Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891
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Wahkiakum PUD commissioners met Tuesday to hear public comments on proposed water rate increases for Puget Island and Westend customers and to take action regarding their membership in the Washington PUD Association (WPUDA). Puget Island resident Pete Fleury shared his concern that many Puget Island residents live on fixed incomes. The incremental rate increases the PUD has implemented and plan to enact in the future are outpacing some island residents’ ability to pay their water bills, Fleury said. He asked if the organization had a cost m...
Wahkiakum PUD staff will soon announce the criteria for eligible customers to apply to participate in a study that will install heat pump water heaters in homes in order to monitor their energy efficiency. At the end of the 12 month program, participants have the option of keeping the new water heater. On Tuesday, PUD Auditor Erin Wilson explained to the PUD Board of Commissioners that Wahkiakum PUD was selected to participate in the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)-sponsored program which will install 40 water heaters in homes across...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners and management discussed proposed water rate increases at their meeting June 1. Manager Dave Tramblie asked the board to come to a consensus about the proposed rate increases so that rate hearings could be scheduled for public comment. The proposed rate increase for the Puget Island water system is $3.25 beginning in August of this year. The commissioners declined to support a further rate increase for January, but said they would revisit rates at that time if needed. The increased charge will be applied to the...
The Board of Commissioners of Wahkiakum Port District 1 met May 13 to approve maintenance projects and to open bids for a surplus equipment sale. Blair Peterson had the winning bid for a surplus gangway. He outbid three others at $306. Assistant Manager Abe York reported on bids from two local companies to pave the marina’s “F” Dock parking lot. The commissioners asked him to follow up with specific questions about one bid and considered splitting the project into two summers. Port Manager Jackie Lea stated that the marina has been close...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners spent the bulk of their May 18 meeting discussing water rates. PUD Auditor Erin Wilson presented proposals for rate increases for water system customers on both sides of K.M. Mountain. For the Western Wahkiakum Water System, the proposed rate increase is $6 per month beginning in July or August and additionally $3 per month beginning January, 2011. The current monthly basic fee is $44.10 with a usage rate of $1.10 per 100 cubic feet. The proposed rate increase for Puget Island customers is $3.25 per month beginning...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners and staff discussed system maintenance and upgrades at their meeting on May 4. PUD Manager Dave Tramblie reported a contractor had completed an infrared survey of the electrical system and found the connector that serves the medical clinic and a nearby restaurant was excessively hot. A PUD crew replaced the connector last week and is scheduled to work on voltage regulators in the substation that are not operating correctly. A replacement voltage regulator costs approximately $18,000, said Tramblie. The Bonneville...
Naselle school board members heard comments from a large audience of community members, staff, and students at their meeting on April 20. Naselle resident Steve Gacke proposed amending the minutes of the March 16 board meeting to reflect comments made by board member Ed Darcher, specifically suggesting that the official minutes reflect Darcher’s disagreement with former board member Steve Sultemeier’s decision to resign from the board after a March 9 workshop. Sultemeier had presented a written statement to the board giving a lack of pub...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners discussed property acquisition, a proposed biosolid waste disposal site, and possible rate increases for water customers at their meeting on April 20. PUD Attorney Tim Hanigan announced the PUD closed on their purchase of property formerly owned by the Lillian Havens estate last week, and stated he wanted to publicly thank the Parsons, owners of Indian Village Mobile Home Park, for their cooperation in resolving a property boundary discrepancy. At an earlier meeting, the commissioners had authorized the PUD’s e...
Hancock Forest Management, Inc. has discontinued negotiations with Wahkiakum Port District 1 to sell a portion of Hancock’s log sorting yard along SR 4 to the port for redevelopment into a business park. Lower Columbia Economic Development Council Executive Director David Goodroe said Hancock has leased the site to Western Woods, a business which uses the site to load logs into container trucks for export to South Korea. Goodroe said he was aware of three different log sorting yards in the area currently occupied by Western Woods. Working on b...
Architects Without Borders (AWB) volunteers from Portland returned to Cathlamet Saturday to present their initial design concepts for the Cathlamet Town Hall / Library building and surrounding property. Eight members of AWB visited Cathlamet in February to listen to input from town residents and to view the site. They measured buildings and rooms and met for two hours with 80 members of the public to hear desires and ideas of development of facilities and surrounding area. Around 30 people attended the meeting last Saturday to provide feedback...
PUD commissioners and management discussed an ongoing permit application for a treated biosolid waste disposal site in Grays River and an upcoming repair project at their meeting Tuesday. Manager Dave Tramblie shared that a malfunctioning valve on the Puget Island bridge water line would be replaced in upcoming weeks. The PUD will send letters and place advertising in the newspaper to notify Puget Island customers of their need to conserve water during the two-hour repair window, although the actual repair is likely only to take 15 minutes and...
At the March 11th Port District1 meeting, Lower Columbia Economic Development Council Executive Director David Goodroe reported on the status of the port’s grant funding applications for development of a business park at a former industrial site along State Highway 4. Last year the LCEDC, on behalf of Port 1, applied for a $1.2 million grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) and to the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) for $225,000 as local matching funds to build the proposed park. The CERB grant was approved i...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners discussed a proposed project to bring treated solid waste to western Wahkiakum County and other topics at their meeting on March 2. Commissioner Esther Gregg reported that a recent legal notice published in the Wahkiakum County Eagle on February 18 had generated calls to her home from concerned residents. Evergreen Septic of Long Beach has submitted a proposal to the Department of Ecology to dump treated solid waste at a site along Covered Bridge Road in Grays River. People had expressed concerns to Gregg about...
Commissioners of Wahkiakum PUD once again discussed their one percent interest in the Packwood Dam at their meeting on February 16 and listened to their Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) account executive and staff present on the possible benefits and costs for small shares. At stake is the decision about whether to take Packwood Dam into load as a generation source for Wahkiakum PUD power or to accept a purchase agreement from Clallam PUD to purchase Wahkiakum’s entire output from the dam between October 2012 and 2028. Clallam currently o...
Wahkiakum Port District No. 2 commissioners held the rates and fees hearing for public comment on February 16 and approved the rates and fees for 2010 as well as dealing with port and park operations. Cape Horn resident Richard Erickson, who identified himself as a board member of the Wahkiakum Chamber of Commerce and Lower Columbia Economic Development Council (LCEDC) and a local business owner, attended the meeting to commend the port commissioners for their hard work. “Port No. 1 and Port No. 2 are so important to our economic development a...
Wahkiakum Port District #1 commissioners listened to a proposal about installing security cameras and discussed the Cathlamet Yacht Club’s (CYC) reciprocal moorage agreement with the port at a meeting on February 11. Port Manager Jackie Lea invited Bayfront Wireless to submit a proposal on installing security cameras around the marina property, and John Price, a representative from Bayfront Wireless, attended the meeting. Their company sells cameras with the ability to rotate, pan, and zoom. Ports in Garibaldi, Oregon and Ilwaco received g...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners discussed several items relating to western Wahkiakum County utility customers at their February 2 meeting, including hearing public comments on a potential grant application to fund expansion of a water system west of Deep River. On January 28, Manager Dave Tramblie sent a letter to customers in the affected area informing them that he was considering applying for a matching grant to extend water system service to the area along SR4 west of Deep River. Currently residents in that area use well water. The PUD’s e...
Wahkiakum Public Utility District commissioners discussed a variety of issues at their January 19 meeting. Auditor Erin Wilson asked the commissioners about limiting the number of eligible refrigerators per household for a decommissioning rebate program supported by Bonneville Power Administration dollars. The fund provides a $25 incentive for consumers to encourage the purchase and usage of eligible energy efficient appliances. The commissioners approved a limit of one per household due to the limited availability of funds. Wilson said the...
Naselle school board members discussed the coming school levy vote, current scenarios about the future of the Naselle Youth Camp, and other matters at a January 19 meeting. During the public comment session, Naselle resident Steve Gacke detailed his concerns about the financial impact of the proposed school levy in a timber industry dependent community that has felt the effects of the economic downturn. Director Gilbert Haataia clarified that a clause in the levy exempts people who earn under $35,000 a year and meet other qualifications, and th...
Wahkiakum PUD commissioners and staff met January 5 to discuss weather, wind turbines, and other matters. December’s cold spell caused record peak consumption for Cathlamet and vicinity and a correspondingly high transmission bill from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), said PUD Manager Dave Tramblie. Tramblie reported that a BPA representative called him prior to the holidays about the possibility of using the PUD’s share of power generated by a one percent interest in the Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Project on the Cowlitz River. An ev...
School, staff, and board members received accolades at the Naselle-Grays River Valley School District board meeting on October 20. Dr. Diana Gilsinger, Phi Delta Kappa chapter president for Washington and deputy superintendent for Battle Ground schools, attended the meeting to present Interim Superintendent Rick Pass and school board Chair Deanna Moomjian-Gjovik with the Great Schools award for Naselle Junior High School. The award honors the top five percent of improving schools in Washington. Phi Delta Kappa partners with the Center for...
The race for Naselle – Grays River Valley School Board Director Position #2 is heating up. Rosburg resident Mike Queener filed last June to run for incumbent Nancy McGuire’s position after McGuire declined to run for reelection. Two weeks ago Michelle Condon announced her write-in candidacy. Condon was contacted last week by The Eagle’s reporter but did not respond by press time. She provided information to the Grays River Grange that was posted online to the Grange’s Local Elections Voters Guide (http://graysriver.gra...
Naselle’s students won a coveted honor from education officials in Washington D.C. last week, but new state graduation requirements for math will place pressure on students to continue their quest for academic excellence. Last week the Department of Education lauded Naselle Junior-Senior High School for “dramatic improvements” on test scores among students from disadvantaged homes and ranking above the 90th percentile of schools nationwide, performance that placed it among the 314 public and private schools awarded the coveted Blue Ribbon Schoo...
The Naselle School Board of Directors appointed Dr. Rick Pass of Astoria to a one year contract as superintendent at their meeting on August 26. Pass assumed his position August 31, three days before students return to school on September 3. The interim contract expires June 30, 2010. In an emailed statement, Pass said “It is an honor to be selected as the Naselle-Grays River Valley School District interim superintendent. Having grown up in the lower Columbia River area, I have enjoyed the opportunity to compete against Naselle High School a...
Naselle-Grays River Valley school board members have met together several times since Superintendent Alan Bennett submitted a letter of resignation to the board at a meeting held August 18. At that meeting, the board tabled a motion to accept Bennett’s resignation and a motion to hire him for a fourth grade teaching position and scheduled a special meeting for August 20 but did act on another personnel matter. High school Spanish instructor Eileen Williams was hired to teach the sixth grade class. Principal Karen Wirkkala noted that Williams h...
