Strand tabbed as new Henning Utility Supervisor
News | Published on March 23, 2022 at 11:22am EDT | Author: Chad Koenen
0New supervisor recently served as head of Cross Lake utilities
By Chad Koenen
Publisher
Ted Strand has been tabbed as the new utility supervisor for the Henning Public Utility department.
During a special meeting on Thursday night, the Henning City Council approved the hiring of Strand to take over the top position of the city-owned utility department. The approval came on a 4-1 vote with councilwoman Tammy Fosse voting in dissent.
Strand comes to the City of Henning with over 30 years of experience. He most recently served as the utility supervisor for the City of Cross Lake.
Henning Mayor Darren Wiese said Strand has all of the licenses needed for water and sewer and is planning to get his natural gas certification in the next month. He is also planning to get his boilers licenses as well. The only certification he did not have was on the electrical side.
Wiese said Strand is experienced in the industry, is organized, a self motivator and expressed an importance of watching out for taxpayer money during the interview process.
The council approved a base salary of approximately $75,000 per year with no overtime. He will begin with three weeks of vacation. The amount of vacation he received when starting was a deviation from past practice, but councilman Wes Johnson said Strand is coming to Henning with quite a bit of experience, compared to someone who is just starting out in the industry.
The city council approved the additional vacation as part of his hiring, with the condition he will follow the guidelines moving forward for accrued vacation.
In other news
• Approved increasing the advertised starting salary for the fourth utility worker to a range of $20-25 per hour. The city has not received very many applicants for the position to date.
• Accepted the resignation of utility worker James Nelson effective March 27.
• Approved the purchase of a 2022 Dodge Ram truck for the Henning Police Department. The bid price for the new police truck was $37,109 and will replace the current truck which was in need of repair.