Awards of Excellence

Scott Dalling - City of American Falls

Since taking the administrator position, this nominee for Administrator of the Year has been instrumental to this industry. Through his efforts his system was awarded a 14 million dollar grant for a meter installation project. Another major project underway is upgrading waterlines to meet fire code. He continues to improve the system’s asset management plan and has implemented a preventative maintenance program which includes annual flushing and valve exercising. With 19 years in the industry, he has been very supportive educating staff, encouraging staff to acquire new certifications, and helping staff pass the exams. This nominee has an infinite amount of knowledge that he’s willing to share with others. His hard work, diligence, passion for helping, and teamwork make him one of a kind. Always willing to get in the hole with his crews displays what a great mentor he continues to be. He continues to develop new employees and manages inter staff relationships well. As a testament to his dedication to his system he currently has over 400 hours of unused vacation time on the books.

Brandon Andrews - City of Salmon

The individual nominated for the Rookie of the Year Award has been eager to get every job done and done right since the beginning of his employment. With just over two years on the job his motivation and determination show in his work. He is always the first one ready to go to a project and willingly accepts extra duties and tasks. Whether the job requires jumping in the trench digging a new install or fixing a leak repair, he is the first one to grab the shovel and jump in. This individual has incredible field education and has recently passed his drinking water distribution one exam and is waiting for approval on his wastewater one exam. Beyond just his water and wastewater duties he assists with plowing and other public work details. He is a high-quality employee who continues to positively engage in his day-to-day work. Supporting a system with over 1600 connections serving a population 3300 he is a true asset to his community. He is a great team player whose dedication to his family and community are his number one priorities. When not working he is an avid outdoors man who loves hunting and fishing almost as much as doting on his baby boy.

Casey Poser - City of Emmett 

The nominee for the Drinking Water Operations Specialist of the Year started out at the wastewater treatment plant while assisting the road department when they needed the help. A few years went by and he found his home at city water where he has been thriving. He has been involved with the installation of a new booster station, including several large-scale distribution/transfer waterline replacements, and two SCADA upgrades. He is currently operating under a Class II Water Treatment and Distribution Operator License and is studying for his Class III Certification and will soon test for his Class I Wastewater Treatment Certification. He willingly responds to on-call duties and will help out with the city’s emergencies even when not on call. His attitude, knowledge, responsiveness, and versatility make him an ideal employee everyone wants on their team.

Rodger Hawker - City of Middleton

This nominee for the Wastewater Operations Specialist of the Year has been instrumental in running the daily operations of City of Middleton’s Wastewater Treatment Facility. Last year he was a vital part of the team through different changes of leadership and a period of being short-staffed. He has taken on the operational challenges and collected data for the city’s new approach to Phosphorous Removal through the Reuse Pilot Project study. This individual has always been concerned with the interest and welfare of the public. His main concern is to always provide the public the best quality of water to the river, above and beyond what the permit requires. He helps city employees study for exams and offers tours of the city’s treatment facility to anyone who shows interest. He has written many standard operating procedures and the quality assurance project plan for the city’s wastewater treatment plant. One of his major accomplishments is gaining many licenses in a short amount of time. He has a wastewater treatment class 4 license, (the highest possible in the state,) a wastewater collections class 2 license, and a laboratory class 2 license. His diligence, work-ethic, valuable skillsets, and constant striving to learn are some of the many reasons why he has made such an impact on his community.

City of Coeur d' Alene

This city continues to perform outstanding customer service, cross connection control, leadership, and source protection. The city values its staff and their hard work, so it continues to create better working conditions for its employees. The staff exceed expectations by helping neighboring systems, participating in organizations that educate the community, promoting fair and easy to use regulatory rules, and encouraging the protection of their sole source aquifer while cooperating with Eastern Washington. This city has received many compliments from the northern regional DEQ office. DEQ uses this city as a model by which they compare other regional facilities. This city that strives to lead the industry in protection of the public health continues to demonstrate great qualities of a drinking water system.

 City of Ucon

The city being recognized for the Source Water Protection System of the Year is committed to source water protection for their community. This city recently received a source water protection grant to update security around well #1 to include fencing, doors, and cameras to make sure the well is protected and secure. Chris Johnson from IRWA helped update the source water protection plan and identified the delineation of the aquifer and potential contamination threats. To prevent contaminating the wells, old fire hydrants and parts of infrastructure have been removed and replaced. In addition to well #1 being more secure, well #3 has also received a new alarm system and fencing. This city wants to keep their community safe and healthy by being aware of potential contamination from outside sources.

Congressman Mike Simpson -  pictured, Craig Quarterman accepting on his behalf

Each year we recognize a friend and champion of rural water.  Someone who has made a significant difference to our industry and to most of you.  The recognition we are sharing this evening is long overdue and well deserved.

This year’s Friend of Rural Water has been a true supporter of rural water for decades.  He has worked hard to limit regulatory burden and to bring resources into our state to help us better manage the cost of compliance and the ever-challenging cost of building and maintaining sustainable infrastructure. 
This individual began serving as a public servant for our state in 1984 as a state representative – rising through the ranks to be the Idaho Speaker of the House before transitioning to the federal level as a U.S. representative in 1999.  His passion for Idaho and supporting projects directly beneficial to our state were evident right away.  As early as his first year in Congress, he supported projects for Burley, Hailey, Atlanta, and Glenns Ferry water and sewer improvements through the appropriations process.  Most recently, he helped secure funding for the Cities of Grace and Roberts for wastewater improvement projects.

From my perspective, one of the most impressive attributes of this individual is his history of support for programs even outside his district to benefit all of Idaho!  For example, he has been a strong advocate for statewide programs and communities outside his district like the University of Idaho extension programs, Lewis-Clark State College start-up programs, and various water and sewer infrastructure projects which included facilitation of Army Corps grant funding for projects for Emmett, Donnelly, Rupert, Driggs, Bonners Ferry, Smelterville, and the Eastern Idaho Regional Wastewater Facility.

We have been fortunate to have this individual be extremely effective in collaborating with others to move significant projects forward like the work he coordinated with former Idaho Senator Larry Craig on the 2004 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill to further develop Idaho water and wastewater projects which included Coolin Sewer District, St. Maries, and Horseshoe Bend.  The work these two collectively accomplished over several years provided significant savings to many of Idaho’s communities which ultimately helped maintain more affordable services to thousands of Idaho residents!

Besides project funding, this individual has consistently pushed back against EPA against burdensome regulations.  He advocated for an additional six months for issuance of the arsenic in drinking water rule as he was concerned about the rural communities with a small tax base challenged with complying with the new rule.
He has also championed Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act training and technical assistance programs as a senior appropriator. Year after year, as Congress considered how to invest taxpayers’ dollars, this individual understood the concept that rural communities in Idaho needed resources for compliance with the complicated list of federal EPA regulations, avoiding EPA fines, and operating safe drinking water and wastewater supplies - all while keeping your water rates affordable!

And just last month, they circulated a press release entitled, “Biden Administration’s Overreach on WOTUS Fails Rural America.” He has fought for decades to limit federal government regulations that impact our daily life, particularly in our agriculture communities. Despite the long running uncertainty around the definition of “Waters of the US,” this individual has authored language every year to prevent and block federal agencies from expanding their regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act, and has worked tirelessly to make sure this rule will, at the end of the day, work for rural America. Chairman Simpson has always made sure that the proper attention and federal resources are targeted to rural communities, so they are not left behind. 

On a personal note - Chairman Simpson is a true public servant that understands the art of politics for the good of his constituents.  While unable to be here in person with us tonight, please join me in recognizing Chairman Mike Simpson as a Friend of Rural Water.  Craig Quarterman – Congressman Simpson’s District Director is here with us tonight to accept the award on Congressman Simpson’s behalf but he has provided us a short video to accept the award.


 

Tony Hancock, City of Downey

Kelly Dahlquist Community Impact Award

 This nominee for the Kelly Dahlquist Community Impact Award was the sole full-time employee for more than half of his career. His cell phone is the emergency contact number for the city, and he makes himself available 24 hours a day. He is the reason the City of Downey moved to all meters and made the replacement of their water system possible. His commitment to the maintenance of the aging wastewater system is why it is doing as well as it is. In addition to being involved in the city’s planning and budgeting, in the past he has designed and installed a splash pad with water structures for kids and has carved a podium and made benches for the Community Center. Currently, his newest project is carving a sign for the maintenance building. This individual goes above and beyond for his community and is an inspiration to all.

Charlene Waddell, long time Mayor of the City of Worley -  pictured, husband Bill and son Keith accepting on her behalf

Doug MacNichol Humanitarian Award 

The individual being recognized this year worked hard as the city’s champion to complete the sewer collection system project and made a tremendous impact on reducing I & I for the community to help it operate more efficiently.  She was instrumental in getting the right message out to the community to garner enough support to pass a bond election for the project.  Most currently she took the initiative to collaborate with the city and local tribe to foster the idea of regionalization and was able to coordinate a viable solution to combine the utilities into a regional treatment project saving money for both communities!  A win for both communities! She was appointed to the Worley City Council in 1992 and served for seven years until she was appointed mayor. She served as mayor for 23 years until her death in 2022. She was known for making sure every road in Worley was paved well, free of potholes, and could be seen caring for the potted plants on Main Street. She was known for successfully landing the new Worley post office, senior citizens center, Marimn Health Center, and Highway 95’s corridor through Worley. Her long-term view and passion for the community paved the way for the current wastewater treatment regionalization project that will benefit both communities for generations to come. 

All conducted under her leadership.

City of Hollister