Brian Buche seeks re-election to council

Brian Buche sees himself as a voice for the community.

Running for re-election to the Electric City Council seat he's held since 2020, full-time UPS driver and now part-time farmer says he takes pride in talking one-on-one with people.

"Anybody can approach me and tell me what it is they think or they don't like or whatever," he said. "I'm an open book."

Elected when council members at the time were taking considerable heat for some controversial projects, Buche said listening to people is important.

"You know, a lot of times the best decisions aren't the most popular," he said, "but ... I pretty much step back and take my hat off on what I think is best, in my opinion, and listen to my constituents and what's important to them. And I think I've done a great job on that, and I'll continue to do it."

Asked the most pressing needs the city has now, Buche ticks off three major projects:

• lining the sewer pipes that are "spalling." The concrete pipes installed long ago are corroding. The city is working on a project that would fix that with a special lining.

• figuring out how to ease into increased sewer rates that will be needed after the wastewater treatment plant in Grand Coulee is updated, a project that will cost between $3 million and $10 million. "We've got some elderly people that are on fixed incomes, and that's going to affect them. ... One year after completion of that is when we'll start to have to pay that money back. So we're trying to slowly raise those rates so that the impact isn't as profound on our community."

He said the upcoming trail project down SR-155 is important too, and mostly funded by the state Dept. of Transportation, plus a grant from Grant County.

"It's going to deal with a safety issue that we have along 155 with parents and strollers and bicycles and moms and children and it's ... a great thing. It's going to be a great addition to the community."

The project has raised concerns from people who don't want the speed limit to change on a short part of that roadway, so Buche said he's driven it to determine the difference.

"The difference between driving that at 45 and 35 is 18 seconds," he said.

Long term, Electric City will need to also deal with its old water lines, he said, which cost a lot in "random water leaks."