Ephrata delays PUD line opinion

EPHRATA — The Ephrata City Council decided to wait for more information before offering an opinion on a new Grant County PUD power line.

The PUD presented three options for the 230 kilovolt transmission line between the Columbia substation, near the Columbia River, and the Rocky Ford substation, near Neppel Road. The options came in a June 3 letter to the council from Randall Kono, the project engineer.

“Constructing this new transmission line is critical for the PUD to continue to supply reliable electrical service that meets the increasing needs of our customers,” the letter stated.

A PUD study identified three “reasonable and practical” routes for the power line to travel, based on criteria such as social, environmental, cost and how easy it is to construct, according to the letter. The high tension line would be placed on newly constructed towers.

The first option was designated as the “yellow line” and is the northernmost line and cuts across Oasis Park in Ephrata. The second option was called the “blue line” with majority following state Route 28. The third option was named the “red line” with the majority running near Road 9 Northwest.

The PUD is holding two public meetings, explaining the options. The first starts at 6 p.m. on June 24 at the Quincy Fire Station, located at 1201 Central Ave. S. The second starts at 6 p.m. on June 30 at the Ephrata PUD building, located at 30 C Street SW. 

City Administrator Wes Crago said city staff favored the blue line because it appeared to be the easiest one to build and wouldn’t go across Oasis Park.

Recreation Director Ray Towry said the location of the yellow line could interfere with the  Ephrata’s parks master plan, which is almost finished.

Councilmember Tony Mora said there would probably be a lot of public input on these lines because of their size.

Councilmember Heidi Schultheis said she didn’t feel comfortable making a recommendation without more information from the PUD. She said she spoke with a PUD employee involved with the project.

“I know each of these three options were chosen and they each have significant pros and cons to them and … there is not a favorite,” she said. “To be able to provide valuable feedback, we need to be able to fully understand what are the pros and cons of each.”

Mora agreed with Schultheis, saying he wanted more information before he gave a recommendation.

Crago said he was concerned if the council waited they might miss their chance to comment on the construction.

“The earliest we could obviously meet would be the first of July, which is actually a fairly full agenda, at this time. That would be after the hearings were held,” he said. “Perhaps if the council could give an opinion on the staff’s recommendation on the blue line, we could take that and put our input in at the meeting.”

He added the council could still ask the PUD to send a representative to explain it, saying Schultheis was right about not knowing much about the details of the three choices.

Councilmember Bruce Reim said he’d support either the blue or red lines because of how close the yellow line comes to the city.

“The direct line is the best one and if blue is it, blue is it. If I’m thinking that I don’t want to look at them from my house or other peoples houses, then I wouldn’t want yellow, so maybe not close to town because of the aesthetics it brings with it,” he said

Councilmember Kathleen Allstot agreed with Reim, adding she doesn’t know anything about the placement of power lines.

“But it doesn’t look to me like a great idea to have it near the airport,” she said. “I’m also not really keen on having it cross just outside of Ephrata … I say they can do blue or red or a combination of any such thing.”

Schultheis repeated the issue was too important for the council to rush into a decision without more information, adding the council would likely still be able to give their opinion.

Reim asked why they needed more information.

Councilmember Steve Lovitt said they could ask the engineer whether there’s any benefit to the line being closer to the city.

“The reason why they have these three options is that there’s a very complex criteria of pros and cons for each one of these three,” Schultheis said. “They do not have a number one, two and three choice.”

The council was split on whether to make a recommendation, with Reim and Councilmember Mark Wanke supporting either the blue or the red line. Allstot said she rather not have the section of the yellow line, which comes near Ephrata. Lovitt, Mora and Schultheis wanted more information.

When Mayor Chris Jacobson broke the tie, saying he’d support the blue or red line, Schultheis called for a “time out,” calling PUD spokeswoman Sarah Morford at home to find out if the council could wait on making a recommendation. Schultheis reported she was told the decision wouldn’t be made until the end of the year and this was only the beginning of public input.

The councilmembers agreed to wait on offering their recommendation after hearing the information.