1983-07-20 Public Hearings and Regular Meeting

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• EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH FOR MAY - WALTER BARNES Walter Barnes is Chief Operator at the Wastewater Treat- ment Plant. He oversees plant operation, and has accepted the added responsiblity of supervision of the lift station opera- tion. He has assumed responsibility of handling minor electrical problems and has trained the lift station personnel to handle minor problems safely. This action is estimated to have saved the City at least $3,500.00 during the past year. Walter has improved on the appearance of the lift stations by having debris removed, fences repaired, weeds cut, scrub trees removed and the equipment painted. Through training he has given his personnel, the pumps are kept in an operable con- dition by being rebuilt rather than having them replaced. Four pumps have been completely rebuilt at a savings of $800.00 on each pump. Work has been done on 25 other pumps at an unknown savings. Walter takes it upon himself to check the treatment plant at night and on weekends to make sure everything is running • smoothly, and has also passed by and checked on certain industrial waste disposers at night on his own time. He does this without being requested to do so, just to satisfy his personal need to see that his area of responsibility is completely covered. Walter devised a method to use existing "seed" sludge to start up the new treatment facility, rather than transport new "seed". This resulted in a savings of approximately $1,800.00. Walter is producing solids from the belt press at 39 percent, even though"it is claimed to be impossible to produce at that rate. The national average is 18 to 20 percent. This repre- sents a considerable savings in chemical and trucking costs. Walter has shown extreme patience, firmness and fairness with all his workers, developing each one in skills required to operate the treatment facility. He responds with promptness and thoroughness to all requests from the Superintendent, Engineers and other Supervisors, and is often seen assisting other departments with their mechanical or electrical problems.