to comply with our court-ordered solution to the Biofilter.
Why do we not have money in the Reserve for this work? Isn’t that what a Reserve Plan is for?
a) Dues increases in the past have not kept up with the maintenance expense requirements of the neighborhood.
b) After the last special assessment, which was meant to make our reserve healthy
again, cost actuals for execution of the bubbler project came in ~ 2x projections.
What are we doing to contain costs during the construction of the bubber, the wetland improvements, and the stormwater facilities?
a) Signed contracts in 2024 to hold pricing constant through 2025 to the time of work completion
b) Competitive bidding contractor components wherever possible
c) Finding value engineering solutions for specific materials when possible
Once the bubbler project is completed, what additional project requirements will be
needed beyond this year to maintain the areas of work and responsibility?
a) Water quality monitoring – quarterly and at inlet/outlet of wetland areas
b) Vegetation maintenance in wetland areas
c) Drainage and water flow maintenance
d) City Stormwater facility cleaning and maintenance
e) Bubbler maintenance (asset with new life and maintenance schedule)
Is all litigation finished and does Lacamas Shores face any current threat of legal
liability?
The state and federal cases brought against the HOA by Mr. Steve Bang have been settled. The board continues to comply with the settlement agreements, and the court orders outlined in the consent decree.
What are the components of the biofilter budget increase request? What will the
additional funds help us accomplish?
Attached and referenced below is a complete breakdown of the work needed to build a new above ground bubbler, remove invasive species of plants in our wetland, install many new plants at prescribed locations, perform grading and cleaning to affect water flow, clean out stormwater facilities, refurbish the retention pond, and hire expert guidance and oversight. The aforementioned are professionally recommended actions in order to satisfy mandates in the consent decree.
Should we expect more special assessments in the future?
Based on our current financial projection this special assessment should give the HOA enough financial capacity to avoid future special assessments. With that said if there are some major new costs we could come back with the need to do another special assessment.