Marshall Wind Farm Tour

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img_2503On  Tuesday the EMP1 members who take energy from Marshall Wind Farm were provided a tour by members of BHE Renewables and the onsite Vestas manager. The group listened to a presentation of the layout and various statistics of the wind farm before visiting the control room. The automation of the turbines is very advanced to the point that they respond in numerous ways to the wind direction, wind speed, wind gusts, and other environmental variables. Next came a visit to a wind turbine itself. The Vestas manager, Austin, opened the access door and invited everyone in look at the generator control panel, switchgear, access ladder and so forth. The towers are quite large and very impressived to visit. Our thanks to Tom and Janet of the BHE staff and Austin from Vestas for taking time to provide us with such an interesting tour and lunch.

KMEA Operations – 24 Hour Desk is now Operational

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On September 29th at noon, KMEA took a big step at “creating our future”; we now are the sole point of contact for our cities and counterparts.  Call the desk at 913-901-6224 and you will be talking to your staff of David, DJ, Garrett, Kent, and Paula.

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Unique Advertising for “Farm City Days” in Iola

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Gerry Bieker, Manager of Member Services could not pass up sharing “Farm City Days” in Iola. The Angry Bird themed Event is advertised locally with these impressive “Home Grown” Birds.  “Farm City Days” has been an ongoing event for many years in Iola according to Corey Schinstock, Iola Assistant City Administrator. The event includes a carnival, food and 2 days of music on the square and runs October 6th through the 9th.

KMEA Staff Visits Eudora and Iola

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KMEA Staff visited the cities of Eudora and Iola on Thursday September 29th.  Member Services met with Mike Hutto, Director of Public Works for Eudora first thing in the morning and Sid Fleming, City Administrator and Corey Schinstock, Assistant City Administrator later in the day in Iola.

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KMEA Staff Visits Chapman and Enterprise

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Jay Newton, Interim City AdministratorKMEA Staff visited the cities of Chapman and Enterprise on Wednesday September 28th.  Jay Newton, Interim City Administrator, Bobby Kamm, Public Works Director and the Staff for Chapman as well as Paul Froelich, City Superintendent for Enterprise took time out of their schedules to visit with us about a wide array of topics including the upcoming Annual Conference.

Erin Tilton

 

KMEA Annual Conference- Register today!

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The KMEA Annual Conference November 3- 4 2016  is just around the corner. It’s not too late to register! We are kicking off the conference with the KMGA and KMEA Board of Directors meetings, which start on Thursday, November 3rd at 10:30 a.m. Registration will run from 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

We are excited to bring you some great speakers presenting topics you won’t want to miss.

There is still time to register, however, to meet hotel deadlines and finalize conference materials, please be sure to register no later than Friday, October 7th. You can register by going to the Events tab on the kmea.com website or simply click here.

We hope to see as many of you as possible, as this year’s conference promises to be a great event.

 

2016 KMEA Golf Outing and Joint EMP Meeting

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The 2016 KMEA Golf Outing was held at Falcon Ridge Golf Club on September 14. After an evening of rain, 32 golfers took to a soggy course for a very good time. Our generous sponsors made it possible for all the attendees to walk away with prizes and smiles. This annual event is sure to grow.

The following day, after two Executive Committee meetings and a Joint EMP meeting, attendees were treated to a Royals baseball game in a suite sponsored by Sega. 

Click here for more photos

Welcome D.J. Smith and Garrett Higgins

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We would like to introduce you to D.J. Smith and Garrett Higgins. They are KMEA’s most recent additions to the staff. D.J. and Garrett together with Paula Campbell, David Rosenthal and Kent Balkenbusch will operate the 24-hour system operations desk. Welcome D.J. and Garrett.

Welcome Gerry Bieker – Newest Addition to the KMEA Staff

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Beginning August 31st Gerry Bieker will join the KMEA Staff as your new Manager, Member Services. Gerry comes to KMEA with a background of public service in Kansas dating back to 1991. Gerry was the Director of Public Utilities for the City of Colby before moving on to Paola in 2004 to serve as Director of Public Works. In 2009 Gerry moved to Chapman to become the City Administrator. In July of 2014 Gerry became the City Manager of Goodland where he currently serves.

Gerry has an impressive list of achievements during his time in city government. We are very excited to welcome Gerry as the newest member of your KMEA team.

 

 

Out and About

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Staff left Overland Park Wednesday morning to visit six KMGA member cities over the next two days.  The first stop was at the City of Howard, where they met with Becky Oakleaf, Ernest Tousley, and Kevin Mitchell.  The next destination was the City of Winfield.  At Winfield staff met with Gus Collins and James Ging.  Jim Neal also provided a tour of Winfield’s power plant facility.

On Thursday staff met with Amber Kummer and Larry Berry with the City of Anthony.  From Anthony they traveled to Attica to meet with Suzann Shippy.  The next stop was in Argonia to meet with city clerk Mindy Mages.  The final stop was at the Wellington power plant.  There, staff met with Roger Estes and Ryan HainThe visits included reviewing historical usage data, looking at current rate calculation processes, discussing services and assistance that KMGA can provide, as well as making note of our upcoming Annual Conference in November. We thank everyone for taking time to visit with us.  It is always very beneficial and productive to meet with member cities.