RAYMOND — After being named the 2011 Drinking Water Operator of the Year earlier last month, Scott Keddy was recognized by Public Works Director Patrick Bower and the board of selectmen on Monday night for his service.

Keddy was granted the award by the Granite State Rural Water Association. Founded in 2005, the association helps water and wastewater system operators get the training they need for their certifications, and run several federally funded programs that allow them to go on site to help people like Keddy troubleshoot issues and comply with state and federal regulations.

The association has about 250 members.

Selectman Frank Bourque said the Raymond Water Department had issues for many years, which Keddy has helped the department to overcome.

“I don’t recall having a complaint in the past five years on the water department, which is really remarkable and they need to be commended for that,” Bourque said.

Keddy worked for the town’s highway department for 10 years before taking on the position of water supervisor almost 10 years ago.

“I gave it a try as a new challenge,” Keddy said.

It is a challenge he has attacked head on. In the past two years, the amount of unaccounted water has dropped from 30 percent to 3 percent. In 2004, a new water treatment system went on line reducing a manganese problem.

“He was really instrumental in helping them overcome a lot of issues,” Jennifer Palmiotto, executive director of the Granite State Rural Water Association, said. “That system, from my understanding, had been working a long time to address various issues.”

The Raymond water system actually started in 1893, and currently has about 1,200 service connections, served from three gravel wells. The town has a 1.2 million-gallon storage capacity and produces about 350,000 gallons of water each day. The treatment system removes both iron and manganese from the water, which Palmiotto said is pretty common in New Hampshire.

The system can also be monitored remotely 24/7.

“A lot of systems around New Hampshire don’t have those. It is a really nice asset to the system,” Palmiotto said.

She said Keddy was instrumental in installing new water meters and making sure master meters are calibrated yearly to help with water conservation.

“To us, he is a model of what a good operator is and he’s worked really, really hard with limited resources and he’s achieved some fantastic results,” Palmiotto said.

Keddy said he was shocked to be recognized.

“Being a small department it is sort of an out of sight, out of mind type thing. The fact that people out there are paying attention to stuff like that and to people like myself, it is a great thing to be recognized for that,” Keddy said. “It shows what you are doing for the department.”

The board of selectmen and Police Chief David Salois also recognized two members of the Raymond Police Department for service above and beyond the call of duty during Monday night’s meeting.

Detective Brian Oljey was on patrol Sept. 4 when he received a call about a man threatening suicide at Pine Acres Campground. The man had barricaded himself inside a home and Oljey was able to make contact with him by cell phone.

Over the next several hours, Oljey maintained contact with the man and ultimately the SWAT team was able to get the man out of the home and into custody without incident.

Cpl. Kerry Pomeroy was also awarded a letter of merit from Salois and received recognition from the board for his involvement in capturing a suspect in a Deerfield home invasion. Pomeroy was injured in the line of duty while arresting the suspect.

“He placed himself in harm’s way to protect the public,” Salois said.

Pomeroy has recently returned to active duty.

Bill Hoitt, chairman of the board of selectmen, presented Pomeroy and Oljey with certificates of recognition for their outstanding performance and service to the community.