A department of Johnson County, KS

News and Press Releases 2012 - 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 10, 2012
For additional information, please contact Lori Sand, director of Communications, at (913) 715-8572.

JCW brings home the Gold (and three Silver, and two Platinum!)

OLATHE, KANSAS -- Each year the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) recognizes public wastewater facilities for outstanding compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit limits. This recognition program consists of Peak Performance Awards in three categories – Platinum, Gold and Silver.

Johnson County Wastewater was recognized in July at the NACWA national conference held in Philadelphia for its outstanding compliance records in the 2011 calendar year and was presented with two Platinum Awards. In total, JCW earned six Peak Performance awards.

John O’Neil, general manager, first set the stage for an award ceremony at the Aug. 23 Board of County Commissioner’s meeting by sharing NACWA’s Platinum Awards.

“What these people do every single day really does matter,” O’Neil said. “They are very deserving of this honor.”

He was then joined by various staff members from the plants as they received the award from Board Chairman Ed Eilert and Commissioner Calvin Hayden.

Three treatment facilities earned Silver Peak Performance Awards which recognize facilities that received no more than five NPDES permit violations in 2011.

Silver Peak Performance Award honorees are:

• Myron K. Nelson Plant
• New Century AirCenter Plant
• Tomahawk Creek Plant

One JCW treatment facility received the Gold Peak Performance Award which honors treatment works that have achieved 100 percent compliance with the NPDES permit for 2011.

The Gold Peak Performance Award honoree is:

• Douglas L. Smith Middle Basin Plant

And finally, JCW received two Platinum Peak Performance Awards to honor treatment works that have completed at least five years of complete and consistent National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit compliance.

The county’s Platinum Award recipients are:

• The Mill Creek Regional Plant at 20001 West 47th Street in Shawnee for five years of permit compliance, and
• The Blue River Main Plant at 2523 West 151st Street in Overland Park for six years of permit compliance.

In 2011, Johnson County Wastewater had a 99.69 percent compliance rate with regard to NPDES discharge violations. Of a possible 2,266 violations, the department recorded seven violations for the year.

“It is very difficult to achieve that level of compliance,” O’Neil noted.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2012
For additional information, please contact Lori Sand, director of Communications, at (913) 715-8572.

JCW Earns National Recognition

OLATHE, KANSAS -- Johnson County Wastewater (JCW) was recently awarded a NACo Achievement Award by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for its Succession Planning Program.

The department’s Succession Planning Program was developed to attract and retain future managers, and to ensure they receive the training necessary to assume greater responsibility over time. The program’s goal is to equip interested and eligible staff with the tools necessary to shorten the learning curve should they step into those roles. The expectation is that staff will be better prepared to perform successfully on a shorter timeline.

This national recognition program cites innovative programs that modernize county government and increases its service to residents. Johnson County won a total of five Achievement Awards this year and was the only county in Kansas to receive Achievement Awards.

Begun in 1970, the annual Achievement Award Program is a non-competitive awards program that recognizes innovative county government programs. Each application is judged on its own merits and not against other applications received. Awards are given in 21 different categories.

The department was also recognized with two Awards of Excellence in 2012 from the National Association of County Information Officers (NACIO).

The 2010 annual report, The Business of Johnson County Wastewater, won an Excellent Award, and the department’s 2011 plan to gather public input on the combined charges initiative won a Meritorious Award.

NACIO’s annual competition recognizes outstanding public relations and public information work being done in counties across the nation. Johnson County departments won a total of nine Awards of Excellence. This year, nearly 350 entries were received in nine categories from large and small counties and state associations of counties.

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Johnson County Commissioners Approve a Change in the way in Which Wastewater Customers are Billed

JOHNSON COUNTY GOVERNMENT
STATE OF KANSAS
NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release: March 16, 2012

Johnson County Commissioners Approve a Change in the way in Which Wastewater Customers are Billed
On March 15, 2012, the Johnson County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved changes to the Johnson County Wastewater (JCW) billing approach:
• Beginning January 1, 2013, the JCW capital charge will be moved from the tax bill to the user charge bill for most JCW customers.
• Beginning January 1, 2014, the JCW capital charge will be calculated based on both volume and fixed costs, eliminating the Equivalent Dwelling Unit approach for most JCW customers.

This billing approach will require significant changes in the JCW Charter, billing system, and procedures, and once complete, will result in more equitable capital charges to JCW ratepayers.
“The commissioners have discussed making these changes for several years,” said John O’Neil, general manager of JCW. “The reasons for the changes are to bring JCW in line with best practice of a true utility and for government transparency. Recent research has shown that the majority of JCW customers are not aware that a portion of the wastewater charges are billed annually with the property tax.”
A public education campaign for JCW’s 135,000+ accounts will begin in late August, once the 2013 rates have been approved.

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News and Press Releases - 2011

• November, 2011
  • Proposal to Change the Way Johnson County Wastewater Customers are Billed
    • The Johnson County Commissioners will make an important decision in the next several months which would affect all Johnson County Wastewater customers. More >>>
• July, 2011
  • John O'Neil elected to NACWA
    • John O’Neil, general manager of Johnson County Wastewater (JCW), was recently elected to serve as a Region 7 representative on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) during its 41st annual meeting, July 19-22, 2011. More >>>
• July, 2011
  • $37.8 million for waterwater plant improvements
    • Johnson County authorizes $37.8 million for waterwater plant improvements, including tunnel— Johnson County is going to a great depth to carry millions of gallons of treated wastewater from the Mill Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Shawnee to empty into the Kansas River. More >>>
      
• August, 2011
  • Johnson County plans August public hearing on proposed sewer project for Gardner Lake
    • A public hearing has been scheduled on August 22 regarding a decades-old issue of providing sewers to Gardner Lake. More >>>
      
• July, 2011
  • Sewer project involves Lone Elm Estates
    • Property owners in the Lone Elm Estates area, located north of Spring Hill, have petitioned Johnson County Wastewater for future sewer service. More >>>
      
• March, 2011
  • The State of JCW
    • Information presented March 10th, 2011 to the BOCC in the State of the County Services Report by JCW.
      Mar 2011 PDF, 3.64 MB, 4 pages
• February, 2011
  • Johnson County Wastewater to meet with residents in pilot areas.
    • Johnson County Wastewater (JCW) is working to reduce or eliminate excess rain water and groundwater from entering the JCW sanitary sewer system in the older Northeast part of Johnson County. More >>>