Community Briefs – February 5, 2019

Saipan chamber meeting tomorrow

The Saipan Chamber of Commerce will hold its February general membership meeting this Wednesday, Feb. 6, at Kanoa Resort’s Seaside Hall. Guest speakers include Commonwealth Utilities Corp. executive director Gary Camacho, who will provide updates and present short-term and long-term recovery plan, and lawyer George Hasselback, who will sharing his expertise on H2B visa application approvals and denials as well as its impact on the CNMI’s contractor landscape.  Lunch will be available 11:30am and the meeting will begin promptly at 12pm, led by Chamber president Velma M. Palacios. Cost is $25 for members/$35 for non-members.
The Saipan Chamber of Commerce will also welcome two new members: MJ Visions Inc., which does business as TopNotch and Phoenix Services Inc. (PR)

USDA RD rep on island

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development representative will be on island on Feb. 7, 2019, from 10am to 4:30pm to assist Rural Development clients. If you may have any inquiries regarding the program, stop by the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. office in Garapan. (PR)

Scheduled power interruptions

There will be scheduled power interruption today, Feb. 5, 2019, from 8am to 1pm. This sectionalized feeder outage on the Feeder 7 distribution circuit in Tanapag will affect Tanapag, San Roque, and As Matuis. The Marpi Quarry water wells will be affected, affecting the villages of: As Matuis, San Roque, Tanapag and Lower Base. The wastewater lift stations affected are SR-1, SR-2, SR-3, T-1 and T-3. One pole will be replaced

This will allow power line workers from the Commonwealth Utilities Corp.’s contracting company, Primary Source Electric, to safely replace the wooden pole with a concrete pole in Tanapag. The emergency power interruption is part of CUC’s resiliency program aimed at hardening and strengthening the CUC power distribution system that was affected by Super Typhoon Yutu.

Because of the scale of work that will be performed, CUC asks travelers to take alternate routes or to exercise caution when driving through the working area.

For more information, contact the CUC Customer Call Center (664-4282) or monitor CUC’s Facebook page for the latest updates (https://www.facebook.com/CommonwealthUtilitiesCorporation/). (PR)

Military trainings set

ASAN, Guam—The U.S. Air Force will conduct training at Warning Area 12 and Warning Area 517 on Feb. 5., from 8am to 8pm.

The U.S. Air Force and Navy will conduct training at the island of Farallon de Medinilla during the following dates and times: 

– Feb. 5, from 8am. to 8pm 
– Feb. 6, from 12-6pm 
– Feb. 9-10, from 5-9pm 

Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 will also conduct training at the former Adm. Nimitz Golf Course on Feb. 5, from 12pm to 11:55pm. 

It is recommended the public, fishermen and marine tour operators monitor the Coast Guard broadcast notice to mariners for advisories.

W-12 begins south of Guam and extends south-southwest in international waters. W-517 begins south of Guam and extends south-southwest in international waters.

The general location of the training on the island of Farallon de Medinilla will be in a 12-nautical mile radius of the island.

The public should be advised that routine helicopter training often accompanied with the use of blanks can occur during training at the former Adm. Nimitz Golf Course. (PR)

Emergency power interruptions

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. would like to inform the public that there will be scheduled power interruptions on the following dates, times and locations:

Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, from 8am to 1pm
• Outage type: Sectionalized lateral outage on the Feeder 7 distribution circuit
• Village location: Marpi
• Area(s) affected: Ayuyu Drive, Marpi
• Water well(s) affected: None
• Water Interruption: None
• Wastewater lift station(s) affected: None
• Pole Replacement(s): Two

Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, from 2pm to 6pm
• Outage type: Sectionalized feeder outage on the Feeder 7 distribution circuit
• Village location: As Matuis
• Area(s) affected: Entire San Roque and As Matuis
• Water well(s) affected: Marpi Quarry Wells
• Water Interruption: Entire As Matuis, San Roque, Tanapag, and Puerto Rico
• Wastewater lift station(s) affected: SR-1, SR-2 and SR-3
• Pole Replacement(s): Three

The purpose of the emergency power interruptions is to de-energize utility lines and allow power line workers from the CUC contracting company, Primary Source Electric, to safely replace five wooden poles with concrete poles in Marpi and As Matuis villages. The emergency power interruption is part of CUC’s resiliency program aimed at hardening and strengthening the CUC power distribution system that was affected by Super Typhoon Yutu.

Because of the scale of work that will be performed, CUC asks travelers to take alternate routes or to exercise caution when driving through the working area. (PR)