Mark Vandenberghe�s job is truly mission critical to the City and its residents � he�s the Electronic Communications Technician and is responsible for the two way radio system networks used throughout the City. The radios are used by 911 Dispatch, Police, Fire, Public Works, and the Water Department. But that�s not all; the City�s radio system is also utilized by Eden Prairie Public Schools and SouthWest Metro Transit. It’s one of the innovations in local government that make Eden Prairie a leader in intergovernmental cooperation.
In addition to his responsibilities with the radio system, Mark�s job also includes supporting the City�s facilities security system, its card readers, microwave radio and paging systems and its pagers. This variety suits Mark just fine; �I like the fact that I am not always tied to my desk. I�m out in the field trouble shooting and finding out what the problems are and then fixing them.� Mark is a graduate of Wadena Technical College�s Electronic Technology program and is originally from Perham, Minnesota.
Mark has been an employee of the City for more than five and a half years, most of that time in the Police Department. Mark knows the City’s public safety system from both the Police and Fire sides of the business as he has also been a volunteer member of the City’s Fire Department for 17 years.
One accomplishment Mark is particularly proud of his role in the construction of the radio tower and radio system that was installed at the City’s Street Maintenance Facility a few years ago. While others pushed for the City to do it, when it came time to put it up, Mark was the project manager coordinating multiple construction and technical contractors. �This really helped improve our radio reception throughout the City. I was very happy to be a part of this.�
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This is the last installment in the Excellence Behind The Scenes series. I would like to thank Pat Brink and Heidi Seyer from my Communications Division staff for their assistance in getting photos and facts for me. They were a big help.
There’s a lot of excellence behind the scenes with the City of Eden Prairie. I could extend this series for weeks with all the examples available to me. I hope you enjoyed the series. I’ll do it again someday.
