Wanapum Village being sold by Grant Co. PUD
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 11 months AGO
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Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | November 19, 2015 5:00 AM
WANAPUM DAM — The houses and office building owned by the Grant County PUD and known as Wanapum Village could go on sale, although there’s no time frame for a possible sale.
The 30 houses and office building date to the construction of the dam in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Utility district commissioners have discussed selling the property, the last time in 2013, said Sheryl Dotson, the PUD’s property services supervisor, at the regular commission meeting on Oct. 27.
Along with the houses and office building, there are 27 acres of vacant land and a 2.5 acre park, for a total of about 56 acres. For land use purposes it’s all considered one piece of land, she said; the houses haven’t been broken into individual lots. Dotson said PUD employees are recommending it stay that way, and be sold as a unit.
The appraisal process is still underway, so there’s no price for the property yet, she said.
The houses and office building have their own water and sewer systems, Dotson said, but the water system is on property owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, about 20 acres. The PUD will have to purchase that before the sales process can move forward, she said.
In answer to a question from commissioner Larry Schaapman, Dotson said the agencies have been working on the sale for about two years. The proposal is currently under review by Bureau of Reclamation officials.
A new wastewater treatment system will be required, and PUD employees are recommending the purchaser be required to build that, Dotson said. The PUD would agree to allow the purchaser to use the existing sewer system for up to one year.
Utility district staff is suggesting the property be sold without water rights, and that the purchaser be required to obtain water rights. Board member Tom Flint said it seemed to him selling the property without water rights would have a big impact on its value.
Because the houses are more than 50 years old, they may qualify as historical properties, and any purchaser might have to comply with some historic preservation rules, said Blair Fuglie of the PUD’s property services department. But those rules change if the property doesn’t sell within 90 days, Fuglie said.
Utility district commissioners will have to declare the land and buildings as surplus property before the property can be advertised for sale, Dotson said. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also will have to approve the surplus designation.
Commissioner Dale Walker asked when the property might be ready for sale, or sold. Dotson said there’s no time frame yet.
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