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Tigard, Oregon recently enhanced their technology and business process improvement in order to prepare for a newly constructed $164 million water system source. Due to changing water chemistry, the city needed to clean approximately 227 miles of water distribution piping. Using technologies like a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) with geographical information system (GIS) connectivity, and a computerized water hydraulic model, the city developed and completed an efficient and effective ""Uni-Directional Flushing"" (UDF) program. The use of different technologies helped plan and manage the program, including work planning, performance benchmarking, and project tracking. The city was under deadline to complete the flushing program prior to delivery of water from the new system in order to ensure high water quality.Learning Objectives:Define SSOs and the impact they can have on the environment.Identify the factors that create SSOs and the best approach to managing the issue.Improve efficiency and effectiveness using enhanced technology and business process strategies.
Traffic incidents caused by wrecks, breakdowns, hazards in the road and weather events happen every day. These incidents result in injuries, fatalities, billions of dollars of damages and delays in…
Implementing change in a public works department can be challenging, to say the least. Whether battling the ""we have always done it this way"" syndrome, or trying to adopt new technologies or practices, a public works manager can face many obstacles on the road to a high functioning department. This session will be led by a 28-year public works career veteran who will describe how using modern leadership practices and philosophes has helped his department turn the corner into a 21st century success story.Learning Objectives: Delegate tasks and projects more efficiently.Communicate new ideas and deal with resistance to change.Manage a successful organization change program.
The APWA Kansas City Metro Chapter Sustainable Infrastructure Committee will highlight for you how the Kansas City Metropolitan area is incorporating sustainability through: (1) Practicality – the City of Grandview, Missouri, is using innovative funding mechanisms for construction of transportation and redevelopment projects; (2) Future Vision – The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) has included ""Creating Sustainable Places"" as part of its regional planning process creating tools and models for cities to use and, the City of Lenexa, Kansas, has developed a sustainable vision for its City Center project; (3) Policy – The City of Kansas City, Missouri, is promoting sustainability across City departments through ISI EnvisionA credentialing, winning two EnvisionA Platinum awards for the Kansas City Streetcar and the Middle Blue River Green Infrastructure Project.Learning Objectives:Discover how to incorporate sustainable objectives into your agency's projects.Examine how ISI credentialing is being achieved in the Kansas City Metropolitan area.Apply sustainable planning in your regional planning and future visioning.
Promoting public trust requires an ongoing effort as well as responding appropriately to misinformation and disinformation when they occur. Explore best practices that will help mitigate and avoid communication breakdowns. We'll provide examples for handling situations like these: building relationships across all sectors of the community, even those that disagree with you; the importance of proactive communication and information sharing; addressing your social media critics directly when crisis occurs and handling vocal criticism from an unreliable source.Learning Objectives:Discuss best practices for promoting civic trust.Troubleshoot instances of misinformation and disinformation.Examine ways to mitigate and avoid communication breakdowns.
Examine different applications for using prefabricated wet well technology for various projects, including installations in an underground parking garage and an oval lift station in a city easement. Examples will be presented of how it reduces the required depth needed for installation and provides savings in materials and installation costs.Learning Objectives: Compare the use of prefabricated wet well versus traditional precast concrete in terms of production, delivery time, transportation, and installation.Evaluate the benefits of using prefabricated wet well technology including reducing leaks.Review the reduced cost and sustainability benefits of prefabricated wet wells.
When kids are asked what they want to be when they grow up, common responses include police officer or firefighter. To get more exposure for public works, the City of North Port hosts an annual Road-E-O that features activities for children, vendor information tables, demonstrations, a big truck area, and a heavy equipment operators Road-E-O skills contest. Last year's edition also included a ""create a reuse craft"" project where kids made crafts with recycled materials, a gopher tortoise protection space with a simulated burrow, and a walking excavator that ""danced"" to the Star Wars theme. The kids loved it.Learning Objectives: Discover ways to positively elevate their departments' visibility.Create community support for public works.Engage employees in unconventional activities and build workplace cohesion.
Over the last few years, the City of Phoenix Public Works Department experienced a perfect storm of events that impacted the ability to attract and retain highly qualified solid waste equipment operators (SWEO). Pension reform, a high number of retirements, and pay concessions resulted in a high turn-over rate. Out of challenging circumstances comes the opportunity for innovation. The SWEO Apprenticeship program trains new recruits from the ground up. The two-year program helps apprentices obtain their commercial driver's licenses (CDL), learn all aspects of a solid waste operation, and become a qualified SWEO. By working to bring in and train a diverse workforce, Phoenix is not only molding future organizational leaders, but providing jobs to underserved and underrepresented populations.Learning Objectives:Adopt proven strategies for creating a successful apprenticeship program.Provide a framework for successful collaboration with the stakeholders for an apprenticeship program.Think outside-the-box for solutions for attracting and retaining qualified staff.
Case studies will be presented about how online permit systems can transform onerous paper-based procedures into empowering integrated WebGIS ROW occupation management systems. This type of system comes complete with intuitive dashboards for both applicants and validators, step-by-step standardized workflow, easy-to-use interactive mapping, valuable spatial and attribute queries and filtering. It is all contained within a secure but readily accessible geographic database server environment, with an integrated inspection tablet app for QA/QC.Learning Objectives:Improve ROW permit process efficiency.Coordinate traffic management issues related to ROW projects.Use a tablet app to track non-compliant work and road condition.
The factors that motivate an entity to address resiliency, as it relates to infrastructure, can vary widely – depending on how resiliency is defined and addressed in various geographic locations. In this program, we will share three different case studies, from three separate regions. We will also share the value of resilient infrastructure, and discuss how resilient infrastructure has been beneficial.