No change for PUD change orders

PHOTOS: 1-4. PUD commissioners Bill Bjork and Mike Conley listen to proceedings at the meeting Monday afternoon.<br>2. PUD executive secretary Mary Heston and commissioners Bill Bjork and Mike Conley listen to proceedings at the meeting Monday afternoon.<br>3. PUD attorney Ray Foianini, executive executive secretary Mary Heston and commissioners Bill Bjork and Mike Conley listen to proceedings at the meeting Monday afternoon.

by Matthew Weaver<br>Herald Staff Writer
| August 31, 2004 9:00 PM

Commission split on 'accountability' motion

Grant County PUD contract change orders will stay as they are after commissioners failed to find a majority to pass two motions at Monday's business meeting.

The two motions sought to bring further accountability to change orders presented before the commission on approved contracts. Some provisions within the motions included commission approval for the purpose of change orders, total cost, benefits received and reasons why a contract was not completed on time.

PUD staff request change orders for contracts when they need more money or time to complete the project. Some projects have needed as many as a dozen change orders to the original contract to reach completion.

Commissioners Bill Bjork and Randy Allred voted for both motions, and commissioners Mike Conley and Vera Claussen voted no.

The vote ended in a tie, with Commission President Tom Flint absent, so the motions failed.

Conley initially said he was not prepared to vote on the motions, but Bjork moved and Allred seconded so that the commission would vote.

"This is an accountability situation in which I was the one that was pushing this, and I still am pushing this," Bjork, who has criticized change orders frequently during past commission meetings, said. "If you don't want to vote on them, fine, just say so … If we have to, we can push them off until next year again."

When the vote was counted, Conley said the subject would be resurrected at a later date. Bjork said he didn't think the commission needed to wait.

"This is an accountability situation. It's the same as last time." Bjork said. "We don't want to do things accountable and that's what gets us in trouble."

Later, Bjork said that the accountability motions have been in existence for a year.

"Randy and I brought them up, and we feel that they are part of the district's doing business in the open, and so that's why we put them there," he said.

Bjork said it was up to Conley and Claussen to bring the motions off the table.

"I don't have anything to do with it," he said.

Gary Garnant, PUD public affairs officer, said attorney Ray Foianini would look in the proper procedure to bring the motion back in coming weeks because of the split vote.

During the public-comment portion of the meeting, Kathy Hanford-Wiley, who is challenging Flint for his seat, requested a copy of the PUD's proposed 2005 budget, which was to be provided to her and to candidate David Stevens because it is a public record.

Later in the meeting, Hanford-Wiley also requested that PUD General Manager Tim Culbertson delay his service club calendar, or visiting of local service clubs, for 60 days.

"You and Laura [Lyon, strategic assistant general manager] and Joe [Lukas, assistant general manager of operations] are bound by law not to discuss what's going on in the election, or take part in it because you're the manager," Hanford-Wiley said. "You're going to get questions because of the nature. I'm asking you to delay that 60 days so when you go out you don't get that — you don't make a slip and have repercussions that could come your way."

Culbertson said that the decision was up to the commission. Conley said he would table the issue for a week until Flint's return, so as to get his feedback on the matter.

— Herald staff writer Erik Olson contributed to this story.