SIDNEY -- About 26 years ago, Mike Palmer started working for the City of Sidney as part of the summer crew.

On March 12, Palmer attended his last city council meeting as the City's Electricity Superintendent.

"My story is a little bit odd. I started at the City as a teenager, working summers. I was summer help for a couple of years when I was in high school. After high school and I had the opportunity to go to college. I was going to WNCC (Western Nebraska Community College) in Scottsbluff and when I left to college, my boss at the time said if you ever need a job, you have one." Palmer said.

He said his supervisor commended him as a good worker and he would find something for him. He decided to stay in Sidney and take classes instead of commuting to Scottsbluff ... and go back to working for the City. He called his former boss and was soon back as a City of Sidney employee. He started as a temporary full-time employee.

"They had an opening about eight months later, so I took that as a full-time employee at the waste water treatment facility. I only worked there a short time honestly. The superintendent at the electric department at the time approached me and said 'hey, I have an opening. At that time, the electric department was kind of a revolving door. We would train people, and they would move on to better paying positions in the same trade," he said.

He said the City was looking for a "home-town guy that was going to stick around."

"I thought about it, and I thought yeah, this, I really didn't know much about line work, I just thought, 'yeah, I'll give it a go.' So, I transferred to the electric department in December of ... '99 I believe; been here since; took the superintendent position it'll be 11 years in May.  At the retirement of my predecessor, I took this on and I've been here ever since," Palmer said.

He said he has enjoyed the responsibility of keeping Sidney powered. He said moving on was not an easy decision. Saying yes required a lot of thought and prayer. His memories will include the relationships built, and the completed projects from restoring power in a storm to nearing completion of the underground conversion program

He has accepted a position in private industry as an electrical salesman.

Greg Jenkins has been appointed as the interim Electricity Supervisor.