2017-02-21 Meeting with Jason Hearn and Jim Masten1
Meeting with Jason Hearn and Jim Masten
February 21, 2017
1:33 p.m.
Present: Commissioner Fund, Commissioner Jackson, Jason Hearn, Jim Masten, Commissioner Stamper
Recorder: Rieva Lester
Lacey resident Jason Hearn and Seattle resident Jim Masten, a registered professional engineer, said
they wanted to discuss a potential opportunity to donate services toward finding a solution for sewer
plants.
Jim said he and his wife have been working on a plan to create a lower-priced, more efficient,
environmentally friendly sewer process. He said he’d like to find an opportunity in which he and his wife
can donate their services.
Commissioner Fund asked Jim how he came to approach Lewis County.
Jim said his aunt lives across the bridge. He said he has spoken to small sewer districts in the
surrounding.
Commissioner Stamper joined the meeting at 1:38 p.m.
Jim discussed other sewer programs (biological reduction process) at small districts, which can cost
$7 million. He said an outside-the-box design could be done at half the price with a fraction of the
environmental impact. Jim said he would like to explore offering his services for free as a way to give
back to the community.
Jim said he has spoken to Ecology, which instructed him to find a project to fix.
The commissioners brought up Packwood.
Jim said the Department of Interior has money to lend and money to dole out as grants.
Commissioner Stamper discussed Packwood’s situation. He discussed the move to a UGA.
Jim said the feds have money to completely pay for communications upgrades. He said the plan would
be to install fiber optics at the same time as the sewer system.
Jim asked about Packwood’s television and internet access. He discussed using low-pressure pumps with
2-inch piping that would allow the installation of sewer lines as well as fiber optics. Jim said he wants to
provide the engineering service, whether it’s using that type of system or another. He said a recent
study pegged 2-inch pipes with horizontal drilling as providing a savings of roughly 90 percent.
Jim reiterated that he wasn’t trying to sell a novel idea but rather provide money-saving options from an
engineering standpoint.
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He said he merely wants to work out the engineering system that would allow for a low-cost solution in
a rural community.
He said he hasn’t done this before but that others have, and he would look at those entities.
Jim said the county could get carbon credit for this type of project.
Commissioner Stamper said the proposal is exciting, but he asked how it would be rolled out to the
residents of Packwood, who would have to foot the bill.
Jim suggested telling him to ask the federal government to foot the bill as a grant.
Commissioner Stamper invited Jim and Jason Hearn to attend the next Improvement meeting.
Jim said he wants to do something for one of these communities that the communities otherwise may
not have the ability to do.
Jim and Jason said that Jim would like to be hired for $1 to come up with a proposed solution.
Commissioner Stamper asked if he could set up another meeting, one that would include Community
Development and Public Works.
Meeting ended at 2:06 p.m.