PUD survives storm fairly well

Storm recovery and newly elected positions were topics of discussion at Tuesday’s PUD meeting.

Manager Dave Tramblie reported that the leaks on the Westend and Puget Island have been repaired. He said that reports were filed in a very timely fashion and every leak was documented.

Auditor Erin Wilson told the board that the PUD has been in touch with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and a preliminary damage estimate of $40,851 has been submitted.

Wilson said that Pacific County has been charged $8,300 for the service of six crew members and four trucks that assisted from Naselle to Bay Center in the recent windstorm.

Commissioner Esther Gregg reported that she went to the annual meeting of the Washington Public Utility District Association (WPUDA) in Seattle. She said the board had their elections for new representatives. Robbie Robertson, Skagit County PUD Commissioner, was a likely candidate for secretary for his work on the WPUDA building.

Gregg said there were some people that felt he wasn’t the right person for the job, but others felt it would be a good pat on the back for a job well done. He was elected to the position. She reported Lewis County PUD Commissioner Chuck TenPas was elected as the new WPUDA president.

John Kounts, water program director for WPUDA, was present at the meeting, but when Gregg went to thank him for attending the recent ribbon cutting ceremony for the Western Wahkiakum Water System (WWWS) in Cathlamet, he was nowhere to be found. She learned that he was at Benaroya Hall to watch his 14-year old daughter make her debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Gregg also told the board that residents of the Westend were very complimentary of the rapid restoration of power. Commissioner Robert Jungers agreed saying, “we dodged a bullet county wide.”

Jungers reiterated a conversation from a previous PUD meeting in which the discussion surrounded using the Bonneville conservation funds for a Geo-Thermal heat pump for the high school. Tramblie told Jungers that BPA has been rethinking the heat pumps.

Jungers said he has been in contact with contractors and will continue to look at the overall project. He said he had spoken with Superintendent Bob Garrett who said he would contact other people to contact BPA on the behalf of the school and the PUD.

Gregg moved and Jungers seconded board re-organization. The PUD board is now as follows--Larry Reese, chair; Gregg, vice chair, and Jungers, secretary.

Because the next regular meeting of the PUD is a holiday, the meeting has been moved to January 2.