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Council discusses Northwest Natural Gas agreement, appoints representatives for Slayton system petition
Summary
Council members discussed a joint-petition process under the PUC for purchase of the Slayton portion of the Northwest Natural Gas distribution system and appointed Blake and Josh as city representatives to the joint powers board to support the petition; Chair said the appointments will strengthen the filing and noted the JPA had sparse recent activity (1994/2021 documents).
The council discussed a proposed joint petition to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to approve sale of the Slayton portion of the Northwest Natural Gas distribution system to the city as the first step toward a municipal natural-gas utility, and it appointed two representatives to the joint powers board.
The Chair said the city and Northwest Natural Gas have negotiated an arms-length purchase and that the PUC review for this transfer is expected to be non-contested, contrasting it with a separate contested case involving electric service. He explained that the joint powers board for Northwest Natural Gas of Murray County appears to have had little recent activity (documents from 1994 and an unsigned 2021 agreement were discussed), and that the council currently has no appointed representatives on that board.
To ensure the petition includes the city’s formal support and documentation, the Chair asked the council to appoint two representatives. A motion naming Blake and Josh as representatives, with the Chair as an alternate, was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote. The Chair said appointment and a contemporaneous joint powers board resolution would be included in the PUC petition to demonstrate local support.
During discussion, council members raised procedural questions about how other cities represented on the JPA would respond, whether the mayor could appoint members under local bylaws, and whether the 2021 agreement was fully executed; the Chair characterized those as procedural matters and said Rachel is coordinating outreach to the other communities. The Chair also said the transfer would bring roughly 650 customers from Northwest Natural Gas into the municipal system and could open service into additional territory mentioned in the packet.
The council approved the appointments and directed staff to proceed with coordinating the joint powers board meeting and inclusion of the JPA resolution in the petition packet to the PUC.
