19366_Authority_August

66 The Authority │ August Ultimately, after nearly 50 years, MABL decided to end its relationship with GD&F and start a new one with Uni-Tec Consulting Engineers and Pat Ward out of State College in 2001. Around that same time, I was working my way up through the organization. I had started interacting more with Uni-Tec as we were still working on projects that were funded by our bond issue. In 2004, with the retirement of our superintendent, the MABL board promoted me to my current role as executive director for the authority. When tasked with this new level of responsibility, I quickly realized the importance of having a trusting relationship with a consulting engineer. I leaned on them heavily in the early years of my leadership seeking their specialized expertise. Their core mission along with my vision for the advancement of our authority aligned, and we worked together to create a comprehensive plan for growth. Over the next 15 years, my “youthful ambition” was bridled by Mr. Ward’s patience as we continued to expand and improve MABL’s system pragmatically. Over those years we were able to generate more revenue, become more efficient as a business and make operational changes that were not simply for the sake of change, but for overall performance enhancement. And then… In September of 2019, chaos once again ensued for MABL and the events that unfolded over the next two years changed everything. Without reliving or rewriting that horror story, there was a happy ending to it ( for the full story, see PMAA’s publication, The Value of Authority Ownership of Public Water and Sewer Systems, p. 78 or visit municipalauthorities.org/ resources/the-value-of-authority- ownership/ ). In September 2021, the 77-year era that was MABL ended and The Mifflin County Municipal Authority (MCMA) was born. Uni-Tec was steadfast in their support of the efforts that were made to ensure that the water system would remain under public control, even if it was with a new name. Their role was of critical importance to help guide us through the process, even though it was mostly uncharted waters for them as well. Buchart Horn (BH) assumed ownership of Uni-Tec and was retained as consulting engineers moving forward. MCMA, was able to secure funding for a new construction fund when it issued its new 2021 water revenue bonds and construction of several projects began. The newly created board made the decision that we were moving rapidly to complete some major work, and they concluded that while BH would continue to administer existing contracts, that it wanted to add an additional engineer to design several other major undertakings. MCMA then retained the services of Herbert, Rowland and Grubic (HRG) led by Jeff Garrigan out of their State College campus, to begin work as its construction engineer and immediately began planning several additional projects concurrently with works in progress. In January 2023, MCMA was faced with a situation that required a fairly prompt resolution. The balance in the construction fund was nearing the end of its exemptions, and we were looking for ways to utilize those monies without penalty. We were currently operating out of an undersized old office building (which was formerly a grocery store) which needed extensive maintenance and structural improvements, and our equipment and truck fleet had Achieving More article continued from page 31. W E RELY ON LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF THESE VENDORS TO HELP US MANAGE OUR SYSTEM , AMONG THOSE ARE OUR ENGINEERS THAT PROVIDE EXPERTISE IN MOST OF THE PROCESSES THAT WE UTILIZE DAILY .