APWA AZ Newsletter 2019 September
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September 10, 2019 September 13, 2019 2018 NEWSLETTER SPONSORS
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STATE CONFERENCE HOME RUN Dear Members:
APWA AZ Chapter Dinner Cruise at PWX September 17, 2019
New Member Spotlight Name and Title: Robert Lane, PE, PTOE Agency: Pima County DOT With APWA Since: July 2019 Describe your job responsibilities: I’m the Manager of the Maintenance and Operations Division. I help the men and women who work in the Division function efficiently and effectively. I support management decisions and help move projects, administrative actions, procedures, and programs forward. We reorganized how we function in July of 2018 and I’ve been working with staff at all levels to ensure work continues to move forward and to improve our response times to service requests and work orders. What was your favorite project to work on in the last 10 years? I’ve had several. In 2010 I was working as a consultant in Arizona and was sent up to Montana to help a contractor with a mine tailings remediation site. It was on the edge of my experience and enabled me to learn a whole different side of the industry. My favorite with Pima County is the ongoing development of a Pavement Management Program which has included funding changes, road treatment testing, a public advisory committee, multiple contracting types, and development of a pavement repair and preservation program. Where have your travels taken you? Growing up my parents enjoyed traveling all over the United States to visit family and brought my sister, brother and I with them. When we were in our teens, my father took a job teaching with the Department of Defense Dependent Schools. We moved to Germany and I spent my high school years traveling around Europe on field trips, team sports trips, and family vacations. It put the traveling bug in me and I’ve continued to travel overseas and around the United States. I also lived in Alaska for about seven years and traveled around that state while working as a consultant. Name one thing not many people know about you: I live in a rural section of the Town of Sahuarita in Arizona and have several acres. My wife and I have embarked on an adventure raising goats. I had goats when I was younger and we wanted to provide my four year old daughter with the same experience. It has had ups and downs as we have experienced the full circle of life with both births and deaths in our herd.
Name: Sharon Flissar Agency: City of Sierra Vista Title: Director of Public Works What are you responsible for in your role? I oversee about 110 employees divided among 9 different sections: Administration, Engineering, Airport, Streets, Facilities, Fleet, Transit, Wastewater, and Refuse. How long have you been in this position? Four years. Where did you work previously? I’ve worked for the City of Sierra Vista for almost twenty years, starting out as a Civil Engineer straight out of college. I worked my way up to a Senior Civil Engineer, the City Engineer, and now the Public Works Director. What Challenges do you experience in your role? There have been a lot of challenges over the years, but I would say increasing citizen expectations paired with stagnant or decreasing funding have been a consistent obstacle over the last few years. The community expects a lot out of local government, and funding unfortunately just hasn’t been able to keep pace. Add in an increasing regulatory climate, and there simply isn’t enough money to do everything we would like to do. Our challenges are not unique and are being confronted by communities across the country. How long have you been an APWA member? I don’t recall exactly, but it has to be more than ten years now. Have you served on the Board or any committees? I was on the 2015 Phoenix Congress (now PWX) planning committee. I had a great time and met a lot of amazing people! My participation on other boards and committees is unfortunately limited somewhat by my rural location. What benefits do you get out of being a member? The networking available through APWA is a tremendous resource. When I am working through obstacles, I always have someone I can call to offer some suggestions. I’ve made those connections at both PWX and the state conference. What would you like to share with APWA Members? Our job may be difficult and the accolades few, but we make a difference every day in the lives of the people in our communities. Tell us about your family and hobbies: My husband and I have been married for close to twenty years and have two amazing daughters. Our oldest daughter starts high school this fall, so I am freaking out a little bit about that! We just returned from my dream vacation hiking into the crater of Mount St. Helens (see photos). We love spending time together as a family, and weekends will often find us at the softball fields cheering on both girls as they play with their respective travel teams.
2019 Statewide Conference Wrap Up Story by Conference Co-Chairs Christy Sipos (Civiltec Engineering) and Scott Kirchhofer (Achen-Gardner Construction) Thank you to all of the committee members, attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers for making the Arizona Chapter APWA 2019 Statewide Conference a huge success. This was our third year organizing the conference and we think it was our best year so far. A large part of the conference’s success comes from your participation and your feedback which is extremely helpful to us. We listen, take notes, and we will make adjustments to improve next year’s conference and make it a more valuable and memorable experience. Online surveys were sent out after the conference and many of you filled them out. If you didn’t fill out the survey or if you have any additional comments about the conference, feel free to contact us directly. Again, thank you all again for your support and we are looking forward to next year’s conference. SAVE THE DATE: JULY 29-31, 2020.
Thanks to Agnes Art & Photo for photographing this year’s conference events. All of the photos can be found on the conference website (https://www.azapwaconference.com/photos).
PRESENTATIONS We have posted nearly all of the conference presentations on the conference website (https://www.azapwaconference.com/presentations). This is a new benefit we are offering attendees this year and a good example of how we are listening to your requests and providing you with valuable education, even after the conference.
We think we hit the jackpot by finding Steve Correia. His unique keynote “Become a Geek Who Can Speak” and his creative improv session “Improve Your World From The Bottom Up” were a breath of fresh air for our conference. Also, thank you to Rob Kidder, Arizona APWA Chapter President, and Town of Oro Valley Mayor Joe Winfield for starting the opening session.
This year we had a full exhibit hall and more sponsors so our overall financial support was higher compared to last year. It was a good mix of engineering and construction firms, equipment/material suppliers, and other industry-related firms. Some of these vendors are well known and regularly support APWA and some were new. We would like to thank all of the exhibitors and sponsors for helping to make this a great event. Without your support, this conference would not be possible.
We broke last year’s record for attendance to the awards luncheon. Congratulations to all of the individual award winners and project of the year award winners. A list of all of the winners and photos of the winners can be found on the conference website (https://www.azapwaconference.com/awards).
Thursday’s Fun Night is always a blast and this year was no different, though the carnival theme provided us with the opportunity for a variety of entertainment. The hoop dancer, juggler, stilt walker, fortune teller, and caracture artist were captivating and the food was a good mix of healthy and high-calorie. The walking tacos were particulary good and a first for many of us. A special thanks to the Conference Site Committee for planning this wonderful event.
Kristy Bidwill’s keynote “Reaching The Unimaginable: The Power of Leading With Purpose” provided us with some inspiring stories and helped lead us into our signature Friday event. The Agency Showcase is now one of the biggest highlights of the Statewide Conference and something that we look forward to doing every year. More than 200 people attended the event and we intend to make it bigger and better next year. The conference website will remain live at https://azapwaconference.com if you want to view the program, photos, presentations, and award winners. This information is also available for previous year’s conferences. We will update the website with new conference information as it becomes available. Thank you all again for your support. Your Conference Co-Chairs,
CLICK LISTEN & LEARN WEBINAR CALENDAR Succession Planning and Servant Leadership
https://www.apwa.net/MyApwa/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=CLL112119&utm_source=Informz&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Informz%20Emails
This section allows agencies to advertise their open positions. Please provide your advertisement and/or link to sniebel@woodpatel.com. CIP Manger - Coming Soon Development & Engineering Services Director Senior Planner https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/avondale Deputy Public Works Director City Planner Equipment Mechanic II https://www.douglasaz.gov/Jobs.aspx Parks Field Supervisor https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/gilbert Water/Wastewater Administrator http://www.globeaz.gov/departments/job-opportunities Budget Analyst/Senior Budget Analyst Chief Surveyor City Plans Examiner Engineering Designer Financial Reporting Analyst Intelligent Transportation Systems Technician I IT Engineer I Permits Technician II Public Safety Communications Manager Water Resources Operator I/II – Water Treatment https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mesaaz?page=1 Water Resources Planning Administrator Economic Development Project Manager Solid Waste Equipment Operator https://www.peoriaaz.gov/government/departments/human-resources/employment Civil Engineer II – Street Transportation Dept. Civil Engineer III – Street Transportation Dept. Landscape Architect II – Planning & Development Dept. Water Distribution Utility Supervisor – Water Services Department Construction Inspections Supervisor – Street Transportation Department Engineering Technician – Utility Coordination Water Services Superintendent – Water Services Department Solid Waste Equipment Operator – PW Dept. Transportation Planning II or III https://workzone.apwa.net/career/40082/Transportation-Planning-Ii-Or-Iii-Arizona-Az-Phoenix Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator III Water Resources Advisor https://workzone.apwa.net/career/39752/Public-Works-Department-Director-Solid-Waste-Services-Arizona-Az-Scottsdale Wastewater Supervisor https://workzone.apwa.net/career/40073/Wastewater-Supervisor-Arizona-Az-Sierra-Vista
City of Mesa - Dawn Forrest and Missy Blackmore checking bluestake marks and potholes on the City Center utility project
Municipal Recycling Challenges by Mike Gent, City of Surprise Public Works Director Most of our cities have increased collection rates to account for these new circumstances, and some have even modified their programs, reducing the acceptable material list to reflect the demands of buyers. In the case of the City of Surprise, we have chosen to suspend bringing recyclables to a material recovery facility, until a viable and sustainable solution is identified and implemented. We have asked our residents to continue sorting clean, dry, and empty recyclables into their blue recycle containers during this time, so that when a solution is ready, we will have never stopped with the responsible recycling habits developed over years. The Public Works Management Practices Manual which guides agencies through the APWA self-assessment and accreditation process states that a “level of service is developed and chosen for recycling and balances local needs and total waste management costs.” It further clarifies the best practice by saying, “The agency should try to maintain a level of service in recycling which meets community objectives while reducing, through cost avoidance, regular collection and disposal costs, thereby, offsetting additional expenses of recycling.” The City of Surprise is committed to providing recycling in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner. We join with all of you in looking forward to better recycling solutions in our future. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Public works are the services and infrastructure required to sustain quality community life. |
