PUD board discusses project progress

Wahkiakum PUD commissioners heard reports from the foremen of the utility’s water and electric departments during their May 8 meeting.

At the commissioners’ request, the two department heads have begun to regularly report to the board about their projects.

Jim Jespersen of the water department reported that his crew had recently replaced service lines on North Welcome Slough Road and were now working on West Sunny Sands Road. As they replace the service lines, the workers are also replacing all meters that have been in use for over 10 years.

Commissioner Bob Jungers asked Jespersen if he had seen evidence that the new meters were reducing water losses for the system.

Increased efficiency would not be measurable until the meters were in use for a while, said Jespersen.

Jespersen said he appreciated a Monday morning message from an island resident who spotted a water leak on East Sunny Sands Road. The crew promptly repaired the leak.

“When it’s dry weather and there’s water where you don’t expect to see it, that’s a red flag to us.”

Line Crew foreman Shane Pfenniger said that the electrical crew had replaced 9000 feet of conduit along Oneida Road during April. They got their last piece of conduit for that project in the ground last week via a 350-foot directional bore near the Oneida boat ramp.

The crew’s current project is to replace Vista Park’s electrical infrastructure, including 1000 feet of conduit and adding new meters.

Pfenniger and PUD employee Lia Sealund plan to present an electrical safety program to students at JA Wendt Elementary School later in the spring. Pfenniger has constructed an electrified model overhead line to demonstrate the dangers of downed power lines.

Pfenniger said he had conducted training for 15 District 4 firefighters to go over line safety and things to look for after auto accidents.

Commissioner Gene Healy asked Pfenniger about the reliability of electrical service along Altoona-Pillar Rock Road.

Pfenniger said slide-prone areas of that road do impact the reliability of electrical service to that road’s residents.

Electrical conduit in some slide areas has been replaced with overhead wire.

Pfenniger commented that he had seen improvements in the reliability of the PUD’s entire electrical system over time.

“When I first came here 16 years ago, it was very uncommon for us not to go out on an outage at least once a week. There were times I was out every day of the week.

“Now, I can’t tell you the last time I was on an underground outage. It’s good for the families, it’s good for the PUD- it’s good for everyone."

The board met in executive session to discuss potential litigation; no action was taken when the board reconvened.