By ERIKA HAYASAKI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

One issue that may determine the future of Buckley's home development is sewage capacity.

There's not enough capacity or hookups to accommodate the influx of newcomers. The city will either have to build a new plant or stop building homes after the completion of already planned developments.

"We had (the town) to ourselves for all these years," says Mayor John Blanusa, who reared four children in Buckley. "Now it's been found. And we will have to make a new sewer plant if we want to build more houses."

Some residents just aren't ready to fork over extra money to support a growing community.

"You get used to a certain way of life," says Karen Durgin, a 22-year Buckley resident. "When you get an influx of other people it gets too big, too impersonal. I don't like to see it grow. I like to see it kept small."

During Blanusa's six years as mayor, gravel roads have been paved, storm drains renewed, a new post office built and sidewalks installed. The mayor is also heading a home development project.

Bob McCally, who has lived in Buckley since 1929, owned a Chevron business for 25 years. When he retired in 1983, the city built a library over it.

He said he used to know everyone in town.

"Now I know very few people," says McCally. "The town's still small, but it's expanding fast."

Schools are also feeling the pressure of growth. Jay Hambly, superintendent of the White River School District, says White River High School in Buckley was built for 850 students but was home to nearly 1,120 students last year.

Hambly expects the school population to reach 1,600 in the next few years. Says Hambly: "There are two options: We could remodel the high school for 1,600 students or build a new high school."

But there's the sewage capacity dilemma.

"The sewage problem is a real deterrent. . . . That's the problem we would have with building a new high school," says Hambly.

Karen Durgin, a substitute teacher in the White River School District, is unhappy with the city's inability to accommodate the growing student population.

"The kids are going to be crammed into portables," says Durgin. "They are already crammed into schools. Every fall there is a scramble on where to put kids."