Infrastructure, security occupy PUD board

Securing infrastructure and creating a safe and secure environment for employees were at the heart of the PUD Board of Commissioner’s meeting on Tuesday.

Town of Cathlamet Councilman Dick Swart was in attendance and talk turned to the recently completed water intake project.

“I think that the results were about 100 gallons per minute more with the new pipe in,” Swart said, “but the [Elochoman] river is at its lowest point. This is not a cure-all. We hoped for more but this is what we are getting. We will probably have to jointly consider a second water source.”

PUD General Manager David Tramblie agreed.

“A second source within the community is something that probably should be pursued,” he said. He suggested a hydrological study.

At an earlier meeting Commissioner Bob Jungers asked about the possibility of replacing the current bushings at the substations with polymer bushings to provide seismic resistance.

Tramblie reported that he had investigated the cost of polymer bushings since then. The high side bushings would cost $6,600 apiece, and Tramblie believed that the low side bushings would be less expensive.

“It’s a technology that was adopted in Chile to harden their substations against frequent seismic shock,” Jungers said. “When the Cascadia subduction hits, the thousands of substations on the west coast will be wanting polymer bushings to get back into business. Those with polymer bushings have a much higher likelihood of surviving the seismic event.”

Tramblie wondered if there would be any infrastructure for it to serve.

Jungers said that he believed transmission would be fairly resilient to this kind of event and that Bonneville was far enough inland to remain functional.

“I’d hate to be the PUD commissioner sitting here with 115 thousand volts available at my transformer and zero volts available at my customer,” Jungers said.

Tramblie suggested that they think about it, and revisit the matter in a couple weeks.

The PUD will be adding security cameras in the office for safety and security purposes. On Tuesday, Tramblie proposed that they expand on the notion with a remodel that would “clarify the customer service area.”

He suggested that they could complete the project inexpensively and in-house.

Commissioners were supportive of the idea.

Poles are being set for the intertie project with Pacific County, but completion may be held up by the shift in the weather. Tramblie believes it is unlikely the last section of underground work will get done this year.

Commissioner Dennis Reid thanked staff for putting together a preliminary budget without a rate increase.

Commissioners approved travel for Auditor Erin Wilson to attend the State Auditor’s Round Table in Vancouver in December.

Commissioners also approved a resolution to adopt a privacy policy that will protect their customer’s information.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 4, at 8:30 a.m. in the PUD meeting room.