The Clear Take on Water and Wastewater Today

Some Good News

Operator of the Year Award goes to Nate Taylor in Valley, Nebraska!

Nate Taylor

Nate Taylor receiving his award.

Earlier this month, our own Nate Taylor received a Certificate of Recognition for “outstanding service as a water operator” from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health (NDHHS).

Nate’s path to working at PeopleService includes serving as a police officer and managing an auto glass store – a cool combination of strengths and skills that make him the outstanding “Go-To-Guy” whom Region Manager Duane Grashorn admires. “Nate has worked hard to get where he is today in our company. He’s smart, dedicated, cares about his work – and it shows. When a customer has a need – big or small – I know I can count on Nate.” Tim Thares, Nate’s NDHHS Field Representative said at the presentation of the award, “Nate has done a fantastic job with everything that has been thrown at him over the last nine years.” All of us in the PeopleService family send heartiest congratulations to Nate!

Extra Mile Award goes to David Levelwind in Biwabik, Minnesota!

David Levelwind

David Levelwind with Minnesota Rural Water Association Chairman, Les Anderson.

What an honor to have the Minnesota Rural Water Association recognize our own David Levelwind with their Extra Mile Award. These awards recognize outstanding achievers who go above and beyond their normal scope of responsibilities assisting water/wastewater systems and their personnel. They are given by nomination from operations specialists, industry members, peers and friends. David transferred to the City of Biwabik’s project on June 1, 2019. He hit the ground running as the responsible operations specialist. And, waiting for him were multiple issues that had to be resolved in a short timeframe to improve compliance and system reliability.

“David jumped in and worked successfully with the City, its engineering firm, outside vendors and PeopleService coworkers,” said Minnesota Region Manager Paul Christensen. Biwabik City Administrator Jeff Jacobson, ICAM-CM, added, “Immediately after signing our contract with PeopleService, we set out to upgrade the capacity and reliability of our system. Working in the field with David Levelwind and others allowed us to identify areas that needed improvement and come up with cost effective ways to fix any issues and improve our utility system overall. Congratulations and a big thank you are in order for our water operator, David Levelwind!!!”

Others in the community chimed in to extend their appreciation for David’s work. We appreciate our partnership with the City of Biwabik!

“Since day one working with Dave has been awesome!”
-City Councilor Robert “Chipper” Kovatovich

“Good work, David.  I wish we had you 5 years ago!”
-Public Utilities Commission Chair David “Mose” Sherek

“Talk about a well-deserved honor. Biwabik is fortunate to have David taking care of our community!”
-Mayor Jim Weikum

“Way to go!  And Thank You.”
-Public Utilities Commissioner Jack Larson