Nick Rankin joins the City of Clearbrook staff
Tue, 07/14/2020 - 11:27am
admin
By:
Bonnie Kirchman
Nick Rankin has recently joined the staff at the city of Clearbrook. He will be working as a city utility maintenance superintendent, along with Mark Snobl. Their job responsibilities include natural gas, water and sewer, and street maintenance.
Nick is originally from central Illinois. He moved to the Clearbrook area right after high school in the summer of 1998. He worked for his uncle who farmed in the area and then he worked for Paul Rydeen for many years. Nick has also worked for North Star Enterprises and for the pipeline.
Most recently, Nick has been working in Bemidji, so when the opening came for the Clearbrook city job, he saw it as an opportunity to work closer to home. He also saw it as a way to continue to serve the community he has been a part of for 20 years.
Even after living in the community, Nick is learning a lot he didn’t know about Clearbrook. As part of his training for the new position, Nick has been studying old blueprints of the city. He is finding it interesting seeing how things like the water system were set up back in the 1950’s.
Nick said that the variety of work activities was appealing to him when he was considering applying for the new position. Nick started his job just as the Garden Valley fiber optic project was getting underway. He and the other staff were busy working with that project, marking and keeping track of all the gas crossings while the digging was being done.
Now that the fiber optic project is mostly completed, Nick is getting into the regular routine of his new job. He likes that the job keeps him really busy and he is enjoying learning the “ins and outs” of city maintenance. He is working on his operator qualifications for natural gas. He will work for a year with Mark Snobl before getting his water and sewer licensure.
Nick is a member of the Clearbrook Fire Department. This new job will give him another advantage, being able to quickly respond to fire and emergency calls in the Clearbrook area. Nick enjoys tinkering at the fire department and working on equipment when he has time. He also enjoys doing woodworking. Nick continues to be drawn to farming and finds time to help friends with their farm work.
Nick and his wife Amy live in Clearbrook with their three children, Savanna, Daniel, and Matthew.