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move, Mayor says he a won't run again
00_00ver00reen (Continued from page 1 ) months, ce that will be available inside
on the decision. They had earlier "In other words, I am not going the civic center, he said. The bond
from page 1.)
excited to begin working
students, staff, parents
entire Evergreen commu-
build on the solid program
under the leadership of
River," he said, pledging
aSSure that Evergreen pro-
an environment that is
inviting and safe as well as
program that will
vergreen students to ex-
continue their educa-
ligher levels."
arner has served as the SMS
ncipal for the past 10
to that, he was prin-
of a K-12 school at Rosalia,
of Spokane, for two years
a stint as a counselor-
at Mary M. Knight High
He has been an educator
Steve Warner
"The only preconceived notions
that I have about Evergreen is
that it's a nice school with good
kids and staff," he said. "Every-
thing I've heard about it is posi-
tive, that it's a nice place to be."
EARNED A bachelor's de-
math at Ball State Uni-
Muncie, Indiana and a
degree at Purdue Uni-
month, he received
in education from
University.
commission roundup:
's variance
reversed
promised to inform one another
whenever one of them had
reached a decision about running
for reelection or not. Tarrant, who
is also up for reelection next fall,
said only that he still has a couple
of months to announce his plans.
"This really is a full-time job,"
Hilburn said, quoting former
Mayor Joyce Jaros against whom
he successfully campaigned near-
ly four years ago. "It really is," he
said Monday.
"It's time for grandpa to spend
some time with his grandchil-
dren," he added. Hilburn has five
sons and five grandchildren.
He told The Journal that he
spends at least two and a half
days a week on city business, in-
cluding making appearances at
events, such as the ribbon-cutting
ceremony last week at the SOCK
(Save Our County's Kids) Youth
Center at the Shelton Armory.
HILBURN SAID his fellow
employees at his auto dealership,
his customers and family have all
stated they would like him to be
available a little more often.
He said he has enjoyed his po-
litical career and feels that with
the assistance of Thornbrue and
Tarrant and city staff members,
and with the confidence of the
community, Shelton is moving in
the right direction.
He also promised to continue to
fulfill the terms of the oath of his
office during the next seven
to be a lame duck public official,"
he said, adding he was announc-
ing his decision Monday so that
the community has ample time to
consider who they'd like to lead
Shelton into the next century.
Hilburn, in an interview with
The Journal, said the Railroad
Avenue Improvement Project,
which spruced up downtown Shel-
ton's main street with new side-
walks, street trees, old-fashioned-
style street lights and more, is
the centerpiece of the current ad-
ministration.
ANOTHER OF the other
major accomplishments during
the past three-plus years, he said,
was "the bringing together of the
property owners to create an LID
(Local Improvement District),
where they participated financial-
ly in the end product, again, as a
partnership between the property
owners, the community and city
government, to end up with a
beautiful project on Railroad
Avenue."
The North 13th Street Im-
provement Project, he said, ended
with "a gorgeous connection
route, again, a partnership be-
tween the property owners and
the users of that area up there."
And there were the Kneeland
Park improvements and the Shel-
ton Civic Center project as well.
People have stopped him on
the sidewalks downtown to ask
about using the large community
issue passed last year on the first
try, which is a miracle these days,
he said. The building will be a
great resource that will be here
for years and years to come for
the community, he said, adding
he's grateful the community saw
the wisdom in that project and
followed the commission's leader-
ship and voted for it.
DOWNTOWN Shelton has
made a great comeback, Hilburn
said. "I was talking to one of the
property owners the other day
and they were very much pleased
with the escalation of the values
of their investment, their building
and their land down there, as op-
posed to three or four years ago,"
he said by way of example. "They
had it appraised and re-appraised
- and it came back substantially
more. That is a great tribute to
the downtown rebirth."
He thinks the city commission
stopped downtown's economic
slide and now things are going
back the other way.
"When you look at our commu-
nity, we've got the new, the glitzy
strip mall up on the (Mountain
View) hill and we've got the
charm and the bakeries and the
coffee shops and the professional
buildings on Railroad Avenue -
what a great blend, what a nice
mixture," Hilburn said.
BUT HE DOES look back
with regret at the failure of a
SHELTON MAYOR Scott Hilburn is proud of the Rail-
road Avenue Improvement Project among others.
bond issue that would have paid
for a numher of improvements to
crumbling streets throughout the
city.
"I understand why that didn't
pass," he said. "We tried it twice.
We came very close. But I am dis-
appointed that we couldn't ad-
dress that problem. It's a problem
that is not unique to Shelton." tte
saw on TV Monday that Seattle
was "wailing" that it wasn't get-
ting enough money to fix its
streets and potholes.
"We've got another seven
months to address it. I plan to go
ahead and look at it one more
time," he said. "I don't know what
my two fellow commissioners are
going to do yet with that, but I
think we owe it to the public to
step back and look at it and see it"
we can't find some solution to
that concern that the public has."
There may be some alternatives
to another balh)t issue that the
commission needs to study, he
added.
a public hearing on
Peal of a decision by the
earings examiner, Shelton
aers Monday eve-
d to a variance re-
County PUD 3 for
Lion to an existing build-
Street.
examiner earlier
a request by the PUD for a
to zoning requirements
ll for a 10-foot setback
Le street. The PUD plans
of some 2,000 square
engineering and opera-
located behind the
building at Third and
ilding, constructed be-
of city zoning
requirements, is built
the sidewalk. The utility
lose several existing
Spaces and infringe on a
Lrk behind it were it to be
10 feet to meet the
requirement, architect
0Ster said.
s examiner ruled
as no hardship on the site
lUst be relieved by a var-
requirement. But city
following a brief
e session, voted una-
to overturn that ruling
a variance.
CITY business,
'd from Project Inspector
that work at the Shel-
ton Civic Center on Cota Street
remains on schedule. The comple-
tion date is targeted for August
15 or 16, he said. The brickwork
is substantially complete and
workers have started construction
of the front entrance. The eleva-
tor is on site, but landscaping
around the center is on hold until
other work, such as underground-
ing electrical wires, is done.
Commissioners on Monday ap-
proved an easement between
Fourth and Sixth streets to allow
the city to relocate existing over-
head electrical wires under-
ground in front of the civic center.
• Agreed to pay the Communi-
ty Action Council $5,000 to help
defray the cost of providing free
lunches for youngsters at summer
recreation program sites this
year.
* APPROVED AN agreement
to provide emergency dispatching
services to the Skokomish Indian
Tribe. In exchange, the tribe
agreed to pay the city $9,700 for
the dispatching services for one
year.
• Learned the Washington
State Chapter of the American
Public Works Association on Mon-
day named Development Services
Manager Gary Rhoades as its
1999 Leader of Public Works. "It's
nice to see outside officials recog-
nize Gary's leadership and abili-
ties," Mayor Scott Hilburn said.
to register
dergartners
in the Shelton School
are encouraged to reg-
kindergarten students
fling the elementary
children will attend
Those unsure which
children will attend
the school district of-
1687.
)ags containing items to
students for kinder-
been assembled and
children registering at
district's three ele-
Schools. The bags con-
ons, pencils, scissors,
paper, books, kinder-
pamphlets,
at[on and various
other learning aids.
The bags were put together
with the help of the Readiness to
Learn program, Shelton Kiwanis
Club and school district personnel
Ancy Hellickson, Barb Skillman,
Joy Farquhar, Joyce River and
Leah Clarke.
Assisting were Shelton High
School Key Club members Bekki
Szlocek, Danielle O'Leary, Ina
Choi, Jay Baldridge, Naomi De-
LaSancha and Susanne Feucht;
and CHOICE High School stu-
dents Melissa Holmgren, Matt
Nablett, Dustin Krueger and
Nathan Renecker. Bags were do-
nated by the Shelton Safeway,
Red Apple and Fred Meyer stores.
:'ast Pine
lton
C.C. Cole & Sons, Inc.
D.B.A.
Evergreen Fuel Co.
Full Line Petroleum Jobber
• Tanks • Lubricants
• Furnaces & Equipment
Serving Mason County 426-441 I
since 1935 426-2261
PUD resolution indicates an interest
in telecommunications
Gary was quick to explain. But
there are utilities in the state as-
sociation that hope to do both,
and the local utility supports leg-
islation that would allow the util-
ities to do so.
The utilities had looked for-
ward this year to the passage of
House Bill 1750, which would
have clarified state law on the
subject and authorized public
utility districts to provide all tele-
communication facilities and ser-
vices requested of them. But that
bill, McGary said, died in commit-
tee this year.
"IT'S ALREADY going to be
dropped in for next year," he said.
"That's what this resolution is
for."
In the resolution adopted May
PUD 3 commissioners Bruce
Jorgenson, John Whalen and
Linda Gott took action last week
to support the possibility of public
utilities offering telecommunica-
tion services.
It's not that the local utility
plans to get into the business of
offering Internet access or install-
ing fiberoptics in the near future,
PUD Assistant Manager Pat Mc-
Utility's figures affirm it:
spring's weather was cold
That's backed up by figures pro-
vided by Power Supply Manager
Wyla Wood, who keeps track of
what are called degree days as
part of tracking the demand for
power.
Wood says April's variance
from the norm was 120 percent.
The formula for determining
degree days uses as its mean a
65-degree figure. Below that fig-
ure, Wood and Assistant Manager
Pat McGary explained, people
tend to turn on the heat. On a de-
gree day that works out to a
mean above 65, they're likely to
use air conditioning. To arrive at
the degree-day figure, they add
the daily high and low temper-
atures and divide by two, sub-
tracting the total from the 65-de-
gree mean.
So a day like May 9, which saw
a high of 54 and a low of 31,
would be calculated as 54 + 31 =
85 + 2 = 42.5. Rounding up to 43,
65 - 43 = 22. The heating degree
figure of 22 is added to the
month's accumulation. By con-
trast, the record-breaking warm
day on April 16 would be calculat-
ed as 82 + 43 = 125 +2 = 62.5.
Rounding down to 62, that day
adds a degree-day rating of only 3
to the figures for April.
OF THE FIRST 12 days of
May, Wood said, every day rated
from 12 to 24 degree days and
varied from three to 14 degrees
from the normal degree-day read-
ings for May. It goes without say-
ing that all those deviations were
on the cool side.
For the month to date, that's
187 percent of the normal May
degree-day readings.
It's been a cold spring.
The folks at Mason County
PUD 3 not only hold to the major-
ity opinion, but offer facts to back
it up.
Engineering Manager Steve
Valley says requests for new
hookups in the first four months
of the year ran about nine a week,
20 percent lower than normal.
They're picking up to the usual
level or even a little higher now
that the rain has let up a bit, he
said, noting that now they're at
11 or 12 a week, but the wet win-
ter weather slowed new construc-
tion significantly.
THAT WOULD mean a low-
er-than-budgeted income level for
the utility, but the weather has
provided some compensation in
terms of increased power de-
mands for existing customers.
FS36 FS75
10.11 Ibs 8.8 Ibs 11.2 Ibs....
s _ l.. B00mz
trimmer deslned to ht trimmer A poweul
be easy to staltd t can meet most brushcuttr that
comfortablese, h ,owner's demands will tack most
/f'd : chore.sround
STIHL) With the purchase of an FS36 or an FS75 you me/use.
will be able to purchase a Polycut 5-head
-- THAN 114.18 VA&Ui
018¢a6 Ibs 0000JPO2S 10.3 ,bs 029SUPER
w/18" Bar & Chain w/20" Bar & Chain
w/14" Bar & Chain
'188""
'188""
was ,3r', IAV0 '20
Designed for firewood
cutting and around the
home tasks. Side access
chain tensioner is
standard.
IIIII I
'Jl#'"
WAS *SS9% lAVE '30
Featuring a lifetime
ignition warranty, the Stihl
®
Farm Boss delivers an
impressive power-t
weight ratio for those
bigger jobs.
III
Get a carrying
case, extra loop of
chain, and a Stihl
cap with purchase
of chain saw!
ONLY 'f 21 ,s
UP TO $5Z20 VALUE
$30.00 value 0CA TM (Quick
Chain Adjuster) Included.
Lightweight and powerful,
this new saw is a
homeowner's dream.
IIIII
m
'some day'
11, the commissioners urge the
state legislature to adopt Senate
Bill 6105 "making it clear that
PUDs may develop and provide a
full range of telecommunication
facilities and services for any
purpose."
In the resolution, the commis-
sioners note that high-speed,
high-capacity telecommunication
is vital to contemporary industry,
education and health care in
small-town areas which may not
have adequate or competitive
telecommunication and that when
utilities have such technologies to
meet their own needs, it seems
appropriate for them to be shared
for other purposes.
"As a nonprofit, community-
governed entity," they noted in
the document, utilities "may be
able to provide telecommunica-
tion facilities and services, or ex-
panded choices, in areas where
others are unable or unwilling to
provide such services."
PUD 3, McGary said, "has no
immediate plans" to get into the
fiberoptics or Internet business,
but is supportive of utilities in
areas with limited technology ser-
ving as providers of their techolo-
gy. "We are monitoring and as-
sessing what's going on," he said.
Pend Orielle and Douglas
counties are currently sharing
telecommunications services, he
added, and Pacific County PUD 2
is an Internet provider. "They've
had an attorney general's opinion
that they may have gone too far,"
McGary said, "and that's one rea-
son for the bill."
To date, Mason County has not
become involved in using fiberop-
tics, McGary said. "We use tele-
phone lines to our substations
right now," he said. "But we'll be
looking at the technology as we
face increasing data needs at our
substations."
It was 60 years ago when Mason
County PUD#Ysinaugural
.ASO. COUNTY PUO,3 distribution
line was
fully completed-bringing
electricity for the first time to rural
parts of our county.
Since 1939- many people have
worked hard at PUD #3 to provide
service beyond expectation.
it's been a busy, eventful 60 years.
And we thank you for the opportunity
to help make things brighter and warmer for you
and your family at home, work, and school.
In honor of our 60 years of service, you are
invited to attend a Public Reception on
Friday, June 18, from I I a.m. - 2p.m.
at our main PUD #3 office, 307
W. Cota Street, Shelton.
m Celebrating 60
.I00ILE,00 years of public
STIH00" power service.
1603 OLYMPIC Ht'. N.' 426-087$ w. co00o, 00,o,,oo
Thursday, May 20, 1999 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 11
move, Mayor says he a won't run again
00_00ver00reen (Continued from page 1 ) months, ce that will be available inside
on the decision. They had earlier "In other words, I am not going the civic center, he said. The bond
from page 1.)
excited to begin working
students, staff, parents
entire Evergreen commu-
build on the solid program
under the leadership of
River," he said, pledging
aSSure that Evergreen pro-
an environment that is
inviting and safe as well as
program that will
vergreen students to ex-
continue their educa-
ligher levels."
arner has served as the SMS
ncipal for the past 10
to that, he was prin-
of a K-12 school at Rosalia,
of Spokane, for two years
a stint as a counselor-
at Mary M. Knight High
He has been an educator
Steve Warner
"The only preconceived notions
that I have about Evergreen is
that it's a nice school with good
kids and staff," he said. "Every-
thing I've heard about it is posi-
tive, that it's a nice place to be."
EARNED A bachelor's de-
math at Ball State Uni-
Muncie, Indiana and a
degree at Purdue Uni-
month, he received
in education from
University.
commission roundup:
's variance
reversed
promised to inform one another
whenever one of them had
reached a decision about running
for reelection or not. Tarrant, who
is also up for reelection next fall,
said only that he still has a couple
of months to announce his plans.
"This really is a full-time job,"
Hilburn said, quoting former
Mayor Joyce Jaros against whom
he successfully campaigned near-
ly four years ago. "It really is," he
said Monday.
"It's time for grandpa to spend
some time with his grandchil-
dren," he added. Hilburn has five
sons and five grandchildren.
He told The Journal that he
spends at least two and a half
days a week on city business, in-
cluding making appearances at
events, such as the ribbon-cutting
ceremony last week at the SOCK
(Save Our County's Kids) Youth
Center at the Shelton Armory.
HILBURN SAID his fellow
employees at his auto dealership,
his customers and family have all
stated they would like him to be
available a little more often.
He said he has enjoyed his po-
litical career and feels that with
the assistance of Thornbrue and
Tarrant and city staff members,
and with the confidence of the
community, Shelton is moving in
the right direction.
He also promised to continue to
fulfill the terms of the oath of his
office during the next seven
to be a lame duck public official,"
he said, adding he was announc-
ing his decision Monday so that
the community has ample time to
consider who they'd like to lead
Shelton into the next century.
Hilburn, in an interview with
The Journal, said the Railroad
Avenue Improvement Project,
which spruced up downtown Shel-
ton's main street with new side-
walks, street trees, old-fashioned-
style street lights and more, is
the centerpiece of the current ad-
ministration.
ANOTHER OF the other
major accomplishments during
the past three-plus years, he said,
was "the bringing together of the
property owners to create an LID
(Local Improvement District),
where they participated financial-
ly in the end product, again, as a
partnership between the property
owners, the community and city
government, to end up with a
beautiful project on Railroad
Avenue."
The North 13th Street Im-
provement Project, he said, ended
with "a gorgeous connection
route, again, a partnership be-
tween the property owners and
the users of that area up there."
And there were the Kneeland
Park improvements and the Shel-
ton Civic Center project as well.
People have stopped him on
the sidewalks downtown to ask
about using the large community
issue passed last year on the first
try, which is a miracle these days,
he said. The building will be a
great resource that will be here
for years and years to come for
the community, he said, adding
he's grateful the community saw
the wisdom in that project and
followed the commission's leader-
ship and voted for it.
DOWNTOWN Shelton has
made a great comeback, Hilburn
said. "I was talking to one of the
property owners the other day
and they were very much pleased
with the escalation of the values
of their investment, their building
and their land down there, as op-
posed to three or four years ago,"
he said by way of example. "They
had it appraised and re-appraised
- and it came back substantially
more. That is a great tribute to
the downtown rebirth."
He thinks the city commission
stopped downtown's economic
slide and now things are going
back the other way.
"When you look at our commu-
nity, we've got the new, the glitzy
strip mall up on the (Mountain
View) hill and we've got the
charm and the bakeries and the
coffee shops and the professional
buildings on Railroad Avenue -
what a great blend, what a nice
mixture," Hilburn said.
BUT HE DOES look back
with regret at the failure of a
SHELTON MAYOR Scott Hilburn is proud of the Rail-
road Avenue Improvement Project among others.
bond issue that would have paid
for a numher of improvements to
crumbling streets throughout the
city.
"I understand why that didn't
pass," he said. "We tried it twice.
We came very close. But I am dis-
appointed that we couldn't ad-
dress that problem. It's a problem
that is not unique to Shelton." tte
saw on TV Monday that Seattle
was "wailing" that it wasn't get-
ting enough money to fix its
streets and potholes.
"We've got another seven
months to address it. I plan to go
ahead and look at it one more
time," he said. "I don't know what
my two fellow commissioners are
going to do yet with that, but I
think we owe it to the public to
step back and look at it and see it"
we can't find some solution to
that concern that the public has."
There may be some alternatives
to another balh)t issue that the
commission needs to study, he
added.
a public hearing on
Peal of a decision by the
earings examiner, Shelton
aers Monday eve-
d to a variance re-
County PUD 3 for
Lion to an existing build-
Street.
examiner earlier
a request by the PUD for a
to zoning requirements
ll for a 10-foot setback
Le street. The PUD plans
of some 2,000 square
engineering and opera-
located behind the
building at Third and
ilding, constructed be-
of city zoning
requirements, is built
the sidewalk. The utility
lose several existing
Spaces and infringe on a
Lrk behind it were it to be
10 feet to meet the
requirement, architect
0Ster said.
s examiner ruled
as no hardship on the site
lUst be relieved by a var-
requirement. But city
following a brief
e session, voted una-
to overturn that ruling
a variance.
CITY business,
'd from Project Inspector
that work at the Shel-
ton Civic Center on Cota Street
remains on schedule. The comple-
tion date is targeted for August
15 or 16, he said. The brickwork
is substantially complete and
workers have started construction
of the front entrance. The eleva-
tor is on site, but landscaping
around the center is on hold until
other work, such as underground-
ing electrical wires, is done.
Commissioners on Monday ap-
proved an easement between
Fourth and Sixth streets to allow
the city to relocate existing over-
head electrical wires under-
ground in front of the civic center.
• Agreed to pay the Communi-
ty Action Council $5,000 to help
defray the cost of providing free
lunches for youngsters at summer
recreation program sites this
year.
* APPROVED AN agreement
to provide emergency dispatching
services to the Skokomish Indian
Tribe. In exchange, the tribe
agreed to pay the city $9,700 for
the dispatching services for one
year.
• Learned the Washington
State Chapter of the American
Public Works Association on Mon-
day named Development Services
Manager Gary Rhoades as its
1999 Leader of Public Works. "It's
nice to see outside officials recog-
nize Gary's leadership and abili-
ties," Mayor Scott Hilburn said.
to register
dergartners
in the Shelton School
are encouraged to reg-
kindergarten students
fling the elementary
children will attend
Those unsure which
children will attend
the school district of-
1687.
)ags containing items to
students for kinder-
been assembled and
children registering at
district's three ele-
Schools. The bags con-
ons, pencils, scissors,
paper, books, kinder-
pamphlets,
at[on and various
other learning aids.
The bags were put together
with the help of the Readiness to
Learn program, Shelton Kiwanis
Club and school district personnel
Ancy Hellickson, Barb Skillman,
Joy Farquhar, Joyce River and
Leah Clarke.
Assisting were Shelton High
School Key Club members Bekki
Szlocek, Danielle O'Leary, Ina
Choi, Jay Baldridge, Naomi De-
LaSancha and Susanne Feucht;
and CHOICE High School stu-
dents Melissa Holmgren, Matt
Nablett, Dustin Krueger and
Nathan Renecker. Bags were do-
nated by the Shelton Safeway,
Red Apple and Fred Meyer stores.
:'ast Pine
lton
C.C. Cole & Sons, Inc.
D.B.A.
Evergreen Fuel Co.
Full Line Petroleum Jobber
• Tanks • Lubricants
• Furnaces & Equipment
Serving Mason County 426-441 I
since 1935 426-2261
PUD resolution indicates an interest
in telecommunications
Gary was quick to explain. But
there are utilities in the state as-
sociation that hope to do both,
and the local utility supports leg-
islation that would allow the util-
ities to do so.
The utilities had looked for-
ward this year to the passage of
House Bill 1750, which would
have clarified state law on the
subject and authorized public
utility districts to provide all tele-
communication facilities and ser-
vices requested of them. But that
bill, McGary said, died in commit-
tee this year.
"IT'S ALREADY going to be
dropped in for next year," he said.
"That's what this resolution is
for."
In the resolution adopted May
PUD 3 commissioners Bruce
Jorgenson, John Whalen and
Linda Gott took action last week
to support the possibility of public
utilities offering telecommunica-
tion services.
It's not that the local utility
plans to get into the business of
offering Internet access or install-
ing fiberoptics in the near future,
PUD Assistant Manager Pat Mc-
Utility's figures affirm it:
spring's weather was cold
That's backed up by figures pro-
vided by Power Supply Manager
Wyla Wood, who keeps track of
what are called degree days as
part of tracking the demand for
power.
Wood says April's variance
from the norm was 120 percent.
The formula for determining
degree days uses as its mean a
65-degree figure. Below that fig-
ure, Wood and Assistant Manager
Pat McGary explained, people
tend to turn on the heat. On a de-
gree day that works out to a
mean above 65, they're likely to
use air conditioning. To arrive at
the degree-day figure, they add
the daily high and low temper-
atures and divide by two, sub-
tracting the total from the 65-de-
gree mean.
So a day like May 9, which saw
a high of 54 and a low of 31,
would be calculated as 54 + 31 =
85 + 2 = 42.5. Rounding up to 43,
65 - 43 = 22. The heating degree
figure of 22 is added to the
month's accumulation. By con-
trast, the record-breaking warm
day on April 16 would be calculat-
ed as 82 + 43 = 125 +2 = 62.5.
Rounding down to 62, that day
adds a degree-day rating of only 3
to the figures for April.
OF THE FIRST 12 days of
May, Wood said, every day rated
from 12 to 24 degree days and
varied from three to 14 degrees
from the normal degree-day read-
ings for May. It goes without say-
ing that all those deviations were
on the cool side.
For the month to date, that's
187 percent of the normal May
degree-day readings.
It's been a cold spring.
The folks at Mason County
PUD 3 not only hold to the major-
ity opinion, but offer facts to back
it up.
Engineering Manager Steve
Valley says requests for new
hookups in the first four months
of the year ran about nine a week,
20 percent lower than normal.
They're picking up to the usual
level or even a little higher now
that the rain has let up a bit, he
said, noting that now they're at
11 or 12 a week, but the wet win-
ter weather slowed new construc-
tion significantly.
THAT WOULD mean a low-
er-than-budgeted income level for
the utility, but the weather has
provided some compensation in
terms of increased power de-
mands for existing customers.
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m
'some day'
11, the commissioners urge the
state legislature to adopt Senate
Bill 6105 "making it clear that
PUDs may develop and provide a
full range of telecommunication
facilities and services for any
purpose."
In the resolution, the commis-
sioners note that high-speed,
high-capacity telecommunication
is vital to contemporary industry,
education and health care in
small-town areas which may not
have adequate or competitive
telecommunication and that when
utilities have such technologies to
meet their own needs, it seems
appropriate for them to be shared
for other purposes.
"As a nonprofit, community-
governed entity," they noted in
the document, utilities "may be
able to provide telecommunica-
tion facilities and services, or ex-
panded choices, in areas where
others are unable or unwilling to
provide such services."
PUD 3, McGary said, "has no
immediate plans" to get into the
fiberoptics or Internet business,
but is supportive of utilities in
areas with limited technology ser-
ving as providers of their techolo-
gy. "We are monitoring and as-
sessing what's going on," he said.
Pend Orielle and Douglas
counties are currently sharing
telecommunications services, he
added, and Pacific County PUD 2
is an Internet provider. "They've
had an attorney general's opinion
that they may have gone too far,"
McGary said, "and that's one rea-
son for the bill."
To date, Mason County has not
become involved in using fiberop-
tics, McGary said. "We use tele-
phone lines to our substations
right now," he said. "But we'll be
looking at the technology as we
face increasing data needs at our
substations."
It was 60 years ago when Mason
County PUD#Ysinaugural
.ASO. COUNTY PUO,3 distribution
line was
fully completed-bringing
electricity for the first time to rural
parts of our county.
Since 1939- many people have
worked hard at PUD #3 to provide
service beyond expectation.
it's been a busy, eventful 60 years.
And we thank you for the opportunity
to help make things brighter and warmer for you
and your family at home, work, and school.
In honor of our 60 years of service, you are
invited to attend a Public Reception on
Friday, June 18, from I I a.m. - 2p.m.
at our main PUD #3 office, 307
W. Cota Street, Shelton.
m Celebrating 60
.I00ILE,00 years of public
STIH00" power service.
1603 OLYMPIC Ht'. N.' 426-087$ w. co00o, 00,o,,oo
Thursday, May 20, 1999 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Page 11