The
INSIDE Senior spotlight
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Visitors’ dollars?
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Importance of pools
George Willis photo
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Islands’ eekly W
VOLUME 38, NUMBER 19 • MAY 12, 2015
Adams reelected, Cornelius wins seat on OPALCO board OPALCO members boarded the ferry on Saturday for the 2015 Annual Meeting and Board of Directors’ election after the co-op received a record 2,824 absentee ballots (2,687 absentee, plus 71 on the ferry) representing 24 percent of the membership. The successful candidates were incumbent Winnie Adams and former Opalco General Manager, Randy J. Cornelius, for District 2, representing Orcas Island. The member-initiated by-law amendment was unsuccessful by a small margin, with 1,324 voting no and 1,191 voting yes. Guests joined the 228 members present aboard the Washington State Ferries’ Hyak for a total of 337 people in attendance. OPALCO members enjoyed a healthy and delicious bag lunch by Asher and Olive of Orcas Island. The 2015 Nourdine Jensen Cooperative Youth Scholars were announced. Students Ray Doss (Orcas Island) and Robby Miller (San Juan Island) were recognized at the meeting, and the three other students, Seda Guckian (San Juan Island), Michaella Marebe Ibambasi (San Juan Island) and Anthony Kaskurs (Orcas Island), were unable to attend because of SAT testing. Each will each receive a $500 scholarship and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Youth Rally Co-op Leadership Camp at the College of Idaho this summer. General Manager Foster Hildreth acknowledged this difficult year of transition and the impact that the rate increase has on all members. “I’m committed to assessing the needs of our most vulnerable members and will propose a rate relief program in time for the next budget cycle.”
ATTENTION CLASS OF 2015
Your Senior Memory (Full Name, Plans and Dreams for the Future, Most Memorable Moments, If you could pick a super power, what would it be and why?. 150 words max) and Senior Photo are due by May 15th. Please submit your entries to: Kathryn Sherman ksherman@sanjuanjournal.com
5 1 0 & 2 s k Par ils Tra de! Gui
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He expressed his enthusiasm for the new Internet entity, Rock Island Communications, and shared his vision for a connected and vital community that includes “a healthy economy and environment, access to jobs, education, health care and emergency services.” Quickly recapping the previous big decades of OPALCO – the ‘60s as the first era of submarine cable installations, the ‘90s as the era of undergrounding our system – Hildreth called for the membership to step up this generation’s task and “join forces to build out our grid in preparation for the future while ensuring our financial sustainability and system reliability.” Hildreth praised the work of the OPALCO board and staff during this challenging time of navigating significant change. He concluded his remarks by answering many of the questions we are hearing from our membership, especially those concerning rates and the Rock Island acquisition. These frequently asked questions, along with questions and comments collected from members in attendance at the meeting, will be posted on www.opalco.com. “Between our website and our monthly E-newsletter, ‘The Co-op Connector,’” said Hildreth, “we are dedicated to keeping our members informed.” The names of the six members who sent in their absentee ballots that were drawn for $50 credits on their OPALCO bills are Pat Ball, Richard Nicholson, Smugglers Cove Water Users Association, Virgil Hennen, Gordon Fowler and Michelle Novak. OPALCO congratulates those and offers thanks to all who voted by absentee ballot. It is not too late to win a $50 bill credit. Members can go online to read the Annual Report (www.opalco.com/ annual-report), follow the treasure hunt quiz, and submit their answers before June 15. A winner will be selected from
Contributed photos
Left: Randy J. Cornelius. Right: Winnie Adams those entries and announced at the June 18 board meeting. Door prizes were scaled back from prior years in response to OPALCO’s belt-tightening measures. OPALCO’s vendors donate many of the prizes, and OPALCO purchases others. Items handed out to thank the members in attendance included local goods, energy efficiency tools, solar clothes dryers, a Shop-Vac, a George Foreman grill, a thermostat, a Dremel rotary tool, and yard and garden tools. The focus this year was on more bill credits and fewer prizes. OPALCO is required by the Rural Utilities Services to hold an annual meeting each year and must have a quorum of 100 members in attendance. Members who missed the meeting can read the report at www.opalco.com/annualreport. Copies are also available in the Eastsound office.
Oregon engineer takes the helm With engineering experience on both sides of the border, Brian Vincent will take the up the reigns of the San Juan County Department of Public Works. A licensed engineer in Washington and in Oregon, Vincent was announced as the newly hired director of Public Works by San Juan
County in a May 4 press release. Most recently the county engineer for Multnomah County, home to Portland, Ore., and much of the city’s suburban east side and beyond, Vincent has held several positions with Washington state’s Clark County as well, including
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Contributed photo
Right: Brian Vincent manager of operations and of construction, as part of a 25-year career in local government. Vincent will fill an extended void at the top of the department that followed the departure of former director Frank Mulcahy, who parted ways with the county in early fall of 2014. Mulchay had been hired as director in the fall of 2011. With about 65 full-time employees and an annual budget that totaled roughly $11 million in 2014, Public Works is the single-largest county department. In addition to maintaining county-owned roads, Public Works operates stormwater and solid waste utilities, coordinates engineering for public projects, maintains county- owned buildings and property, and buys and maintains the county’s fleet of cars, trucks, heavy equip-
ment and boats. A former member of the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps, Vincent earned a degree in civil engineering at the University of Washington and a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Oregon. He is married, the father of four children and is reportedly looking forward to trying his hand at fishing and crabbing in local waters.