Miller reported that the exit conference of the 2013 annual State Audit being was scheduled for Aug. 5 and that the results of the audit would be forth coming. He then got into the business of work that had been accomplished and the related change orders from services rendered while performing fiber optic repair work and power work in a few locations. Two Public Utility projects had to be increased at 4.88% or $11,878, from the original $195,000 bid after teams discovered that some work could not be completed at the stated site, additional work was required to make things right and some work was not needed at all.
During the fiber optic cable and power line repair work along Highway 103 and State Route 105, contractors found that issues at the locations where additional work needed to be performed, as well as that the personnel from the PUD could absorb some of the work themselves providing initial credits to the projects. Additional work would be required to pull in a couple of extra cables as well and a rework at one of the locations due to an inferior fix from years ago. When all the credits and changes were added up, it came to a net increase to the projects of just under an additional 5 percent.
The commissioners looked through all of the detail from the work, spoke with PUD supervisors overseeing the work and were convinced the additional cost was appropriate and approved the change orders to be paid.
There was also an employee update the Willapa Operations employee. Bryce Aust passed his lineman test in June. This step makes him qualified as a journeyman, and advanced into the position as of July.
There was a letter of praise that made it way through the customer service group after starting out as a letter to Bonneville. A Raymond resident commended the work of the professionals that came to install her ductless heat pump, as well as thanks to the utility for having a rebate program that allowed her the installation in the first place. Praise specifically went to employees of Sunset Air and Bud's Electric, both of South Bend, for their professionalism during the installation; as well as direct thanks for the customer service of the Public Utility during the process.
The meeting shifted to commissioners reports, of which only Commissioner Swanson raised any questions. One was a request to further the discussion on the utilities new Large Load Policy, in which Manager Miller advised that additional information would be expected in the next few weeks. Swanson also asked for further details about the Highway 6 Pole outage involving the RV.
Again Manager Miller provided as much detail as he could and explain the situation as this:
"As I understand it, someone was towing an RV, which got away from them. The RV hit one pole and broke a second pole from the stress. The police investigation has not been able to determine ownership or responsibility of the accident, partly because the RV has not been licensed since the year 2000. The investigation is still ongoing at this time."
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:18 pm.