Ambitious project schedule, power rates discussion part of Cheney Light's budget
Cheney Light Department's revenues and expenses for 2015 and the three previous years, along with how those are appropriated and spent are shown above.
Joe Noland, Cheney's light department director, is the first to admit his plans for 2015 are pretty ambitious.
Noland has a list of eight projects, totaling an estimated $710,000, included in his $8.73 million budget that he'd like to see accomplished next year. Some projects, such as a $50,000 replacement of old wooden street light poles along State Route 904 from Vine to Second streets, have either been cut from previous budgets or delayed due to funding.
The largest project is an estimated $250,000 replacement of the department's digger/derrick truck, used to lift poles and various transformers into place as well as digging holes for pole placement. The city's current rig, while having low mileage on the odometer has high readings on the hourly-use meter, creating the potential for mechanical problems and hydraulic system failure.
"We used to replace these trucks every 12 years, but we pushed that out to 15," Noland said. "It's all about safety of the guys."
Noland said they intend to purchase a "cookie cutter model" from a known truck manufacturer, one without a lot of bells and whistles. The rest of the specialized apparatus will be bid through the National Joint Purchasing Alliance, enabling the city to get the lowest price possible.
Pole replacement projects on North Oakland Street and along Alki Street, totaling $230,000, are also planned. The latter is needed, Noland said, because development along Alki has led to a number of poles ending near residential driveways and consequently being backed into by vehicles.
Noland said they also plan a $100,000 reroute of a feeder cable system near the Cheney Trading Company sign at the corner of First Street and Cheney-Spokane Road. The reroute will move the feeder away from the sign, as well as consolidate two road-crossing cable systems into one.
"It should look a little cleaner," Noland said.
Finally, Noland said they would begin a serious discussion about what to do with current electrical rates in the city, an issue City Administrator Mark Schuller also listed as a goal for 2015. The department is budgeted to begin 2015 with a working cash flow of $869,200; something Noland said reflects good financial stewardship on the part of the city.
That beginning fund balance doesn't reflect the entire reserve amount the department might have at any one time, Cheney's finance director, Cindy Niemeier, said in an Oct. 16 interview. During the week of Oct. 6 – 10 the department had $2.5 million in reserves, and Noland said the last time he checked a couple weeks ago that amount was just over $2 million.
"If something crazy happens, we've got reserves to take care of something, like a natural disaster," Schuller said on Oct. 16.
But all three individuals said much of those reserves are accounted for, paying for power purchased from Bonneville Power Authority, which can fluctuate taking more reserves one time and less on another depending on customer demand. The revenue also pays salaries and benefits along with maintenance and operations and other items.
BPA's rates have increased over the years, and are scheduled to do so again. Noland said the last time Cheney had a power rate increase was 2001, and preliminary discussions about increases have included talk of incremental bumps to ease rates up to a more sustainable level, much like a cost of living increase.
"What we're going to do is we're going to take a hard look at them (rates)," Noland said.
John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.
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