PUD evaluating cost of Westend meetings

Wahkiakum PUD commissioners met January 2 for their first meeting of 2013.

The commissioners approved payment of a $14,000 voucher to the Department of Revenue (DOR) for back taxes.

A DOR audit in fall 2012 determined that the utility owed the state $56,000 in underpaid combined excise taxes. Most of the underpayment came from a difference between two formulas used to calculate the PUD’s eligibility for discounts on the amount of tax due, PUD Auditor Erin Wilson had explained to the commissioners at a November meeting.

PUD Attorney Tim Hanigan said DOR was continuing to review the utility’s appeal, but required the utility to enter into a payment arrangement while the process is ongoing. The voucher was the first of four payments, Wilson said.

PUD Manager David Tramblie said the contractor working on construction of the new substation had determined there were wiring issues on the substation’s transformer that needed to be rectified by the transformer’s manufacturer. Tramblie said he was waiting to hear a date that the manufacturer would arrive to make the repairs.

“Hopefully we’ll be online by the middle of this month,” he said.

Since November, the PUD has received payment for 12 new water meter installations, 10 on Puget Island and two in the Westend. People responded to the December 31 deadline for system development fee waivers, Tramblie said.

Last month, the PUD experienced two instances of copper theft, one along Brooks Slough Road and one along Risk Road. The thieves took about 1500 feet of copper wire from Risk Road, but probably got less than $200 for it, said Tramblie.

“And they could have been killed,” added Commissioner Bob Jungers.

Commissioner Dennis Reid brought up the PUD’s quarterly Westend meetings for the board’s review. The intent of the original resolution was to do it for a year and then to evaluate to see if the community responded. The first meeting drew a good turnout, but subsequent meetings were scarcely attended, he said.

Wilson recounted the costs: $50 to rent Rosburg Hall, mileage reimbursement, and advertising the meeting change in the newspaper.

“It costs us about $200 to meet in Rosburg,” she summarized.

Jungers said he wondered if the turnout was due to the location or due to the timing of the meeting outside normal business hours. Morning meetings at the PUD’s office rarely see public attendance.

The commissioners postponed a decision about continuing quarterly Westend meetings until their January 15 meeting.