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Presenter Spotlight:
Grant and Funding Presentations: Tuesday 05/06/2025
 
Presentation: Together America Prospers
Time: 1:30 p.m. — 2:15 p.m. CEU: .75 B/X Hours (Administrative)
Presenter: Charles Dietz — Community Program Director, USDA Rural Development
Description: A presentation discussing funding opportunities offered by USDA Rural Development:
Speaker Bio: Charles Dietz has been with USDA Rural Development for 33 years, including 19 in Community Programs. As Ohio's State Community Program Director, he oversees Community Facilities and Water & Environmental Programs. The purpose of Community Programs is to provide financial support to government bodies and nonprofits in eligible rural areas.
 
Presentation: Water and Wastewater Funding Update
Time: 2:30 p.m. – 3 15 p.m. CEU: .75 B/X Hours (Administrative)
Presenter: Katie Courtright — Assistant Chief Ohio EPA Division of Environmental and Financial Assistance, Ohio EPA
Session Description: An overview of financing available through Ohio EPA's two state revolving fund programs.
Speaker Bio: With 20 years in state government, Courtright focuses on infrastructure and environmental programs. She joined Ohio EPA in 2015, working on brownfield redevelopment before moving to DEFA in 2019. She helps administer state revolving funds for water and wastewater projects and other water quality programs. She holds a B.S. in environmental geography and environmental studies from Ohio University and is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional (NDC).
 
Presentation: Benefits of Lease Funding
Time: 3:15p.m.  – 3:35p.m. CEU: .35 B/X Hours (Administrative)
Presenter: Julia McCusker — Sector Vice President, CoBank
Session Description: Learn how leases can become a financing tool especially for smaller projects and equipment with shorter asset lives
Speaker Bio: Julia McCusker is a Sector Vice President at CoBank, leading its rural water and wastewater lending team. She manages utility relationships for CoBank’s Water Infrastructure Banking Group.
Since joining CoBank in 2000, Julia has held roles in risk management, credit, and relationship management in the Power Supply and Electric Distribution divisions before joining the Water team in 2012.
She holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Texas and a Graduate School of Banking degree from the University of Colorado.
 
 
Operator Training: Tuesday 05/06/2025

Presentation: Achieving Centimeter Location Accuracy in Ohio
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. CEU: 1Hour B/O&M (Water & Wastewater Operations & Maintenance
Presenter: Jake Murawski — GIS & Civil Engineering Consultant, Eos Position Systems
Session Description: Accurate digital maps are increasingly expected in rural water systems, but where do you begin? Veteran mapping expert Jake Murawski will outline the benefits of accurate mapping and best practices for transitioning from paper or CAD to GIS. He'll provide actionable steps for Ohio utilities to maximize GPS hardware and mapping software cost-effectively, including free RTK resources. Attendees will learn how to choose GPS equipment, start with mapping software, and refine field workflows. A Q&A session will follow the presentation.
Speaker Bio: With 12+ years in GIS and civil engineering, Murawski specializes in utility mapping, high-accuracy GPS data collection, and mobile GIS development. He works with water authorities to enhance asset management and GPS programs. Since 2018, he has represented Eos Positioning Systems in Ohio and Michigan, training staff to collect high-accuracy data for GIS updates, aiding infrastructure maintenance and operations.
 
Presentation: Use of Restrained Joint Systems to Eliminate Thrust Blocks
Time: 10:15 a.m. – 11: 15 a.m. CEU: 1Hour B/O&M (Water & Wastewater Operations & Maintenance)
 
Presenter: Roy Mundy — Senior Regional Engineer, McWane Ductile
Session Description: While DI pipe gaskets withstand over 1,000-psi of internal pressure, they offer less than 100-psi of longitudinal resistance, making joint restraint essential in shallow or above-ground installations. This presentation explores the forces at play and the mechanics of restrained joint DI pipe.
Speaker Bio: With a B.S. in Civil Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering Management, Roy Mundy is a registered Professional Engineer in six states and an ENVISION Sustainability Professional. He retired as President/CEO of KY-American Water after a leadership career with American Water. Actively involved in AWWA, NAWC, ORSANCO, ASCE, NSPE, WEF, DBIA, and RWA, he serves on multiple national committees. At McWane Ductile, he supports utilities and engineering firms with pipeline project value engineering, material selection, and specification development.
 
Keynote Speaker: Wednesday 05/07/2025 (All Tracts)
Presentation: Reaching New Heights
Presenter: Larry Foster — General Manger, Jackson County Water Company
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. CEU: .75 Hour B/O&M (Water & Wastewater Operations & Maintenance
Session Description: This 45-minute presentation, designed for water operations but broadly applicable, explores employee motivation in reducing waste—both in water and work hours. It delivers hard-hitting discussions that engaged employees need and should want to hear. Through a PowerPoint presentation, it highlights practical strategies to foster efficiency and accountability in daily operations.
Speaker Bio: A third-generation railroader, Larry Foster has served as General Manager of Jackson County Water Company for 33 of his 37 years in the water industry. He holds Ohio Class II Distribution and Class III Water Treatment Operator licenses. With over 45 years in the volunteer fire service, he is Assistant Fire Chief and Chaplain of Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Department. A 2017 NRWA Water University graduate, he is a Board Member and instructor for the Operator Training Committee of Ohio, a Life Member of AWWA, and a past ORWA Manager of the Year. He also serves as a Lay Leader at Christ Church of Jackson and has presented on water industry topics locally, statewide, and nationally.
 
General Manager Tract:  Wednesday 05/07/2025

Presentation: Reducing Non-Revenue Water Loss with Technology (10:00 a.m. — 10:45 a.m.)
Presenter:  Mark Beatty — Owner/Founder, Utility Technologies
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. CEU: .75 Hour D/O&M (Drinking Water Operations & Maintenance
Session Description: This presentation explores the Water Balance Table and key components of Non-Revenue Water. It covers advanced metering solutions to improve water measurement at production and end-user levels, along with troubleshooting metering errors, billing issues, and tampering. For Real Losses, attendees will learn about leak detection technologies, including acoustic locators, correlators, loggers, and pressure monitors. Emerging solutions such as AI leak detection, UAV drones, thermal imaging, and canine-assisted detection will also be discussed. The session highlights water loss management integration with GIS, asset management, and work order software, as well as alternative methods like tracer gas and dye tracing.
Speaker Bio: Mark Beatty is the owner and founder of Utility Technologies, LLC. Mark has over 35 years of experience in the Ohio utility market. He and his company specialize in various tech products to the water, wastewater, and gas industries. His expertise is in metering, leak detection, underground locating, and GIS equipment and applications, and asset management.
 
Presentation: Known Unknowns
Presenter: Dustin Marshall — Operations Manager, Southwest Regional Water District.
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. CEU: .75 Hour B/O&M (Water & Wastewater Operations & Maintenance
Session Description: The water industry faces a critical transition with staffing shortages, rising regulations, reduced funding, and aging infrastructure often unnoticed by customers and boards. This presentation highlights how the District is addressing these challenges to ensure continuous service and knowledge transfer to the next generation of water professionals.
Speaker Bio: In public works since 2010, Dustan Marshall spent four years with the City of Hamilton before joining Southwest Regional Water District, where he has held roles in Distribution and Production. Now Operations Manager, he holds an OEPA Water Supply 4 license and an MBA.
 
Presentation: Delinquent Bill Collection
Presenter: John Albers — Principal, Albers and Albers
Time: 1:00 p.m. — 1:45 p.m. CEU: .75 Hour X (Administrative)
Session Description: A presentation on delinquent bill collection for water, sewer, and stormwater charges, due process requirements, and other potential pitfalls
Speaker Bio: With 42 years in local government law, John Albers specializes in water, sewer, and stormwater issues, representing counties, municipalities, and regional districts. His practice covers project planning, financing, construction, regulations, litigation, eminent domain, and delinquent bill collection. A frequent speaker and author, he presents for organizations like the Ohio State Bar Association, USDA Rural Development, and Ohio Rural Water Association. He also drafts and testifies on water and local government legislation before the Ohio General Assembly.
 
Presentation: Emergency Preparedness (2:00 p.m. — 2:45 p.m.)
Presenter: Lloyd Rawlings — Technical Training Manager, USA Bluebook
Time: 2:00 p.m. — 2:45 p.m. CEU: .75 Hour X (Administrative)
Session Description: This class covers why emergency preparedness is essential for utility companies.  This class will cover Emergency Operational Plans (EOP), Alternative Operations Plan (AOP), Risk Management Plan (RMP), and tools for doing round table planning and training.
Speaker Bio: Loyd has over 20 years of experience in water and wastewater operations, including roles as a distribution operator, treatment operator, and public works director. He worked with the Missouri DNR as a certification trainer and compliance assistance operator and later with Missouri Rural Water Association, leading EPA WQAS trainings, serving as a USDA Wastewater Technician, and teaching certification classes. Loyd holds certifications in Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, and Distribution in Missouri, along with a Utility Management Certification from NRWA’s Water University.
 
Presentation: General Mangers Forum
Presenter: Tony Howard — President, Ohio Rural Water Association — General Manager, Hecla Water Association
Time 3:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. CEU: 2 Hours B/O&M (Water and Wastewater Operation Maintenance)
Session Description: In this relaxed 2 hour discussion Tony Howard will lead a discussion covering general topics facing today’s general managers as well as discuss the topics covered over the course of the day.
Speaker Bio:
 
Board Members Route: Wednesday 05/07/2025

Presentation: Stacking and Braiding and Matching, Oh My!: Leveraging Funding Solution Strategies to Move your Projects Forward
Time: 10:00 a.m. — 10:45 a.m. CEU: .75 Hour X (Administrative)
Dr. Vicki King Maple and Erin Wright — Ohio Mid-East Government Association
Session Description: Leveraging local, state, and federal funding is key to turning community visions into successful projects. As a regional development organization, OMEGA will share case studies and funding strategies used to implement vital water, wastewater, and infrastructure projects.
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Vicki King-Maple
As Executive Director of OMEGA, Dr. Vicki King-Maple leads economic resiliency initiatives, workforce development, and infrastructure projects across Appalachia. A nationally recognized speaker, researcher, and consultant, she has served as a National Commissioner for Economic Development and Workforce Solutions and earned awards for her workforce training programs. Her doctorate research focuses on bridging the engineering technology workforce gap. Honored among Ohio Business Magazine’s 2024 Ohio 500 Most Influential Leaders, she also serves as Vice President of OARC and Treasurer of ORDA.

Erin Wright
As Director of Infrastructure & Community Development at OMEGA, Erin Wright manages state and federal grant programs, including ODOT, ODNR, OPWC, EPA, USDA, and FEMA. She oversees intergovernmental reviews and serves as the District 14 Liaison for Ohio Public Works Commission. A Board Member of OCCD, she also contributed to Ohio’s 2024 Consolidated Plan, addressing housing, community development, and compliance programs.
 
Presentation: Easements, Rights of Entry, & Access Agreements
Time: 11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m. CEU: .75 Hour X (Administrative)
Presenter: John Albers — Principal, Albers and Albers
Session Description:  A presentation covering Easements, Rights of Entry, & Access Agreements
Speaker Bio: With 42 years in local government law, John Albers specializes in water, sewer, and stormwater issues, representing counties, municipalities, and regional districts. His practice covers project planning, financing, construction, regulations, litigation, eminent domain, and delinquent bill collection. A frequent speaker and author, he presents for organizations like the Ohio State Bar Association, USDA Rural Development, and Ohio Rural Water Association. He also drafts and testifies on water and local government legislation before the Ohio General Assembly.
 
Presentation: Source Water Protection: Why YOU Need a Plan
Time: 1:00 p.m.  — 1:45 p.m. CEU: .75 Hour D/O&M (Drinking Water Operations and Maintenance)
Presenter: Mackenzie Rutherford — Environmental Specialist, Ohio EPA
Session Description: Ohio EPA’s Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) program helps communities safeguard drinking water sources. This session will highlight the importance of source water protection for small systems and introduce the newly updated Ohio EPA Protection Plan template. We’ll walk through the planning process, explore tailored protective strategies, and, if possible, feature a case study from a public water system successfully implementing a protection plan
Speaker Bio: Ruthy (Mackenzie) Rutherford holds a B.S. in Geology from Miami University with a minor in Sustainability. She has worked with Ohio EPA’s SWAP Program for over 2.5 years and serves as vice chair of the Ohio AWWA Source Water Protection Committee.
 
Presentation: Importance of Community Rate Studies
Time 2:00 p.m. — 2:45 p.m. CEU: .75 Hour D/O&M (Drinking Water Operations and Maintenance)
Presenter: Michael Spade — Associate Project Manager, Environmental Design Group
Session Description: Water and sewer rates sustain community utilities, but poor revenue management can lead to long-term shortfalls. This session covers key indicators for a rate study, the process, common pitfalls, necessary data, and potential outcomes such as ordinance reviews, rate negotiations, equipment failures, and financial audits
Speaker Bio: Michael has experience in construction inspection and design for WTPs, WWTPs, pipelines, pump stations, tanks, engineering reports, and rate studies. Outside of work, he enjoys playing guitar, adult baseball leagues, and outdoor activities.
 
Presentation: Board Members Forum
Time: 3:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. CEU: 2 Hours X (Administrative)
Presenter: Michael Pope — Board Member, Ohio Rural Water Association — President, Rural Lorain County Water Authority Board of Trustees
Session Description: In this relaxed 2-hour discussion Mike Pope will moderate a general discussion covering topics discussed earlier in the day, as well as any subjects attendees might have.
Speaker Bio:
 
Customer Service Route:
Presentation: Commercial Backflow Survey Course- Making a Program and Training Personnel
Presenter: Orin McMonigle — Water Superintendent, City of Painesville
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. CEU: 2 Hours B/O&M (Water and Wastewater Operation Maintenance)
Session Description: This presentation covers backflow history in Ohio, backflow programs, experiences with surveys, and a few case studies to help understand the presentations material.  The presentation will also cover how to conduct a survey of a commercial property and key things to look for.  The class will take 45 minutes of active lecture with no breaks.
Speaker Bio: Orin McMonigle is the Water Superintendent for the City of Painesville. He has ensured backflow compliance for Lorain (2015), Sandusky (2016), and ongoing for Painesville. He holds an OTCO backflow survey certification (2017) and a testing certification (since 2016).
 
Presentation: Understanding Cyberthreats and How to Build Resilience (11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m.)
Presenter: Jillian Burner — Cybersecurity Advisor, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency.
Time: 11:00 a.m. — 11:45 a.m. CEU: .75 Hour X (Administrative)
Session Description: In this session attendees will learn about the cyber threats facing water and wastewater systems.   We will also cover the importance of building resiliency in everyday process and how organizations can start doing so with the services CISA offers at no cost to all critical infrastructure entities.
Speaker Bio: Jillian Burner is a Cybersecurity Advisor for CISA Region 5, supporting critical infrastructure security in Ohio. With over 20 years in the public sector, including 14 in cybersecurity, she has led cyber teams across higher education and government, specializing in incident response and risk mitigation. A U.S. Air Force veteran, she holds a master’s in digital forensics from UMGC and is an ISACA Certified Information Security Manager.).
 
Presentation: GIS in the Office-Beyond Data Collection (1:00 p.m. — 1:45 p.m.)
Time: 1:00 p.m.  — 1:45 p.m. CEU: .75 Hour B/O&M (Water and Wastewater Operation Maintenance)
Presenter: Kerry Hughes Zwierschke — Environmental Engineer and Project Manager, Benett & Williams Environmental Consultants
Session Description: GIS has traditionally been isolated in a single office of a GIS technician in utilities with data collected in the field by one,or more field personnel. However, there are many uses of GIS by office personnel in utilities. This presentation will present some case studies including mobile work orders; inventory; using mapping to improve communication with customers; and using GIS to direct mass calls about outages or boil alerts. The case studies will focus on applications to customer service and improving communication with customers.
Speaker Bio: Kerry Zwierschke is a Principal Engineer and project manager at Bennett & Williams Environmental Consultants, specializing in GIS-based solutions for water and wastewater utilities. She leads GIS development and training for rural and small communities, supporting asset management, system mapping, and compliance. A professional engineer with expertise in water supply, source water protection, and hydraulic modeling, she holds a Ph.D. in engineering from Ohio State. Kerry also organizes the Ohio Rural Water GIS User Group, providing quarterly training on GIS applications.
 
Presentation: The Future of Customer Service: Leveraging Technology to Better Serve Your Community
Time: 2:00 p.m. — 2:45 p.m. CEU: .75 Hour B/O&M (Water and Wastewater Operation Maintenance)
Presenter Michael Brenner — Regional Manager, Software Solutions
Session Description: Discover how AI and ERP technology are transforming public sector customer service. This session explores AI tools like chatbots and voice agents, along with ERP-driven solutions for AP automation, utility billing, and project tracking. Learn how CRM systems and communication platforms enhance collaboration and service efficiency. Gain real-world insights, actionable takeaways, and a chance for Q&A to help build a more connected community.
Speaker Bio: Michael Brenner is a Regional Manager at Software Solutions, Inc. He has over 20 years of experience working with local government and utility providers to solve software, technology, and procedural challenges. He helps our clients to strategize and create a long term vision of where they would like to be with technology.
 
Presentation: Customer Service Members Forum
Presenter: Jen Rosemark — Administrative Manager, Rural Lorain County Authority
Time: 3:00 p.m. — 5:00 p.m. CEU: 2 Hours B/O&M (Water and Wastewater Operation Maintenance)
Presenter: Jen Rosemark — Administrative Manager, Rural Lorain County Authority
Session Description: This customer service forum aims to foster an open discussion environment where professionals can engage in meaningful conversations surrounding common challenges and best practices. Key topics include addressing billing issues, managing difficult customers, and the strategies for implementing new practices to enhance overall service quality. Participants will have the opportunity to share experiences, exchange solutions, and explore innovative approaches to improve customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. The forum serves as a collaborative space for learning, problem-solving, and strengthening customer service teams.
Speaker Bio: Jen Rosemark has dedicated over 22 years to RLCWA, advancing through roles from Customer Service Specialist to Billing Specialist, and ultimately to Administrative Manager, where she oversees the billing, customer-service and day-to-day office functions.  Throughout her career at RLCWA, Jen has made significant contributions to multiple processes and procedures that include: a comprehensive rate study, employee manual updates, compensation study, implementation of mobile work orders, updated billing practices for efficiency, enhancing customer interaction with employees and streamlining our tap process.  Her efforts have consistently driven improvements in both operational effectiveness and customer satisfaction.  She was a Presenter at the 2023 ORWA Annual Conference on the topic of Customer Service in the Digital Age. In addition to her role with RLCWA, Jen is also on the ORWA Conference Committee and AWWA Customer Service Committee. Jen graduated with her master’s degree in psychology with a focus on I/O Psychology in 2019.