Big Flat hosts annual meeting

Big Flat Electric Cooperative hosted its Annual Member's Meeting last Saturday, October 10 at Malta High School. The meal was catered by Ray J's BBQ and featured Pulled Barbecue Beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, dinner rolls, corn, brownies A La Mode and plenty of door prizes.

"We have had a wonderful turnout," General Manager of Big Flat Electric Jeanne Barnard told the PCN.

The Member's meeting was comprised of everyone from the Board of Directors to customers near and far that use Big Flat Electric to power their homes and businesses. The Co-op is owned by its members.

The main speaker at the meeting was Barnard who has managed Big Flat for the past 20 years. Barnard also worked for Big Flat from 1978-82, after which she became County Assessor.

"When Bill Henderson retired (as General Manager of Big Flat), I applied for the position and was lucky enough to be selected in 1995," Barnard said.

Having completed 25 years of service, on February 1, 2016, Barnard is planning on retirement.

During her speech Barnard focused on current issues that the Cooperative is facing, which included a "Clean Power Plan," the water state of the United States and various things that will impact Big Flat in future years. The meeting also had the company's yearly audit report and report of the Board of Directors.

Duane Klindworth of Hogeland was re-elected into the Board of Directors, representing District one for his third four year term.

There were no By-Laws brought to the members to vote on in last week's meeting.

Being her last meeting, Barnard shared memoirs from her first year.

"For the last 20 years I have been the only woman manager in Montana among the electric co-ops," Barnard said. "It has been quite a privilege to serve in that capacity."

When Barnard became manager, there were only 18 electric co-op managers (male or female) in the nation.

"People actually realized we can do the job," Barnard said. "I'm proud of that. I don't see myself as a woman, I see myself as a manager."

The biggest change Barnard has noticed since she started working at Big Flat has been the technology.

"The biggest revolution is that not everyone had computers and everything was done by hand," she said. "All the books were done by hand."

She noted that communication was a lot harder due to the fact no one had cell-phones.

"We're in a digital world now and the information goes so much faster," she said. "A fax takes light years compared to today's internet abilities."

At the meeting, she also talked about a few of the programs amongst co-ops that have saved consumers millions of dollars over time.

Dealing with the power of thousands of homes throughout northeastern Montana, one thing that Barnard loves most about Big Flat has been the personal approach between the co-op and it's users.

"Working for Big Flat (a customer) is not a meter or a number," Barnard said. "We say this person is out of power. It's not a meter or number, you know the person at the end of the meter."

Barnard has had many a call late at night, reporting outages due to weather related issues, but welcomes them no matter what hour.

"That's my job and it doesn't matter what time it is," Barnard said noting that she has even had calls in the early morning. "If they are out of power, I'd like for them to call me, and they do."

As soon as the call gets in Barnard radios Big Flat's night crew to solve the issue.

"The guys are tremendous," Barnard said. "They are a very dedicated crew. Their mission is to keep the lights on and they do a tremendously good job."

This year's Annual Meeting served as Barnard's last meeting, but she wasn't alone as this was also James Fauth's last Annual Meeting.

Fauth has been with Big Flat Electric for the past 30 years as a technical engineer and lineman.

Fauth plans on retiring September of 2016. During the event, he explained he had 356 days left.

Barnard, Fauth, Ross Hasler and Rick Starkey were honored for their years of service.

Starkey has served for 35 years and is the warehouse and work order clerk.

Hasler has served for 20 years and is the company's line sub foreman.

"I love the membership," Barnard said. "People make a cooperative and that's what makes it so wonderful. As for my inside and outside staff, you couldn't ask for a nicer set of employees anywhere. I love them all."