Grant PUD selects route for Royal City transmission line
Cheryl Schweizer <Staff Writer> | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 years, 8 months AGO
EPHRATA — A new 115-kilovolt transmission line to a planned electrical substation near Royal City will run along Road D Southwest.
Grant PUD’s new transmission line will connect Frenchman Hills to the planned Red Rock substation southeast of Royal City, which is designed to address increasing demand for electricity in the Royal City area. Red Rock substation is scheduled for completion in 2022, the same time as the transmission line.
The route was one of three options identified by Grant PUD analysts working on the line project. The original project was expanded to include reconstruction of the transmission line from the Frenchman Hills substation to Royal City. The selection of a route was announced during a presentation at the regular meeting of the utility’s commission meeting on Tuesday, March 24.
The cost for the line work was estimated at $10,051,000. Commissioners had approved the project as part of the 2020 budget.
The selected route came at a higher price than the second choice, along Road E Southwest. The second option would have cost about $7 million.
But, project manager David Klinkenberg said, the Road E Southwest option did not include rebuilding the existing Frenchman Hills line. That line is reaching the end of its service life and will have to be rebuilt within the next 10 years, he said. That project would cost about $3 million, Klinkenberg said, so within a decade the cost would be about the same.
The Road D option was the one preferred by PUD customers who came to two public hearings on the alternatives, Klinkenberg said. The Road D Southwest route will make maximum use of existing corridors, would have the smallest impact in areas without transmission lines previously, and the least impact on crop dusting applications.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER <STAFF WRITER>
Othello School Board approves property purchase
OTHELLO — The Othello School Board has approved an agreement to purchase 81.14 acres of land along 14th Street and Lee Road. The district will pay $2.4 million to the current owner, Terra Gold Farms. The draft agreement was approved during the regular board meeting Monday. The land is located at Lee Road between Seventh and 14th streets. Assistant superintendent Gina Bullis said there are no plans to build on the property now, but district officials plan to keep it as a site for any additional schools. The sale should be completed by the end of January. In other business, a discussion of a site visit to Wahitis Elementary prompted questions about traffic on 14th Street. Construction closed part of 14th Street during the spring, summer and fall, including the stretch in front of Wahitis Elementary. Prior to construction the road had a four-way stop outside Scootney Springs Elementary, but the stop signs were removed during construction and haven’t been replaced. Board member Juan Garza said he had received inquiries about the stop signs, and whether they would be reinstalled. “It sounds to me like they (the stop sign removals) are permanent, right? It’s going to stay that way.” Bullis said she had received inquiries too, and had asked city officials about them, including a question at the Othello City Council meeting earlier Monday evening. City manager Wade Faris told her, Bullis said, the city wasn’t required to reinstall them. The original purpose was to eliminate some of the congestion on 14th, Cemetery and Ash streets when kids and parents were coming and going from Scootney Springs. City officials think the extra lanes will accommodate any congestion, she said. Board member Mike Garza said the stop signs were installed as the result of a traffic study conducted by the district at the city’s request. He asked if the city had done an additional traffic study prior to removal. Bullis said city officials didn’t give a reason for the change. Mike Garza also asked if city officials planned to paint crosswalks across 14th Street at Wahitis Elementary. “I noticed there are no crosswalk designations across 14th” at the school, he said. Bullis said she would ask city officials.
Othello School District land purchase moves ahead
OTHELLO — The Othello School Board is scheduled to review a draft purchase and sale agreement for 78 acres of property along Lee Road at its Oct. 10 meeting.
Othello School Board discusses 14th Street with city officials
OTHELLO — Traffic, traffic flow and pedestrian safety, especially for elementary students, were the subjects of a lengthy discussion at the Othello School Board meeting Monday.