PUD crews busy with water, line work

“I think I enjoyed grade school too much, because I love show and tell,” joked PUD Manager Dave Tramblie as he passed around a two foot long section of water pipe to PUD commissioners during their Tuesday morning meeting.

Tramblie brought in the pipe to illustrate his crew’s continued efforts to reduce losses from both of the water systems they manage, and the challenges they face.

That particular section of pipe came from Puget Island, said Tramblie. Water was leaking from the underside of a valve, but the water loss wasn’t evident until the crew dug up the pipe.

“You have to assume there are more out there like that. How many (leaking valves) do we have?”

Tramblie’s show and tell began a busy session of business for the commissioners.

Tramblie reported to the commissioners that PUD employee Lia Sealund had priced fire retardant clothing for the power line crew and found that the cost of outfitting each employee with shirt, jeans, overalls, and a sweatshirt might run $1,200 to $1,500 per year. Fire retardant clothing is not required under current regulations, said Tramblie, but he believes it will be in the future.

“Considering the hazards they face on a daily basis, no expense is too great,” said Commissioner Bob Jungers.

“I don’t think we need to wait for the law to protect our people,” added Commissioner Dennis Reid.

Tramblie recounted a question Grays River resident Bob Larson had raised during the public comment period of last month’s PUD commission meeting held at Rosburg Hall about administrative costs allocated to the Western Wahkiakum Water System.

Currently, the allocation is based on the number of customers, but the allocation could be based on the amount of revenue generated by each system. That would benefit both systems by reducing the allocations. Tramblie explained he was bringing it up with the commissioners as a point of discussion, but would do further research and report back at a future meeting.

“How can you rationalize allocating based on revenue not meters,” asked Jungers, adding “it just seems on the surface that number of meters would be more representative and more fair.”

“I’m not sure why we shouldn’t do it that way as opposed to number of customers. The main rationale would be to benefit the systems, and right now they need help,” responded Tramblie.

Commission chair Gene Healy asked Tramblie to report back to the commissioners with a study that lays out the possible advantages and disadvantage about both methods of allocating administrative costs. He advised documenting a way of doing regular review.

Reid requested Auditor Erin Wilson provide more detail on cash flow reporting for the Western Wahkiakum Water System. Wilson offered to review a current report with the commissioners at the next meeting.

Tramblie stated construction of the PUD’s new substation commenced last Tuesday.

Minutes of commission meetings will soon be posted to the PUD’s website after they have been approved by the commissioners, annouced Wilson. The PUD’s website is located at http://www.wahkiakumpud.org.