General Information Archives - Page 51 of 52

KMEA Welcomes Pomona to EMP1

June 26, 2015/in General Information/by KMEA

Earlier this week KMEA Staff arrived in Pomona to provide “onboarding” to acquaint the city with invoicing, the dashboard, and a host of other details to prepare Pomona to receive power from KMEA. Mayor, Marie Seneca, City Clerk, Seth Mettling, Public Works Director, Dean Wineinger, and Treasurer, Linda Grob were are all on hand for the meeting. On July 1^st, Pomona will officially start receiving power from KMEA and at the same time become the newest member of the EMP1 group.

Pomona is located in northwestern Franklin County, about 50 minutes from the Kansas City metro area, with a population of 952. Pomona has long been a valued KMEA member and just last year KMEA had the privilege of honoring the city with a centennial award to celebrate their 100 years of public power. The city is excited about their future with KMEA, joining EMP1 and what it will mean for their electric costs. Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Pomona to EMP1.

Paul Mahlberg selected as the next General Manager for KMEA/KMGA

June 24, 2015/in General Information/by KMEA

Overland Park, Kansas – June 24, 2015 – The KMEA/KMGA Search Committee, comprised of ten municipal member utilities, selected Paul Mahlberg to be the next leader of the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency and Kansas Municipal Gas Agency (KMEA/KMGA). Paul will take over for Bob Poehling, who served as KMEA’s/KMGA’s General Manager for five years. Paul will assume his new role on August 10, 2015.

Currently, Paul is Deputy Director at Independence Power & Light (IPL). In that role, Paul reports to the Utility Director and co-manages the utility’s staff of over 230 people. This includes responsibility for all support services, generation, transmission and distribution activities, and IPL’s market participation in the SPP Integrated Marketplace. IPL is a 300 MW peaking utility.

Paul obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1988. His early career was spent as a consultant in power supply planning and rates. During his 19-year tenure at IPL, Paul was instrumental in efforts to replace 80% of the utility’s energy supply and also helped IPL to transition to the SPP Integrated Marketplace.

“I’m excited by the idea of a new challenge and to continue my career in the public power sector,” said Mahlberg. I’m looking forward to working with all the member cities and KMEA staff to continue the successes of the organization.”

Leveraging Meeting Technology

June 19, 2015/in General Information/by KMEA

Earlier this week, Matt Rehder, City Administrator for the City of Seneca and Chairman of the EMP3 group, conducted an EMP3 meeting via WebEx. Several cities were represented. KMEA Staff also participated in the meeting and hosted the WebEx from our office in Overland Park. KMEA staff conducts WebEx meetings throughout the year. The WebEx online meeting platform has been used for EMP meetings, informational webinars and other opportunities that allow us to leverage technology to make the best use of our members’ time and resources.

Introducing a New Leader in Gardner

June 19, 2015/in General Information/by KMEA

Gonzalo Garcia

We want to extend our hearty congratulations to Gonzalo Garcia on his recent appointment as Director of Utilities for the City of Gardner. In this role, Gonzalo will lead the Utilities Department, which includes water, waste water, and electric divisions.Gonzalo joins Gardner with an impressive utility career that spans over 25 years, working in both the United States and abroad. Gonzalo began his career at Florida Power and Light, rising through the ranks of electrical supervisor, power source specialist, operations manager and operations assistant superintendent. Prior to taking the helm in Gardner, Gonzalo served in several leadership roles around the world with Duke Energy, the largest electric power holding company in the United States. Gonzalo had worked for Duke Energy since 1997. In his most recent position, Gonzalo served as the Operations Regional Director in Lima, Peru.

This is a new position for the City of Gardner and Gonzalo is excited to bring his diverse range of utility experience and skills to the Gardner community. In addition to Gonzalo’s utility industry experience, he holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with an emphasis in control design and energy conservation from Clemson University, S.C. He also has a master’s degree in business administration from Tulane University in New Orleans, La.

Please join us in congratulating and extending our best wishes to Gonzalo as he embarks on this next exciting chapter.

APPA Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award Winner

June 11, 2015/in General Information/by Sam Mills

Congratulations to former KMEA President Greg DuMars for receiving a Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award at the American Public Power Association National Conference in Minneapolis this week. Greg is one of eight people to win the award this year. This award is given to managers of small utilities which have fewer than 2500 electric meters. Managers of systems of this size must wear a number of hats which include not only managing but planning, designing, supervising, and the list goes on. All the while the other duties of a City Administrator need his attention as well.

Greg has served as the City Administrator for the City of Lindsborg for 17 years. He has demonstrated his exemplary leadership not only in his role as city manager but also while giving his time to serving as the President of KMEA as well as President of Kansas Municipal Utilities.

Thanks to Greg from everyone at KMEA and congratulations on receiving this award.

Meeting with the EMPs

June 5, 2015/in General Information/by Sam Mills

EMP3 meeting in Burlingame

In recent weeks all three EMPs conducted their monthly meetings. These meetings are always a great venue for sharing information and great conversation. Not to mention good food. Everyone appreciates the work that the cities do in preparation for hosting these meetings. Finding time to travel to another meeting is not always easy so thanks to everyone for your contribution.

Kim Everley – City Clerk of the Year!

May 29, 2015/in General Information/by KMEA

Kim Everley

We are excited to congratulate Kim Everley, City Administrator and City Clerk for KMEA member, McLouth, Kansas. Kim was recently recognized and awarded City Clerk of the Year by the Kansas Rural Water Association at their Annual Conference. Kim was selected from hundreds of city candidates and if you are familiar with what Kim has accomplished, it is easy to see why she is such a worthy recipient.

Kim has long been a dedicated servant of her community. Before starting as City Clerk for McLouth in 2009, she served as a City Council Member. Her record of service doesn’t stop there, however. Kim was also the President of the Jefferson County Area Chamber of Commerce as well as the Courtesy Chair for the KACM, Kansas Association of Court Management, court clerks association.

Kim embodies everything you would envision in a go-getter. She quickly made her mark after becoming City Clerk, reconciling important records and an accounting system that was in need of rescue. She earned her designation of Certified Municipal Clerk within three short years on the job and quickly proved herself ready to handle the responsibilities of McLouth City Administrator when the position became open.

Please join us in congratulating Kim on receiving this distinguished award. Congratulations Kim! Well deserved!

KMGA Travels and City Visits

May 26, 2015/in General Information/by Dixie Riedel

City of Lyons

On Tuesday, May 12^th, KMGA staff departed Overland Park and headed to Little River, Kansas. We met with City Clerk, Sue Peters, and visited about KMGA supplying and managing the natural gas needs for the city. KMGA will provide a natural gas cost comparison to the City of Little River for their review.

City of Abbyville

Our journey continued as we visited KMGA member cites of Lyons, Sterling, Abbyville, and Sylvia. We visited with city personnel about the services KMGA provides and answered questions they had regarding their natural gas system, calculating rates, reporting data to state & federal commissions as required and other items of interest.

City of Sterling

Wednesday morning’s destination was Burrton. At Burrton we met with Jon Roberts, City Superintendent. We discussed their natural gas system and provided information about KMGA providing natural gas to the city and Burrton becoming a KMGA member. A cost comparison will be prepared by KMGA staff for Jon to review.

From Burrton we traveled to member cities Moundridge and Walton, where we reviewed with city employees the services KMGA provides.

City of Moundridge

Thanks to Rebecca Schechter, Brian Vagts, David Fankhauser, Ryan Ochs, Rick Sims, Randy Frazer, and Stephanie Ashby for taking time to meet with us. We thoroughly enjoyed our on-site visit to member cities as well as prospective cities.

We Want to hear What is Happening in Your City!

May 22, 2015/in General Information/by KMEA

Through our weekly blogs, we have an opportunity to feature you and your city and keep everyone up to date on what’s going on within our member cities. We sincerely appreciate those members who contribute and invite everyone to participate. We want to continue to spotlight cities and city employees, whether it is city accolades or recognizing city employee promotions, awards, or retirements.

If you have news to share, capital improvements underway, exciting things going on in your city or information you believe can benefit the membership, please don’t keep it to yourself. We want to hear from you! Please email Patrick Ryan at ryan@kmea.com

Ed Truelove on the Move

May 18, 2015/in General Information/by KMEA

We want to extend our congratulations to Ed Truelove on his recent appointment as City Administrator for the City of Neodesha. Ed was selected from a pool of 23 candidates and appointed by the Neodesha City Commission by unanimous vote.

Ed began his new assignment earlier this month, after serving as City Administrator for the City of Greensburg for the past three years. Ed brings a wealth of talent and experience with 17 years of public service with local governments in Kansas. Before his time in Greensburg, he was a Wichita police officer. He completed a mid-career master’s degree in public administration and then took over the position as Sterling’s Police Chief.

Among his more notable contributions while at Greensburg was the leadership he provided toward the community’s continuing recovery from a devastating 2007 tornado. His contributions included recommending financing and overseeing construction of a new municipal swimming pool and water treatment plant, reestablishing a police department and working as part of a community team to recruit new industry.

Please join us in congratulating and extending our best wishes to Ed as he embarks on this next exciting chapter.