The City of Coldwater Board of Public Utilities heard presentations from summer interns and introduced a new on‑the‑job IT student at the meeting.

Maxwell “Max” Garn, introduced as an OJT student in the IT department, said he started July 28 and will continue through the school year. “Hi. My name is Max. I just started in the IT department as an OJT last Monday. Excited for the opportunity to work here,” he told the board.

Rhett Franklin, the electrical engineering intern, described two main projects. He said he helped redesign the city specification book for utility poles using AutoCAD so linemen could more easily use pole and attachment specs, and he conducted a citywide capacitor‑bank audit intended to identify locations of voltage sags and swells and recommend compatible controllers for capacitor banks and integration with the SCADA system. He described producing a heat map of sags and swells and compiling a spreadsheet comparing controller options.

Devin Hawkins, the GIS intern, presented several projects including an interactive site‑selection map for Branch County parcels (topography, utilities, zoning) intended to support economic development; an outage map that converted historical outage logs into geospatial heat maps to guide vegetation management and investment; and a transformer spill‑plan project that identified transformers within 10 feet of manholes or inlets for spill‑containment planning. Hawkins said he completed drone certification training and plans to continue graduate study.

Board members thanked the interns and welcomed Max Garn. Staff noted the interns gained field and software experience and that work products will be used by departments including electric, water/wastewater and economic development.