O&M’s Mechanical Maintenance was selected for Work Unit of the Year, 2008. This work unit is comprised of Mike St. Onge, Pat Bills, Rod Herrin, Denny Jokela, Jay Jokela, Todd Kukowski, Ken Garris and James Yeske. Dennis Stankewich is currently on deployment with the National Guard.

For the past three years, the members of this work unit have been frequently deployed to respond to the call of duty to serve our country. They have worked short-handed for three years because of the deployments. During this time, the Mechanical Maintenance work unit worked extremely hard to keep the corrective maintenance work backlog to a minimum, while repairing major equipment at the treatment plants to keep them running. On top of that, Mechanical Maintenance has completed several major improvement projects for the Treatment Division; one recent example is the rotary screen upgrades at the Eagle River plant. They have provided superior customer service at our treatment plants and their teamwork and commitment to achieve utility goals is commendable and demonstrates that together everyone achieves more.

This work unit has helped with the SCADA project upgrades to the wastewater pump stations. The Pump Maintenance crew, which is part of Mechanical Maintenance, has worked extensively on the current SCADA upgrades, dedicating more than half of their time to this project compared to routine pump station maintenance. The crew replaced or upgraded numerous submersible wastewater pumps. The rest of the work unit was needed to complete additional maintenance jobs normally completed by the pump crew. Their actions promote employee pride and demonstrate that they are innovative and flexible, recognizing that change is continuous. Congratulations for being selected as Work Unit of the Year!