MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARDS

One of the most enjoyable activities in the life of a city manager is when you get to recognize city employees for a job well done. I got to do this today when I assisted Chief Halliburton in honoring 2 city employees for their part in helping contain the recent fire at Ecola State Park.

The 2 employees are Assistant Head Lifeguard Brian Habecker and Police Officer Joe Bowman. Brian and Joe distinguished themselves by transporting critically needed fire suppression equipment from a staging area at the Indian Beach parking lot to the 1st-line firefighters at the base of the fire. They accomplished this by driving an ATV with several thousand feet of hose and other firefighting necessities up and down precarious, steep, winding and rugged terrain over a two hour period of time. Brian and Joe had to adapt quickly to the ATV's limitations which wasn't equipped for such hauling activities.

Brian, Joe and the rest of the emergency personnel prevented a bad situation from becoming much worse. And our local environment benefitted from all of their actions.