Page 39 - Flathead Beacon // 12.30.15

ENERGIZING THOUGHTS WENDY OSTROM PRICE
POWERFUL WINDSTORM LEADS TO RECORD-SETTING EVENTS
best to be prepared.
First, make provisions ahead of time
with family, friends or even a healthcare facility that can accommodate you and your equipment should the need arise. Next, advise the Co-op of your situa- tion. You will be listed in the database as a priority. During an outage, a red ag appears on the Co-op’s computer sys- tem, indicating to dispatchers what the utility considers “critical load” areas, such as hospitals, schools and members with medical necessities.
It’s important to keep in mind how- ever, that while Flathead Electric under- stands the sense of urgency members experience during an outage, it is not feasible for crews to respond immedi- ately to individual residents. Power is restored as quickly as possible to the most members as possible, but the pro- cess requires a series of actions and safety measures. The bottom line is, whether you have a medical necessity or not, it’s always a good idea to have your Plan B ready to go.
When an outage does occur, take steps to see if it is impacting only you. If you see lights on next door, you may have a tripped circuit breaker. If the neighbor- hood’s lights are also out, please call us at 751-4449 or 800-406-0762. Afterhours or if an outage impacts several mem- bers, it may be di cult to talk directly to our dispatchers, but please don’t hang up. Follow the prompts to leave your information so that we can take proper action. And if you call the Co-op to report an outage using the phone number listed on your account, then the outage at your address is automatically registered to the system and will be scheduled for res- toration. If you use a number that has not been provided to Flathead Electric, however, the outage location cannot be promptly con rmed. So if you have a new phone number, please notify Flathead Electric so we can serve you as quickly as possible during an outage or otherwise as needed.
When responding, your Co-op looks at the extent of the outage and priori- tizes how to restore power to the great- est number of members rst. The safety of our crews and the public is also of par- amount concern.
The scope of this last storm was across the board. But despite the fact that over 13,000 members were impacted, the Co-op enjoyed more commendations than complaints, and for that we o er our sincerest appreciation. Thank you for your patience, understanding, sup- port and concern. Together, we will con- tinue to weather the storms.
(To monitor outages, visit atheade- lectric.com and click on Outage Viewer.)
BUILDING PERMITS
BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED IN KALISPELL AND WHITEFISH IN NOVEMBER
“T
KALISPELL
RECIPIENT: Kalispell Assembly of God Church; 255 Summit Ridge Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Grizzly Security Alarms
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $1,845
RECIPIENT: Bighorn Development; 250 Westland Dr. CONTRACTOR: Bighorn Development
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $219,000
RECIPIENT: Charles Spann; 728 Sixth Ave. W CONTRACTOR: Skyland Builders LLC
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $4,500
RECIPIENT: Sylvia Kershner; 418 Third Ave. E CONTRACTOR: Jim Luikens Const.
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $20,000
RECIPIENT: Eureka Town Pump Inc.; 859 W Reserve Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Quality Canopy Construction FOR: Addition
VALUE: $112,902
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1015 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1025 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1035 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1045 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1055 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1065 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1075 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: School District 5; 412 Third Ave. W CONTRACTOR: API Systems Integrators FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $29,417
RECIPIENT: Eureka Town Pump; 859 W Reserve Dr. CONTRACTOR: Mahugh Fire & Safety
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $12,000
RECIPIENT: Gillette Construction; 365 Westland Dr. CONTRACTOR: Recipient
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $115,000
RECIPIENT: Treeline Village, LLC; 1005 Treeline Rd. CONTRACTOR: Mountain West Dynamark
FOR: Fire Alarm
VALUE: $5,000
RECIPIENT: Owl Corporation; 269 E Nicklaus Ave. CONTRACTOR: Recipient
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $125,000
RECIPIENT: Owl Corporation; 271 E Nicklaus Ave. CONTRACTOR: Recipient
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $125,000
RECIPIENT: Owl Corporation; 278 E Nicklaus Ave. CONTRACTOR: Recipient
FOR: Townhouse
VALUE: $125,000
RECIPIENT: Kaitlin Gardner; 930 Sixth Ave. E CONTRACTOR: XW Consulting LLC
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $205,000
RECIPIENT: Dennis and Beverly Falcon; 161 Palmer Dr.
CONTRACTOR: J&F Construction
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $250,000
RECIPIENT: Randy and Sally Evans; 103 Fourth Ave. E CONTRACTOR: Lawrence Keller
FOR: Repair
VALUE: $3,000
RECIPIENT: Diamond Ridge Estates; 101 Shellan Way CONTRACTOR: Troy Glasman Construction
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $275,000
RECIPIENT: Heather Nelson-Barton; 711 Fourth Ave. E CONTRACTOR: The Shed Man
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $20,000
RECIPIENT: Ron Terry Construction; 120 Short Pine Dr.
CONTRACTOR: Recipient
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $108,500 WHITEFISH
RECIPIENT: Hurraw; 267 Flathead Ave. CONTRACTOR: Swank Enterprises FOR: Building
VALUE: $1,000,000
RECIPIENT: Joseph and Rita Purdy; 567 Central Ave. CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $155,000
RECIPIENT: The Carrington Co.; 6475 Hwy 93 S CONTRACTOR: Sword Construction
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $136,654
RECIPIENT: James and Jackie Woodward; 1935 Mallory Ln.
CONTRACTOR: Gri th Property Development FOR: Addition
VALUE: $15,000
RECIPIENT: Hill Champion; 130 Miles Ave. CONTRACTOR: Joe Bruce
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $2,500
RECIPIENT: Sage Partners LLC; 812 Columbia Ave. CONTRACTOR: Sage Partners
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $42,000
RECIPIENT: William Simpson; 631 E Fourth St. CONTRACTOR: 7-E Builders
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $65,000
RECIPIENT: Paul Conrad; 448 LaBrie Dr. CONTRACTOR: TBD
FOR: Addition
VALUE: $57,600
RECIPIENT: New Leaf Homebuilders LLC; 68 Armory Rd.
CONTRACTOR: Recipient
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $450,000
RECIPIENT: Ruis Holdings LLC; 1051 Creek View Ct.
CONTRACTOR: Compass Construction FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $275,000
RECIPIENT: Averill Family Trust; 645 Nature Trail CONTRACTOR: Big Mtn Builders
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $425,000
RECIPIENT: Matt Sansom; 38 Washington CONTRACTOR: Rob Brewer Const.
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $900,000
RECIPIENT: Carl Straub and Brenda Bernheim; 628 Nature Trail
CONTRACTOR: Big Mtn Builders
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $400,000
RECIPIENT: Joe and Lizanne Reger; 340 Sugarbowl Cir.
CONTRACTOR: Brandt Const.
FOR: Single-family residence
VALUE: $15,000
RECIPIENT: Larry Dvorak; 50 Idaho Ave. CONTRACTOR: Clark Craft
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $6,800
RECIPIENT: Lisa Orndor ; 706 Karrow Ave. CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $500
RECIPIENT: Pam Osland; 909 Kalispell Ave. CONTRACTOR: Owner
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $1,400
RECIPIENT: Hollis Carbo; 1396 W Lakeshore Dr. CONTRACTOR: Denman Const.
FOR: Remodel
VALUE: $60,000
HANK YOU FOR GETTING the lights back on in the mid-
dle of the night under such hazardous conditions.”
That is just one of the many com- ments received at Flathead Electric after a severe November windstorm led to more than 100 outages from one end of Co-op service territory to the other – the widest spread outage event on record. Sixty mile per hour wind gusts toppled hundreds of trees onto power lines, snapped power poles and left a vast swath of debris in their wake. It was a fast and furious storm that saw employees working in very di cult and dangerous conditions.
Thankfully no one was critically hurt. Despite the fact that there was signi - cant structural damage to the system, most members had power back within a couple of days or even a couple of hours in a few cases (some neighboring utilities were unable to restore full service for weeks). The FEC Call Center answered a record number of calls – 1,621 – in one day alone. Noting the unpredictability of Mother Nature, the Co-op (annual budget) allows for emergency response preparations, so when the storm hit we were as ready as possible.
Although Flathead Electric is pre- pared to work both day and night, eve- ning hours are not the norm for us. Our routine typically includes helping mem- bers install new electric services or responding to member requests. We also have a proactive maintenance schedule for poles, wires and right-of-way tree clearing. So when power is interrupted, your plans and ours change. We drop what is being done and begin the process of restoring power so we can all return to our regular schedules.
In order to be prepared for an unex- pected outage, we suggest you imple- ment simple ideas like making ash- lights, lanterns or candles readily avail- able for immediate needs. Members who live in more remote areas may want to make additional provisions and be sure your address is visible to lineman and other emergency responders. And all Co-op members should have a Plan B.
Flathead Electric has 1,035 members registered as having a “medical neces- sity.” These members rely on electronic equipment, such as respirators, for their health and well-being. So, what hap- pens if there is an interruption of power to their home? When Flathead Electric conducts a planned outage, for repairs or maintenance, medical necessity mem- bers are noti ed in advance in order to make arrangements. But inevitably, most outages – triggered by weather or other factors – occur randomly, so it’s
Wendy Ostrom Price is public relations o cer for Flathead Electric Cooperative
DECEMBER 30, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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