Title
Commending and expressing appreciation to Alan Larson (Al), Water Utility Principal Engineer and Assistant General Manager, on his retirement from Madison Water Utility after 20 years of service.
Body
WHEREAS, Alan Larson (Al) was hired by Madison Water Utility January 16, 2001; and,
WHEREAS, as the leader of the Madison Water Utility Engineering Section, Al oversaw the planning, expansion, and renewal of the water system; and,
WHEREAS, Al oversaw the development of two master plans, an updated east-side water supply plan, an Infrastructure Management Plan, and the development and implementation of the Asset Management Program; and
WHEREAS, in his long-time leadership role at the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Water Works Association (WIAWWA), and by being the official WIAWWA Beer Baron, as well as being a renowned (in his own mind) home beer brewer, Al has brought prestige to Madison Water Utility, and the City of Madison, on both state and national levels; and
WHEREAS, Al supported education and the development of future engineers through his support of the University of Wisconsin - Madison Engineering Capstone program and the development of the graduate student and engineering internship programs; and
WHEREAS, Al invested countless hours working with members of the public and citizen advisory panels during the planning of projects; and,
WHEREAS, during Al’s tenure, Madison Water Utility replaced over 100 miles and expanded by adding over 200 miles of new water main; and,
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility constructed three new unit wells, adding 7.5 million gallons per day of capacity; and,
WHEREAS, to address fire flow deficiencies, Madison Water Utility constructed one new pumping station, a new ground-level reservoir, and the first composite tank water tower in the system, and
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility built the Heim Administration building in 2005; and,
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility reconstructed the Operations Center at Paterson and Main which earned a 2018 ACEC-WI Best of State award for stormwater management, and earned the 2019 Wisconsin Section of the AWWA Project of the Year award; and,
WHEREAS, to mitigate aging infrastructure, Madison Water Utility reconstructed Unit Well 7, Booster Station 106, and the Prairie Road and Lakeview water towers; and,
WHEREAS, Madison Water Utility improved water quality by adding water quality treatment at existing Unit Well 15 and Unit Well 29, and new Unit Well 31; and,
WHEREAS, the reconstruction of Unit Well 7 increased water storage in Madison’s east side, improved water quality with iron and manganese filtration, and added system resiliency after the retirement of Unit Well 3; and,
WHEREAS, the Lakeview Tower is the first two-zone system water tower in the State of Wisconsin, relieved a water storage and fire flow deficiency on Madison’s east side, received the 2018 ACEC-WI Engineering Excellence Best of State Award and ACEC National Engineering Honor Award; and,
WHEREAS, Lakeview Tower still looks good even though it’s not painted in Al’s preferred deep green,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Water Utility Board hereby commends and thanks Al for his many years of service to Madison Water Utility; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Lakeview Tower will be re-named in his honor the Al Larson Lakeview Water Tower.