PUD considers hydro strategy

Tuesday’s PUD meeting brought discussion of a public questionnaire and commissioner pay raises.

Auditor Erin Wilson told the board that the directional boring equipment has arrived and the crew is happy with it. She said someone from the company will be showing them how it works on Thursday.

She gave the board a Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) update, saying that employer contributions will be going up from 6.13 percent to 8.31 on July 1. She said it will cost the utility afew thousand dollars a year for the benefits, but it may be going back down slightly in July 2009.

A questionnaire will be mailed to all rate payers in regards to the potential hydroelectric project on the Grays River. They should arrive with utility bills in the next four weeks. “We hope people will fill these out and send them back,” Wilson said. She emphasized that they hope people will give their input on the whole project.

The board discussed Senate Bill 6717 regarding salary increases among PUD commissioners. If a commissioner sets his own salary, he is not eligible for a pay raise however, the rate is increased automatically. The increase is mandated by the state, it is not a local increase.

Commissioner Esther Gregg moved and Commissioner Bob Jungers seconded that the resolution be adopted.