Tony Webb was named yesterday as interim general manager for Grant County Public Utility District. Webb, who has worked for Grant PUD since 1990, was appointed by commissioners to fill in until they find a permanent replacement for fired General Manager Tim Culbertson.

Culbertson was let go earlier this month for being actively involved in a romantic relationship with a female PUD employee. A charge he doesn’t deny but argues that the PUD has no policy forbidding such a relationship.  He is set to receive 12 months of severance pay — a year’s salary of about $276,000.

Fifty year old Tony Webb has been assistant general manager since April of last year, overseeing customer service and support services. He’s the utility’s former director of human resources. Just how long he will serve as Interim General Manager is unclear.

PUD board president Tom Flint wrote in a letter to employees “We plan to take our time and make sure that we identify the key characteristics of the person that will run Grant PUD…over the next few weeks we will work to finalize the process and begin our search.”