PUD may use grant funds for Westend water expansion

Wahkiakum PUD continued its discussion Tuesday of the proposed expansion of the Western Wahkiakum water system to the Oneida and Salme neighborhoods.

The board discussed funding the project and the possibility of using a $216,000 grant to pay for half of the work, with a 45 percent match of $180,000 from the PUD and the remaining amount split between those who would benefit from the new water system.

PUD Commissioner Robert Jungers requested a more concrete basis for beginning the work necessary to get the project in motion. Salme Hill residents Warren and Pam Anderson volunteered to work on securing commitments from other area residents for their monetary contribution and for any property easements necessary. They also volunteered to try to secure more grants from other sources. PUD Manager Dave Tramblie said he will put together a proposal outlining project costs if he is sure of the direction the board wants to take. He stated that he thought this would be a good use of the grant money already available, which must be used by June.

A meeting was suggested to let all affected residents meet with the PUD commissioners to further the discussion and to gauge commitments, both monetary and otherwise.

In other business, Tramblie reported of a potential tie to Pacific County PUD's power grid east of Deep River, in order to bypass the need for a new transformer. The Pacific County PUD's transformer at Naselle is currently generating almost twice as much power as is being consumed and it would be to Wahkiakum County's benefit to link up to it, he said.

According to his preliminary studies, Tramblie says that a very rough cost of the project would be $100,000 - $200,000 versus approximately a half million dollars for the installation of a transformer in that area.

Also discussed, Puget Island's water system will get an upgrade this year. New 8" pipes have already been laid in several stretches along SR-409. More pipe will be laid in order to create a new system from the SR-409 bridge to the intersection of Welcome Slough Road.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of meter reading equipment shown at an Engineering and Operations conference in Tacoma which Jungers and Tramblie attended.

Further to the idea of replacing the current meter reading system, Jungers outlined three different systems that can be used, at varying costs. He recommended a closer look at the Automatic Reading System (AMR), a system that will enable meter readings for both electric and, with the correct module, water systems. The board will discuss it further following a presentation by Itron, the company that manufactures the AMR.