Municipal Water Plant Superintendent Award | Bookkeeper of the Year | City Administrator of the Year | Manager of the Year | Conger Award | Municipal Wastewater Operator of the Year | Operator of the Year | City Clerk of the Year | Friend of Rural Water | Most Improved System | Silver Faucet Award

John Sweet of Lyons Named KRWA City Administrator of the Year

In keeping with the Association’s award criteria of sustaining the community, Sweet has achieved this goal many times over. Involvement in the business of managing a city with more than the average number of needs has for Sweet been a labor of love and an endeavor of finesse. “The City of Lyons is a great place to live, work and raise a family and we are only getting better. Support from State Agencies and the KRWA has made a major difference in what we have accomplished to date and will be a major participant in what we accomplish in the future,” Sweet explained.

City projects making advancements since Sweet’s Lyons city administrator appointment in 2002 have been numerous. Chloride contamination caused by the mining of salt deposits a century ago prompted a community/business/government partnership to protect the Lyons water supply. Phase-two of that multi-year salt-water remediation project kicked off last December. That same week the community also completed a Source Water Protection Plan providing the city with enhanced abilities to protect the quality of drinking water by identifying and managing potential sources of contamination and threatening activities occurring within the city source water area.

Lyons city projects also include a $5 million airport project; a new 40 to 50 home housing development; and a $1.5 million housing rehabilitation grant that will assist 70 Lyons homeowner’s in bringing homes up to a more livable standard. The city is also embarking on $3 million highway upgrade to include two major street resurfacing projects through the Kansas Department of Transportation and a $3 million endeavor to replace the city’s natural gas distribution pipeline system.

John Sweet hails from El Paso, Texas and served 27 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has a Bachelors Degree from the University of North Carolina, a MA Degree in national security and strategy from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and a MS Degree in international affairs from Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island.