The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The Wahkiakum County PUD Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, July 29 for regular business. The meeting was originally scheduled for August 5 but was moved to this Tuesday in order to accommodate everyone’s summer calendar.

Commissioner Robert Jungers suggested that General Manager David Tramblie call the general manager of Okanogan PUD, which is in the region of Washington that has been hard hit by fires this summer, to offer support as a show of solidarity. His fellow commissioners agreed.

The commissioners looked over a policy concerning new large loads drafted by Counsel Tim Hanigan. According to the draft, a new large load is defined as a “load associated with a new facility, existing facility, or an expansion of an existing facility which will result in an increase in electrical system demand of .5 MW (500 kW) or more over any consecutive 12-month period.” The commissioners agreed that the draft was acceptable and asked Hanigan to move forward.

A report from a recent meter audit had highlighted and prioritized a little more than a dozen locations for upgrades and according to Tramblie, the PUD had already begun work on two of the projects.

Tramblie also shared that an uptick in construction was bringing more business to the PUD.

"It’s more activity than I’ve seen in five years," Tramblie said.

After meeting with representatives from the offices of Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, Tramblie was approached by John Kounts, the Water Program Director at Washington PUD Association (WPUDA) to talk about an option for funding an expansion of the water system on the Westend, called a Community Development Block Grant.

After some discussion, the commissioners decided that they wanted to do a little more fact finding.

Auditor Erin Wilson reported that testing was set to begin for the new online bill notification and that some customers had already stopped by to sign up for the service.

The commissioners closed the meeting for an executive session to discuss potential litigation.

The next meeting is scheduled for August 19 at 8:30 a.m. in the PUD meeting room.