PUD dealing with costs of projects

Last Wednesday morning, the PUD Board of Commissioners met and listened to reports from the manager and the auditor and shared some of their own news.

Commissioner Bob Jungers said that he was considering filing for County Commissioner position 2.

“I’ve done a little research about the potential for a conflict of interest,” Jungers said, “and it’s an issue that Tim Sheldon faced when he was a county commissioner and a state senator. He advises me that the Attorney General rendered an opinion that it was not a conflict of interest. Considering the fact that the constituency of this board is precisely identical to the constituency of the county board, it seems that if there was a conflict of interest the representative would not be representing the entities that he really should be. If there is a conflict between the PUD and the county it should be resolved in the favor of the voters not the institutions.”

Sheldon is from Mason County.

Jungers later filed.

General Manager Dave Tramblie reported that a contractor would be installing a valve under pressure on Malone Creek Road on May 27. The PUD had received four bids for the project. The lowest for $5,300 was accepted, and one third the amount they had predicted.

The crew will be at that location a day earlier to excavate and prepare for the contractor whose only task will be to install the valve.

The PUD has been making payments of $225,000 each year to Wahkiakum County to pay off a loan for the Wahkiakum substation project, according to Tramblie. At the meeting on Wednesday, he asked the commissioners if they would be amenable to making just the required payment of $125,000 this year. Tramblie said that he had already approached the county about the matter.

The intertie project with Pacific County has turned out to be more expensive than initially believed and Tramblie would like to be certain that the PUD has the funds available.

“Looking at our reserves I’m not so sure I agree that we shouldn’t just make the larger payment and get that thing paid off,” Commissioner Dennis Reid said. “If I read everything right, even after paying for that [bucket] truck our reserves are up to a million and a quarter. With this project being paid for, we’d still have a million dollars in reserve, I’d like to get that debt gone.”

Tramblie said he didn’t disagree but suggested that the PUD make the required payment and make another payment when the project is completed.

“If we make the payment required, there is nothing that keeps us from at the end of the year saying that we want to pay another $125,000 or whatever on it,” Auditor Erin Wilson echoed.

The commissioners agreed and the required payment will be made, with the option to make another payment at the end of the year.

Tramblie was required to redraw plans for the intertie project when the state rejected his plans to build a regulator rack on top of Salme Hill due to scenic classifications. Also, the state is requiring that pole locations be moved three feet off the road.

Tramblie reported that the electric crew has been replacing a half mile of underground conductor in East Valley.

Wilson reviewed the finances for the first quarter during the auditor’s report. She went over the electrical system and the Puget Island water system before going over the western Wahkiakum water system.

“It’s not growing leaps and bounds but it’s holding on,” Wilson said of the Western Wahkiakum Water System. “Revenue was a little stronger than predicted and it’s always good to see that on this system.”

“I think you’ve done a very good job of getting things done for the least cost down there,” Reid said, “and that’s why it looks as good as it does and has $55,000 in reserves.”

During the commissioner’s reports, Reid reported that he had been approached by customers who wondered why the PUD didn’t have a rebate on residential lighting.

“It has to fall within Bonneville Power Administration guidelines,” Wilson said, “where we spend our money.”

The next PUD meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7, at 8:30 a.m.