Archive for category: General Information

Monday night’s EF-1 tornado put a scare into Eudora residents as they endured heavy rain and winds up to 107 miles per hour.  This is the first tornado to hit Eudora since the July 9, 1969 tornado, which was an EF-2 tornado with winds clocked as high as 135 miles per hour.  The tornado initially knocked out power to about two-thirds of the city, with quite a few trees on power lines.  Despite the severity of the storm, fortunately no major injuries were reported, and property destruction was minimal with only minor incidences of roof damage and vehicle damage.  City workers were out late Monday trimming back trees from power lines.  Eudora City Manager, Gary Ortiz, was quick to point out that though the clean-up is a big job, he is thankful for the help of the many volunteers from surrounding communities.

When good things are happening in one of our member cities, we don’t like to keep it a secret.  That’s why we want to brag on the City of Ottawa for being honored with a 2015 Playful City USA designation for the sixth time.  Kaboom!, a national non-profit, recognizes cities across the country for making their communities more playable.  Ottawa has fully embraced Kaboom!’s mission of fostering healthy productive lives by creating opportunities to bring play near to their residents, especially kids. Ottawa is certainly a worthy recipient.  Their Play Task force has done truly inspiring work.  Among the many initiatives they have completed is building and strategically locating several play structures in neighborhoods that do not have parks or playgrounds within walking distance.  In addition, Ottawa has held annual Play Day events and painted 40 hopscotch courses around the community to promote fun and active play through their “Hoppin’ Ottawa” campaign.  Ottawa’s Play Task Force has ambitious plans to add more pods and undertake a project to develop a teen park to provide a healthy outlet to encourage teens to stay active outdoors and reduce detrimental activities such as drug and alcohol use.  Congratulations to Ottawa for investing in the quality of life of their residents and earning this most distinguished national designation.

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.”

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.