04/03/2018

Happy April MTAS!

Gee, how did we get away with an April Fool’s Day falling on a weekend?

There was a lot happening last week and I want to share some highlights with you. First, CONGRATULATIONS go to Ms. Armintha Loveday on her forty years of service to MTAS last Wednesday. This is a huge milestone and major accomplishment. We are so grateful for her dedication and service to MTAS and to TN cities and towns. Seventeen cities adopted proclamations declaring that March 27, 2018 was Armintha Loveday Day. Jonesborough even gave her a key to the city. We realize that MTAS and Armintha go hand in hand. I just did the math, and Armintha has been with MTAS for 58% of its existence. This is tremendous!

March 27 was also a work anniversary for Lisa Shipley. Thank you for your decades of service too Lisa. Wow, we are really fortunate to have such tenured staff working with us. In previous Mustards in March we celebrated five other employees who had work anniversaries. Those seven folks with March anniversaries have a total of 183 years of experience with MTAS. This statistic is amazing, and our customers are the beneficiaries of all this knowledge and experience.

In other news, last week was the TML Legislative conference. Before the conference began, there was a board of directors meeting. I gave a brief MTAS update and told the board about our strong projected budget this year, the new and improved website, staff turnovers, the positive results from the 2017 customer satisfaction survey, our enhanced social media efforts, the new utility board training, our success with the TNCPE application. I also mentioned the fact that we had two employees receive special recognition in the last six months – John C. was named the person of the year by the Tennessee Stormwater Association and December 5, 2017 was dedicated as Ralph Cross day in the city of Lebanon. I had a lot of fun and experienced pride in announcing your wonderful accomplishments. Way to go MTAS!

Also last week, MTAS had its budget hearing with IPS. The meeting went smoothly and the budget and its proposed changes seemed to be well received. I plan to give you more specifics on the budget at the MTAS retreat. What I can tell you more about right now though is that while the business manager position has been vacant, Rick, Lisa and Sherri really stepped up to make sure the budget process flowed seamlessly. Kudos to the three of them for their extraordinary efforts on the budget this year.

On a personal note, last Friday I attended a ceremony for a friend who became a naturalized citizen of the United States. There were three ceremonies that day, and the one I attended had 41 new citizens coming from 21 different countries. The judge invited each participant to say who he/she was, their country of origin, and the journey that brought them to the courthouse that day. The ceremony was incredibly touching and thought provoking. One person said that the U.S. was the land of peace – you can go to bed and night and not fear that you will be killed during the night. That gentleman was from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Another immigrant shared that he was grateful to the U.S.A to be able to worship whatever god he chose. Yet another described escaping from religious terrorists; and one lady described fleeing her war torn country to Jordan where she waited for two years before being able to select a new country. She chose the U.S.A. These stories were incredibly moving and really made me stop and think about what it means to be an American. I encourage you to find a ceremony near you and attend. They are open to the public.

I hope you enjoyed your three day weekend and have returned with all kinds of vigor to share with your customers.

Sincerely,
Margaret