A bill authored by Senator John Jasinski (R-Faribault) proposing $350,000 in funding for water and wastewater operator training programs had its first hearing in the Minnesota Senate on Wednesday. 

Senate File 3411 would provide a one-time appropriation to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development for a grant that would be used to develop customized training programs for water supply system operators and wastewater treatment facility operators. The courses would be offered at Riverland Community College. Brenda Johnson, executive director of the Southeastern Minnesota League of Municipalities, and Austin Mayor Steve King testified in support of the bill.

“There are a lot of communities around Minnesota, especially in southern Minnesota, that are seeing a shortage of professionals for these careers,” Senator Jasinski said. “It is critical that we recruit and develop the next generation of these experts as soon as possible – especially as more and more current operators near retirement age. Otherwise, the situation will get even worse. Thank you to Brenda Johnson and Mayor King for taking the time to come up to St. Paul and explain to the committee why this is so important to our area.”

Of the $350,000 in funding, $100,000 would go toward developing training program curriculums aligned with state certification requirements for water and wastewater operators. Another $100,000 would fund Riverland Community College personnel to help establish the programs. The remaining funds would support marketing, administrative costs, training equipment, and grant administration.-

“Make no mistake… this is a bill for all cities in southern Minnesota,” Ms. Johnson said. “We need more recruitment to deal with a dwindling number of operators. Small cities in particular are the training ground for many of these water and wastewater operators, and then it is no secret the operators get hired up to larger cities. And small cities have to do it all over again.”

“In Austin alone, we have 8 operators that maintain our facility 24 hours a day,” Mayor King said. “We’d love to have more, we just can’t find them. And we’re alone. This is one of those things that is a nice partnership between Riverland Community College, who does a great job having three campuses in Owatonna, Albert Lea, and Austin, and they are known throughout the southern part of the state for having a robust curriculum. So we are giving them a chance to develop a wastewater and water treatment program to get more operators out there. Because it is definitely a need.”

The bill was laid over by Senate’s Jobs and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday and will potentially be included in a larger Jobs Committee omnibus bill later in session. A companion bill, House File 3475, awaits a hearing in the House.

Additional material: Watch the bill presentation (Beginning at 19:15)