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This session will focus on what it takes to be a successful leader in an organization. The speaker will focus on his 32-year career in public works and how he had to evolve and change to become an effective leader. While starting out as more of a micro-manager, as his organization evolved, he discovered the attributes associated with delegating responsibility to the stakeholders who perform the work. The speaker will talk about his experiences with implementing a city-wide Quality Initiative, an IDEAS program, succession planning, and other employee-based opportunities.
Mentorship can serve as a gateway to exciting new opportunities for the mentee and growth opportunities and career satisfaction to the mentor. A successful mentorship relationship can provide succession planning to create resilient organizations in the workplace and APWA. A mentor and mentee relationship should be a personal choice by all parties as each drastically varies depending on one’s needs. Bringing these two groups together is key to getting started. This is sometimes difficult as the perfect pair can be from different organizations, locations, ages, job backgrounds, and experiences. This program will look at how to create your own mentorship program, different mentorship styles to create successful relationships, and provide the opportunity for attendees to establish connections to find their own mentor or mentee. Be ready to find your mentor/mentee match and use what you’ve learned to create a lasting, successful mentorship relationship.
Critical infrastructure owners must consider how their supervisory control and acquisition systems (SCADA) and physical asset systems are resilient by design in the face of cyber incidents. The escalation of control system-based cyber incidents coupled with the natural evolution of engineering practices has inadvertently removed cyber-physical protections from our water and wastewater systems resulting in an increased cyber risk to our assets, people, and operations. Developed by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), consequence-driven, cyber-informed engineering (CCE) is an emerging methodology specifically designed to improve the security and cyber-physical resilience of critical infrastructure control systems. West Yost staff have been working with utilities across the U.S. to conduct CCE-related assessments, emergency preparedness exercises, and improvement engineering practices. This presentation will provide attendees with ideas and knowledge to pursue CCE within their organizations.
To ensure current and future projects benefit the public to their fullest, public works departments need to reevaluate the changed needs of the community and adapt projects to address these new demands. Town of Greenwich Department of Public Works reimagined the Greenwich Avenue and Elm Street Intersection Improvement Project by incorporating innovative concepts into all project phases. The project features the implementation of safe streets design; a strategic communications campaign; an interactive website to educate and solicit public feedback, using drones to improve construction and engineering efforts; and collaborating with the disability advocacy community to improve accessibility and safety. Hear from Greenwich Public Works Deputy Commissioner, Jim Michel, P.E., and Senior Civil Engineer Jason Kaufman, P.E., as they discuss their project, along with leading-edge strategies and methods that can be applied to future projects post-pandemic.
Stormwater (SW) utilities face competition for limited funds, especially those communities faced with renewing aging sewer and water assets to address overflow problems and sewage basement backups. There continues to be the political stigma with raising SW rates to upgrade aging infrastructure to increase the level of SW service. Utilities are confronting the reality their underground storm sewer assets are deteriorating, and many have reached the end of their useful lives. Utility managers struggle to get their heads around how to efficiently and cost-effectively manage and renew their assets versus staff “fighting fires” from the next emergency collapse or flooding event. Utility managers are also typically facing combined sewer overflow (CSO), sanitary sewer overflow (SSO), municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) regulatory compliance, and surface flooding costs. The audience will hear lessons learned from other utilities and learn how to develop and implement a straightforward stormwater asset management program and increase the level of service to their customers.
Pandemic-related population shifts in many parts of the U.S. have led some analysts to identify this trend as the “Great American Migration” of 2020. Whether fleeing a high cost of living, a volatile climate, or local lockdowns, Americans moved in droves from large urban centers to smaller cities and rural or suburban counties. The result is an increased need for local government and public works agencies to manage their transportation infrastructure for accelerated growth, even as public funding remains modest. This panel discussion provides insight into how the City of Frederick, Maryland, and Polk County, Florida, are successfully modernizing their transportation asset management strategies and practices to save money while delivering reliable, sustainable, and resilient roadways, bridges, and other assets for current and future populations.
Knowledge experts will discuss why a smart irrigation system is a sound choice for your lawn and landscape program. The presenters will discuss the benefits of water conservation and the benefits…
City leaders embarked on an ambitious $13M Watershed Master Plan program in 2019 to better understand the magnitude and severity of flooding across the entire city and proactively develop flood…
The supply chain crisis has compelled fleet managers across the country to get creative to solve certain problems that they may have taken for granted in the past. The nationwide…
Due to the continuous rise of chlorides being detected in the drinking waters in the Northern Virginia region, salt reduction is needed as soon as possible. The speaker will present details of Fairfax County’s journey to successful salt reduction program development and implementation, along with best management practices.