PUD 3 Johns Prairie Meeting Room (Auditorium) Re-Opens to Public on June 1st
Commissioners approved a pilot plan to re-open The John’s Prairie Meeting Room (one of the two rooms of the PUD’s auditorium) for public agencies and nonprofit groups when not in use by the PUD beginning June 1, 2023. An internal committee has been working on a plan to re-open the auditorium which closed to the public during the pandemic. The Meeting Room will be available during non-business hours Mon-Thu 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. and Fri-Sun 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. and will not be staffed by PUD personnel. The commission chambers (previously the Skookum Room) will not be available for reservations.
Similar to how the old auditorium used to be managed at the PUD’s downtown location, the room will be strictly self-service. Under the pilot project, non-profit groups will be able to book the room up to 90-days in advance using an online software available on the PUD’s website at www.pud3.org/meetingroom and a representative from the group will need to pick up an access key prior to the meeting from the JP customer service office during normal PUD business hours. The website also includes a copy of the modified policy which can also be found on the PUD’s intranet. Finally, since the facilities staff will not be on site, the Meeting Room will be monitored by 24-hour video surveillance for safety and security.
Some of the reasons for the above changes include:
New legislation which encourages public utilities to provide video access to the public for commission meetings which requires modifications to the existing commission chambers with the installation of expensive audio/visual equipment which could be prone to damage or theft. Closing the Commission Chambers (Skookum Room) for public reservations reduces this risk and ensures equipment will operate as expected for required public meetings.
Changes in labor laws reducing the amount of travel availability for training has resulted in more training in-house. Additionally, the PUD has significantly increased internal use of the Johns Prairie room for internal and external meetings. Only allowing public use during non-business hours allows the flexibility for internal use to continue without disrupting or cancelling a group’s reservation.
Staff time and safety. The pandemic changed how the facilities team operates as well as the hours they work. Providing staff for the public meeting spaces not only creates a scheduling challenge, it is also a safety concern (especially with only one staff person, working alone, and leaving the building after the last group leaves late at night). Additionally, the meeting room required a lot of staff time from facilities, customer service, conservation and the I.S. team when it was open during regular business hours.
We are excited to provide a public space again for our community but we will be doing a soft-launch to work out any bugs in the new procedures and software. We appreciate you helping us communicate the re-opening to non-profits and other community members, however, if you or anyone from the public have questions about the new meeting room (auditorium) pilot plan, please contact Jenny or Daniel in facilities.