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Register for MRWA’s Operator EXPO Today!

Inside this issue:

MRWA SDWA Training Session - September 27

MPCA Proposes Changing Water Permit Fee System

MRWA’s 9th Annual Operator Equipment Expo Agenda

MRWA’s 9th Annual Operator Equipment Expo Registration

LMC 2017 City of Excellence Award Winners

LMC 2017 City of Excellence Award Winners continued

MnWARN to Host Annual Meeting - September 27

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September 2017September 2017

Last chance to register for MRWA’s 9th Annual Operator Equipment EXPO!

Attend the EXPO! There is hands-on training, outdoor demos, heavy equipmentskills and contests, great food, door prizes, a grand prize, and an EXPO t-shirt!Don’t miss it.

Highlights include: new vendors, new demonstrations, new skills contests, and somuch more! See page 4 for tentative agenda and registration forms.

Follow us

Last Chance to Register!September 6, 2017

-Carver County Fairgrounds-Waconia, MN

9th Annual MRWA Operator Equipment EXPO

NRWA WaterPro Conference

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MRWA SDWA Training Session

September 27, 2017

SDWA TrainingCity of Thief River Falls

Ralph Engelstad Event Center

525 Brooks Avenue N.

Thief River Falls, MN

Safe Drinking Water Act Compliance Training8:00am Understand the Revised Total Coliform Rule

and Groundwater Rule*Water System Operations: this session will be aroundtable discussion for operations specialists.You choose the topic! Bring your questions on meters, water towers, hydrants, treatment, math,and more! Share your successes with the group.

*Water Operations: see the basics in this hydrantmaintenance 101 session. Learn how to fix thosehard-turning hydrants without fighting them andunusual repairs due to objects stuck in valve seat.

*Water System Infrastructure: trace wire installand specification. MRWA, along with vendorpartners, established a trace wire specification &installation guide. See what it is all about andwhy it is so important to include this on your nextwater or wastewater infrastructure project.

*Water Treatment: chemistry and application ofoxidants in water: chlorine and permanganate.Learn about optimizing oxidation & how it works.See what parameters interfere with oxidation andhow to determine the oxidant demand.

12:00pm Lunch - (On Your Own)

1:00pm Understand the Revised Total Coliform Ruleand Groundwater Rule continued

*Water System Infrastructure: learn about the general uses of PVC and HDPE watermain forinstallation and water testing, including safety.

*Water Treatment Facility: top 10 cited violations.See the rules, requirements, and equipment that is needed for proper workplace safety.

*Security Intelligence Sharing: discover what tolook for in criminal acts and terrorism in thewater industry. Learn about the ‘See Something,Say Something!’ campaign and cybersecurity tips.

4:00pm End of Day

About the Class:Get valuable information you need from our

expert trainers to maintain compliance with

the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and

state regulations.

Technical assistance to address compliance

issues is available from Minnesota Rural

Water Association at no cost.

Support Minnesota Rural Water Association

Training | Technical Assistance

6 certification hours | FREE of charge!

To Register: call: 800-367-6792

or online at: www.mrwa.com

(use the training calendar fast

track menu).

Instructors: AE2S, CopperheadInnovations, CPM Group, MinnesotaFusion Center, Minnesota OSHA, MuellerCompany, and Minnesota Rural WaterAssociation.

This training is brought to you through a grant bythe National Rural Water Association and US EPA.

Attend this session and learn how to keep your water system in

compliance with state and federaldrinking water regulations!

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MPCA Proposes Changing Water Permit Fee System

Pollution Control Agency Proposes Changing Water Permit Fee System

(Published Jul 31, 2017) The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

(MPCA) is suggesting that it needs to make changes to the existing fee system for National Pollution Discharge Elimination System(NPDES) permits for wastewater and stormwater systems.

While officials are not making a proposal for how the fee system would be changed, they claim to need about $6 million per year in additional revenue for their water quality programs, and cities are a very large percentage of agency water permittees.

Permit backlogs, an inability to perform proactive enforcement activities, recruiting and retaining qualified personnel, and delays in developing new water quality standards are listed as reasons the added funding is needed.

The League attended one of two agency input sessions held in late July to ask questions about the proposal and to argue that the state general fund iswhere the agency should be seeking additional revenue for expanded water quality work, not fromexisting permit holders.

Cities are strongly encouraged to provide their own comments about NPDES; the current level and structure of permit fees; thoughts or concerns about changes to that system for municipal,industrial, or agricultural permit holders; and to what extent permit fees should be considered as thesolution to increasing revenue needs by the state.

•Get more information on the issue from the MPCA’s perspective, and learn more about submittingcomments, and the timeline for draft rules and hearings at:https://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/amendments-water-quality-fee-rules

Reprinted from Cities Bulletin, July 31, 2017. Issue 26. Online at: http://www.lmc.org/page/1/cities-bulletin-newsletter.jsp

Minnesota City Water Treatment Data Now Online

State Auditor Rebecca Otto released the Office of the State Auditor Infrastructure Stress TransparencyTool Version 2.0, a comprehensive update to the existing Tool. The Infrastructure Tool can be accessed athttps://www.auditor.state.mn.us/maps/.

Version 2.0 includes filters for demographics, geography, finances, clean water and drinking water attributes, which allow for analysis both regionally and statewide.

A video on how to get started using the tool is on the Office of State Auditor’s web site at:www.auditor.state.mn.us/default.aspx?page=20160309.000. Users can e-mail feedback on the Version2.0 Tool to maps@osa.state.mn.us.

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9th Annual MRWA Operator Equipment ExpoSeptember 6, 2017 - Tentative AgendaCarver County Fairgrounds - Waconia

7:30am RegistrationAll-Day Event Demos Begin (8:00am - 3:30pm) *Skid Loader Rodeo Skills Contest *Backhoe Skills Contest *Line Tracing DemoConcurrent Water & Wastewater Session Tracks and Demonstrations Begin

8:00amWater Municipex Water Service Pipe DemoWater-OR-Wastewater Metering With Today’s Technology Demo

8:30amWater-OR-Wastewater Utility Locate Marking & Trace Wire Specification DemoWater Water Tower Maintenance Demo

9:00amWater-OR-Wastewater Ford Fleet Program and DOT Guidelines DemoWastewater Manhole Inspection Camera & Televising Demo

9:30amWater Fire Hydrant and Maintenance & Gate Valves DemoWastewater Odor Control and Scrubber Equipment Demo

10:00amWater-OR-Wastewater Pipe Bursting DemoWastewater Cleaning, Televising, and Vactor Equipment Demo

10:30amWater Hands-on Poly Butt Fusion Equipment for Various Size Pipe DemoWastewater Wastewater Nozzle Demo

11:00amWater-OR-Wastewater Arc Flash Safety and Compliance DemoWater-OR-Wastewater Valves Demo

11:30amWater-OR-Wastewater Exhibitor Demo Networking

12:00pm Barbeque Lunch (Provided) & Door Prizes

1:00pmWater Gate Valves: The Difference Between AWWA C509 & 5115 DemoWater-OR-Wastewater Chemical Safety Concerns DemoWastewater Trenchless Pipe Technology Demo

1:30pmWater-OR-Wastewater Trenchbox Safety / Confined Space Entry DemoWastewater Bioaugmentation for Sludge Reduction: Annandale / Maple Lake Case Study Demo

2:00pmWater-OR-Wastewater Your pH Measurements Are Essential to Your Lab’s Success DemoWastewater Cues Camera Trailer System and Confined Space Demo

2:30pmWater Water Well & Pump Service DemoWastewater Lift Station Pumps & Grinder Stations Demo

3:00pmWater-OR-Wastewater Applications of Air Release and Air Vacuum Valves DemoWater-OR-Wastewater Grip Couplings and Bends Demo

3:30pm Wrap Up & Door Prizes

Expo T-ShirtIncluded With

Each ExpoRegistration

Up to 6 certificationwater and/or wastewaterhours offered for full-day

attendance (or a combination of the two).

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MRWA OPERATOR EQUIPMENT EXPO2017 EXPO Registration Form

Pre-Registration

First Name: Last Name:

Address:

City: State: Zip:

Phone: Fax:

You can also register online at: www.mrwa.com

Full Registration includes access to all sessions, demonstrations, expo t-shirt, contests,and luncheon on September 6.

Check one: Postmarked prior to On-Site RegistrationSeptember 1, 2017

______ MRWA Member: $125.00 (per person) $150.00 (per person)

______ Non-Member: $150.00 (per person) $175.00 (per person)

______ Grand Total Due

Cancellation policy: Fees will be refunded if written request is received prior to September 1, 2017.

Please send your registration form withpayment by September 1, 2017 to:

Minnesota Rural Water Association217 12th Ave SEElbow Lake, MN  56531E-mail: mrwa@mrwa.comWeb: www.mrwa.com

Questions? Please call (800) 367-6792

MRWA handles credit card payments online!

MRWA accepts VISA, MasterCard, AmericanExpress, Discover, and eCheck.

To complete your payment online, go towww.mrwa.com and click on the ‘pay now’ icon onour home page.

Thank you!

E-mail address:

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LMC’s 2017 City of Excellence Award Winners

Four Minnesota communities receive honors from League of Minnesota CitiesCities of Chatfield, Hutchinson, White Bear Lake, and Brooklyn Park selected as 2017 City of ExcellenceAward winners

(June 14, 2017—Rochester, Minn.) City-administered initiatives that included improving water meters and themeter reading process, increasing the community’s skilled workforce, creating a shared recycling program for localbusinesses, and fostering civility through a community visioning process were recognized when the League ofMinnesota Cities announced City of Excellence Award winners for 2017. The awards were presented at theLeague’s Annual Conference in Rochester.

To compete for consideration as a City of Excellence, cities self-nominated a project, program, or initiative that wasadministered to achieve one or more of the following: improvement of the quality of a city service; development of an effective or innovative way to solve an old or common problem; modification of a program from another community or organization to fit city needs; discovery of a way to save the city money without compromising service results; and/or creative involvement of city staff or citizens in making a decision. Winning entries were chosen in three population categories and in a special topical category. A description of each winning nominationfollows.

Population under 5,000City of Chatfield—“Water Meter & Meter Reading Improvement Project”

The city of Chatfield updated and replaced all the water meters in the city andadded meters in buildings where there were none. The new water meters useremote monitoring technology. As a result of the project, the city reduced theamount of unaccounted water use, secured revenue from previously unmeteredwater use, and dramatically reduced the amount of labor associated with readingmeters.

In order to administer this project, Chatfield tapped the assistance of Jeff Dale of the Minnesota Rural WaterAssociation, who provided technical expertise. Mike Bubany of David Drown & Associates helped the city arrangefor financing through the MRWA micro-loan program, which was free of the costs associated with issuing traditionalbonds. Chatfield also saved an estimated $30,000-$40,000 in consulting fees by managing the project with theircity staff and partnerships rather than retaining consultants. Because of the project, Chatfield now receives timely data on potential leaks. This data allows the city to proactively address problems, resulting in savings and improved service for consumers.

Population 5,000 to 19,999City of Hutchinson—“TigerPath Skilled Workforce Development Initiative”

The City of Hutchinson collaborated with its local school district, Ridgewater College, 18 local manufacturers andtwo individual funders to address a skilled workforce shortage in the community. Instead of trying to recruit employ-ees from outside of Hutchinson, the “TigerPath Initiative” supports five integrated strategies to develop existinghuman resources within the community—students at Hutchinson High School and at the local technical college.

Initiative partners worked together to realign the school district’s high school education system by implementing“TigerPath Academies,” designed to help students find the best possible education and career fit based on theirown interests and aptitudes. Students now have the opportunity to earn industry recognized credentials, such as“certified welder,” in the classroom; participate in a senior-year internship program with local employers; and tourlocal industries.

Additional investment underway ensures that Hutchinson High School will have the best equipped, most advanced technical education program in Minnesota by September 2017. TigerPath is also working to change the narrativeabout manufacturing jobs, shifting perceptions of these opportunities to better reflect the lucrative, high-techpositions available today.

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So far, the initiative has recruited 21 partners and a total of $1.2 million has been raised to support the TigerPathInitiative, which is projected to be fully implemented by the end of the 2017-2018 school year. TigerPath not onlybrings about a paradigm shift in how the need for skilled workforce is addressed, but it is also building theHutchinson of tomorrow by giving local students the tools they need to succeed today.

Population 20,000+City of White Bear Lake—“Washington Square Waste Consolidation Project”

The Washington Square Waste Consolidation Project developed a successful sharedrecycling and organics collection program in downtown White Bear Lake. The collectionprogram, which is shared among 11 small businesses surrounding a city-owned parkinglot, beautifies the area, decreases disposal costs, and makes the city more sustainable.

The city was awarded a $96,760 Ramsey County Public Entity Innovation Grant thatfunded a shared enclosure on the city parking lot, which was designed through collabo-ration between White Bear Lake, Rust Architects, Aspen Waste Systems, and the localbusiness lead. Ramsey and Washington County’s BizRecycling program provided grantsfor the businesses to purchase necessary supplies to set up programs internally. Businesses were also able to utilize BizRecycling’s consultant, Minnesota Waste Wise, for free assistance applying for grants, setting up bins,and educating staff about their new programs.

The project improved the aesthetic appeal of the downtown area by eliminating clusters of dumpsters at each business; increased waste diversion by standardizing recycling arrangements and adding an organics recyclingservice; and reduced overall disposal costs for participating businesses. The success of this project serves as ademonstration to other public entities on the multiple benefits of building a shared enclosure for a group of businesses.

Topical Category—Promoting Civility in Your CityCity of Brooklyn Park—“Brooklyn Park 2025 Community Visioning Process”

Brooklyn Park city officials realized that civil discourse and collaboration hadn’t always been part of its community’s culture. To change that, the city made an intentional shift toward embracing community engagement during itsstrategic planning process. Brooklyn Park set a goal to collect input from 1,000 community, council, and staff members to create one unified set of goals: The Brooklyn Park 2025 Community Plan.

The Brooklyn Park 2025 Community Plan was created with the feedback gathered through the following communityengagement efforts: collaborating among 17 community groups, using an online forum and Facebook polls, facilitating six community cafe events, holding community meetings with local businesses and institutional leaders,interviewing young people, tabling at various events, offering staff workshops, posting large whiteboards for feedback at local businesses, engaging mobile recreation participants and their families, and hearing from NorthHennepin Community College students whose families were often under-engaged by traditional government outreach.

In the end, 2,481 voices contributed to the 2025 plan. The plan has wide community support and serves as a wayfor the city to foster understanding, connection, and civility in an increasingly polarized political and civic climate.

About the judgesThe 2017 City of Excellence award nominations were judged by a panel of former members of the LMC Board ofDirectors, including Carol Mueller, mayor of the City of Mounds View; Brian Scholin, councilmember for the City ofPine City; and Craig Waldron, former administrator for the City of Oakdale and current professor at HamlineUniversity instructing in public administration.

Reprinted from League of Minnesota Cities web site http://www.lmc.org/page/1/COEwinners17-nr.jsp

LMC’s 2017 City of Excellence Award Winners continued

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Minnesota Rural Water Association217 12th Avenue SEElbow Lake, MN 56531

NON-PROFITORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGEPAID

PERMIT NO. 66ST CLOUD, MN

56301

MnWARN will hold their Annual Meeting onSeptember 27, 2017 at the Courtyard by Marriott(across the street from the Kelly Inn & River’s EdgeConvention Center) in St. Cloud, MN.

Lunch is provided and there is no fee to attend. Plan to attend! Full agenda will be available soon and will be posted on the MnWARN web site at: www.MnWARN.org.

This meeting is open to MnWARN Members andNon-Members - please attend and find out whatMnWARN has to offer! There is no charge and nocommitment. Remember: Utilities Helping Utilities- When Disaster Strikes, How Will Your UtilityObtain Assistance?

Register by calling: 800-367-6792 or online atwww.mrwa.com/wf8.html

MnWARN to Host Annual Meeting

B e n e f i t s o f a W A R N :

The re i s no cos t t o pa r t i c i pa t e .

WARN i s l i ke i nves t i ng i n a no cos t i ns u r a nc e p o l i c y t o a cc es s r es o ur c es wh en needed .

WARN i nc reases em ergenc y p r epa redness and coo rd i na t i on .

WARN enhances access t o spec i a l i zed r esou rces .

WARN expe d i t es a r r i va l o f a i d ( don ’ t have t o wo rk ou t t he adm in i s t r a t i ve i t em s ; t he ag reemen ts and WARN p r o toco l s work t hem ou t i n advance f o r you ) .

WARN ag reemen t con t a i ns i ndemn i f i -ca t i on and wo rke r ’ s compensa t i on p r ov i s i ons t o p ro t ec t pa r t i c i pa t i ng utilities and provide reimbursement protocols.

There is no obligation to respond.

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