Rimmer to retire as head of WM Utility

Rimmer to retire as head of WM Utility

Manager stepping down after 50 years of service to city

news@theeveningtimes.com

West Memphis Utilities manager John Rimmer is calling it a career after a half-century working for the city.

While Rimmer is looking forward to his golden anniversary with the city come New Year’s Day 2017, that milestone also comes with the announcement that 50 years is enough, and he will be retiring from the Utility Department.

“I went on the payroll the first of January, 1967,” said Rimmer.

Rimmer served in the Air Force, working in communications, where he gained climbing experience which opened a door of opportunity for a career path at the Utilities. He shared one experience from his time in the military.

“We were working outside D.C. when John Kennedy was assassinated,” said Rimmer. “We built an antenna directed to Johnson’s ranch so he could have communications over the Thanksgiving holiday.”

“I started as a grunt on the ground crew,” said Rimmer, “so I started pretty much at the bottom. I did that less than a year because I had climbing experience in the Air Force.

Then I started climbing to do electric work.”

That experience set the stage for him becoming a lineman.

“Now we have an apprenticeship program,” said Rimmer. “It takes five years from the time you come on until you are a journeyman.”

In his 50 years with the city, Rimmer always looked for opportunities to advance and prepared with courses to qualify himself for consideration with promotions. Hard work and actively following his ambitions helped him to progressively advance all the way to the top slot at the Utilities without a college degree. Rimmer will have served as General Manager for almost 16 years.

“There was an opening in the meter shop and I filled in,” said Rimmer. “Then I became meter superintendent about the time (now mayor) Bill Johnson came in as general manager. I moved from there and added the electrical superintendent having all electrical operations under my guidance. When the General Manger position came open I applied.”

The Utility Department maintains a reputation for low rates, something city leadership attributes to Rimmer.

“John Rimmer is a great negotiator,” said Mayor Bill Johnson. “He knows how to buy energy low and that’s what has kept our rates low.”

“We have not had a rate increase due to cost of services since 1982,” said Rimmer. “So I feel fortunate in my tenure that we’ve been able to get good pricing again for a contract that goes into effect in the middle of next year. There won’t be a rate increase.”

Rimmer looked back at the development of the utilities. Improvements in equipment and procedures marked the path. Rimmer listed SCADA (supervisory control an data acquisition) monitors, upgraded substations, the salt system for water purification among the big changes he has seen.

“We don’t put chlorine in the water anymore,” said Rimmer. “We have salt that is generated into a bleach.

It’s a lot safer environmentally. There is only one other city in the state that is doing it. It’s common in California because of environmental concerns. That was a big deal and it worked really well for us.”

“I was involved with the building of the Polk Street Station,” said Rimmer.

“Technically it could carry the load for the whole city.

We completely redid the station at Lehi and Gateway. We went from old oil breakers which were dangerous and obsolete, and upgraded them to the latest breaker technology.”

Running the Utilities was more than maintaining and updating infrastructure.

Rimmer ushered in a first ever engineering staff.

“We’ve got great people,” said Rimmer. “When I took office, I knew the need we had for engineers, and we did not have one on staff.

Now we have three. I’ve been able to add those positions with decent pay and not had to raise rates to cover the cost of those positions. It saves us money.

We can do things in house that we used to farm out.”

Rimmer looked forward to new technology to come from the Utilities.

“We are working right now on broad band communications that will allow us to read meters from the office,” said Rimmer. “It will allow us to do cutoffs from here. We are doing a phone system for the city.”

Online bill pay is all but there,” said Rimmer. “We are waiting on legal, privacy statement stuff.”

“Overall it’s been a real good ride for 50 years. I’ve had a mayor and a commission that’s allowed us to do stuff. I had a manager that allowed me to grow through the company.”

Rimmer urged ambition as a key trait for success.

“Many young people today are content with where they are,” said Rimmer. “I was always looking for what I had to do for the next step.”

Rimmer plans on keeping up with a “honey-do” list from wife Christine, and following the school and sports activities of his grandchildren. He looks forward to staying busy in his woodshop, chaperoning 15 grand kids ,and looking after his parents who are more than 90 years old.

By John Rech