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But the PUD job promised less travel, which appealed to the father of small children. That was the deciding factor. Now, the couple would never consider leaving, the new PUD manager told those attending a meeting to introduce him at the Grand Gallery Theatre last Wed-nesday night.
Culbertson has stepped into the role following the ouster of longtime PUD leader Don Goddard, who was a casualty of the controversy surrounding the business practices of the utility's fiber optic telecommunications arm.
Last November, PUD Commission President Tom Flint asked Culbertson, in power purchasing and sales, to consider "some other role." After officially assuming interim manager duties Jan. 5, he was named to manager position March 15.
Culbertson only alluded to the troubles that shook the PUD last year, stemming from improper accounting and business practices as PUD officials pushed to create its fiber optic business.
"We've come through some pretty tough times," he said, but Grant County residents have "no need to worry ... The PUD has very good employees."
Although he and new Director Linda Jones, along with Flint, commissioners Vera Claussen and Mike Conley and other officials, also came to talk about the district's soon-to-culminate, 10-year, $40 million federal relicensing effort, local interest centered first around fiber.
Birdie Hensley asked if digital telephone service was in the near future for customers of fiber optic Internet providers. Conley said that market hadn't yet reached "critical mass." But people are asking about it, including many in Coulee City, officials said.
And at a public meeting held March 30 in Moses Lake, people expressed "very strong overall support for going forward with fiber," Culbertson said. About 100 attendees spoke at length on the ways they use the service, he said, noting it was a different crowd than those who regularly attend weekly Monday commission meetings to criticize the program.
Although an official PUD contingent hand-delivered some 39 volumes of the utility's relicensing application in October 2003 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Jones said the PUD still could face some challenges before FERC.
That agency is holding scoping meetings as part of its environmental review, including one today, in Moses Lake. Comments are due by May 3.
It can reach a decision by October 2005, but Jones said she would not be surprised if the agency granted only one-year extensions for a few years, not the 50-year renewal the PUD seeks.
She said public input is important for FERC, so the agency hears first-hand why keeping the license to operate Priest Rapids dam with the PUD is important.
"The more perspective you can bring, the better," she said.
