Getting access to Freeland water will cost double what it did last year for new customers. The Freeland Water and Sewer District is considering a resolution that will double its water hook-up rates beginning March 1.

If approved, new customers will pay $2,000 more to tie into the Freeland water district’s two wells.

Water district commissioners are considering an increase in residential hook-up rates from $2,350 to $4,350, as well as an increase in commercial hookups from $2,500 to $4,500.

Officials say the increases are necessary to fund past and future capital projects. The last increase was more than a decade ago.

Currently, the Freeland Water District has 414 customers. The district has state approval to serve 550.

However, the district is in the process of developing future well sites in the Freeland area, something that can take a decade or more to finalize.

According to water district chairman Rocky Knickerbocker, the water district has seen a tremendous amount of growth during the past year.

In 2006, there were 32 new hookups in Freeland, compared with 14 in 2005 and 10 in 2004.

Some of that growth is due to the assisted living facility being built in Freeland, which will use the water volume equivalent to 23 residential homes. The hook-up fee for the new facility was $54,000.

Two new subdivisions with roughly 115 homes under construction in the Freeland area, plus Whispering Firs on East Harbor Road and Morningside Hill on Woodward Road have added to the growth in the Freeland area.

Other water districts have not seen the same jump in residential customers. The Bayview Water District reported eight new hookups in 2005, three in 2005 and four in 2004.

Nearby, the Harbor Hills Water System — a privately owned company with rates regulated by the Washington State Utilities Commission — has also experienced and influx of development.

Terry Otey, owner of the system, has seen an increase of about 50 hookups in the previous two years.

“I have had requests for another 100; 60 of those from developer Mark Schuster,” Otey said.

Otey said hook-up fees in Harbor Hills are $2,500.

Harbor Hills has 358 customers and can serve 550 now. With construction of a new transport line, the state is expected to raise the number to 720 by June, Otey said.

Gayle Saran can be reached at 221-5300 or gsaran@southwhidbeyrecord.com.