A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association

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A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION | March 2020 | www.apwa.net

 ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE

 A Tale of Two Cities:
The Challenges of Special Events
                  See p. 50
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
PUBLIC WORKS
                                  EMPLOYERS…
                                    Are you offering
                                  competitive wages
                                      and benefits?

  P W A  P u b  li c W o rks
A                    n R eport       For more information visit:
C o m p e n s a t io               www.apwa.net/SalarySurvey
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
The APWA Reporter, the official magazine of
the American Public Works Association, covers
all facets of public works for APWA members
including industry news, legislative actions,
                                                                                      March 2020           /   Vol. 87, No. 3
management issues and emerging technologies.

                                                   SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE

                                                INSIDE APWA
                                                		 2   President’s Message
                                                		 4   Technical Committee News
                                                		 6   APWA participates in NGA Infrastructure Summit
                                                		10   Technical Tours at the Snow Conference

                                11
                                                		14   Frisco’s Public Works Department Journey to Accreditation
                                                		20   Small budget, big impact
                                                		22   Does the solid waste industry embrace diversity?
                                                		24   In & Around APWA

                                                COLUMNS
                                                		26   Washington Insight
                                                		28   GAC Insight
                                                		32   Media Insight
                                                		34   YP Insight

                                40
                                                		38   Open Your Winter Toolbox
                                                		40   People, the Engine of Public Works
                                                		44   International Idea Exchange

                                                FEATURES
                                                		50   A Tale of Two Cities: Special Events Edition
                                                		52   Growing the next generation through inclusion and innovation
                                                		54   Anchorage Regional Landfill’s Doomsday Clock
                                                		57   Calabasas Landfill survives the Southern California Woolsey Fire
                                                		60   Why a solid waste rate study makes sense for your agency

                                57              MARKETPLACE
                                                		67   Products in the News
                                                		66   Professional Directory

                                                CALENDARS
                                                		64   Education Calendar
                                                		68   World of Public Works Calendar
                                                		68   Index of Advertisers

                             67
                                                                                www.apwa.net     /    March 2020   /   APWA Reporter   1
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
Exciting advancements
                                              ahead for the solid
                                              waste industry
                                            William E. (Bill) Spearman, III, P.E.
                                            APWA President                               Official Magazine of the
                                                                                         American Public Works Association
                                                                                         PUBLISHER
                                                                                         American Public Works Association

T
                                                                                         One Kansas City Place
                                                                                         1200 Main Street, Suite 1400
       he 2010s were both an exciting       Although the increased quality               Kansas City, MO 64105
                                                                                         (800) 848-APWA (Member Services Hotline)
       and challenging time for the         requirements for recyclables                 (816) 472-6100 (Kansas City metro area)
       solid waste industry. As many        disrupted operations, it brought             FAX (816) 472-1610
       advancements were being              about increased public awareness             e-mail: kclark@apwa.net
                                                                                         Website: www.apwa.net
made, some conventional operations          and opened the conversation of
                                                                                         CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
were upended and everyone needed to         waste’s environmental impact to the          Scott D. Grayson, CAE
reevaluate their traditional processes.     worldwide stage. Initiatives to halt         EDITOR		                GRAPHIC DESIGNER
So how did your agency fare? Let’s take     the use of microplastics and single-         R. Kevin Clark          Julie Smith
a look at some of the major solid waste     use plastic disposables increased,           ADVERTISING SALES: FOX ASSOCIATES
                                                                                         Chicago            (312) 644-3888
developments in this last decade.           progressive environmental policies           New York           (212) 725-2106
                                            were embraced, and consumer                  Los Angeles        (805) 522-0501
With an increase in the amount of                                                        Detroit            (248) 626-0511
                                            responsibility started to expand.
waste generated by Americans over                                                        APWA WASHINGTON OFFICE
                                            Agencies invested in more public             1275 K Street NW, Suite 750
the decade came a more concerted
                                            outreach and education, and                  Washington, D.C. 20005-4083
transition from waste management                                                         (202) 408-9541 FAX (202) 408-9542
                                            are now seeing declines in their
to resource management. Programs                                                         Disclaimer: The American Public Works Association
                                            contamination rates and a shift
embraced Zero Waste, initiated designs                                                   assumes no responsibility for statements and/or
                                            towards resilient programs.                  opinions advanced by either editorial or advertising
for a Circular Economy, and reworked                                                     contributors to this issue. APWA reserves the right to
plans with a focus on sustainability.       This past decade has also brought            refuse to publish and to edit manuscripts to conform to
                                                                                         the APWA Reporter standards.
Emphasis on organics and food waste,        significant equipment and technology
                                                                                         Publisher’s Notice: The APWA Reporter, March
single-stream, and construction &           advancements. The transition from            2020, Vol. 87, No. 3 (ISSN 0092-4873; Publications
demolition (C&D) waste recycling led        diesel to alternative fuels hit its stride   Agreement No. 41450540). The APWA Reporter is
                                                                                         published monthly by the American Public Works
to more materials being recycled and        as agencies invested in sustainable          Association, One Kansas City Place, 1200 Main Street,
composted nationally.                       infrastructure. Older trucks were            Suite 1400, Kansas City, MO 64105. Subscription
                                                                                         rate is $208 for nonmembers and $25 for chapter-
                                            replaced by hybrid and natural gas-          sponsored students. Periodicals postage paid at Kansas
This growth in recycling corresponded
                                            powered trucks, and some agencies            City, MO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER:
to an increase in revenue from                                                           Send address changes to the APWA Reporter, One
                                            started requiring CNG-powered trucks         Kansas City Place, 1200 Main Street, Suite 1400,
recycling commodities. That is, until
                                            in their collection contracts. Taking it     Kansas City, MO 64105. Canada returns to: P.O. Box
the startling China import ban. Faced                                                    2600, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A8.
                                            further, many solid waste operations
with a significant decrease in the value                                                 Reprints and Permissions: Information is available at
                                            began using renewable natural gas
of recycled materials and the necessity                                                  www.apwa.net/Publications/Reporter/guidelines.asp.
                                            produced from captured methane at
to decrease contamination, agencies                                                      © 2020 by American Public Works Association
                                            the landfills and some delved into
examined their recycling programs.                                                       Address Change?
                                            the use of electric garbage trucks.          To alert us of a change to your membership record,
While some were able to weather the
                                            The benefits of these technologies           contact an APWA Membership Specialist at (800) 848-
changes with minimal modifications,                                                      APWA or membership@apwa.net.
                                            continue to be lower emissions, quieter
many others scaled back, suspended, or                                                   The APWA Reporter is printed by Royle Printing, Sun
                                            operations, and energy independence          Prairie, Wisconsin.
cancelled recycling service until a more
                                            from other countries.
sustainable option could be found.

2    APWA Reporter     /   March 2020   /   www.apwa.net
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
Other transformative technologies                                     for biogas grew stronger. Material                                                            This coming decade is
helped to lower collection costs and                                  Recovery Facilities (MRFs) evolved
enhance service. These include solid                                  with improved glass removal and                                                               sure to be filled with
waste apps that provide customers                                     cleanup systems, sensor-based sorting                                                         exciting advancements
with waste collection reminders and                                   systems, better screening technology,
smart containers that have sensors to                                 and most recently robotics and                                                                and opportunities for
communicate fill level status. There is                               artificial intelligence (AI) techniques.                                                      dynamic changes in how
radio-frequency identification (RFID)                                 Landfills initiated solar energy
technology on containers that help                                    projects, enabling the production of                                                          we manage solid waste.
track assets and confirm that addresses                               clean, sustainable energy.
have been serviced. Telematics                                                                                                                                  to escape the top 10 occupations for
                                                                      While the evolving advancements in
track trucks in the field and notify                                                                                                                            workplace fatalities. It’s clear that
                                                                      technology and its uses are helping
maintenance shops of issues as they                                                                                                                             more work remains to be done to
                                                                      agencies meet their financial,
occur, and route optimizing software                                                                                                                            improve solid waste worker safety.
                                                                      environmental, and sustainability
enhance asset utilization. Truck
                                                                      goals, there is one area that did not                                                     Whether your agency has fared well
videos and cameras provide real-time
                                                                      make much headway over the last                                                           or is still struggling with the many
feedback, and mobile connectivity
                                                                      10 years. The solid waste industry                                                        solid waste changes over the last
allows integration with billing, work
                                                                      is still statistically among the most                                                     decade, this coming decade is sure to
management, and customer service.
                                                                      dangerous occupations. Even as                                                            be filled with exciting advancements
There have also been numerous post-                                   organizations put more focus on safe                                                      and opportunities for dynamic
collection advancements in the past                                   work behavior by retooling safety                                                         changes in how we manage solid
decade. Anaerobic digestion projects                                  and health programs, adopting new                                                         waste. APWA and the Solid Waste
increased as the technology for                                       work rules and employee policies,                                                         Management Committee will be right
breaking down organic waste became                                    and implementing comprehensive                                                            there to assist and provide resources
more efficient and the demand                                         training processes, the industry failed                                                   for the journey.

AMERICAN PUBLIC WORKS ASSOCIATION
Mission Statement: The American Public Works Association supports those who operate, improve and maintain
public works and infrastructure through advocacy, education & member engagement.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS                                                                                                 ADVISORY COUNCIL
PRESIDENT                               DIRECTOR, REGION V               TECHNICAL DIRECTOR,                       (Past APWA Presidents)                                  David L. Lawry               June Rosentreter Spence
William E. (Bill) Spearman, III, P.E.   Sean O'Dell, P.E.                  ENVIRONMENTAL                           Robert Albee                                            Diane Linderman              Noel C. Thompson
Principal                               Vice President                     MANAGEMENT                              Ronald J. Calkins                                       Martin J. Manning            Elizabeth Treadway
WE3 Consultants LLC                     Baxter & Woodman, Inc.           Lisa Ann Rapp, PWLF                       Nick W. Diakiw                                          Robert Miller                Tom Trice
Saluda, SC
                                        DIRECTOR, REGION VI              Director of Public Works                  Jerry M. Fay                                            Bo Mills                     Brian R. Usher
PRESIDENT-ELECT                         Joe Johnson, P.E.                City of Lakewood, CA                      Bob Freudenthal                                         Judith M. Mueller            William A. Verkest
Mary Joyce Ivers, CPFP, PWLF            Business Development Manager                                               Larry W. Frevert                                        Ronald L. Norris             Win Westfall
                                                                         TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, FLEET &
Deputy Public Works Director            Burns & McDonnell
                                                                          FACILITIES MANAGEMENT                    Edward A. Gottko                                        Richard L. Ridings           Carl D. Wills
City of Ventura, CA                     Lee's Summit, MO
                                                                         Vic Bianes, P.E.                          Ken Haag                                                John J. Roark
PAST PRESIDENT                          DIRECTOR, REGION VII             Client Manager                            Dwayne Kalynchuk                                        Larry Stevens                Chief Executive Officer
David L. Lawry, P.E.                    David Fabiano, P.E., PWLF        Kleinfelder Engineering
                                                                                                                   Larry T. Koehle                                         Harold E. Smith              Scott D. Grayson, CAE
Director of Municipal Services          Town Engineer                    Bonita, CA
Chastain & Associates LLC               Town of Gilbert, AZ
                                                                         TECHNICAL DIRECTOR,
Schaumburg, IL
                                        DIRECTOR, REGION VIII             LEADERSHIP AND
DIRECTOR, REGION I                      Shahnawaz Ahmad, P.E., PWLF
                                                                          MANAGEMENT
Gary Losier, P.Eng.                     President
                                        SA Associates                    Stan Brown, P.E., PWLF                                                                                                 FPO
Director of Engineering and Works
                                        Arcadia, CA                      City Manager
Town of Quispamsis, NB
                                                                         City of Oakwood, GA
DIRECTOR, REGION II                     DIRECTOR, REGION IX
                                        Dan Hartman, PWLF                                                                                                                                 FPO FPO
Dominick A. Longobardi                                                 TECHNICAL DIRECTOR,
Deputy Comptroller                      Director of Public Works        TRANSPORTATION                   Facebook “f ” Logo   CMYK / .ai   Facebook “f ” Logo        CMYK / .ai

Town of Hempstead, NY                   City of Golden, CO             Kathleen B. Davis
DIRECTOR, REGION III                    TECHNICAL DIRECTOR,            Director of Local Programs
Keith Pugh, P.E., PWLF                    ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY Washington State Department of
Senior Technical Client Advisor         Jim Neal, P.E., PWLF            Transportation
WithersRavenel                          Strategic Business Development Olympia, WA
Greensboro, NC                            Coordinator
                                        Mattern & Craig                CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
DIRECTOR, REGION IV
                                        Charleston, SC                 Scott D. Grayson, CAE
Douglas E. Layton, P.E., PWLF
Retired

                                                                                                       www.apwa.net                                             /   March 2020              /         APWA Reporter               3
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE NEWS

Solid Waste Management Committee
provides guidance to APWA members
Karen Luken, CEO, Economic Environmental Solutions International, Cincinnati, Ohio, and
member, APWA Solid Waste Management Committee

                                                                                                           Solid Waste Management Committee
                                                                                                           observing the City of Phoenix’s
                                                                                                           innovative waste recovery facility

T
     he safe and efficient management of solid waste is           is preparing the Post Collection section of the Solid Waste
     a basic responsibility of every community’s leader-          Toolbox this year.
     ship. In most cases, the responsibility lies with public
                                                                  A Knowledge Team, consisting of both public and private
     works, health departments or solid waste divisions. If
                                                                  sector professionals, was convened in 2019 to help develop
     not handled properly, solid waste can negatively affect
                                                                  the Solid Waste Toolbox and provide their perspective on
public health, welfare, and quality of life.
                                                                  what is most relevant to public works directors and the most
Therefore, the mission of the Solid Waste Management              efficient way to present this information.
Committee is to serve as a center of expertise on solid waste
                                                                  The Solid Waste Management Committee is currently updat-
management issues for APWA members. The Solid Waste
                                                                  ing the Responsible Solid Waste Management Handbook, which
Management Committee is the APWA resource for develop-
                                                                  provides a brief overview of the components of an integrated
ing and promoting environmentally-sound, cost-effective
                                                                  waste management system and national statistics on waste
and operationally efficient solid waste management policies
                                                                  generation, recycling, and disposal quantities, as well as
and programs for APWA members by reviewing the latest
                                                                  waste composition.
technologies, practices, regulations and legislation in the
field and providing opportunities to exchange information.        In March 2019, the Solid Waste Management Commit-
                                                                  tee sponsored a Click, Listen & Learn titled “Improving
The Solid Waste Management Committee recognizes that              Efficiencies in Solid Waste Collection and Recycling, While
all public works directors have numerous responsibilities         Surviving the Chinese Sword.” The webinar provided infor-
beyond solid waste and sometimes, may have a limited              mation on the cause and impacts of the Chinese Sword on
background in waste management. Therefore, the Solid              municipal recycling programs, and strategies to decrease
Waste Management Committee continued developing a                 recycling costs.
Solid Waste Toolbox in 2019, with a focus solid waste collec-
tion. The Collection section of the Solid Waste Toolbox will be   On May 21, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Central, the Solid Waste
available to members in second half of 2020. The committee        Management Committee is hosting a Click, Listen and Learn
                                                                  focused on illegal dumping. Illegal dumping always seems to

4    APWA Reporter     /   March 2020   /   www.apwa.net
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
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    40 YEARS                                 METAL AND FABRIC BUILDINGS
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be the unspoken duty of solid waste managers, but tune in        •   Karen Luken – CEO of Economic Environmental Solu-
to learn about innovative operations programs, education             tions International, Cincinnati, Ohio
campaigns and ways to empower residents to curb the trash.
                                                                 •   Lisa Rapp – Director of Public Works for the City of Lake-
Beyond the Toolbox and Click, Listen and Learn, the Solid            wood, California
Waste Management Committee organized a Happy Hour Jam
for PWX in Seattle to share experiences with establishing        •   Samantha Yager –Assistant Superintendent, City of
successful partnerships with other municipal departments,            Columbia, South Carolina
contractors and equipment vendors. The Happy Hour Jam            •   Mark Spafford – General Manager of Solid Waste for the
was extremely interactive and productive. The committee              City of Anchorage, Alaska
also facilitated a workshop on The Impacts of Homelessness on
Public Works.                                                    •   Christopher Torres – Assistant Director of Sanitation for
                                                                     the City of Edinburg, Texas
Finally, Waste-to-Resource has been identified by APWA
as one of the organization’s Top 5 Trending Technologies         •   Matt Harper, APWA Education Manager, serves as the
in public works for 2020. The Solid Waste Management                 Solid Waste Management Committee’s APWA Liaison.
Committee will be sharing our knowledge on Waste-to-
                                                                 A last but most important note, we want to thank Trent
Resource technologies this year through articles, blogs
                                                                 Tompkins, Director of Waste Collection for the City of
and presentations.
                                                                 Edmonton, Alberta, and John Sanchez, Public Works Direc-
For 2020, the Solid Waste Management Committee is chaired        tor for the City of Burlington, Massachusetts, for the Solid
by Monica Bramble who serves as the Assistant Public Works       Waste Management Committee contributions during 2019.
Director for the City of North Port, Florida. Ms. Bramble will
                                                                 Karen Luken can be reached at (513) 476-4258 or KLuken@
be joined by the following committee members:
                                                                 ecosolutions.co.
•   Joe Giudice – Assistant Public Works Director for the
    City of Phoenix, Arizona

                                                                     www.apwa.net     /   March 2020   /   APWA Reporter     5
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
APWA participates in NGA
Infrastructure Summit

O
           n January 22, 2020, APWA
           President-Elect Mary Joyce
           Ivers, APWA Board Member
           Shahn Ahmad, and APWA
           Director of Government and
Public Affairs Andrea Eales participated
in an infrastructure summit hosted
by the National Governors Associa-
tion (NGA) held in San Francisco, CA.
The focus of the summit was Enhanc-
ing Efficiency: Eliminating Red Tape and
Integrating Smart Technology. During the
meeting, participants heard from two
panels. The first focused on eliminating
red tape with speakers who have had
success improving project delivery at
the state and local levels. The second
panel was about integrating smart
technology and included speakers from
government and industry. The summit
concluded with a facility tour of the
new Transbay Terminal in downtown
San Francisco.                                  Left to right: APWA Board Member Shahn
                                                Ahmad, APWA President-Elect Mary Joyce
Governor Larry Hogan (R-MD) cur-                Ivers, and Governor Bill Lee (R-TN)
rently serves as Chairman for NGA and
during his one-year term in this role,
he is making infrastructure his priority.     ment. Both Chief Executive Officer         aspect of the broad infrastructure con-
Beginning last summer, NGA kicked off         (CEO) Scott Grayson and Andrea Eales       versation and held in different loca-
the initiative in Washington, D.C. with       participated in the meeting and shared     tions across the country. Last August,
a stakeholder meeting to explain the          APWA’s public policy priorities.           Mary Joyce Ivers attended a summit in
purpose of the initiative and to hear                                                    Boston, MA focused on Getting to Work:
                                              Since the kick-off meeting last summer
from partner groups, like APWA, about                                                    Relieve Congestion to Boost Economic
                                              there have been three additional sum-
their priorities for infrastructure invest-                                              Competitiveness. Then in Detroit, MI
                                              mits, each concentrated on a different

6     APWA Reporter     /   March 2020   /    www.apwa.net
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
last October APWA President Bill Spear-
man and Andrea Eales attended the
Strengthening Security and Resiliency:
Protect America’s Critical Infrastructure
summit. The next summit will be held
in early May in Arizona and is titled
Financing the Future: Leverage Private Sec-
tor Investments.

APWA’s Public Policy Priorities all are
focused on infrastructure investment
specifically speaking to transporta-
tion, water resiliency, and emergency
preparedness and response. To read
APWA’s public policy priority docu-
ments, simply go the Government
Affairs tab at www.apwa.net. For
additional information about the              Left to right: APWA Board Member
                                              Shahn Ahmad, Governor Larry Hogan
NGA Infrastructure Initiative, please
                                              (R-MD), and APWA President-Elect
go to nga.org/infrastructuresuccess/.         Mary Joyce Ivers
For questions regarding APWA’s U.S.
Government Affairs activities, you
may contact Andrea Eales at aeales@
apwa.net.

                                                                      www.apwa.net   /   March 2020   /   APWA Reporter   7
A Tale of Two Cities: ANNUAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ISSUE See p. 50 - American Public Works Association
APRIL 19-22, 2020 | HUNTINGTON

                                                                                                     JOIN US IN C
    APWA and the APWA Ohio Chapter invite you to join us for the 2020 North American Snow Conference in Cleveland, April
           full of excited vendors who can’t wait to show you the latest winter maintenance solutions for your community. M
SNOW CONFERENCE
           AT-A-GLANCE
                                        SUNDAY, APRIL 19                               3:30 – 4:20 p.m.
                                                                                       Making Snow Disposal Operation More Viable
                                        8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.                             and Sustainable
                                        WORKSHOP: Winter Maintenance                   Help! Snow’s Fallen and I Can’t Get Up! Creative
                                          Supervisor Certificate                          Ways to Keep Communities Informed During
                                                                                          Inclement Weather and Snow Storms.
                                        8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
                                        WORKSHOP: Public Fleet Management              Lessons from the Lab – Enhanced Liquid
                                          Certificate                                     Deicers
                                                                                       Winter Road Maintenance Traffic Signal
                                        8:00 a.m. – 1:20 p.m.                             Pre-Emption
                                        WORKSHOP: Self Assessment Using the Public
                                          Works Management Practices Manual
                                        1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
                                        WORKSHOP: Traffic Incident Management (TIM)    MONDAY, APRIL 20
                                          Responder Course                             8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
                                                                                       Opening General Session
                                        1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
                                        Advanced Routing Solutions to Slay the         11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
                                            Snowy Weather                              APWA Award Winners Panel
                                        Is Your Winter Road Maintenance Operations     Liquids 101: The Basics
                                            “21st Century?”                            Ohio DOT Perspectives on Winter Maintenance
                                        Plowing Through — Meeting the Rising              Preparation & Available Resources
                                            Expectations in Urban Snow Removal         Performance Measures in Winter
                                            Operations                                    Maintenance
                                        The City of Dublin, Ohio SnowGo Snow and Ice   The Women of Winter
                                            Response Plan. A 360 degree plan for the
                                            preparation and response to snow and ice   2:00 – 2:50 p.m.
                                            events.                                    Calibration Cruise-In: If You Host It,
                                        Winter in Minnesota and How We Respond             They Will Come
                                                                                       Liquids 201: Applying Liquids
                                        2:30 – 3:20 p.m.                               The Necessity of Accurate Equipment Calibration
                                        Communicate Your Winter Maintenance               for Winter Maintenance
                                          Plan
                                                                                       The Snow Plan: A Practical Approach to the Snow
                                        Re-imagining the City of Mississauga’s            Plan Refresh
                                          Winter Program
                                                                                       Turning the Page — Adapting to New Roles
                                        The ADA After 30 Years — What You Still           Throughout Our Careers
                                          Need to Know
                                                                                       When is Enough....Enough?
                                        What Organic Based Deicers Have Helped
                                          Us Achieve
SNOW
          NORTH AMERICAN

                                                2020
          CONFERENCE
          CLEVELAND, OHIO
 CONVENTION CENTER OF CLEVELAND

CLEVELAND!
l 19-22, 2020. The 2020 Snow Conference has it all—from expert-led snow and ice education sessions to an exhibit floor
Make plans to join your peers and take advantage of everything the NASC has to offer and meet us in Cleveland!

    3:30 – 4:45 p.m.
    Operation Procedures to Enhance the Snow Fleet
                                                       Turning Your Winter Social Media Haters into
                                                          Brand Ambassadors                                WEDNESDAY,
      Before the Storms Hit
    Snow & Ice Control Training for New and
                                                       Understanding Probabilistic Weather Information
                                                          and Translating It into Potential Impacts on a   APRIL 22
      Veteran Employees                                   Transportation Network                           11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
    Where Have All the Plowers Gone? Recruiting and                                                        Technical Tours
      Retaining Roadway Maintenance Workers            12:30 – 3:30 p.m.
                                                       WORKSHOP: Winter Maintenance
                                                         Operator Certificate

    TUESDAY, APRIL 21                                  1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
                                                       Land Cover and Infrastructure Influences on
                                                         Chloride Concentrations of Urban Streams in
                                                                                                              EARLY BIRD
    8:00 – 8:50 a.m.
    Liquids 301: What are the Benefits of Winter         Northeast Ohio                                     DEADLINE ENDS
       Liquids?                                        Retention and Release of Chloride from Road
    More Than a Paycheck: Leading People in a            Salt in Constructed Stormwater Wetlands                  MARCH 8TH
       Modern Public Works Agency                        Snow Informer: Keeping the Public Aware                 For more information visit:
                                                         of Snow Removal Through Real Time GIS
    National Weather Service Winter Products                                                                         snow.apwa.net
                                                         Technology
       and Initiatives to Build a Weather Ready
       Nation                                          Winter Maintenance Planning
    Small Minnesota City Tips on Large Commercial      Winter Weather Forecasting Made Easier
       Business District Snow Removal                  2:15 – 3:15 p.m.
    Snow and Ice Control — Equipment and               GPS / AVL Application
       Techniques                                      Meso-Scale Weather and What It Means for Snow
    8:30 – 10:30 a.m.                                    and Ice Decision Making
    University Public Works Forum                      Successfully Transitioning Your Program – Moving
                                                         from the Flintstones to the Jetsons
    10:10 – 11:00 a.m.                                 The Ohio State University is “Taking Care of
    15 Year Evolution of a Snow Maintenance              Business”
       Program

                                                                                                                      R hythm
                                                       Well Well Well, What Have We Here?
    Advanced Liquids: Where do liquids go from here?
       (Liquids 401)                                   3:30 – 5:00 p.m.                                                 THE
    Operational Forecasting for Winter Maintenance     Closing General Session
       Programs Using Machine Learning Pavement
       Forecasts for Specific Winter Maintenance
       Strategies.
    Taking It to the Streets                                                                                                         OF
                                                                                                                   PUBLIC WORKS
Photo #1: ODOT & Cleveland Vehicle Repair Facilities tour

Technical Tours at the Snow Conference
A
       PWA’s North American Snow Conference will take place             The facilities that APWA members will be touring will be
       April 19-22 in Cleveland, Ohio. Wednesday morning,               the Snow & Ice Repair Center (see Photo #1) and the Auto &
       April 22, is dedicated to technical tours. The three technical   Truck Restoration Center. Both facilities are located in the
       tours consist of ODOT & Cleveland Vehicle Repair Facili-         City of Cleveland Mid-Town District.
       ties; Movable Bridges Over Cuyahoga River; and Cleveland
       Hopkins Airport Snow & Ice Operations. Check the Snow            The Snow & Ice Facility is primarily responsible for the
Conference website for updates on the technical tour program.           maintenance of:

                                                                        •   Snow and Ice Trucks
ODOT & Cleveland Vehicle Repair Facilities
                                                                        •   Urban Forestry aerial truck
The City of Cleveland Department of Public Works operates
                                                                        •   Traffic Engineering Aerials
10 service facilities that service the City of Cleveland’s fleet
                                                                        •   General truck maintenance for various divisions
of approximately 4,500 units. Seven hundred two units are
                                                                        •   Truck Tire Mounting and Road Service
specifically assigned to the Department of Public Works.
There are a total of 83 service personnel. Each facility is             The facility is 27,000 square feet and has dedicated areas for
responsible for and specializes in a specific vehicle or equip-         tire maintenance, tool storage and parts distribution.
ment type which includes:
                                                                        The City of Cleveland Auto & Truck Body Repair and Res-
•    Law enforcement and civilian automobiles                           toration facility is a six-bay, 6000-square-foot shop with an
•    Light Truck and Van                                                overhead crane. The body repair technicians at this facility
•    Off Road Equipment                                                 can perform a full range of repairs including major collision.
•    Fire & EMS
•    Refuse                                                             Movable Bridges Over Cuyahoga River
•    Snow & Ice and General Truck                                       The Movable Bridges Over Cuyahoga River tour will tra-
•    Heavy Equipment                                                    verse down the famed burning river and under many of
•    Welding and Fabrication                                            Cleveland’s iconic, diverse, and historic bridges. Speakers
•    Auto & Truck Body Repair and Restoration                           Wesley Weir and Nick Fisco will share details of the various
•    Division of Water and Utilities                                    structures including the 1910’s Veteran’s Memorial Bridge,
                                                                        the 1900’s Center Street Swing Bridge, the 2010’s Columbus

10     APWA Reporter      /   March 2020     /   www.apwa.net
Photo #2: Movable Bridges Over Cuyahoga River tour

Lift Bridge, the 1930’s Hope Memorial Bridge, and the new         for the firm. He is a graduate of Ohio Northern University
I-90 Innerbelt Bridges, among many others. Participants will      and resides in Cleveland.
learn about the history of this important waterway, the Flats
district, shipping vessels, and Cleveland’s industrial past and   Tour speaker Nick Fisco is a structural engineer for the Cleve-
present and have access to unmatched views of the down-           land office of WSP with 10 years of experience as a project
town skyline. (See Photo #2)                                      manager and inspection team leader. He has worked on
                                                                  numerous bridge inspection, rehabilitation, and load rating
Tour speaker Wesley Weir has 30 years of experience and is        projects, including working on the five City of Cleveland
with WSP USA in the design, rehabilitation, inspection, and       movable bridges, as well as serving as the project manager
load rating of complex bridges throughout the county. He          for the last two Main Avenue Bridge rehabilitations. He
has been heavily involved with the design and rehabilitation      attended Ohio State University where he received a Bachelor
of movable bridges both across the country and internation-       of Science in Civil Engineering in 2007 and a Master of Sci-
ally as well as providing continuing engineering services for     ence in Civil Engineering in 2009.
the City of Cleveland’s five working movable bridges over
the past decade. This includes being the designer of record       Cleveland Hopkins Airport Snow & Ice Operations
for the $34M rehabilitation and lift span replacement of          When Cleveland Hopkins Airport (CLE) opened in 1925, it
the Columbus Road Lift Bridge and the project manager for         was the first municipally owned airport in the country. Now
multiple rehabilitations of the West 3rd Lift Bridge, Center      servicing more than nine million passengers annually, the
Street Swing Bridge and the Willow Ave Lift Bridge. Mr.           behind-the-scenes operation is impressive. This tour will
Weir has served as senior project manager, project engi-          visit the 97,000-square-foot heated equipment facility with
neer, senior structural engineer and resident engineer on         over 100 pieces of snow and ice equipment. This is not your
numerous inspection, rehabilitation and design projects           normal streets department equipment. You will also visit the

                                                                     www.apwa.net     /   March 2020       /   APWA Reporter           11
Photo #3: Cleveland Hopkins Airport Snow &
Ice Operations tour

snow and ice control facility and learn about aircraft deicing    •   CLE has 6.5 million ft./sq. of runway.
and the materials used to treat runways. (See Photo #3)
                                                                  •   CLE uses 90 operators across three shifts for snow
Initially, CLE served as a stop for U.S. Air Mail planes making       removal operations.
coast-to-coast flights. It quickly grew to become a major des-
tination for personal and commercial aircraft. The airport        •   Operators are broken into two runway teams and one
also led the nation in implementing new airport technol-              ramp team.
ogy. This includes the world’s first radio-equipped air traffic   •   CLE uses more than 80 pieces of snow removal equip-
control tower and the nation’s first airfield lighting system.        ment including multi-purpose trucks, blowers, plows,
In the 1930s and ’40s, the airport was a draw to anyone               loaders, tankers and snow melters from manufacturers
who was anyone in aviation, with both Amelia Earhart and              such as MB, Wausau, Concord, Hagie and Trecan. This
Charles Lindbergh making routine visits. Also, from 1929              equipment is mostly exclusive to airport snow removal
until 1949, the airport was the location for the National Air         operations.
Races.
                                                                  •   CLE snow removal chemical treatments are airport-
Today, CLE is Ohio’s busiest airport, serving more than nine          specific to meet federal requirements.
million passengers annually. It’s positioned within 500
miles of 43 percent of the U.S. population. And for North-        •   CLE snow removal equipment is stored in a 97,000 ft./
east Ohio travelers, the airport is close—just 12 miles away          sq. heated building built in 2018.
from downtown Cleveland. Travelers also have the option to
                                                                  •   CLE vehicle maintenance operations are housed in a
take the rail to the airport, a connection that, when added in
                                                                      28,000 ft./sq. building built in 2018.
1968, was another first in the country.
                                                                  •   CLE vehicle maintenance building includes five drive-
Some interesting stats about CLE follow. This information
                                                                      through bays with 30’-wide overhead doors, heated
was developed with input from Engineering, OPS, Field,
                                                                      floors, two twenty-foot, five-ton overhead cranes, led
VMB, and the airport website.
                                                                      lighting, wash bay, two small equipment bays, parts
•    The City of Cleveland owns and operates both CLE and             room, and automatic CO2 exhaust sensors.
     Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL).
                                                                  •   CLE vehicle maintenance building utilizes used oil
•    Cleveland Airport Systems provides the area with 9,000           burners to supplement shop heating.
     on-airport jobs.
                                                                  •   CLE vehicle maintenance services on- and off-road
•    CLE serviced over 10 million passengers in 2019.                 heavy-duty diesel trucks and equipment, light and
                                                                      medium duty trucks, passenger vehicles, small-engines
•    CLE has 21 million ft./sq. of airfield pavement to service       equipment and Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF)
     during snow removal operations.                                  apparatus.

12      APWA Reporter         /   March 2020   /   www.apwa.net
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City of Frisco Public Works staff hosted the APWA
     accreditation team for the final onsite evaluation
     in December 2019. Pictured far left is Paul Knippel,
     P.E., Director of Public Works and Engineering.

Frisco’s Public Works Department
Journey to Accreditation
                                                            T
                                                                       he City of Frisco, Texas, is    necessary that we conduct an overall
                                                                       an outer ring city of 193,000   system check and make sure we were
                                                                       residents in North Texas,       functioning properly in relation to
                                                                       located 30 miles north of       our size and scope. In 2016 we began
Paul Knippel, P.E., Director of                                        downtown Dallas. Frisco has     to focus on “umbrella”-type depart-
Public Works and Engineering,                               consistently been at the top of the        mental-wide operational systems. This
                                                            list in terms of growth and quality of     included consolidation of administra-
City of Frisco, Texas, and member,                          life for the past fifteen years. During    tive functions and an emphasis on
APWA Sustainable Transportation                             this time, much of our energy and          business analytics and full utilization
Subcommittee                                                resources had been directed to add-        of our Computer Maintenance Man-
                                                            ing staff and equipment to keep up         agement System (CMMS). In 2016 we
                                                            with the growing need. In a relatively     also began a deep dive into the opera-
                                                            short time, we have since grown into a     tional policies and standard operating
                                                            department with 275 people and $144        procedures (SOPs) throughout the
                                                            million operations budget, with fur-       department. We needed to ensure that
                                                            ther expansion on the way. It became       we could properly communicate our

14       APWA Reporter          /   March 2020         /    www.apwa.net
rationale and methodology to employ-        in several areas. We developed a snow        We also learned a few things along the
ees for the sake of continuity, and to      and ice action plan, a traffic opera-        way:
our residents and elected officials for     tions policy and procedures manual,
the sake of transparency and account-       an employee training program, a safety       1.     SOPs don’t have to be long. In fact, it
ability. We set the goal of accreditation   manual, and an emergency exercise                   is often better that the SOP be brief
through APWA. The self-assessment           and training plan. In some cases, we                and to the point and written spe-
process would serve as the vehicle for      had the basic parts but not a complete              cifically to the department and the
                                            program; in other cases, we had no                  department’s way of doing things.
this deep dive.
                                            program at all.
In August 2017 our City Council
authorized an Accreditation Agree-
ment with APWA. The agreement
included payment to APWA in the
amount of $16,200 to cover expenses
and was calculated based on Frisco’s
                                               ALL SEASON Spreader
population and the number of practic-
es in the self-assessment manual that
                                               and Conveyor Encapsulant
applied to our department. The agree-          Apply once to encapsulate and
ment provided a 36-month period for
                                               seal — you're all set for summer storage!
completion of a successful onsite evalu-
ation by the APWA team. With Council
                                               Blocks the rusting process —
approval of the agreement, we were
                                               Impervious to even the most torrential rains.
committed, and the clock was ticking.
                                               Keep moisture, oxygen and salt away!
We designated an accreditation
manager to organize and push the               Environmentally responsible —
process through. Mr. Danny Carroll             Will not wash off and contaminate the soil.
served as our manager. Danny has been
with the department for 27 years, was          Easy, one-step application process — Protect in just
respected in the department, and had           minutes! Trusted by over 40 State Departments of Transportation.
the willingness and determination to
serve in this capacity. Danny created a
detailed 24-month timeline that listed
all the practices, the person responsible
for each practice, and key milestones.                                               Salt & Chloride Neutralizer
He went further by scheduling meet-
                                                                                     Removes white salt residue left behind
ings and meeting rooms months in                                                     from pressure washing with detergents
advance. This really helped set expec-                                                                      TM
                                                                                      — use NEUTRO-WASH before
tations and kept us on track. Danny                                                  applying LUBRA-SEAL®.
also trained staff on the use of APWA’s
                                                                                     Put a STOP to corrosion corruption and
website that served as the repository for                                            expensive repairs — enjoy more efficient
our electronic documentation (this was                                               equipment that works harder, lasts longer
a paperless process) and reached out                                                 and looks better.
to other accredited cities for assistance
                                                                                     Save thousands of dollars simply by
when we needed help with a particular                                                protecting the equipment you already
practice. Throughout all of this, I can’t                                            have in your fleet.
say enough about the support provided
by APWA’s staff. APWA’s Accreditation
Manager, Ms. Tracy Quintana, was
always available to us, providing guid-
ance and encouragement. If you are
                                             PROTECTION    PRESERVATION     PERFORMANCE
interested in accreditation, I urge you
to contact Danny at (972) 292-5816 or
Tracy at (816) 595-5294 to get started.
                                              www.rhomar.com
As a result of this process, our depart-      solutions@rhomar.com
ment made significant improvements

                                                                   www.apwa.net      /        March 2020    /   APWA Reporter       15
The City of Frisco Public Works team
                                                                                             gathered for a photo during the 2019
                                                                                             National Public Works Week.

2.   The self-assessment process was
     accepted by staff as part of our
     work, as opposed to just some-
     thing in addition to our existing
     workload. If not immediately, our
     employees eventually recognized
     the value, and we had full buy-in
     by the time the process was over.

3.   The process improved commu-                                                                              APWA accreditation team
                                                                                                              outlines the review process
     nication and clarity between the                                                                         during the onsite visit.
     organizational divisions, and
     with other City departments
     such as finance, purchasing,
     human resources, and emergency
     responders.

In December 2019 we hosted the
APWA team for our final onsite evalu-
ation. The APWA team spent three full
days with us and conducted a rigor-
ous review of our documentation. In
all, we received 99% full compliance
over 428 practices. Two practices were
                                               accredited agencies in total and one of   find a willing and able accreditation
recognized and will be used as model
                                               14 in Texas. And with over 20,000 pub-    manager on your staff, and do it.
practices: our solid waste recycling and
                                               lic works agencies in North America,
reuse program, and our water use pub-                                                    Paul Knippel can be reached at (972) 292-
                                               this places us in rare company. If you
lic education program. In January 2020                                                   5410 or pknippel@friscotexas.gov.
                                               have not already done so, commit your
we received written notice that our
                                               organization to the accreditation pro-
agency was fully accredited. This makes
                                               cess, execute an agreement with APWA,
Frisco one of fewer than 150 APWA

16     APWA Reporter    /   March 2020     /   www.apwa.net
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        PB.A324 (Package of 12)                                                                     in Public Works
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Small budget, big impact
How to improve traffic flows without big capital costs
Scott Adams, M.Eng., P.Eng., Manager of Public Works, City of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and member,
APWA Small Cities/Rural Communities Committee and Snow Conference Program Review Committee

C
         harlottetown, Prince Edward Island, is the capital        North River Road, which is a two-lane collector road, a major
         city of Canada’s smallest province. While the city        entry point to the city, and the location of many business
         has only a population of just over 36,000 residents,      and big box stores, was identified for the project due to the
         the number of tourists who visit the city each sum-       close proximity of a number of signalized intersections. A
         mer balloons that population. In 2018, there were         1.9-kilometer portion of road, with four signalized intersec-
approximately 1.58 million visitors to the island, equat-          tions, three of which are within 800 meters of each other,
ing to over one million overnight stays, which results in          running non-coordinated traffic signal timing plans, and
approximately a 3,000 percent increase in traffic volumes          significant traffic delays, was used for the pilot. All four inter-
when visitors arrive to the city. While this is great news for     sections were equipped with Miovision Smartlink units and
the local economy, this large influx of vehicles to a relatively   one was also equipped with a Miovision Smartsense unit to
small city causes a great deal of issues for city engineers and    provide turning movement count information along with
planners.                                                          the other performance data collected at the intersections.

Charlottetown, like many other small cities or communi-            Traffic data was collected for a couple of months. The col-
ties, does not have a dedicated traffic engineering team,          lected data was analyzed and a number of issues were identi-
and as such, many signal timings had not had an engineer-          fied. The data found that the time of day which experienced
ing review of these plans since the signals were installed.        the most bottlenecking and gridlock was from 3:00-6:00
These signal timings were outdated and it showed during            p.m., in the northbound direction. During this time frame,
peak travel times. In early 2019, the City of Charlottetown        it took motorists to travel from the Belvedere Ave. intersec-
identified a need to look at options to improve traffic signal     tion to the Capital Dr. intersection four times longer than
performance around the city without the need to upgrade            it takes during non-peak hours (amounting to a travel time
or expand any intersections. At the same time, the City was        between 7 and 10 minutes). These inflated travel times were
approached by Stinson ITS to discuss and offer to do a pilot       attributed to the following conditions: an imbalance of
project using Miovision Smartlink technology. After a few          performance on the major turning movements compared to
meetings, the City agreed to the pilot project and identified      the minor turning movements; intersections all operating
a traffic-congested corridor in the city’s commercial area.        in free mode, and not being coordinated with each other;

20     APWA Reporter     /   March 2020   /   www.apwa.net
and the large influx of vehicle volume during the times of        gas emissions being diverted from entering the atmosphere.
3:00-6:00 p.m.                                                    Not to mention, the estimated savings caused by reduc-
                                                                  ing travel times totals more than half a million dollars
After identifying the areas of issue, a few changes were made
                                                                  ($555,110).
in an attempt to improve the travel conditions: a common
cycle length was introduced for all intersections; proper off-    These results had far exceeded our original expectation
sets were identified using the current timing and collected       and have been instrumental to our success in winning over
data; and intersections were put into coordination between        our City Council in order to securing funds to continue
3:00-6:00 p.m. The results of the changes, after only a week,     exploring smart intersection technology and identify how
were impressive. Travel times were reduced by 32 percent          to improve traffic flows with minimal investment. These
between the hours of 4:00-6:00 p.m. These reductions in           remarkable results, combined with the City’s aggressive
travel time have a significant benefit environmentally,           carbon footprint reduction strategy, made it a simple deci-
socially, and economically. The table below has been pro-         sion for the Public Works Committee to unanimously vote
vided to the City by Miovision, and it illustrates the benefits   to continue to move forward with the project and look at
of the reduced travel times.                                      how we can improve other intersections and corridors using
                                                                  smart signal technology.
Simply by reducing the travel time, and therefore the idle
time of vehicles, an estimated 167,268 litres of fuel can be      Scott Adams can be reached at (902) 629-4009 or sadams@
saved. This amounts to 3,772 tons of harmful greenhouse           charlottetown.ca.

  Estimated Total   Total Travel Time Total User Cost    Total Emissions     Total Fuel                       Estimated
  Vehicles Impacted Savings (vehicle- savings** ($/year) Savings (tons/year) Savings (litre/                  Total Savings
  (per year*)       min)                                                     year)                            ($/year)
  1,380,000              1,219,100            507,145               3,772                  167,268            $555,110

                                                                     www.apwa.net    /   March 2020   /   APWA Reporter     21
Does the solid waste industry
embrace diversity?
Justin Miller, Assistant Engineering Services Supervisor, City of Durham,
North Carolina, and member, APWA Committee for Diversity and Inclusion

 D
          oes the solid waste industry           Internally, there have been many           or 20 years diversifying even more by
          embrace diversity? You bet             efforts and achievements to improve        encouraging women to apply for waste-
          your recycling bin that it does,       diversity and inclusion within to          related positions. The solid waste indus-
          and how could the industry             attract and retain a diverse workforce.    try has been strong in representing the
          possibly not? Beyond the                                                          traditional idea of diversity, but diver-
 numerous employees from all different           I recently had the opportunity to speak
                                                                                            sity goes beyond the visual age, gender
 cultural backgrounds, the industry has          with Kelli Collins, Environmental
                                                                                            and race of a person. Today’s definition
 a huge impact on so many different              Services Sustainability and Programs
                                                                                            of diversity includes education, experi-
 types of customers. From residential            Superintendent for Gilbert, Arizona,
                                                                                            ence (both inside and outside of solid
 homes to businesses to shopping cen-            and she provided this information:
                                                                                            waste) and viewpoints. We are finding
 ters to medical facilities to industrial        “Historically, the solid waste industry    that by expanding our definition of
 properties to government buildings              has led the way in diversity, attracting   diversity we have a better workforce of
 to schools and more, the solid waste            employees from different races and age     employees and stronger teams.”
 industry has had to identify the differ-        groups. And while the industry contin-
 ing needs of each customer and provide                                                     As to obstacles she has experienced
                                                 ues to be a male-dominated field, we
 appropriate services to each.                                                              with diversity and inclusion, Kelli said,
                                                 have made great strides over the last 15

 22     APWA Reporter    /   March 2020      /   www.apwa.net
ing up in a timely manner to requests           In closing Kelli shared this: “These
                                            and ideas.”                                     efforts are successful when it’s not a
                                                                                            “top down” philosophy, but rather a
                                            What other efforts are being made?              commitment and expectation of all
                                            Kelli said, “While working to create            employees to incorporate inclusion
                                            a safe and secure environment, we               and diversity in their daily work.”
                                            encourage disagreement and openness
                                            of suggestions and opinions. By think-          What a powerful statement, “a com-
                                            ing differently and listening to ideas we       mitment and expectation of all
                                            are able to achieve better outcomes.            employees….” That is what it should be
                                                                                            in every department and function of
                                            “All of our inclusion efforts begin when        public works—a commitment and an
                                            onboarding employees and are contin-            expectation of all. Our organizations
                                            ued to ensure retention. Introducing            should reflect the communities and
                                            employees to others, offering training          customers we serve. And while a lot of
                                            and coaching, providing networking              times D&I efforts may seem like some
“With so many employees working out         opportunities, creating employee com-           troublesome thing our HR department
in the field in either teams of two or      mittees (safety, communication, recog-          “makes” us do, it really only takes a
alone in the cab of a truck, inclusion is   nition, etc.), and inviting employees to        little effort and the payoff for those
a bit more challenging. Other than the      meetings they don’t normally attend             efforts can be huge.
quick morning briefing and training,        are all great ways to make employees
many solid waste workers are working        feel included.                                  If your department has made strides
out in the field taking care of customers                                                   to improve D&I and you would like
day in and day out. Making them feel        “Supervisors are visual in the field            to share your stories with us, please
included can be a struggle. Some of the     and out at the disposal sites. They also        reach out to me or any member of the
ways we are making a difference is by       conduct ride-alongs and safety obser-           National APWA Committee for Diver-
opening up communication; providing         vations to connect with field staff. It’s       sity and Inclusion.
cell phones with email capabilities to      an opportunity to let operators know
                                                                                            “Strength lies in differences, not in simi-
all field employees; emailing reminders     the work they do each and every day
                                                                                            larities.” – Stephen R. Covey
and information; forming employee           matters. It also provides some 1:1 time
committees; surveying staff frequently;     to get to know employees better.”               Justin Miller can be reached at (919) 560-
encouraging suggestions; and follow-                                                        4326 or justin.miller@durhamnc.gov.

                                                                      www.apwa.net      /     March 2020     /   APWA Reporter            23
IN & AROUND APWA

New England
Chapter attends
American
Meteorological
Society meeting
O     n January 12 and 13, members of
      the APWA New England Chapter
participated in the American Meteoro-
logical Society’s 100th annual meeting
(called AMS 100). Richard (Chip) Barrett,
Chapter President, spoke about “Get-
ting to Know APWA” on January 12 and
about “Hazards and Overpasses: The
Intersection of Transportation Safety
and Weather” on January 13.

Rick Stinson, NEAPWA Past President
and retired Director of Wakefield Public
                                                                 Top photo from left to right: Chip Barrett, Chapter President;
Works, and Bill Hadley, NEAPWA Executive Board Mem-
                                                                 Bill Hadley, Chapter Executive Board Member; and Rick Stin-
ber & retired Director of Lexington Public Works, served as
                                                                 son, Chapter Past President, at the AMS 100
facilitators of a tabletop exercise called “Integrated Warning
Team Part II: In Their Rainboots” in which more than 100         Bottom photo from left to right: Tom Bedard, Accuweather;
meteorology students from across the U.S. and 20 facilitators    Chip Barrett; Rick Stinson; Bill Hadley; and Tanja Fransen,
participated. Stinson and Hadley focused on transportation       NWS Glasgow, MT at the AMS 100
issues with weather and the response to the January 4, 2018
nor’easter that hit New England with major coastal flooding.

24     APWA Reporter    /   March 2020   /   www.apwa.net
New England
Chapter Young
Professionals join
the North Shore,
MA Public Works
Directors monthly
breakfast
O    n January 30, the New England
     Chapter Young Professionals had
the opportunity to join the North Shore
public works directors at their monthly
breakfast. The breakfast has been
ongoing for the past 13 years.
In attendance were 20 APWA Young
Professionals and 20 Directors. This        co-chair of YP’s; Frank Marinaccio,             works agencies and corporations serv-
provided a great networking opportu-        BETA Engineering, co-chair of YP’s; Kris        ing communities into the future.
nity for both the Young Professionals       Surette, WorldTech Engineering; Lauren
                                                                                            Picture of Committee with the Chap-
and Directors (current and retired).        Nicholson, TEC Engineering; Kevin
                                                                                            ter President (Left to Right): Lauren
The breakfast included activities to get    McCabe, Town of Sudbury DPW; and
                                                                                            Nicholson; Kris Surette; Claire Moss,
both groups engaged and talking about       Aaron Milosko, Town of Concord DPW;             co-chair; Richard Barrett, Chapter Presi-
issues, the future, and public works. The   did an outstanding job. The program             dent; Frank Marinaccio, co-chair; Kevin
Young Professionals Committee did           received raved reviews from Directors           McCabe; Aaron Milosko
an outstanding job putting the event        and Young Professionals. This will
                                                                                            Top: Group photo at the monthly
together so that it worked seamlessly       become an annual event.
                                                                                            breakfast
with the Directors’ normal activities at    The New England Chapter is fortunate            Send your news for "In & Around APWA"
the breakfast. The committee, consist-      to have this dedicated group of profes-         to the editor at kclark@apwa.net.
ing of Claire Moss, Town of Wakefield,      sionals who will lead the chapter, public

                                                                     www.apwa.net       /     March 2020    /   APWA Reporter      25
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