ARWA 20th Annual Awards Program
"The Water Operator of the Year recognizes a State of Alabama Certified Water Treatment Operator with outstanding leadership abilities and accomplishments in water utility operations."
The winner of the 2011 Water Operator of the Year goes to William Snyder with the Monroeville Water Works. He has been the General Manager of the Monroeville Water Works for eighteen years. He has served as the president of the ARWA Society of Water Professionals since 2008. William is also Vice President of the Alabama Rural Water Association's Board of Directors.
Through his leadership and
business management abilities, the
Monroeville Water Works has grown in
size from 2,800 customers in the early
1990's to over 3,300 customers today.
In addition, William was at
the helm when the Monroeville
Water Works was recognized by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for Medium Public Water
Supply Excellence for Region IV and
was also recognized by the EPA for
Excellence in Consumer Confidence
Reports.
William is also a leader in the community. To help assure that Monroeville's water supply remains as safe and clean as possible, William began the Monroeville Ground Water Festival in 2007. The Festival is held at the famous "Water Tower", which not only serves as the storage for 2,000,000 gallons of water but is also one of the town's most prominent locations for professional meetings in its uniquely structured auditorium design. This event helps educate fourth grade students from within Monroeville's service area as to the importance of water protection and conservation.
William holds a Grade II Water Operators license for the State of Alabama. He has been a Grade II Water Operator Certification Instructor for the ARWA since 1994. He has helped many colleagues in his district reach their goal of becoming a certified water operator. Congratulations William for your many accomplishments and this special recognition!
"The Wastewater Operator of the Year recognizes a State of Alabama Certified Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator with outstanding leadership abilities and accomplishments in wastewater utility operations."
The winner of the 2011
Wastewater Operator of the Year
award goes to Silas "Bill" Holmes
with the Poarch Band of Creek
Indians Utilities Authority. Bill
began his utility career in 1971 in BayMinette, AL. He has over 30 ears
experience in the field. He holds a
Grade IV Wastewater certification
license and a Grade III Water
certification license.
The Poarch Band of Creek Indians Utilities Authority is located in Atmore, AL and serves approximately 230 customers. Bill has been Chief Utilities Operator for the utility for four years. During that time the Poarch Band of Creek Indians Utilities Authority has seen remendous growth.
The challenges of rapid growth are numerous, Bills abilities as a leader in his field allowed him to meet that challenge as he oversaw the upgrade of the utilities wastewater plant to a Grade II activated sludge treatment facility while assuring that service offered to the community was never compromised. The wastewater plant has been in operation for over one year now and is meeting or exceeding federal and state standards. Congratulations Silas "Bill" Holmes.
"The Board Member/Director of the Year recognizes an individual who serves as a board member of a water and/or wastewater utility responsible for governing decisions resulting in significant contributions toward the success, growth and customer satisfaction of the utility."
The winner of the 2011 Board
Member/Director of the Year is Ms.
Margaret Wilcox with the Mobile
County Water, Sewer & F.P.A.
(MCWS&FPA) The MCWS& FPA
is located in Theodore, AL and serves
approximately 12,200 customers.
Margaret has been on the Mobile County Water Board since 2004. She fulfilled the seat previously held by her late husband, Mr. Ralph Wilcox, Sr. who served the Board for 20 years. Margaret came to the Board with all of the essentials required to lead with the experience she gained as a retired Mobile County Administrator.
Margaret's broad knowledge of efficient public utility management is an asset to the Mobile County Water Authority as it negotiates the difficult financial times of our economy. Margaret is also a Board Member of the ARWA's Society of Water Professionals. Through this service she assists with management decisions allowing the Society of Water Professionals to offer sevices to enhance professional development of utility employee members statewide. Congratulations Margaret!
"The Office Worker of the Year recognizes an administrator employee for outstanding performance in office management and procedures."
The winner of the 2011 Office
Worker of the Year award goes to
Rhonda Butler with Gulf Shores
Utilities. Gulf Shores Utilities is
located in Gulf Shores, AL and serves
approximately 9700 customers.
Rhonda was hired as comptroller in 2007. As comptroller her duties included accounts payable, payroll, cash management and job cost. As comptroller, Rhonda streamlined the accounts payable system allowing for quicker more efficient bill payments.
In 2010, Rhonda accepted the responsibilities of Office Manager/Customer Service Manager while serving as comptroller. Rhonda analyzed the entire billing process including how work orders were handled as well as accounts receivables.
The updated and improved how all of
the above processes were being handled
which resulted in a more
efficient operation and
eliminated the need for
additional office staff. Rhonda implemented
on-line bill payment,
on-line e billing, online
customer accounts
review and credit card
payment acceptance.
She was instrumental in
establishing procedures
for the conversion of over
1,200 automatic radio
read meters from standard
manual read meters without affecting
the normal monthly billing cycle,
Rhonda has demonstrated tremendous
leadership in the roll of Office Manager/Customer Service Manager.
Congratulations Rhonda!
"The John A. Garrett Outstanding Service Award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions throughout the State in support of water and wastewater needs during his/her career. This award recognizes those professional individuals that work with State and Federal Agencies, Alabama State Legislators, Alabama Congressional Members, Engineering Consultants, anyone who has been instrumental to the success of utility growth and progress in Alabama."
The winner of the 2011 John
A. Garrett Outstanding Service
Award goes to...
IT'S A TIE!
The winners are Dennis Harrison, Chief of the Drinking Water Branch at the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and Dr. John Regnier, Consultant with the National Rural Water Association (NRWA).
Dennis began his professional
career in the mid 1970's after earning
his B.S. Civil Engineering from
Auburn University. He is also a licensed
engineer for the State of Florida. He
began his career as an engineer with
Polyengineering in Dothan, AL. While demonstrating exceptional skills in the
engineering field and becoming the
youngest partner of Polyengineering,
Dennis decided that he wanted to
pursue a law degree and consequently
moved to Montgomery, AL and
enrolled in the Jones School of Law,
Faulkner University. At Faulkner,
Dennis earned his Juris Doctor Degree
in 1992 and passed the Alabama State
Bar Exam 1993. He is also currently
employed on a part time basis as
an adjunct law professor and as an
instructor in the Academic Success
Program at the Jones School of Law.
Dennis began his career with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) in1990 working in the Grants Administration Section of the Municipal Branch. In 1993, he was promoted to Chief of the Permits and Compliance Section of the Municipal Branch. In 2001, Dennis transferred to ADEM's Drinking Water Branch where he served as Chief of the Ground Water Source Section until 2005. In 2005, Dennis was promoted to Chief of the Drinking Water Branch. In his current position, Dennis manages the public drinking water program for the State of Alabama. His focus to assist water systems with expansions and compliance issues and his ability to develop partnerships with water system administrators, government officials and private citizens has been instrumental in ensuring a safe drinking water supply for the citizens of Alabama. Congratulations Dennis!
Dr. John Regnier obtained a
B.S. in Chemistry from the South
Dakota School of Mines followed by a
Masters and P.H.D. in Environmental
Engineering from the University of
Florida. He spent the next twenty two
years in Public Health Service working
in radiological and environmental
health. In 1971 Dr. Regnier transferred
to the EPA as a Public Health Service
Commissioned Officer and stayed
there until he retired in 1979.
In 1980, Dr. Regnier joined Mr. Garrett at the ARWA where he promoted the advancement of drinking water quality in rural areas of Alabama. Dr. Regnier was instrumental in writing the original funding request in 1982 that allowed the Department of Energy to fund the first leak detection survey program for the ARWA. Dr. Regnier helped many water systems in the State reduce their unaccounted for water loss thereby reducing their operating costs by thousands of dollars.
Dr. Regnier also developed the Electrical Audit Program for the ARWA. This program analyzes public water utility electric bills and includes a complete inventory of pumps, motors, or any device consuming electricity. The analysis continues by investigating how the power company rates are structured for a particular utility. He identifies any "special clauses" in the electrical contract and identifies the most efficient manner that the utility should be running its pumps, motors etc. to reduce or eliminate running these devices at "peak" power consumption times. This strategy has allowed utilities in the State of Alabama to substantially reduce their power bills with little or no upfront capital expenditure.
Dr. Regnier is the owner and proprietor of High Point, Inc. an engineering consulting firm. He is also employed by the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) as a consultant where he conducts research and publishes reports that are relevant to the issues faced by all public water and wastewater utilities throughout our country. Congratulations Dr. Regnier!
