> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # โš–๏ธ A Verdict, a Tighter Timber Check, and a Rate Choice - Skamania BOCC & PUD September '26 - URL: https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/a-verdict-a-tighter-timber-check-and-a-rate-choice-skamania-bocc-pud-september-26/ - Published: 2026-09-25T07:00:58.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-25T07:00:58.000Z - Description: A community member who sat through the trial says a jury convicted Levi Delena in Candice Malave's killing. DNR trims its timber forecast. The PUD seats Dev Bell and argues over a 2% rate increase. Plus five closed sessions, the roadless rule and a leaky new tank. - Author: Dispatch Squatch - Tags: Skamania County, Skamania County Board of Commissioners, Skamania Public Utilities Department *Enjoy the* [*audio edition on Buzzsprout*](https://www.buzzsprout.com/2605109/episodes/19861027?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io)*, or look for "Open Gorge" wherever you get your podcasts.* ## ๐Ÿ› September 2026 Skamania Round-Up: County Commissioners and PUD **Agencies Covered:** Skamania County Board of Commissioners (September 1, 8, 9, 15 and 22) ยท Skamania County PUD No. 1 (August 13 special meeting, August 18 budget workshop and regular meeting, September 1 budget workshop and regular meeting, September 22 regular meeting) ยท the Delena case (court dockets and community accounts) **The Bottom Line:** DNR's district manager told the board to expect just over $1.6 million in county timber revenue this year, less than DNR projected in July, as both boards head into 2027 budgets. The PUD is back to three commissioners and will weigh a 2% electric rate increase against two no-increase options at its October 6 budget hearing. **The Vibe:** Budget season. The PUD argued in the open about debt, taxes and rates. On September 15 the county spent nearly three hours in closed session, longer than its open meeting. And a verdict that mattered to a lot of people here spread by Facebook. ### ๐Ÿ”Ž What Changed - **Dev Bell is a PUD commissioner.** Appointed and sworn in September 1, then made vice-president the same morning. - **The Carson water treatment plant has a builder.** On August 18 the PUD awarded the job to Tapani Inc. for $12,197,025, plus two add-ons. - **The courthouse is getting new windows.** On September 22 the county awarded the job to Black Line Glazing of Salem, Oregon for $379,545, expected to be paid by a state Commerce grant. - **The Veteran's Advisory Board grows from three voting members to five** (Resolution 2026-23, September 22). - **The Sheriff's Office is paying an outside expert to review its evidence room**, after the Sheriff's own memo described "a history of property room neglect." ### โš  What Escalated - **This year's timber money is coming in lighter.** DNR's district manager told the board to expect just over $1.6 million this year, down from about $1.8 million in July. His floor for next year rose to at least $840,000. - **Five executive sessions in two meetings** on the "performance of a public employee." All ended with no action. - **A commissioner says the county's partner on Road 90 plowing is pulling out** of a contract of roughly $50,000 that keeps the road to the Sno-Parks open. - **PUD commissioners openly split** over whether to raise electric rates 2% or hold them flat, and over the PUD's countywide property tax. ### ๐Ÿงญ What's Next - **October 1:** sentencing in the Delena case, according to people following the trial. - **October 3, noon to 6 p.m.:** Logtoberfest, Historic Wind River Nursery near Stabler. - **October 6:** the PUD's 2027 budget hearing, with an extra 8 a.m. workshop added before it. The same day, comments close on the federal proposal to end the Roadless Rule, and a DNR management-fee proposal is on the state Board of Natural Resources' draft agenda for that date. - **October 9:** Public Works' target date to reopen an uphill lane at the Wind River Road slide repair. --- ## โš–๏ธ A Verdict in the Killing of Candice Malave According to a community member who sat through the trial and a group of Candice's supporters, a Skamania County jury has found Levi Delena guilty on all counts in the killing of his estranged wife, Candice Malave. A graphic shared by her supporters dates the verdict September 21 and says the counts include first-degree murder. The same community group reports that sentencing is set for October 1. Here is what the public record shows. Candice was found dead at the White Cap Apartments in Stevenson on May 15, [after a 911 call at about 2:06 p.m.](https://skamaniasheriff.com/2026/05/16/subject-arrested-in-connection-to-homicide-investigation/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) Deputies found Delena at about 8:45 that night, and [the Sheriff's Office announced his arrest](https://skamaniasheriff.com/2026/05/19/two-million-dollar-bail-set-for-skamania-county-murder-suspect/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) for the murder of "his estranged wife, Candice Malave Delena." He was booked on second-degree murder, and Judge Randall Krog set bail at $2 million. [KPTV reported](https://www.kptv.com/2026/05/16/man-accused-killing-estranged-wife-skamania-co-held-2m-bail/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) that she had asked the court for a protection order against him in March 2025 and was denied. The county's Superior Court dockets list the case, *State of Washington v. Levi Benito Delena*, through a final pretrial hearing on September 3, and the county summoned jurors for a four-day trial starting Monday, September 14 (the jury notice does not name the case). As of September 23, the court, the prosecutor's office and the Sheriff's Office had published nothing about the verdict. Nothing posted online by September 23 showed which counts the jury decided, or whether prosecutors raised the charge to first degree. A community member who sat through the trial wrote afterward that she had no doubt the jury got it right, and that Candice deserves to be remembered for the life she lived. Candice leaves children. In May her cousin told [KATU](https://katu.com/news/local/cousin-of-stevenson-woman-killed-by-estranged-husband-speaks-out-oregon-washington-southwest-skamania-county-domestic-violence-custody-murder-homicide?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) she felt Candice "didn't get the help from the police." We wrote about [that community response in June](https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/demanding-answers-community-responds-to-dv-tragedy-stevenson-may-26/). **Why this section is here.** Four Portland TV stations covered the arrest in May. As of September 23 we found no online report of the verdict, and no story on the case at any point in Columbia Gorge local online outlets. The Skamania Pioneer is print-only, and their print edition can't be searched online or linked in our coverage. A murder trial in our courthouse ended, and the people who sat through it had to spread the word themselves on Facebook. That is what a news desert looks like. We will add the counts, the charge and the sentence when the court record catches up. **Editor's Lament:** this is an imperfect report, and I was deeply frustrated with the lack of available sources. Like most, I can't leave my job to attend public meetings or court dates during the day. And so I too have to rely on often thin or delayed public records to find out what happened. It's part of why I believe it's a foundational injustice that we no longer have a full time, locally-reported news outlet in Skamania County. As a volunteer I try my best, but these are the situations when it isn't enough, and I feel the weight of that. Our right (and our duty) to a Free Press is most infringed upon when these stories cannot be heard. *If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, our local advocates at the* [*Skamania County Council on Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Crime Victims*](https://skamaniadvsa.org/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) *can help, confidentially: call 509-427-4210\. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is also available any time at 1-800-799-7233.* --- ## Skamania County Board of Commissioners ### ๐ŸŒฒ Timber Money Comes In Lighter DNR District Manager Brian Poehlein came to the board on September 22 with a revised forecast for the state trust lands that pay into county services. His numbers, as he gave them: - **This year:** just over $1.3 million had arrived by mid-September, and he expects the year to finish at just over $1.6 million. In July, DNR had told the board to expect about $1.8 million. - **Why it dropped:** the buyer of one sale no longer plans to log it this fall, so that sale's remaining $840,000 or so moves into next year. - **Next year:** "at least $840,000," and possibly more than $3 million if a second sale gets cut. "I'm really into a fuzzy crystal ball for that one," Poehlein said. - A commissioner noted the county had been planning on about $500,000 for next year, and called the update "very timely" for budget season. The same day, a commissioner reported from the state timber-county caucus that DNR wants to raise its management fee, the share it keeps from trust-land sales, from 25% to 27%. State law caps that fee at 25% on county forest lands but lets the Board raise it to 27% through mid-2027 ([RCW 79.64.110](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=79.64.110&ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io)). The [Board of Natural Resources has a management-fee proposal on its draft agenda for October 6](https://www.dnr.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2026-08/em%5Fbc%5Fbnr%5Fdraftagenda%5Fwtour%5F10062026.pdf?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io). "We're still on the chopping block for significant acreage decrease in Skamania County," the commissioner said. Another commissioner asked to meet with Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove directly, to "show them what we have to cut with." Trust-land timber pays for schools, roads and county services, and it arrives on the buyer's schedule, not the county's. A sale that slips a year moves the money a year. A commissioner's closing line on the federal side added to it: the Secure Rural Schools law "runs out here at the end of the month," so it is "time to, as you mentioned, make the donuts again," meaning another round of lobbying in Washington, D.C. Our [property tax explainer](https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/splitting-the-dinner-check-a-property-tax-explainer/) shows why the county can't simply raise local taxes when timber money slips. ### ๐Ÿ›ฃ The Roadless Rule: A Resident Asks, the Board Leans the Other Way On September 15, Stevenson resident Mary Repar, [continuing her August comment](https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/a-data-center-moratorium-two-new-planning-commissioners-skamania-bocc-august-26/), asked the board to oppose the Forest Service's proposal to end the 2001 Roadless Rule. "We don't need more roads in our county," she said. "We have enough that we don't take care of, and I hear you all complaining about how much it costs to upkeep roads." She tied roads to fire: "You put more roads in the forest, you get more OHVs in the forest, you get more wildfires, and a lot of wildfires are caused by human beings." And: "I can't tell you how many bourbon bottles I find every hunting, after every hunting season out in the woods." The board went the other way. Later that morning, a commissioner proposed a board letter supporting an end to the rule, while saying they were "pretty solid on the fact that the county will not get any more roads out of" the change on federal land. Asked whether to send one letter or individual comments, commissioners said they supported a board letter ("I agree with the board letter"), and the one who raised it said, "I'm in favor of both." There was no motion, and the typed minutes record no action. One commissioner spoke about growing up in a timber family: "I'm never going to give up on it, regardless of my position in the community." Another argued that roads let crews reach lightning starts early and that the rule "needs to be rescinded" to match national firefighting policy. The comment period has been [extended to October 6, 2026](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/11/2026-18648/special-areas-roadless-area-conservation?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io), docket FS-2025-0001\. A separate Forest Service notice on travel management, the rules for road, trail and motorized access, set a September 23 comment deadline when it was published August 24. ### ๐Ÿ”’ Five Closed Sessions in Two Meetings On September 15 the board held three executive sessions in a row under [RCW 42.30.110(1)(g)](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.30.110&ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io), to review the "performance of a public employee." They ran from 10:30 a.m. to 1:11 p.m. The last was scheduled for 30 minutes and extended three times. The agenda had listed two. On September 22 the board held two more under the same heading. No action followed any of the five. The state's open meetings law lets a board discuss an employee's performance in private, but any final action has to be taken in public. The record does not say which employee or employees were discussed, or whether the sessions concern one matter or several. ### ๐Ÿ—„ An Outside Review for the Sheriff's Evidence Room On September 1 the board approved, on consent, an $8,500 contract (plus tax) with Focus on Evidence to review the Sheriff's Office property and evidence room. It's a sole-source contract for five days on site and a written report within 15 business days. The Sheriff's own memo in the packet says: "The Skamania County Sheriff's Office has a history of property room neglect, resulting in a negative finding during our most recent 2022/2023 audit." In 2024 [The Columbian reported](https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/oct/15/skamania-did-not-properly-track-assets-and-evidence-held-by-sheriffs-office-says-state-audit/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) that state auditors tested 15 items and could not find three, two of them firearms. Sheriff Summer Scheyer said then that she welcomed the findings and promised new tracking software and a policy covering independent inventories. ### โ„๏ธ Who Plows Road 90? On September 1 a commissioner raised a gap in winter access. The Forest Service Road 90 stretch from the county line to Northwoods, about 15 miles, is plowed under a contract the commissioner put at roughly $50,000, paid by Sno-Park money, the county, and PacifiCorp. [The county's own page](https://www.skamaniacounty.gov/departments-offices/public-works/upper-wind-river-recreation-area?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) still lists PacifiCorp as a partner. The commissioner said PacifiCorp is backing out, and called the cost unexpected. The commissioner planned to talk with the Forest Service district ranger about help, and the question goes into 2027 budget talks. ### ๐ŸŽฃ Drano Over Labor Day, and a Quieter Fall Public Works Director David Waymire told the board on September 9 that over Labor Day the Drano Lake lot filled and cars lined Highway 14 "just short of the tunnel number one," with people walking along the highway. Two reader boards had been set up for the weekend but weren't switched on until after it. WDFW agreed to run them in the fall and spring seasons. The county had posted [parking guidance](https://www.skamaniacounty.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2428/15?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) on September 1, pointing anglers to Home Valley Park and the Heritage Plaza Park and Ride. On September 1 a commissioner said the board would let that day's deadline to exit its launch agreement with WDFW pass, and see how the fall and spring seasons go. By September 22 things had calmed. A commuter who drives to The Dalles every day told Waymire it was "a million times better." On September 15 Waymire had noted that every time the highway shuts down, "the local WSP sergeant shows up at my office." ### ๐Ÿ— Developers Are Looking at Stevenson, and the EDC Is Losing State Money Kevin Waters, executive director of the Skamania County Economic Development Council (and the 17th District's state representative), told the board on September 9 that outside developers are scouting private land in Stevenson, with fast food and a gas station among the ideas. "Nothing's been sold," he said, but "these developers are looking at smaller communities because they see an upside." His advice: "It's not going away. So we need to be thoughtful about who's coming into town and what they want to do." He also said the state has already cut the EDC's budget by 25%, and that the state's share is now about $50,000\. The statewide economic development association [has been asking the Legislature](https://wedaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/WEDA-2026-Legislative-Agenda-FINAL.pdf?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) to protect that funding after cuts in 2025. The Chamber's executive director reported more visitors this summer but "they're staying shorter periods of time, and spending a little less money." The top complaint she hears? "Everybody says parking." ### โšก The Transmission Line: A Motion That Didn't Go Forward Commissioner Asa Leckie, who sits on the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council for the Cascade Renewable Transmission project, reported on EFSEC's September 16 meeting. He said he moved for another hearing and more local outreach, pointing out that "the last hearings were not noticed in" the Skamania County Pioneer. The chair said no motion was needed, and it did not go forward. EFSEC staff are working on finalization documents. "I think you guys are going to deal with a public perception issue," Leckie said he told them. Waymire added that an agreement letting EFSEC review the project under the county's own Title 22 rules for the Scenic Area is "in the AG's hands," after six to eight months of work. On September 17, Leckie toured Gifford Pinchot fuel-break sites with the [South Gifford Pinchot Collaborative](https://www.thesouthgiffordpinchotcollaborative.org/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io). "I said the Forest Service is not the puppet of the timber industry," he told the board. ### ๐Ÿšง Roads and Public Works - **Wind River Road:** the slide repair slipped into October, Waymire said, because federal inspectors required a seven-day concrete cure instead of three. "It's a huge wall," Waymire said on September 15\. On September 22 he said the contractor expects to move the crane out and open an uphill lane by October 9, with a couple of weeks of paving after that. - **Striping:** Waymire said on September 22 that the emergency striping contract the board approved September 9, after Clark County's striping machine broke, has been hard going: "That's been a nightmare. Hopefully it never happens again." - **Solid waste:** short-staffed on a September Saturday, Waymire said on September 15, "I had to close Underwood, almost had to close both Underwood and Mt. Pleasant." Closure signs for the east end will move down to the bottom of Little Buck Creek so people don't drive all the way up to a closed site. - **Planning staff:** Public Works plans to ask for another planner in the 2027 budget, paid partly by fixed-price planning agreements with Stevenson and North Bonneville, to handle the Gorge Commission's upcoming management plan review. - **Code enforcement:** Waymire said he and the Sheriff met with a vendor about a system that scans license plates for code enforcement, possibly tied to shoulder parking near the launches. He said it "will likely require a code change." Nothing was on an agenda, and no vendor was named. ### ๐Ÿ“‹ Also on the Agendas - **September 1:** a WSDOT grant application and match for senior transit. Senior Services Program Manager Maria Spencer said the county is replacing a lift van "totaled in the fires last August" and a backup bus with over 300,000 miles, with a local match about $20,000 higher than last time. The board also sent a letter to the Governor and Attorney General regarding the state Fish and Wildlife Commission, and a letter supporting Columbia Cascade Housing Corporation's down payment assistance grant. - **September 8-9:** payroll of $787,677.19; vouchers of $264,601.93; a renewed ESD 112 early intervention contract (up to $47,839, paid through state developmental disabilities funds); and a new UnitedHealthcare Medicaid provider agreement that brings money in for Community Health. Noxious Weed Program Manager Emily Stevenson reported 40 of 86 tree-of-heaven sites clean this year. "There's nothing heavenly about it," she said. - **September 15:** a $125,000 crisis and clinical counseling contract with Christa Rude Counseling; the Sheriff's $69,693.35 Title III contract for search and rescue and fire response on federal land; a $2,067 increase to a state noxious weed agreement; and an opioid-settlement application for the Sheriff's Office. Vouchers: $483,631.37. - **September 22** (from the agenda and the recording): a permit for [Logtoberfest](https://www.ucdwa.org/current-news/logtoberfest-annual-fall-plant-sale?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io), the Wind River Business Association's October 3 event, with about 500 expected; Resolution 2026-23 expanding the Veteran's Advisory Board to two members each from American Legion Posts 137 and 132 plus one at-large member, under [RCW 73.08.035](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=73.08.035&ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io); the courthouse window award; and a $5,000 opioid-fund contract paying deputy overtime for prevention events at Wind River Middle School and Stevenson High School. A written comment from Mitch Patton was acknowledged; copies are available from the Clerk of the Board. --- ## Skamania County PUD No. 1 Our last PUD coverage ran through [the August 4 meeting and the Underwood hookup freeze](https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/a-spider-called-sparkle-muffin-skamania-bocc-pud-weed-board-7-28-8-4/). Here's what's happened since. ### ๐Ÿช‘ Dev Bell Takes Liz Green's Seat After Commissioner Liz Green died in July, the chair read out the names of the seven people who had sent letters of interest on August 13, and the two remaining commissioners nominated Dev Bell of Underwood ([our field guide](https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/the-utility-you-crea-a-field-guide-to-skamania-pud/) covered the nomination). "We had to pick somebody to torture for the next couple of months as this appointment process grinds through," one of them joked. No other nominations arrived during the 15-day notice period. On September 1 the board appointed Bell to the District 3 seat, County Auditor Robert Waymire swore him in, and the board then made him vice-president. His first motion was to adjourn. At the August 18 meeting, before he was appointed, Bell spoke during public comment about the Underwood tree trimming: "I want to tell you guys I feel all real safe this year. ... We've had years past where we've had sparks, you know, this time of year." **How long he serves.** PUD vacancies are filled under [RCW 54.12.010](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=54.12.010&ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io), and under [RCW 42.12.070](https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=42.12.070&ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) an appointee serves until someone is elected at the next election for that seat. Green had already filed for re-election against challenger [Addison Dillon](https://www.dillonforpud.org/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io). Under a [1999 Attorney General opinion](https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/authority-election-officials-count-votes-cast-candidates-who-were-qualified-office-time?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io), votes for a candidate who dies after filing still count. If Dillon wins in November, he takes the seat. If Green's name draws the most votes, the seat becomes vacant again and the board starts the appointment process over, as PUD counsel Rick Hughes explained to the board on August 13. ### ๐Ÿ’ก Your 2027 Electric Rate: 2% or Zero The draft 2027 budget is built on an effective 2% electric rate increase. Staff talked about moving more of the bill into the monthly base fee, raising it from $60 to $65, and trimming the per-kilowatt-hour energy charge. The typed draft puts total 2027 electric sales at $18,768,298, up from $18,476,453 budgeted for 2026\. A cost-of-service study by FCS Group is due in October and is looking at a possible residential demand charge. On September 22 the board split. Bell, still new to the board, said he met with the general manager and "went line through line," and didn't want to take an increase lightly with diesel and other costs up: "We're still trying to safeguard our members." Boyes looked back on a decade of big projects: "We've done a lot of that big stuff, but we've put ourselves in debt doing it too." A commissioner arguing for paying as you go put it this way: "The people that are benefiting from our really nice utility right now need to pay for it and not their kids and grandkids." Another asked who should pay for equipment that lasts 40 or 50 years: "Are they the ones that should pay it versus am I the one that should pay it upfront?" In the end, staff said they would bring three versions to the October 6 budget hearing: 2% effective, 0% effective (a higher base fee with a lower energy charge), and a flat 0% on the base. Water customers are in the draft too. It projects Carson residential water revenue up about 6% and Underwood up about 7%, and staff said Carson's base charge follows the 8.75% step set in the last water rate study. **What customers said.** On September 1 a caller told the board, "It's been a long time since I've attended a PUD meeting, but I got hot and bothered." She said rates are "getting higher and higher and people are really feeling the pinch," objected to the $15 monthly fee she pays to opt out of a smart meter, and said "$38,000 is way too much money for commissioners who meet maybe once or twice a month." On September 22 a Stevenson resident asked for plain-language documentation: "A budget narrative for the year might be useful as opposed to just the spreadsheets." He noted the PUD plans to spend more on capital projects than on power. The draft shows about $8 million in capital spending against about $7 million for purchased power. The board agreed a summary would help and added an 8 a.m. workshop on October 6, ahead of the hearing. ### ๐Ÿ› The PUD Property Tax: A Pet Issue and a Hill Not Worth Dying On The draft budget holds the PUD's property tax levy flat at $641,459\. Boyes wants it gone: "That was my pet," he said, noting that every property owner in the county pays it, including off-grid owners up north who get no PUD service. Commissioner Dave McKenzie answered that "this isn't a hill that I will die on," but that the money would otherwise come through rates, and that owners of vacant lots with lines running past pay a little toward power they could tap later. No change was proposed. ### ๐Ÿ’ง The Carson Water Plant Is Awarded, and the Money Gets Tighter On August 18 the board awarded the Carson Water Treatment Plant to Tapani Inc., the lowest responsive bidder, for a base bid of $12,197,025, plus a canopy ($156,165) and a generator ($328,485), subject to USDA and EPA sign-off. Project and Water Manager Melanie Sharp said the six bids ranged from about $12.2 million to $14.6 million. Right after the vote, someone in the room said: "Wow. Here it comes. Water treatment plants going to get built." The plant replaces one [built in 1978](https://www.columbiagorgenews.com/news/skamania-co-receives-2-6m-to-build-water-treatment-infrastructure/article%5F655405dc-c116-11ef-82b8-73d935597caa.html?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io), funded by a USDA package the board accepted in March ($7,456,000 in loans and $2,656,000 in grants). Two wrinkles surfaced since. On September 1 staff said USDA wants a 10% contingency in the funding package instead of the 5% the PUD planned, roughly another $600,000\. And on September 22 staff said construction is now expected to start in 2027, pending approval of about another $1 million, with the PUD considering a loan from its electric fund to its water fund. ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Cape Horn's New Transformer, and a Bill to Unload It The new transformer for the Cape Horn substation arrived August 31 on a self-leveling trailer from Virginia. "It's safely in its storage place for now inside the Cape Horn substation," General Manager Randy Payne said. But unloading it needs special equipment, and staff expect a change order of roughly $60,000 to $90,000 on top of a delivery estimate of about $55,000\. Commissioners didn't like it. "That is a really huge change order," one said. Another told staff: "Don't roll over too fast." On September 22 staff said the PUD plans to pay the $4 million of Cape Horn work budgeted for 2027 in cash, with no loan. ### ๐Ÿšฐ Underwood: A Leaky New Tank and Generators The new Underwood reservoir sprang a leak. Staff told the board on September 1 that crews would drain it, find and reseal the leak, "probably pushing us back a good four or five weeks." The 2027 budget includes emergency generators for Underwood, with more than three-quarters covered by a grant. One commissioner called them "the gift that's gonna keep on costing." Another argued the storage tanks are the backup. Staff said Underwood customers have been "real appreciative" of the PUD's mailing about the freeze. The board did not take up the freeze itself at any of these meetings. ### ๐Ÿ”ฅ Will the PUD Cut Power for Fire Risk? On September 22 a commissioner who said he was still learning the job asked whether the PUD shuts off power in high heat and fire danger, after a wide outage he had seen in Klickitat County. The board wasn't sure of its own policy and asked for a briefing. The PUD's [2024 Wildfire Mitigation Plan](https://www.skamaniapud.com/wp-content/uploads/SKPUD-DNR-WMP-V2-2024.10.14.pdf?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io) says it "reserves the option of implementing a PSPS when conditions dictate but does not currently plan to proactively de-energize its system." The plan says the PUD would consider shutting off part of the system for a known safety problem or at an emergency agency's request, and would consider changing recloser settings during Red Flag Warnings once those devices are connected to remote controls. ### ๐Ÿ“‹ Also From the PUD - **The 2025 audit:** state auditors opened the PUD's financial and accountability audit on September 1\. Staff expect the exit conference October 6. - **Bad debt:** $7,869.27 written off September 1 ("It's not our best month by any means," Payne said) and $2,543.06 on September 22\. Year to date, write-offs are about $11,700 below last year. - **Smart meters at work:** staff said continuous meter data now flags customer-side water leaks "within a day or two," so the PUD hardly does leak adjustments anymore. Planned outages are up because the system warns of a stressed transformer before it fails. - **The five-year capital plan** posted with the August 18 workshop lists $21.3 million in electric projects for 2027โ€“2031, all from cash reserves, including two substation upgrades of about $6.5 million each. One commissioner asked whether the PUD still needs its office building "going forward," given remote work and AI. The answer was that crews won't do safety training alone at a computer: "Can you imagine? I mean, what would happen? They wouldn't do it." - **Public Power Week, October 5โ€“9:** a hot-dog customer appreciation drive-through at the PUD office on Tuesday, October 6, 4โ€“6 p.m. --- ### โš ๏ธ Editor's Notebook: Broader Context - **Trust-land timber is lumpy by design.** DNR sells timber years ahead and buyers log it on their own schedule within the contract. A county can know a sale's value and still not know which budget year it lands in. - **Executive sessions are legal, and limited.** RCW 42.30.110(1)(g) lets a governing body review a public employee's performance in private. Any final action, like a hiring, firing or discipline vote, has to happen in an open meeting. - **A PUD appointment is short by law.** An appointed commissioner serves only until the next election for the seat produces a winner (RCW 54.12.010 and 42.12.070). That's why Bell's term may end in November. - **The PUD levy is separate from your bill.** Washington PUDs can levy a property tax across their whole district, customers or not. Skamania's is about $641,000 in the 2027 draft. ### ๐Ÿ›  Jargon Buster - **Roadless Rule:** a 2001 federal rule that limits new road building and most logging in about 58.5 million acres of national forest "roadless areas." - **Management fee:** the share DNR keeps from trust-land timber sales to run the lands. The rest goes to the trust beneficiaries, including counties and schools. - **Secure Rural Schools (SRS):** federal payments to timber counties for schools and roads, and for search-and-rescue and fire work under its Title III. - **Base fee / energy charge:** the fixed monthly charge on your bill, and the per-kilowatt-hour charge for the power you use. - **Demand charge:** a charge based on your highest rate of use in a period, not your total use. - **PSPS (Public Safety Power Shutoff):** turning off power ahead of time in dangerous fire weather. - **Recloser:** a line device that briefly cuts power on a fault and tries again. Some utilities set them not to retry in fire weather. Skamania PUD's plan says it would consider that once its reclosers can be adjusted remotely. ### ๐Ÿ“… How to Join & Learn More - **Skamania County Board of Commissioners:** Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m., 240 NW Vancouver Ave., Stevenson (Lower Level, Room 18), and on Zoom (Meeting ID 627 669 8258). After a Monday holiday the board meets that Wednesday. Written comments go to Clerk of the Board Roni Emerson, [roni.emerson@skamaniacounty.gov](mailto:roni.emerson@skamaniacounty.gov), (509) 427-3706, by noon the day before. [Agendas, minutes and audio](https://www.skamaniacounty.gov/departments-offices/commissioners/agendas-minutes-meeting-audio?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io). - **Skamania County PUD No. 1:** usually the first and third Tuesdays at 9:00 a.m. (the September 15 meeting moved to September 22), 1492 Wind River Road, Carson, with online access. The 2027 budget hearing is set for October 6\. [Agendas and minutes](https://www.skamaniapud.com/about-us/agendas-minutes/?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io). - **Roadless Rule comments:** open through October 6, 2026 on the [Federal Register docket](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/11/2026-18648/special-areas-roadless-area-conservation?ref=skamania-dispatch.ghost.io).