VMEU (Vinton Municipal Electric Utilities) met as well as the VMCU (Vinton Municipal Communication Utilities) - (same members, different purposes of each board) in both open and closed sessions Tuesday.

Because of a few "good" glitches in their plans, the board couldn't make final decisions on rates for the new iVinton project. Mike Maloney and Curtis Dean, both men that have helped to advise the board along the way, feel like the delays will work to the town's advantage.

The board went into a closed session to discuss the information that was received by the board to that point.

New to the board was Rich Hainstock.


Following the resignation of Jon Kremer who moved away from the area, Rich Hainstock of Vinton was officially appointed to the board of the Vinton Municipal Electric and also the Communication Utilities by the Vinton Mayor, Bud Maynard.

Rich and Mary Jo Hainstock (Vinton-Shellsburg School Superintendent), moved to Vinton 10 years ago and are no strangers to the community. As part of his bid for the position of mayor last year, Rich had mentioned that his top priority would be the iVinton project. He joins the board as we are in the height of the decision making part of the iVinton project. Pointing out in his "Meet the Candidate" profile on Vinton Today, that of the community's voter, more than 80% were in favor of the project, he realized then that it is definitely a top priority for the town. Much of Rich's background has been diverse. He was one of the original iVinton Committee members and has continued to be involved in the iVinton project for years, so he is no stranger to the decisions that he will need to be making for the project, Rich has been actively keeping an eye on the project. Realizing the need for high quality, reliable service, and seeing the project as a way to help the town to grow and thrive like the 80% that voted for the project, Rich feels like we've waited long enough

Rich has been part of various other community boards, (you can see his resume on the link above) and he says that experience has taught him to place good people in position and then supplying them with what they need, and supporting them, but then getting out of the way so that they can get the job done. "The electric utility has good people doing the work that needs to be done and I believe it is the boards place to supply what is needed to continue that good work. Additionally, I understand that should the scope of the work change, the board needs to be proactive in providing training, materials, and tools necessary for successful implementation of any necessary change," said Hainstock.

When asked what one of the challenges he thought the board might face he said, "Currently, the electric utility has a challenge in implementing the fiber effort, but to me, the biggest challenge facing the VMEU board is how to continue providing the best electric service for the lowest possible cost."

Editors note here: Rich is one of those people that is easy to talk to, so if you see him on the street, trust me, if you stop and say, "Hello," you'll be glad that you did.

And on another note: Don't forget to sign up for a site survey we've done an amazing job in this area. Last count we were around 1,200! Keep signing up, let's go for 100%, you'll be glad that you did.





Comments

Submit a Comment

Please refresh the page to leave Comment.

Still seeing this message? Press Ctrl + F5 to do a "Hard Refresh".