fOCUS on FORT MORGAN
Jan. 2022
THE CITY OF FORT MORGAN EMPLOYEE NEWSLETTER
Wellness......pg. 4 Department Profile......pg. 6 Welcome New Employees......pg. 11
Message from the Manager......pg. 3
Birthdays and Work Anniversaries...... pg. 12 Monthly Dates of Celebration......pg. 13 Upcoming Events......pg. 14 Library Creative Club......pg. 15
IN THIS
EDITION: 2
FOCUS on Fort Morgan Employee Newsletter - Jan. 2022
Library Movie Night......pg. 16
Welcome! MESSAGE FROM THE MANAGER As we all know, clean water distribution is crucial to health, wellness, and to the effective management of any town. The City of Fort Morgan obtains water from the Colorado-Big Thompson and out of Carter Lake, and the hardworking people in our water department make sure it is high-quality, clean, and safe to drink. Please continue reading to learn more about the important work that goes into providing these services. The Water Distribution Department is responsible for maintaining 60 miles of distribution pipelines that serve water to 4,000 City customers. They also maintain 300 fire hydrants, the 12-mile long transmission pipeline from the treatment facility to the City, and the many wells used to irrigate the parks, schools, cemetery, and golf course. The next time you enjoy a refreshing sip of our City water, please share a good thought for the committed employees who work to provide clean water and sanitary services for Fort Morgan. I encourage you to look at the ‘Department Profile’ section of this newsletter to read more in-depth about their work. As we transition into 2022, I anticipate continued successes for our City and look forward to tackling new projects together. We welcome Lyn Deal to her new position as Mayor, and also welcome James Parks as Councilmember in Ward 3. Our efforts year to year ensure Fort Morgan continues to be a great place to live and work. As always, thank you for all you do, and please enjoy this month’s edition of the newsletter.
Steve Glammeyer Welcome to a new edition of the “Message from the Manager” and City Employee Newsletter. I hope you enjoyed last month’s edition and learned a lot about our Finance Department. To kick off 2022, we are spotlighting the dedicated employees of the Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Department.
Steve
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The groundwork for all happiness is good health. --Leigh Hunt
JANUARY WELLNESS
FIRST WELLNESS CHALLENGE OF 2022 Water Challenge! More details coming soon from the Wellness Committee Don't Forget! To Submit For Your Wellness & Health Screening Benefits
You Can File A Claim Online At: Aflacgroupinsurance.com Please remember when filling out the claim on-line you only need to provide info where there is an orange asterisk. You do not need to provide Employee ID, Group number or Certificate number.
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NATIONAL BLOOD DONOR MONTH Every two seconds someone in the U.S. requires a blood transfusion. The month of January has been observed since 1970 as National Blood Donation Month because winter is one of the most difficult seasons to collect blood. American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers join to celebrate National Blood Donor Month and encourage individuals to donate!
Benefits of donating blood: Donating blood helps people injured in accidents, undergoing cancer treatment, battling blood diseases, and many other reasons. Donating can reveal potential health problems Can reduce the harmful iron stores Giving may lower your risk of heart attacks Reduces the risk of developing cancer Keeps liver healthy Helps Mental State Benefits everyone
Tips for Blood Donations: Drink plenty of water Eat well beforehand Exercise before donating, not afterward Take iron Tablets
The American Red Cross suggests donating every 56 days or 8 weeks.
Where to donate visit: https://americasblood.org/for-donors/find-a-bloodcenter/ FMHS April 8, 2022 Check with local hospitals
FOCUS on Fort Morgan Employee Newsletter - Jan. 2022
JANUARY WELLNESS
EASY BURRITO BOWLS
NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS According to YouGov, these were the top New Year's Resolutions in 2021: Doing more exercise or improving my fitness (50%) Lose weight (48%) Save money (44%)
TOP 10 MOST COMMON NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS • Exercise more • Lose weight • Get organized • Learn a new skill or hobby • Live life to the fullest • Save more money / spend less money • Quit smoking • Spend more time with family and friend • Travel more • Read more
The City’s Wellness Program Challenges, Activities and Lunch ‘n Learns offered can help with many of these resolutions. Participating in the Wellness Program not only provides ways to have a healthy lifestyle and earn awards, but also keeps your insurance premiums down.
INGREDIENTS: 1 cup uncooked rice 1 cup salsa, homemade or store-bought 3 cups chopped Romaine lettuce 1 (15.25-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained 1 (15-ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed 2 Roma tomatoes, diced 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves FOR THE CHIPOTLE CREAM SAUCE: 1 cup sour cream 1 tablespoon chipotle paste* 1 clove garlic, pressed Juice of 1 lime 1/4 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste
Directions: 1. To make the chipotle cream sauce, whisk together sour cream, chipotle paste, garlic, lime juice and salt; set aside. 2. In a large saucepan of 1 1/2 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; let cool and stir in salsa; set aside. 3. To assemble the bowls, divide rice mixture into serving bowls; top with lettuce, corn, black beans, tomatoes, avocado and cilantro. 4. Serve immediately, drizzled with chipotle cream sauce.
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DEPARTMENT PROFILE WATER DISTRIBUTION &
Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out. --Robert Collier
WASTEWATER COLLECTION
our WORK
Thank you to our Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Departments for providing clean water to our City!
The Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Departments consist of two separate utilities under one umbrella. The Water Distribution Department has three divisions that are operated by five full time certified operators. The first division is Distribution, which is in charge of the overall maintenance and improvements of all of the piping and appurtenances from the Treatment Plant to the service line. The Distribution system consists of over 60 miles of distribution piping ranging from 4” up to 30” in size and 13 miles of transmission piping from 30” to 36” coming from the Treatment Plant. Along with maintaining the pipelines, Distribution is also in charge of the maintenance of over 340 fire hydrants and over 850 valves. The second division is Water Meters or the “Cash Registers” of the wet utilities, which is where the majority of the revenue comes from. There are currently over 4,100 active meters ranging from ¾” to 8” for servicing residential commercial and industrial customers. The last is the Cross-Connection Control and Backflow Prevention Division, which monitors the water usages for all commercial, industrial and non-single family residential properties. They also are responsible for the testing and maintenance of the 34 domestic backflow prevention assemblies owned by the City and offering the same for the over 300 customer owned assemblies throughout the City. They are also responsible for tracking all of the assemblies and devices in the City & the annual required State reporting. The Wastewater Collection Department is operated by three full time certified operators and is responsible for maintaining over 60 miles of collection pipelines ranging from 8” up to 36”. Starting in the southwest corner of town, most of the wastewater gravity flows through the network of pipelines eventually all coming together to arrive at the Wastewater Treatment Plant east of town. Along with the maintenance of the sewer mains, there are over 945 manholes and a lift station that must be inspected and maintained. The Collection Department utilizes various cleaning methods to maintain the flow of the City sewer lines including high velocity jetting, low pressure flushing and bacterial application for grease control. They also utilize main line televising to inspect the piping to verify cleaning proficiency and identify areas that need additional maintenance or repair.
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DEPARTMENT PROFILE WATER DISTRIBUTION &
WASTEWATER COLLECTION
Group Picture from left to right: Eric Smith, Trae Boehm, Erik Sagel, Ruben Rios, Adam Meeks, Victor Zavala, Dan Meeks, Curt Lindsey, Rudy Graham
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DEPARTMENT PROFILE WATER DISTRIBUTION & WASTEWATER COLLECTION
ERIC SMITH, BACKFLOW TECHNICIAN Eric Smith is in charge of the Backflow Prevention and Cross-Connection Control Program and is certified in Distribution, Collection and Backflow Prevention. He is also a certified Cross-Connection Control Surveyor and a Backflow Prevention Assembly Repairer. He was hired as the Meter Technician back in 2003 and has performed all the jobs of Distribution and Collection during his years with the City.
ERIK SAGEL, SUPERINTENDENT Erik Sagel is the superintendent of both the Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Departments and is certified in Distribution, Collection, Water and Wastewater Treatment and Backflow Prevention. He has been with the City since 2006 and was originally brought on to be the water meter technician but has worked in all areas of both Distribution and Collection
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TRAE BOEHM, LEAD OPERATOR OF DISTRIBUTION Trae Boehm is the Lead Operator of the Distribution and is certified in Distribution, Collection and Backflow Prevention. He has been with the City since 2007 when he was originally hired to work in Wastewater Collection as a camera operator. He oversees the day-today operations, job planning and implementation of the majority of the O & M programs.
RUBEN RIOS, OPERATOR Ruben Rios is in charge of the fire hydrant maintenance program and is the main compliance water sampler in Distribution. Ruben has been with the City since 2018 and is certified in both Distribution and Collection.
ADAM MEEKS, OPERATOR Adam Meeks is the Water Meter Technician and is certified in Distribution and Collection. He was hired for Distribution back in 2015 but moved into meters a short time later and now oversees the maintenance all of the water meters in the system.
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DEPARTMENT PROFILE WATER DISTRIBUTION & WASTEWATER COLLECTION
VICTOR ZAVALA, OPERATOR Victor “Tony” Zavala is the newest addition to Distribution brought on in 2020 to head up the valve maintenance program. He has already proven to be an asset and is already certified in Distribution and currently working toward Collection certification.
DAN MEEKS, LEAD OPERATOR OF WASTEWATER Dan Meeks is the Lead Operator of Wastewater and is certified in Collection, Distribution and both Water & Wastewater Treatment. Dan has been with the City since 2006 when he was hired for the Wastewater Collection Department as a maintenance worker. He oversees the operations and maintenance of the Collection system including the equipment used for the maintenance. He also determines necessary repairs and replacements and schedules the work to be performed. .
CURT LINDSEY, OPERATOR Curtis Lindsey has been with the City fulltime since 2004 where he was brought on to work in Distribution, but worked seasonal with the Parks Department before that. He has worked in several areas of both Distribution and Collection and was recently moved to the Collection Department full time. He is certified in Collection and Distribution and assists the department with the overall operations and maintenance.
RUDY GRAHAM, OPERATOR Rudy Graham has been with the City since 2015 and is a certified Collection and Distribution operator. Rudy assists with the overall operations and maintenance of the system and is in charge of manhole observation and maintenance program recently initiated.
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Cold weather tips!
DEPARTMENT PROFILE WATER DISTRIBUTION &
Keep garage doors closed if there are water
WASTEWATER COLLECTION
supply lines in the garage.
No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you. --Althea Gibson
Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals away from the reach of children.
When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold
FUN FACTS!
water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes.
How are sewer backups caused?
If you will be going away
A common cause of backups is sewer lines
during cold weather,
blocked by grease and/or paper towels,
leave the heat on in your
diapers, feminine hygiene products, and
home and set to a
cleaning wipes.
temperature no lower
How are sewer pipes cleaned? This process includes using high-pressure water from a jet truck to clean the pipelines and then sending a camera through the lines to check the effectiveness of cleaning and the system structure. In some areas, root cutting may be required, which could take slightly more time and may require jetting the line several times to ensure the best possible cleaning. 10
FOCUS on Fort Morgan Employee Newsletter - Jan. 2022
than 55°F.
TYLER PRICE Officer Price grew up in Colorado Springs and graduated from Liberty High School. He later attended University of Northern Colorado where he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics. He worked for the Morgan County Sheriff's Office for nearly five years as a Patrol Deputy and Investigator before joining the Fort Morgan Police Department on December 6.
MEET OUR NEW EMPLOYEES
WELCOME TO THE CITY!
Police Department, Police Officer I
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IN RECOGNITION BIRTHDAYS & WORK ANNIVERSARIES! 1/1
Kevin Campbell
1/3
Collette Brost & Adam Meeks
1/8
Travis Petrino
1/9
Brian Bagnall
1/10
Steve Brown
1/13
David Marquez
1/15
Nickole Clayton
1/18
Terry Heaton
1/23
Chris Walker
1/25 1/30 1/31
Ken Wright Marcos Montalvo-Munoz William Bencomo
BIRTHDAYS WORK ANNIVERSARIES YEARS OF SERVICE 1/1
Charlie Peters, 3 years
1/23
Eric Jensen, 10 years
1/2
John Zink, 5 years
1/24
Kelly Nestor, 10 years
1/5
Curt Lindsey, 18 years
1/25
Ted Thyne, 13 years
1/7
Bill Lorenzini, 20 years
1/30
David Ocanas, 5 years
1/9
Drew Givens, 16 years Tyler Horton, 10 years Josh Shipman, 10 years
1/31
Caleb Webb, 3 years
1/17
Jared Iungerich, 5 years
1/20
Jorge Rico Jr., 18 years
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FOCUS on Fort Morgan Employee Newsletter - Jan. 2022
Trent Ruder, 5 years
Glaucoma is called
“JUST FOR FUN” DAYS:
"the sneak thief of
January 1: Z Day (On this day, those whose last name begins with
JANUARY s i g h t " s i n c e t h e r e are no symptoms IS and once vision is GLAUCOMA lost, it's p e r manent. As AWARENESS much as 40% of MONTH vision can be lost
“Z” get to go first instead of last.) January 3: National Chocolate-Covered Cherry Day January 6: National Bean Day January 8: Elvis Presley's Birthday January 10: National Houseplant Appreciation Day January 14: National Dress Up Your Pet Day January 20: National Penguin Day
without a person
January 22: National Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day
noticing.
January 29: National Puzzle Day
JANUARY 17 IS MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Through his activism and inspirational speeches, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African American citizens in the United States, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr.,
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.… We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." — Martin Luther King, Jr., in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 1963
was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. After his assassination, he was memorialized by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
JANUARY 1 IS NEW YEAR'S DAY
JANUARY 9 IS NATIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT APPRECIATION DAY
JANUARY 27 IS INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
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Fieldhouse Thursday Nights, 5 PM to 8 PM, Pickleball Open Gym
Monday through Thursday, 4 PM to 8 PM Youth Basketball Practices
UPCOMING EVENTS
Community
JANUARY PROGRAMS AT THE LIBRARY
Saturday Mornings, Youth Basketball Games
Thursdays (5:00 PM), Fridays (9:00 AM), Yoga Classes
Tuesdays (10:00 AM), Strength Training Class
1/4 between 5 PM-6:30 PM - Creative Club! In the Library. Contact Lisa Samples for more information
1/18 at 12:00 PM - Brown Bag
DID YOU KNOW?
Presentation - Storyteller Dave Lively
takes you on a speedy tour of the
The Fieldhouse offers Group Fitness
recurring themes of survival and success
Classes and just added Bootcamps
the last 11,000 years in Rocky Mountain
with
National Park.
Sela Moya starting January 3.
Howard Rollin Memorial Community
Room
Go to the website:
https://secure.rec1.com/CO/fort-
morgan-co/catalog, select register
1/21 at 4:30 PM - Teen Night Out! -
now and you will find the group
Teens looking for a fun way to kick off
fitness classes or go to memberships
your New Year? Join us for this month's
to find the bootcamps.
Teen Night Out January 21st from 4:30-
6:30pm! Along with some fun activities,
Employees also receive a 20%
you will be designing your very own
discount so check it out!
journal or sketchbook. Registration is required, and space is limited so act fast! Snacks will be provided.
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thank you! We hope you enjoyed this month's edition of Focus on Fort Morgan. Have an idea for the newsletter? We'd love to hear from you! Email wellness@cityoffortmorgan.com
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