APWA AZ Newsletter 2015 January
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NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2015 In this issue
Follow Us 2015 Newsletter Sponsors
UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR January 21, 2015 January 21, 2015
*Note: Event dates/times/locations should be verified with appropriate committee chair –See Committee Directory
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Hello Everyone and a Happy New Year to you all! This will be an exciting and eventful one. As you all know, we will be hosting the International Congress this year! Preparations are ongoing and have been for at least 5 years for this great event. I would like to recognize the hard work and dedication of the Arizona APWA chapter for the sustained effort it has taken to get us here. As we move through this year, activity will increase and it will culminate in August with the Congress. We are going to be very busy this year and I anticipate many issues arising as we progress toward a really special event. Some of you have attended the Congress before. If you have, you know it is a real opportunity to learn, communicate and collaborate. I look forward to bringing our chapter recognition for the outstanding job that you all are doing to help National obtain the resources and assistance they need. I feel that this will be a really special year and I am grateful and happy to be at the helm during this time. Without you and your fellow APWA associates, we would not be as successful as we are. The Northern and Southern Branches are doing their part and because we all work together, you can anticipate a really great Congress. We must focus this year on Congress, Membership, and Communications. When we do, with a close eye on our budget, we can expect a really exciting, educational and rewarding year. This year, we will see many changes in the world, remember, that we are the ones that keep the lights on, provide the water, and design, build, and maintain almost everything that our modern society needs to operate. You all should be proud of the incredible accomplishments that APWA members have achieved. Keep up the good work!
2014 CONGRESS WRAP UP Rebecca Timmer, Dibble Engineering 
OH CANADA! Upon arrival, the icon of the City is clearly the Canadian National (CN) Tower. The architecture around the City, both old and new, is amazing. The Liberty Grand is where the “Get Acquainted Event” was held, which has many ballrooms and a beautiful courtyard. (Click to view photo) The Old City Hall is a favorite with the character that the gargoyles bring to the tower. Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall, which is where the Toronto Symphony Orchestra plays. (Click to view photo) No city walk is complete without seeing a gorgeous cathedral. This is St. James Cathedral, which was built and rebuilt due to the great fires and last completed in 1874. (Click to view photo)
Speaking of Mill Street, that makes me think of the Mill St. Brewery, where we had these tasty morsels. Toronto has no shortage of amazing places for tasty treats. This place has many flavors to choose from! Near the CN Tower and Convention Center is a historic train station that has been converted into a brewery and tasting room called Steam Whistle. They make one brew only and every day is free sample day. (Click to view photo) You can see a fabulous view of Steam Whistle from atop the CN Tower. (Click to view photo) For dessert you can have any variety of chocolate from a place called Soma, where they have their own chocolate laboratory. Photo 343 Greater Toronto is known not only for its brews, but also for its wineries. This photo is of the property next to the Ice Wine House tasting room. Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine and are pressed while they are frozen. (Click to view photo) A visit to Toronto wouldn’t be complete without the purchase and taste of some REAL maple syrup. The maple leaf is there symbol for a reason!!! (Click to view photo) Big, fat maple trees are everywhere! (Click to view photo) St. Lawrence Market is a place you can find maple syrup, along with all kinds of other yummy foods. Canadian Wayne Gretzky, former professional hockey player #99, played 20 years in the National League from Like our Hollywood Walk of Fame, Toronto is home to Canada’s Walk of Fame. (Click to view photo) The Rogers Center is where professional baseball and football are played. (Click to view photo) We saw some beautiful murals while we walked around the City and even stopped to watch this local artist create a masterpiece on the sidewalk. (Click to view photo), (Click to view photo), (Click to view photo), (Click to view photo)
From largest to smallest, the three waterfalls are the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. Bridal Veil is seen to the left and American Falls to the right in this photo. Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, the combined falls form the highest flow rate of any waterfall in the world, with a vertical drop of more than 165 feet. Horseshoe Falls is the most powerful waterfall in North America. (Click to view photo) All these sites are made extra special by the people that we encountered. NOW IT’S OUR TURN! FEATURE ARTICLE Infrastructure, the Key to a Successful Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona By Laura Turiano, David Evans and Associates, Inc. As February 1, 2015 rolls closer, plans are being finalized to host Super Bowl XLIX in Arizona. From a public works perspective a number of infrastructure improvements, maintenance, and operations tasks have been completed in preparation for the “big event.” Plans are also being finalized to facilitate transportation throughout the area including access to downtown Phoenix (known as Verizon Super Bowl Central) and University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale. Bringing an event of this magnitude to the State is no ordinary feat and takes the cooperation of a number of public, private and non-profit organizations to make it happen. Infrastructure improvements that helped Arizona secure Super Bowl XLIX include: 
Downtown Phoenix
The city has teamed with the 2015 Super Bowl Host Committee to provide a detailed travel guide for visitors to Verizon Super Bowl Central that is available by visiting azsuperbowl.com. The “Know Before You Go” page provides travel tips, public transportation information, driving routes, safety information, aviation information and a map and fact sheet. The city is encouraging visitors to take public transportation if possible to expedite the travel experience. Public transportation options include light rail offering three-car trains and additional frequency for added capacity, added trips on Express/RAPID bus routes from eight regional park-and-ride lots, and longer operating hours on select local bus routes. Transit information is available at www.valleymetro.org/superbowl. Visitors driving into downtown Phoenix are encouraged to take routes from the west and south into the area. These streets handle greater capacity and are not as heavily used as those in the east. An NFL Mobile App is also available for download as a guide to Verizon Super Bowl Central and visitors are encouraged to follow the hashtag #SB49 on social media for updates. Phoenix is ready, prepared and excited to welcome an unprecedented number of visitors into downtown Phoenix for the Verizon Super Bowl Central. University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale The City of Glendale has also been hard at work preparing to host the upcoming 2015 Pro Bowl and Super Bowl at Glendale will turn to additional technology to help manage traffic entering and exiting the Glendale Sports and Entertainment district during the Super Bowl. Since 2008, the city has added an additional 75 traffic cameras for a total of 114 installed cameras to monitor traffic from the Traffic Management Center and address problems quickly. An additional 13 permanent dynamic message signs have also been added (total of 14) to provide up-to-date traffic information throughout the event. Water/wastewater staff are busy preparing for the water demands that will surge during the game. Half-time water demand throughout the city will increase by 1.5 million gallons for use in homes, restaurants, and the stadium. All that water will be processed by Glendale recharge facilities as well as nearby regional treatment facilities. Valley Metro will be providing enhanced bus service on routes 60, 67, and 70 to provide public transportation connection to the University of Phoenix Stadium for the Pro Bowl (January 25th) and the Super Bowl. This service will be extended until approximately midnight. Schedules will become available in early January. Glendale has also teamed with the Super Bowl Host Committee and up-to-date travel and parking information to the Stadium and Entertainment District is available at azsuperbowl.com.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT I-10/SR303L System Traffic Interchange (Phase 1) Project: I-10/SR303L System Traffic Interchange (Phase I) Background This project segment of the SR303L Freeway improvements is Phase I of the the System Traffic Interchange connecting I-10 to SR303L north within the City of Goodyear and ADOT’s Phoenix Construction District in Maricopa County, Arizona. Phase II, which is currently in the design phase, will connect SR303L south of I-10 to complete the ultimate five-level directional interchange. Project Improvements Key Features
2015 CONGRESS
Sonoran Desert Sponsor: Dibble Engineering White Mountain Sponsors: HDR ~ Stanley Consultants Painted Desert Sponsors: Achen-Gardner Construction ~ EPS Group ~ Wood Patel Please help the Arizona chapter reach its sponsorship goal of $500k. For information on Congress 2015 Sponsorships click here or contact Kent Dibble, kent.dibble@dibblecorp.com. VOLUNTEERS The 2015 Congress Volunteers sub-committee is preparing for the big push to fill over 530 volunteer slots needed to make Congress a success. We have attended the past two Congresses in Chicago and Toronto specifically to observe and learn from those two volunteer committees, and we got some great information and ideas from them. We are currently looking for volunteer shirt design ideas, and have begun keeping a list of those who express an interest in volunteering. We are also looking for a few key people to assist us as “Lead Volunteers” – people who will be able to attend most or all of the Congress and can help us with volunteer briefings, preparation, and assisting the volunteers during the event. Based on past Congress experience, we anticipate these slots will be filled by over 350 individual volunteers, many of whom will come from your organizations. These volunteers will be needed for such assignments as “Congress Concierge” at the event hotels, checking attendees in and out of educational sessions, way finding around the convention center, and assisting vendors and visitors on the exposition floor, among other similar assignments. At times there will be as many as 100 volunteers working. So why would you volunteer, and how do you sign up? The main benefits of volunteering are easy: 1. You get a chance to give back to the profession and your peers by serving them at the premier public works event 2. When you sign up for a half day volunteer slot you will get free admission to the event for the other half day. If your agency can’t afford to register a bunch of employees, look at this as a way to get them all into the event free by volunteering to work for a half day 3. And best of all, think about the stylish volunteer shirt you get to wear on your day of service – and it’s yours to keep. WOW! How do you volunteer: 1. APWA National will post a website in the spring where all volunteers need to complete the volunteer registration form. In the meantime, you can send your name and contact information to either of the volunteers sub-committee co-chairs and we will keep a list of people to notify when the volunteer sign-up site goes live 2. If you plan to have multiple staff volunteer to get them a chance to experience the event, now would be a good time to start scheduling the timing so everyone isn’t trying to volunteer for the same day. The main days for Congress are Sunday August 30th through Wednesday September 2nd, but we will need some volunteers on Saturday August 29th and Thursday September 3rd as well. If you are interested, contact either of the Volunteer Co-Chairs, Rebecca Timmer Jeff Kramer PUBLICITY
The 2015 Congress Publicity/Exhibit Committee has developed a strategy for promoting Congress at various regional conferences. Members of the committee and/or members of the local/regional associations will attend conferences and meetings to promote Congress by manning a booth, handing out fliers, and answering general questions. If you are planning to attend an upcoming conference or meeting and would like to help us promote Congress, please contact Amanda McGennis amcgennis@azagc.org or Scott Kirchhofer skirchhofer@achen.com The Committee has acquired some promotional materials for distribution. With the help of David Dancy, APWA Director of Marketing, we have a Save The Date postcard and an Exhibitor Brochure. These promos can be found at the links below and they are free for anyone to print and distribute. Actually printing and distributing these materials is highly encouraged since we are all on the same team and want to promote Congress as much as possible to maximize the number of exhibitors and attendees. The Committee has also gathered some great brochures that promote Phoenix, The Valley, and Arizona. These brochures have been supplied to us by Janis Thomas, Senior Director – Convention Services/Housing, with the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau. The brochures will give Congress attendees a lot of options for places to see during their visit. We are also reaching out to the Arizona Office of Tourism and Arizona Highways to have them assist in writing articles that promote Arizona. These articles will be featured in APWA email blasts and the APWA Reporter magazine in an effort to build interest in the 2015 Congress and promote registration.
CALL FOR 2015 SPONSORS
Your Arizona Chapter’s annual operations depend upon donations from our member organizations. Sponsorships pay for the resources required to provide Educational Workshops, the Public Works Leadership Institute, website support, weekly news briefs, monthly newsletters, and much more. Newsletters are published monthly, posted on the Chapter website and sent electronically to over 1000 recipients in the Public Works field. For more information visit the 2015 Annual Sponsorships web page. CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: 2015 AWARDS PROGRAM The APWA Public Works Project of the Year was established to promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects by recognizing the alliance between the managing agency, the consultant/architect/engineer, and the contractor who, working together, complete public works projects. Public works projects may be nominated in four cost divisions and five categories plus in five different categories for Small Cities/Rural Communities. There is also a Sustainability Practices Award given for individuals and/or programs/organizations/agencies The Chapter then nominates the projects selected as local or Chapter winners (and other meritorious projects) for the APWA National Awards Program. Individuals are also recognized by the Chapter each year. We will accept award nominations for Outstanding Public Works Employee and Award of Merit. These are awards based on local criteria and are only judged locally. The Award of Merit recognizes public works or related agency personnel at the operational level who perform in an exceptionally efficient and/or innovative manner and the Outstanding Public Works Employee award is for outstanding performance at a managerial level for a Federal, State, County, or Municipal agency. Important Information The 2015 APWA Arizona Chapter Award submittals are due January 30, 2015. Once submissions have been judged, they will be uploaded to the National Awards Program by the March 3 due date. Please submit 6 hard copies and one electronic copy on CD or thumb drive. Deliver your submissions to (if using delivery service, hand-carrying or FedEx): Jeanne Sapon, Awards Committee Chair If submittals are being sent via U.S. Postal Service, use the following address to ensure proper delivery: Jeanne Sapon, Awards Committee Chair
For more information, contact Jeanne Sapon at 602-501-4471 or via email at jsapon@dbaconstruction.net MEMBER NEWS Holiday Party December 10th of 2014 was a great day for the Arizona Chapter of APWA. It was second year we had our Holiday Our Gold sponsors this year included: Kiewit, Allwyn Environmental, Wood-Patel, DBA Construction, and Gannett Fleming. Royal Purple sponsors included: Entellus, Dibble Engineering, O’Neill Engineering, and Arizona Business Ventures, LLC. Within this same category was Graphic Ideals who graciously supported us by providing the flyers and the boards to recognize the sponsors at the event. Pivotal Marketing Partners designed the flyers and the website notifications. Gift Card and other door prize donations were provided by: Salt River Project, Ninyo & Moore, EPS Group, Achen-Gardner Construction, Al Field & Associates, Inc., Slater Hanifin Group, DBA Construction, Dibble Engineering and Stanley Consultants. Bottles of wine donated by John Hauskins and Maher Hazine were also donated for door prizes. The night was complete with the swearing in of our new officers by Past President, Gerry Copeland. A great deal of thanks needs to go out to the committee who came up with the plan, organized and built some amazing decorations, and set-up the day of the event. The Committee includes: Robyn Skramstad, Kristin Tytler, Kristin Peck, Barbara Ritter, Stew Waller, Caryn Logan-Heaps, Kelly Lenhart, Blaine Brooks, and Jeanne Sapon. Everyone who attended said they had a great time Click to view all of the Holiday Party photos >
APWA NEW MEMBERS
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This flatiron is the Gooderham Building built in the late 1800s. The gothic Romanesque architecture is so cool! And here’s a modern flatiron building along Mill Street. 
1979-99. Known as “The Great One”, he has had a restaurant open for the last 20 years in Toronto where you can eat delicious food and also purchase Gretzky memorabilia. Where you can also find Gretzky is at the Hockey Hall of Fame! 
Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the U.S. 
We decided that everyone that is Canadian is definitely drinking $2 coffees after reading this sign at a local shop. 
To accommodate the over 100,000 expected per day visitors to Verizon Super Bowl Central, the city of Phoenix has been hard at work preparing infrastructure for the festivities. Street lights, traffic signals, signs and pavement markings are being checked to make sure everything is in order. Many of the illuminated street name signs in the downtown area that were damaged in the recent storms are being repaired. In addition to the 100 traffic-monitoring cameras that are already in place throughout the city, ten additional cameras are being placed in the downtown area - these cameras are monitored by staff at the Traffic Management Center. Starting the week of January 26, digital display message boards will be placed along key streets to display real time traffic warning/conditions type of information. 
Corridor Earthwork Management
Irrigation District Main Canal Improvements
Freeway Ramp Frames added to project
Event hosted at the University Club downtown and it was a resounding success. Attendance was up yet again from 2013’s party with more than 80 members signing up and a dozen or more showing up at the door. This year’s theme was Mardi Gras and the entire club was totally decorated in the traditional purple, gold and green. The food prepared by the University Club chef included crab cakes, shrimp and andouille sausage skewers, and more. The addition of assistance from the Special Events Committee was especially helpful in decorating, getting sponsorships and door prize donations, and the idea of setting up a fun photo booth for attendees with Mardi Gras props and masks. The bar was adequately stocked with the usual libations and a Hurricane Punch concoction fit for any Mardi Gras party.
