— About —

Staff & Board Members

Staff Members

Brian Schmidt

Brian Schmidt

Facility Manager

(218) 346-4404 ext. 1

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Brian received an associate’s degree in applied science from Bismarck State College in 1988, with an emphasis on power plant technology. He started his career in waste to energy as a Fuel and Ash Tech in Hartford, CT in 1989 and worked his way up to Shift Supervisor. In 1997, he transferred to Hennepin Energy in Minneapolis as a Shift Supervisor. In 2003, he was hired at the Perham Resource Recovery Facility as the Facility Manager and has been with Prairie Lakes since then.

About Brian
Karen Lehmann

Karen Lehmann

Administrative Assistant 

(218) 346-4404 ext. 0

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Karen graduated from Bemidji State University in 1989 with a degree in criminal justice and minor in social work. She has worked at the facility since 2005 as the Administrative Assistant, responsible for answering information requests and general communications. She is also involved with the Perham Public Scale, specialty waste, invoicing, general HR, and miscellaneous office needs. Further, she serves as the PLMSWA board secretary.

About Karen
Casey Kyte

Casey Kyte

Chief of Operations

(218) 346-4404 ext. 3

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Casey initially worked at the facility from1988-1998 as a Control Operator. He later returned in 2001 as Chief Engineer, in charge of operations, and has been with Prairie Lakes since then. He oversees the continuous emissions monitoring of the plant, computer programming, and 13 control operators.

About Casey
Scott Monson

Scott Monson

Maintenance Manager

(218) 346-4404 ext. 2

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Scott started work at the facility in 1987 and worked in a variety of positions for 9 years, including Operator Assistant, Operator, and Maintenance. He came back to Prairie Lakes in 2001 as Head of Maintenance and is currently the Maintenance Manager. He wears many hats including oversight of the material recovery and maintenance employees and ordering spare parts.

About Scott
Chris McConn

Chris McConn

Executive Director

(218) 998-8904

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Chris has served as the Executive Director of PLMSWA since 2018. He is an employee of Otter Tail County, working in the Solid Waste Department and has approximately 30 years of experience in solid waste.

About Chris

Board Members

Phil Hansen

Board Member, Becker County

Tim Denny

Board Member, Todd County 

Sean Sullivan

Board Member, Otter Tail County

Dan Bucholz

Board Member, Otter Tail County

Bill Stearns

Board Member, Wadena County

Kevin Campbell

Board Member, Clay County