Metro District Honors Two Employees
John Van Epps
Karl Johnson
by Terri Wiebold
The Castle Pines North (CPN) Metro District recently honored two of its employees with an “Employee of the Year” award. District Manager Jim McGrady publicly recognized and at the District’s annual holiday party in December.
“We strongly believe that the time has come to award performance and also publicly recognize an employee who has shown initiative, demonstrated creative problem solving skills, shown an ability to work independently, and has worked tirelessly for the betterment of the District and its facilities,” said McGrady.
This is the first year the Employee of the Year Award has been given, and the District selected Van Epps and Johnson to share the honor.
Van Epps is the parks and open space foreman and has been with the District for more than six years. Van Epps has been instrumental in plowing and snow blower operations in order to clear the District’s 14 miles of trails each winter, which proved to be quite an undertaking these past two winters.
Additionally, Van Epps took on the responsibility last spring of repairing all of the District’s irrigation systems and is in charge of installing a new state-of-the art irrigation system. Previously a good deal of this work was contracted out, costing the District more money.
According to McGrady, CPN is the first major irrigator in the state of Colorado to install this new system, and as such, received a $56,000 grant from the Colorado Water Conservation Board. “Because of John’s willingness to step to the plate and perform this work in-house, the District has saved tens of thousands of dollars annually,” he said.
The District also honored Karl Johnson with the Employee of the Year award. Johnson is the District’s maintenance supervisor and is responsible for maintaining the District’s eight lift stations, 90 miles of water and wastewater mains with nearly 600 hydrants, and thousands of water valves and manholes.
In addition to maintaining this system, Johnson managed several major projects in 2007, including a video surveillance program and a hydrant leak detection program, which will save the District upwards of 20 million gallons of water each year.
“Johnson’s initiative and willingness to implement these programs has almost single handedly enhanced the value and appearance of the District’s infrastructure, saved the District thousands of dollars in lost water, and has proactively implemented a true preventative maintenance program,” said McGrady.
The District honors these two outstanding employees for all the work they have done over the years and for making Castle Pines North a better and more enjoyable place to live.
Learn more about the Metro District at www.cpnmd.org.
