Commission workshop recap 2/10/2026 -- Future of Crescent Bar Golf Course could be set Feb. 17. More...

Commissioners could decide at their next workshop Feb. 17 whether to preserve the golf course on Crescent Bar Island or redevelop the 46 acres to support additional camping, disk golf, mini golf or more natural areas that would appeal to a broader range of visitors.

Grant PUD Lands and Recreation staff said preserving golf is the lowest-cost option, with an estimated minimum capital cost of $3.1 million if Grant PUD moves forward with replacing the aging irrigation system. Golf revenues and expenses generate an approximate $290,000 annual loss for the utility and aren’t expected to break even, according to a consultant’s analysis.

Redeveloping the course for additional amenities would cost an estimated $12.5 million to $28.4 million, according to a consultant’s study. Lower-cost redevelopment options are also possible, Ross Hendrick, director of Environmental Affairs, and Lorie Butterly, manager of Recreation and Shoreline, told commissioners.

The island irrigation system would likely need repair or replacement no matter which option commissioners chose, they said. Replacement cost is estimated at $3.1 million. Commissioners asked for more information about the system’s components to get a more precise estimate on repair or replacement cost.

Preserving the golf course is the option most preferred by island residents, but the course’s future remains unclear beyond the expiration of Grant PUD’s license to operate Priest Rapids and Wanapum dams in 2052.

During the application process for a new license, Grant PUD would need to ensure the entirety of the Recreation Resource Management Plan included sufficient recreation amenities suitable to the broadest public use to justify to federal dam oversight authorities that a golf course is a still a necessary amenity on Columbia River-side public land, they said.

Commissioners Larry Schaapman and Nelson Cox said they favored keeping the course but raising and standardizing the green fees, so all golfers, visiting or resident, pay the same amount.

Commissioner Tom Flint equated the course to Grant PUD “subsidizing very rich people to play golf.”

“That course shouldn’t ever have been there to begin with, and we’re kicking the can down the road,” he said of the possibility of having to eventually remove the course, anyway.

See the full presentation and consultant’s report on pages 1-71 of the workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded.

Commissioners also:

-- Received their latest update from officials from The Energy Authority (TEA), the public-power-focused energy trading and advisory organization that Grant PUD has contracted to manage its energy portfolio and maximize the value of the energy the utility buys and sells.

Commissioners are studying whether Grant PUD should become a member of the TEA (pronounced T.E.A.) organization to give Grant PUD a seat on the board and a voice in future decision making, broader access to all TEA’s trading and advisory services, and a share of the company’s investment business returns. TEA is based in Jacksonville, FL, and Bellevue, WA. It has 325 employees who serve utility customers in energy markets across the country.

Commissioners expect to decide at their next workshop, Feb. 17, whether Grant PUD will seek TEA membership. With commission approval, Grant PUD’s membership could become active by late March.

See the full presentation and consultant’s report on pages 88-116 of the workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded.

 -- Heard that a canoe the Wanapum recently recovered from the Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center and Museum in The Dalles, Ore. remains staged at the Wanapum Heritage Center until a permanent exhibit is prepared to put it on display. The canoe was one of three Wanapum vessels that were swept away from their former encampment at White Bluffs during a flood in 1948. Two of the three were later found. One of the three has long been on display at the Heritage Center. The Wanapum discovered almost by accident in the 1990s that the third canoe was on display at the Discovery Center, where it ended up after being salvaged from the riverbank by a construction worker on The Dalles Dam and used for years as an ornament in the worker’s yard. The Wanapum had been trying to get the 30-foot-long vessel back ever since. Grant PUD employees built a framework to transport the delicate canoe. It arrived Dec. 7, 2025, and remains in its supportive framework, partially wrapped for protection. See the full report on pages 72-87 of the workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded.

-- Heard quarterly business reports from the Environmental Affairs and Business Advancement & Strategy departments. See their full presentations on pages 118-125 and pages 126-136 of the of the workshop presentation materials. Commission workshops are not recorded.