Operator Of The Year Award Program Policies And Procedures And Final Selection Criteria

FINAL SELECTION CRITERIA

SECTION 1 - PRESENTATION

1. An award recognizing "The Jim McDonald Award for Outstanding Water Supply Operator of the Year" and "The Don Scott Award for Outstanding Pollution Control Operator of the Year " in the State of Mississippi shall be presented annually by the Mississippi Water and Pollution Control Operators' Association, Inc.
2. The awards shall be presented at the annual meeting of the MWPCOA.
3. An appropriately inscribed plaque shall be presented to the award recipients. A certificate of merit shall be presented to each operator attaining finalist status.

SECTION 2 - ELIGIBILITY

1. All certified operators in the State of Mississippi who are MWPCOA members and who have not previously received the award shall be eligible for consideration for receipt of the award. Members of the MWPCOA Board of Governors selecting the recipient shall be exempt from nomination for the awards while serving their terms on the Board.
2. Operators shall be eligible for consideration if nominated by another operator, their supervisor, the MS Department of Health, Division of Water Supply, or the MS Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Pollution Control. Members of the MWPCOA Board of Governors shall be prohibited from nominating an operator for the award while serving their terms on the Board.

SECTION 3 - AWARD COMMITTEE AND SELECTION OF AWARD RECIPIENT

1. All nominations shall be received by the date set by the Board of Governors. All nominations shall be reviewed by the Board by criteria set forth on the Evaluation and Scoring Forms. Operators (top 2 or 3, to be determined by the Board) in each category (Water Supply and Pollution Control) achieving the highest scores from averaging the points awarded by each member of the Board of Governors shall be considered finalists for the awards.
2. A committee (OPY Final Review Committee) shall be appointed annually by the Board of Governors for the purpose of selecting the award recipients from the finalists. Said committee shall be comprised of three (3) members. Chairman of the Committee shall be the President of MWPCOA or his designate and the other members shall be appointed by the Board.
3. All members of the Final Review Committee shall visit the facility operated by each of the finalists. Said visits shall be set up by appointment with the nominee. If a member of the committee is unable to be present for one of the scheduled visits, then his scores for the other visits shall be invalid.
4. Each member of the Final Review Committee shall be responsible for evaluating the finalists based on the criteria stated on the Final Review Evaluation Form. The evaluation procedures shall be

SECTION 4 - AWARD CRITERIA FOR FINAL REVIEW COMMITTEE

1. The award shall recognize outstanding contributions to supply of potable water and to the causes of water pollution control through excellence in operations.
2. Specific criteria to define outstanding operations shall include, but not be limited to, the following categories:
   1. Compliance with applicable regulations - (NPDES permit conditions for pollution control and Monitoring requirements for water supply.)
   2. Operational skills.
   3. General maintenance and equipment upkeep.
   4. Housekeeping and grounds maintenance.
   5. Training of personnel.
   6. Participation in promotion of operator training and certification.
   7. Safety and emergency response.
   8. Records and reports
   9. Budget and resources management.