Meet Waite Park’s First Full-time Water Resource Specialist

WAITE PARK (WJON News) -- A new member of the Waite Park city staff is looking to make a big splash in the community. Ella Burfeind is the first full-time Waite Park Water Resource Specialist and has been on the job for about 4 months. She is responsible for ensuring compliance with all the regulatory requirements related to water, stormwater, wastewater, and sewer.

Burfeind says she will be working on Waite Park's PFAS issue, too:

"I will be taking care of all of that, but I've been involved, sort of listening and figuring out where I can stick my hands in, but yeah, that's been something that the city's been working on currently."

Burfeind says she has been impressed with the city's handling of the PFAS issue.

The city has had a part-time water technician in the past, but felt the need was there for a full-time hire. Burfeind says the first few months have been hectic getting up to speed with the city's needs:

"Going to a lot of different classes, trying to meet other stormwater professionals and specialists in the area, so working on networking and figuring out how other cities are kind of organizing their programs."

Burfeind says she has been diving headfirst into the lead service line replacement program for Waite Park, and she will be working closely with the community on it going forward.

She says residents should see contributions from her to the city's E-Newsletter soon with environmental updates, tips, and resources to help keep the city green and healthy.  Burfeind graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in Hydrology and a minor in Environmental Studies.

READ MORE FROM AUTHOR PAUL HABSTRITT