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PUD commissioners reach agreement on governance policies

Chelan County PUD
News Release
4/11/2005

Following most of the recommendations developed by two of their own members, Chelan County PUD commissioners on Monday endorsed a new set of governance policies to guide all five board members in dealing with each other, with the general manager and with staff.

A 28-page document was reviewed and edited page-by-page during the board’s annual strategic planning retreat that began at 8:30 a.m. Monday. The discussion took approximately two-and-a-half hours as commissioners debated whether to review the general manager’s performance four times a year or twice a year (they settled on twice a year) and whether to include approving the annual budget as one of the top five purposes of the board (they did).

Board members had resumed earlier discussions on governance policies back in January, carried over from last year. A subcommittee of Commissioner Norm Gutzwiler and Commissioner Ann Congdon met recently to hammer out a new draft of policies that they presented to their fellow board members Monday for concurrence.

“Norm and I did a fair amount of negotiation on this,” said Congdon in offering the proposal to the rest of the board. Gutzwiler added that the two of them had gone through all 28 pages word by word.

The public will have a chance to review the final draft (expected to be available Wednesday on the PUD Web site) before commissioners schedule a vote on the document at one of their regular meetings within the next few weeks. The draft includes 17 policies divided into three main categories: strategic direction, governance process and board-staff relationships. The latest draft will be available on the PUD's Web site under the “board minutes/agenda” section for the April 11 meeting.

The board retreat will resume Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. in the PUD Auditorium with discussion scheduled on revising the PUD’s mission/vision statement and a look at the potential implications of a low-water year.

In other action during the board’s regular business session at 1 p.m. Monday, commissioners:

• Authorized the general manager to hire MWH Americas, Inc., of Bellevue, for engineering and project management work on the rehabilitation of the Lake Chelan Powerhouse. Costs are not to exceed $2.2 million through 2009 as MWH guides the District through the process of replacing turbines, generators, governors, controls and other equipment at the 78-year-old powerhouse near Chelan Falls. The modernization project will increase electrical generating efficiency at the 48 MW plant by an estimated 4 to 4.5 percent and make the equipment reliable for another 40 years.
• Authorized hiring the consulting firm CH2MHill, Bellevue, for an amount not to exceed $200,000 to help determine the most effective method of rebuilding or reconfiguring the District’s fish hatcheries to meet the needs of the Habitat Conservation Plans for Rocky Reach and Rock Island dams.

*** 

PUD commissioners will resume meeting at 8:30 a.m. April 13 in the PUD Auditorium, 327 N. Wenatchee Ave., for their annual strategic planning retreat.

Steve Lachowicz
Communications Director
661-4639, direct line
679-0148, cell
stevel@chelanpud.org