Othello council honors officer, seeks energy savings

OTHELLO — The Othello City Council honored Police Sgt. Sean Anderson for 10 years of service to the city at a special ceremony on Monday.

“I’ve watched you grow from a patrol officer to the supervisor you are today,” said Assistant Chief David Rehaume.

According to Mayor Shawn Logan, Anderson, who was promoted to sergeant last year, joined the Othello Police in 2008, and has served the community in a number of positions, from school resource officer to detective.

Anderson he said he never intended to stay in Othello for more than a few years when he started out with the city’s police department.

“I came here and said, let’s try three years. But it’s home now, and I plan on being here as long as you allow me,” he said.

“I look forward to many more years,” Anderson added.

The city council, which changed its first Monday of the month study session into a regular meeting, is also considering ways of cutting its water-related electricity bill.

“We spend an awful lot of money on electricity to power the pumps that run our water system,” Logan said.

The city council asked Scott Lewis, a business development director and account manager with Kennewick-based energy consultants Apollo Solutions, to start looking into what it would take to get the city a 100-kilowatt solar power system to generate electricity and run at least some of the city’s pumps.

Lewis said the initial process, an energy audit, would cost the city nothing. The company is also well connected to state and federal solar grants, which will significantly reduce the cost to Othello if they go ahead with a project, Lewis added.

“You don’t want to do this without a grant,” Lewis said. “These programs are designed to pay for themselves.”

According to Othello Finance Officer Spencer Williams, the city has budgeted around $470,000 in 2018 to pay the power bill for its water pumps.

“We’re hoping we can reduce that,” he said.