About Coal Creek Utility District

About Coal Creek Utility District

Serving the Newcastle area since 1959

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Founded by Citizens, Governed by Locally Elected Commissioners

In November 1959, the customers of King County Water District Nos. 92 and 95 elected to consolidate and form King County Water District No. 107—which eventually became Coal Creek Utility District, a public utility system authorized by Washington State Code (RCW) Title 57.

The District is governed by a three-member, non partisan Board of Commissioners elected by citizens who reside in our service area.

Commissioners are responsible for determining District policy, which is adopted through resolution, and for working with our General Manager to plan, organize, direct and oversee day to day operations, business administration, and regulatory compliance.

Our General Manager oversees day-to-day operations, supported by a finance manager, operations manager, office and field staff.

Engineering, legal counsel, and finances for the District are provided by outside consultants who are selected by the Board of Commissioners, report to the General Manager, and attend our Board meetings as needed to advise the Commissioners on ongoing matters.

Meet Our Commissioners

Water District History

November 1959: customers of two King County Water Districts elected to consolidate and form King County Water District No. 107.
July 1960: the District adopted a comprehensive plan for water supply that included the previously approved comprehensive plans for the former Districts.
November 1960: the District created a Utility Local Improvement District (ULID) to purchase an existing pipeline along Lake Washington Boulevard from a private water company. This pipeline provided the District with an additional connection to the City of Seattle supply line.
September 1961: King County Water District No. 102 merged with our District.
August 1962: The comprehensive water facilities plan was amended to allow connection of the King County Water District No. 102 system to our facilities.
1967: tThe District constructed its first major storage reservoir, at 1.0 million gallon capacity, to serve the higher elevations in the District. This reservoir is still used to serve the District’s existing 580 Zone.
1969: Newport Hills Sewer District began a joint billing program with our District (their territory was within the boundaries of our Water District).
1972: Newport Hills Sewer District merged with our District; more about this in the next section...

Sewer District History

The original sanitary sewer system that is now Coal Creek Utility District's sewer service area included a sewage treatment plant that was constructed by the developer of Newport Hills, in order to serve homes constructed in that residential development.

1958: residents of Newport Hills elected to create their own sewer district to address regular maintenance and operation of their system.
1959: the first meeting of the official Newport Hills Sewer District was held in January; soon after they adopted a comprehensive plan that called for the purchase of the existing sewer system and treatment facilities, and described how sewer service would be provided to future development within the area. Funds were obtained and Newport Hills Sewer District formally accepted title to the sewer system in accordance with the adopted plan.
1961: a contract for disposal of Newport Hills Sewer District sewage was signed with Metro (Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle), which eventually allowed Newport Hills Sewer District to abandon its previous treatment plant and effluent disposal field.
1969: Newport Hills Sewer District began a joint billing program with our Water District.
1971: all maintenance and operations of the respective water and sewer systems were consolidated under one manager, with a single office and staff. This year the state law governing special purpose districts was revised to allow a sewer district to merged with a water district.
1972: the Newport Hills Sewer District was officially merged into our District, which was still operating under the name King County Water District No. 107.

Combined Water and Sewer District History

In July 1995 the merged District, which had been operating as King County Water District No. 107, officially changed its name to Coal Creek Utility District.

Following the merger, several annexations brought the District to its largest size: approximately 8.5 square miles for the water legal area, and approximately 7 square miles for the sewer legal area.

Annexations which have occurred since completion of the District’s latest comprehensive water and sewer plans include:

1995: a portion of the proposed plat of the Highlands at Newcastle, which added approximately 29 acres in the southeastern portion of the District;
1997: a 66 acre area adjacent to the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, which is part of the Golf Club at Newcastle;
1998: approximately 25 acres of land in the southwestern portion of the District, which is part of a residential development known as Lacrosse (Stafford Crest);
2002: approximately 97 acres in the southeastern portion of the District, known as Windtree;
2002: 21 acres in the southern portion of the District by the SE 91st Street Annexation

The District is currently contemplating annexation of an area in the vicinity of Southeast May Valley Road in response to petitions received from residents within that area. In accordance with District policy, we would be required to make additional annexations to extend permanent service to these areas, given they are within our service area but currently outside our existing corporate (legal) boundaries.

In 1999, the City of Bellevue initiated an assumption of that portion of the District lying within the City limits. The assumption became effective on December 31, 2003. From that date forward, water and sewer system facilities located within Bellevue are no longer under the jurisdiction of Coal Creek Utility District.