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This session addresses the practical applications, critical issues, emerging trends, innovative approaches, and best practices for creating/delivering presentations for public works leaders. Examples of successful presentations will be supplied and analyzed as tangible illustrations of best presentation practices. These exemplary presentations achieved their end goal and were effective at convincing leaders.
Indiana’s Local Technical Assistance Program has been tasked with developing training and resources to aid municipalities in managing their assets. The concepts that make up Transportation Asset Management are the building blocks for a well-run public works agency. Every public works manager is tasked with preserving and improving their fixed assets as long and at as low a cost as possible. No matter what the asset is, you have to repair it, preserve it, and document it. This session will cover the general concepts of Transportation Asset Management and provide case studies on how this has been successfully implemented in Indiana.
Whether they’re adding capacity to wastewater treatment plants or building a new fire station, cities and towns across the country have typically made infrastructure decisions by asking themselves one question: What’s the best value? But looking primarily at tangible needs and results in the procurement decision-making process largely excludes important conversations about current and future trends, innovative solutions and more. As climate change and severe weather increasingly impacts day-to-day operations–and as residents and businesses show a growing interest in environmental stewardship–public works agencies are quickly realizing that seemingly intangible needs such as sustainability and resiliency are playing a much more critical role in the success of their services, operations and future. And that realization is changing the way they need to approach procurement decisions, projects, and day-to-day operations. Even so, making a business case for resiliency and sustainability isn’t as simple as flipping a switch. There’s rarely a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires a true understanding of not only the life cycle and cost of energy assets but also the consequences of not implementing these reliable, sustainable infrastructure projects. It requires educating leaders about current and future trends, new technologies, and innovative solutions while also getting buy-in from community members. And, ultimately, it requires a complete shift from a long-standing decision-making process to one that helps improve the quality, reliability and sustainability of public works services.
The Niles case study will present the Niles Stormwater Master Planning and Capital Improvements. The Village of Niles is a suburb located on the Northwest side of the Chicago that was developed during the baby boom (1950’s-60’s). Historically development did not allow for overland flood routes and did not conceive of the amount of impervious cover that would be built. As a result, Niles suffers from urban flooding. Urban flooding is frequent flooding associated with undersized sewers and poor drainage located outside the FEMA flood plain. After massive flooding in 2008, the Village formed a stormwater commission to address flooding in town. This program included recommendations in four areas: capital improvements, regulatory program, maintenance and monitoring and flood control assistance. In 2017 after the successful completion of Tier I improvements, the Village initiated a stormwater master plan update that was completed in 2018. The update was needed to include the results of past projects, add analyses of potential projects, and revisit the project prioritization for the future. The presentation will provide an overview of the process used to prepare the 2018 Master Plan update. An overview of the successful aspects and lessons learned from programs and projects implemented during the first five years of program implementation will be shared. The presentation will also discuss how funding was secured for the projects using grants, sales tax, and low interest loans. Finally Village staff will also discuss how green infrastructure has been incorporated in various locations throughout the town. Director Braun will relate how the stormwater plan incorporated operation and maintenance considerations. A brief discussion will be included on how maintenance management software was used to calibrate and verify the results of the modeling. Finally the results of a trend analysis related to stormwater complaints in the database will be presented
Uptown Westerville was built in the late 1800s, but it took more than 150 years before the historic district was a bustling commercial district of eateries, specialty shops, and host to special events. Having survived the Great Recession of the mid 2000s, Uptown emerged revitalized and prepared to embody its tradition as the heart of suburban Westerville, Ohio. As the Recession cleared, city leadership turned again to maintenance, design, and infrastructure improvements required to keep the district vibrant and aesthetically warm and welcoming. In the early 2010s, the Uptown Improvement Project (UIP) was launched to evaluate streetscape enhancements, sidewalk expansion for ADA compliance, bump-outs, and parklets, as well as resurfacing for this well-traveled State Route corridor. Challenges were anticipated early based on aged infrastructure and closures required for construction. Residents, merchants, and visitors were not eager to welcome the inconvenience of construction. A series of plans were diluted in favor of time, putting some of the plan’s most exciting features on the editing-room floor. Indeed, challenges were met. A major utility relocation and upgrade issue, Democratic Party Presidential Debate, and global pandemic impacted UIP, requiring several scalable actions in design, construction, and communication management. The Project adopted a strong communication campaign, with branded assets for merchants and other stakeholders to manage expectations and offer frequent updates on progression. UIP is the rare project that is highly visible amid a variety of unknown factors, including underground infrastructure that is outdated and potentially mismarked. This project was also performed where the seat of local government is located, with Westerville City Hall in the middle of a lengthy construction zone. This presentation will detail how design, partnerships, and strategy worked together in a challenging environment to achieve success.
There are numerous ways to receive a weather forecast in today’s world of social media and expanding technology. Which way is most preferred? An old-school written article or a jazzy video? Are more messages in a variety of platforms better or more confusing for the end user? What piece of a weather forecast is most important to snow and ice decision makers in order to know when to call out crews, which chemicals should be used, and how to overall prepare for the upcoming storm event. The understanding of inconsistent messaging channels is key to proper communication and decision making. What does this communication look like in the future? This Dare to Ask session will engage the audience by asking the questions above. A live polling quiz at the beginning can uncover preferences and help drive discussion to help better understand the best platform, message and delivery for communicating weather data and forecasts. Is there a special recipe to follow that makes all management levels happy?
Winter maintenance Technology and programs have been constantly evolving throughout the years. From a time when operations were very reactive to today’s operations which are far more proactive. In this session, we will look at how operations, programs and technologies have changed throughout the years. With over 70 years combined experience in winter operations are presenters will share their insights and experiences on how these programs and technologies have evolved and how they had benefited their agencies and the industry. They will also share how they were involved in many of the innovations and programs that are being used today. They will discuss successes and failures and the challenges of implementing new programs and technologies in their agencies.
As increasing research is done into emerging trends and citizen’s expectations for our cities, one item is becoming clear: trees are a valuable part of a community and the urban forest is expected to be preserved and replanted for future generations. However, building a policy or an ordinance to achieve this can quickly turn into a daunting task. Beginning in 2010, the Springfield, Missouri, Urban Forestry Department focused on establishing a simple, effective way to rebuild its urban forest using three core strategies: tree preservation during construction; tree planting to mitigate losses; and building the NeighborWoods program, encouraging citizen participation. These strategies have placed Springfield’s urban forest, and their community, in a strong position that is getting better every day.
Whether you're not sure what the words Asset Management (AM) mean or you're part of an organization that is a decade or more into applied practices, this session will broaden your team's ability to assess where your agency is at and where you might like to take the next bite toward more cost effective customer service delivery. This session will provide an overview of a rapid assessment tool adopted by the State of Michigan. This spreadsheet tool is adapted from the AM expertise of public works professionals with the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA) who have been providing technical manuals, guidance, templates, and education in the AM space for the past two decades. IPWEA developed a self-assessment tool widely used in public works – both internally and in communications with peers. Mr. Pratt is an APWA Jennings Randolph scholar who traveled to Australia and New Zealand to learn the insights that will be provided. He has been engaged with Michigan's efforts to formalize a statewide AM framework including training and education. The bulk of the presentation will be an interactive exercise to simulate an agency brownbag-type session to dive into the rating questions used for self assessment. Example outputs will be shared. Introductory discussion will expose attendees to broader organizational roles beyond data management/collection and prioritization. After initially expanding attendee understanding of this longer-range vision of AM used by thousands of international public works agencies, the focus of this session will be the simplicity of creating short term goals based on current organizational capabilities. This initial discussion will include summarizing the reasons these areas of assessment were developed by IPWEA and how those have been adapted for North America, first by the Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA).