PROACTIVE MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION HELP DISTRICT THROUGH PANDEMIC RESPONSE

The District continues to proactively manage its response to the coronavirus pandemic to protect the wellbeing of employees and provide essential gas and water services to the community. There are many new developments since the last update in Taps & Jets.

VACCINE UPDATE

Recently a vaccine for COVID-19 was developed and is being administered to health care workers. Federal, State and local agencies are working together to distribute the vaccine through three tiers, with priority given to the highest risk groups first.

As a public utility, the District falls under Tier 1B of the State of Nebraska’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan. Because of limited supplies, the District likely will not receive enough vaccine doses for every employee who wants to get the vaccine on our first installment.

As part of our business continuity plan, a tiered approach will be used to assist with prioritization of the District’s vaccination administration. Some of the criteria include:

• Direct contact with customers

• Work in a 24-hour/emergency response operation

• Critical job functions with limited backup

It is also important to know if employees plan to get the vaccine in this first round. The vaccine will not be mandatory. In early January, Human Resources (HR) conducted a poll asking employees if they plan to get the vaccine. Of the 767 employees who responded as of January 22, results were: 54% yes; 18% no; 26% undecided and 2% other (medical condition or religious beliefs prevent from getting vaccine).

Once the vaccine doses are received, the District will coordinate with Kohll’s Pharmacy to host on-site clinics for employee convenience. At this time, the vaccine clinics will only be offered to active District employees, not family members or retirees.

MANAGING THE RESPONSE

Despite hitting peak numbers of positive cases in late fall, the District was able to maintain operations. December brought a lower positivity rate and as of January 21, there were only 14 active COVID-19 cases being tracked.

HR continually manages and monitors the notification and testing process. In November, Danette Lodes, temporary human resources specialist, joined the District to serve as the case worker and HR point of contact.

Management uses the incident command structure to oversee the pandemic response and ensure business continuity. To increase employee communications, all supervisors participate in a weekly briefing call on Mondays.

To offer more in-depth and timely communications, the District organized two “Chat with the President” Webex events, November 17 and December 15, to provide updates to employees and a forum to ask questions of senior management. In addition to the pandemic, other topics included an update on the Construction Center settling issue, the new Headquarters building and a look ahead to 2021. Recordings of the Webex events are posted on myMUDConnect, accessible from the Okta dashboard.

As part of the Webex events, employees were invited to ask questions and provide feedback through several surveys. This information is being reviewed and will help determine the format and schedule of similar events in 2021.

UTILITY ASSISTANCE FUNDS

More than 6,200 households (nearly 20,000 people) negatively impacted by COVID-19 received financial assistance with their utility bills through a variety of resources, including $2 million in CARES Act funding for Douglas County residents. In addition to the federal dollars, the State of Nebraska distributed thousands in assistance and the District’s Home Fund served as another safety net.

M.U.D teamed up with OPPD and Dollar Energy Fund partners and launched the application process August 10, working to reach as many customers in need as possible before the December 14 deadline.

At the end of 2020, Congress passed another coronavirus relief bill. The District continues to monitor the potential impacts for additional utility assistance funds to help customers in need through 2021.

On January 13, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners approved an additional $2 million in utility assistance (split between M.U.D. and OPPD) for Douglas County residents.