At the last Alger Delta board meeting, Director Nancy Gardner-Platt announced she was stepping down from her position on the board. She and her husband are moving down state to be closer to family, which makes her no longer eligible to serve on the board.
Gardner-Platt served as a director for seven years representing Alger Delta’s District 3, which includes Grand Marais and Burt Township. She was elected to the Alger Delta board in 2009. Gardner-Platt also served on the board of directors of the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA).
“Nancy has been a great board member,” said Tom Harrell Alger Delta’s CEO. “She’s done a great job representing the members in District 3. She would call me at any hour of the day or night if a member had a problem, just to make sure I knew about it. She has always been loyal to the cooperative and supportive of its goals, objectives, projects, and everything we ever tried to accomplish. Nancy will definitely be missed by me, the Alger Delta board and the MECA board, too,” Harrell added.
During her tenure, Gardner-Platt achieved Credentialed Cooperative Director (CCD) status through training offered by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). She was appointed to the MECA Board of Directors in July 2013.
“We were fortunate to have Nancy serve on our board,” said Craig Borr, MECA President and CEO. “She was engaged in the issues and passionate about serving the membership,” Borr continued. “She’s leaving big shoes to fill.”
Gardner-Platt championed several important initiatives while on the board, including the extension of Alger Delta’s power supply contract with WPPI. “I’m proud of that effort because I know it will help the members have reliable and affordable energy for a long time. WPPI is a good company that has been doing good things for Alger Delta,” she said. “It was fun to work on such things, and I’m going to miss it a great deal.”
The board is reviewing its options to fill the vacancy. According to the cooperative’s bylaws, the board may hold a special election in the district or the board may select a replacement. In recent years, each time there has been a vacancy, the board has selected a replacement from a slate of qualified applicants. Information about filling the vacancy will be communicated to members in District 3 via the co-op’s website, in the local paper, and through other methods which may include direct mail and Michigan Country Lines magazine.