Street Talk | September 2011 Issue

inside:Feature: PWD Executives share their thoughts and vision for the department.

All Around Austin: See what’s been happening and what’s coming up next.

Guest Column:The Austin Water Utility talks wa-ter conservation and how to make it a part of your daily routine.

Diversity Council: What it’s all about and what they plan to accomplish this year in PWD.

STREET TALKREPORTING ON WHAT MATTERS TO PUBLIC WORKSVOLUME 1 ISSUE 5 SEPTEMBER 2011

Wrap!aThat’sPWD wraps up FY2011,

so bring on FY2012!

director’s messageBY HOWARD LAZARUS DIRECTOR

02 STREET TALK SEPTEMBER 2011

S

EDITORIALEditor in Chief:

Chief Reporter:

Contributing Writers:

DESIGNChief Graphic Designer:

Director of Photography:

Sara [email protected]

Sharon [email protected]

Vera [email protected]

Alexa [email protected]

Shannon [email protected]

Sara [email protected]

Luciano [email protected]

STREET TALK

Santina [email protected]

Howard [email protected]

eptember signals the end of the dog days of summer. Temperatures will

(hopefully) start to cool, the kids go back to school, and the air will soon be filled with flying pigskins. Public Workers ranged far and wide during the months of July and August, and several of you shared memo-ries of your vacations in this month’s Street Talk. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, and were able to get a mental as well as a physical break from the demands of the job and day-to-day stresses. September also puts a wrap on the current fiscal year, and I’d like to use this opportunity to provide a glimpse into the State of the Department as we face FY12. As a whole, the past twelve months were another successful year for us:

Street and Bridge crews exceeded their maintenance and repair goals and we made progress on improving the overall state of our pavements.

Additional miles of sidewalk and bi-cycle lane were added to the trans-portation network, and accessibility for all Austinites was improved.

Several high profile capital projects were completed, including the IH-35 Parking Lot Improvements, the Northwest Recreation Center Reno-vation, the Public Safety Training Fa-cility, the Pfluger Bridge Extension,

2nd Street Improvements, East 7th Street Reconstruction and Improve-ments, the Avery Ranch Fire and EMS station was built, along with several firehouse renovations, and numerous street reconstruction and utility proj-ects. By the end of September, we also hope to have work completed on Brazos Street downtown.

With the passage of the Mobil-ity Bond in 2010, funding was made available for several new and existing projects to move forward, including the Lady Bird Lake Boardwalk, the Vi-olet Crown Trail, design of 6th Street Improvements, additional street re-construction, sidewalk accessibility improvements, and additional bicy-cle facilities.

Improvements were also initiated that will help improve our administra-tive processes, addressing everything from standards of appearance and conduct, to systems innovations like electronic timekeeping and invoice processing, to a new look at career fields and progression.

The coming fiscal year promises to be equally challenging and we are well positioned to meet our operational needs. However, we will have to watch our ex-penses as revenues are a bit flat. We’ve

deferred some hiring decisions and major purchases until mid-year so we can better evaluate where we are on the sources and uses of our funds. We should still be able to do everything we want to, but efficiency and accountability will take center stage. On the personnel front, City Corpo-rate leadership has been addressing em-ployee concerns. The FY12 budget includes a 2% across the board salary increase and Service Incentive Pay. Phases 2 and 3 of the Market Study will also be reviewed and implemented. While the costs of medical coverage will increase for most employees, the City’s Human Resources Department did an exceptional job of negotiating new contracts that will minimize the impacts on your checkbooks. Finally, I want to recognize the Street Talk staff. The format of our news maga-zine has not only increased readership, but has also garnered some national attention. Street Talk was selected as a winner of the Association for Women in Communications Clarion Award and is a finalist for the 3CMA National Savvy award. Congratulations to the entire Street Talk Team, who go the ex-tra mile to keep the focus on YOU!

Michelle [email protected]

Back to the Future

Reflecting on our accomplishments from FY2011 as we blaze a trail into FY2012

Max [email protected]

Jason [email protected]

Eva [email protected]

Kate [email protected]

Kalpana [email protected]

2011 SEPTEMBER STREET TALK 03

COVER STORY

That’s a Wrap!The communications team interviews the executives to get some insight on plans for Fiscal Year 2012, while reflecting on the accomplish-ments of Fiscal Year 2011.

contentsSEPTEMBER 2011

cityspace.austintexas.gov/departments/pwdVOLUME 1 ISSUE 5

New trellis and landscaping on East 7th Street


contentsSEPTEMBER 2011

cityspace.austintexas.gov/departments/pwdVOLUME 1 ISSUE 5

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20features

divisions

columnsALL AROUND AUSTIN

FINANCIAL MONITORING AND BUDGETING GROUP:

HRO: PUMP UP THE BODY, EASE THE MIND

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR?

THE SAFETY ZONE

Public Workers spent time in July and August doing all kinds of things around town to highlight the work we do in PWD. See what’s been happening and what is coming up next.

Meet this tiny, but mighty, crew who crunches those numbers to help keep us on track.

Michelle Frith profiles two employees that work hard for PWD everyday, who you may have never met!

Find out how the HRO office is making strides to help keep you healthy, fit, and stress-free.

How safe are you staying on the job? Tips on how you can make improve-ments on the job and in your daily life!

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05ESD: ROLLIN’ OUT THE ROUND-ABOUTS

Learn about how roundabouts are a great traffic solution for our city… and meet ‘Mr. Roundabout’ himself!

10PWD HITS THE TRAILOur employees took some time off this summer for a little R&R. Take a look to see who shared their memories and snapshots with us!

Now that the charter has been signed, what comes next? Find out what they’re all about and what they plan to accomplish this year.

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THE DIVERSITY COUNCIL: 17CIPID: BEHIND THE SCENES

The division’s management and techni-cal team has a lot to offer! Here, you’ll meet the group and get to know their individual roles.

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GUEST COLUMN:AUSTIN WATER UTILITY

This Month: The Austin Water Utility gives us advice on how to make water conservation a part of our daily routine.

08PMD TAKES IT TO PORTLANDThe American Public Works Associa-tion’s Sustainability Conference offers some great insight on what Portland does to stay ‘green’.

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NCD:The Bicycle Program is putting it’s sig-nature on Austin! Find out how and where they’re making improvements for cyclists… and learn how to get your very own Bicycle map!

22CITY OF AUSTIN COMBINED CHARITIES CAMPAIGN

How Public Works employees are gear-ing up to raise money for those in need… and details about what you can do to help!

20SBO GETS HIGH-TECH ABOUT PAVEMENT ANALYSIS:

Check out how a cool new data col-lection machine can help us keep our streets in tip-top shape.

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BY SHARON WARREN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

safety zone

Be Safe: Slow Your Roll!The Safety Office gives advice on how to keep our children, our crossing guards, and yourself safe from harm during the school year.

t’s that time of year again! School is now in session, and that means we

now have our school zones back in action. Children and crossing guards are crossing the streets, buses are back on the roads, and of course, traffic is a nightmare. As a result - we all need to heighten our aware-ness out there on the roadway!

Make sure to heed the speed limit of the school zone. The speeds may vary depending on the location, but most will be 20 or 25 mph. It is important to re-member that cell phone usage in a school zone must either be hands-free or occur-ring while your vehicle is at a complete stop. The safety office recommends that you not use your cell phone at any time in a school zone, because you need your

full attention devoted to the roadway. It’s also

important to note that while driving on City busi-ness, PWD’s p o l i c y p r o h i b i t s

all cell phone usage.

I

School Zones

Within the City limits, PWD employs around 200 crossing guards who help approximately 34,000 chil-dren cross the street to get

Crossing Guards If a school bus is

stopped with the flashing lights on and the stop sign arm out, do not pass. You

School Buses

With our younger kids in school and the universities all back in session, you’ve probably experienced an increased amount of traffic out there, which means more frustrated drivers. This is an excel-lent time for you to model good driving behavior. Be patient, aware, and calm. Remember – we’ll all get there eventually.

Traffic in General

And… don’t forget to buckle up! Ev-eryone in the vehicle, regardless of age, is required to wear a safety belt, including vehicles with up to 15 passengers. Chil-dren up to 8 years old (unless they are at least 4’ 9” tall) must be in an approved child passenger safety seat.

to school. When also accounting for the older children who walk, skate, or bike to school, that’s a lot of kids to watch out for! It is imperative that you as a driver pay close attention to the crossing guard, who knows where the children are even

when you can’t always see them. So, remember to slow down, pay atten-

tion to the guard, and be patient. After all, it only takes a few seconds

of your day to slow down and wait for the children to cross safely and

the crossing guard to get out of the roadway. Being in a rush or not paying attention could

mean the life of a young child or a guard.

must wait until the lights have stopped flashing and the stop arm is retracted. If a school bus is stopped, even if there are no lights and/or stop arm out, be sure to slow down and keep a lookout – children may still be nearby!

BY MAX EBY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

division


Pump up the Body, Ease the MindPublic Works- Your Department with a Healthy Heart

t’s been a long, hot, dry, and even cruel summer but we made it through…al-

most. Public Works continues to improve our City, helping to make Austin one of the most desirable places to call home. Austin even took first place in the Forbes Magazine “most likely to prosper in the next decade” category. Now that’s a strong endorsement!

With all of this improvement and prog-ress, it can be easy to get bogged down with daily household and work activities and completely forget to take care of yourself. A healthy mind and body are essential for productivity and longevity, so we cannot af-ford to neglect either one. As Public Work-ers, we are fortunate to have an employee assistance program (EAP), HealthyConnec-tions Wellness Team, and a very supportive Department Director and Executive Team, who value our total well-being.

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PUMP UP THE BODY

EASE THE MIND

The body is the most intricate, self-contained machine the world has ever seen. If we treat it right, we can expect many years of trouble-free enjoyment. With this in mind, Public Works has been working be-

hind the scenes with HealthyConnections and the Parks and Recreation Department to launch an exciting initiative to help us “pump it up.” Not all employees have sched-ules that accommodate City PE activities during the work day, so we will soon have another option which comes from the col-laborative efforts of our two departments.

Public Works will improve fitness cen-ters with equipment in five different PARD recreation centers. In return, PWD employ-ees receive free access to the fitness centers for a limited time as a pilot program. The initiative may eventually roll out City-wide after our trial run. Improvement work is still ongoing but we’re nearing the finish line. Stay tuned for our “go-live” date and instruc-tions on how to sign up.

In the meantime, don’t forget your HealthyConnections Team is providing on-going fitness activities, health screenings, and educational events! Many of these ser-vices are free or offered at a very low cost. Check your inbox and your mailbox for info on health fairs and screenings, PE classes, and informational seminars. You may con-tact Rita Mata, Max Eby, David Smythe-Ma-

The Alliance Work Partners Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is happy to help with life’s stresses and is available to any em-ployee or any person living in an employee’s home. Most of us immediately recognize the most common EAP services, such as personal or family counseling. Did you also know that Alliance helps us by providing self assessments and self improvement plans, a Teen Help Hotline, travel information/refer-ral, a gigantic resource database, and even reimbursement for a safe cab ride home up to 30 miles one way?

The EAP team is also happy to pro-vide various health and well-being train-ing sessions for groups of five and above at no extra cost. Whether you’re planning an educational opportunity or just need help navigating life’s rough waters, Alliance is someone you can trust. Call 800-328-1144 or visit http://alliancewp.com to access this powerful support network.

caulay, Michelle Frith, or Sheree Bailey for more information.

Question? Visit the Healthy Connections website or call 974-3284

September 15th 7:30 AM - 3 PMPALMER EVENTS CENTER

Health & Lifestyle Expo100+ Exhibitors

GiveawaysFood SamplingGlucose Testing

Fitness DealsChair Massage

Demos & More!

Last chance for a Health Assessment*

in 2011 to Earn 4 Hours ADL!

Chance toWIN an

Apple iPAD!

he Finance group is tiny - but mighty! For this group, the start of

the new fiscal year signals the beginning of planning for the next fiscal year. They support four departments: Public Works, Austin Transportation, Contract and Land Management, and the Office of Real Es-tate Services, as well as four funds: Trans-portation, Capital Project Management, Parking Man-agement, and Child Safety.

Susan Cox, a Texas native, is the Financial Man-ager and leads the group of four Financial Consultants. She graduated from Texas Tech with her MPA and re-located to California. There, she worked for the City of San Jose for 16 years, as well as the City of Riverside before relocating to Austin. When she’s not cracking the whip, Susan likes pickup trucks, motorcycles, and traveling. She also has two really great half-sleeve tat-toos.

Also a native Texan, Austinite to be exact, Clint Evans grad-uated from the University of Texas with an Economics degree the year UT won the championship. To say he’s a huge Long-horn fan would not quite do him justice, and you will usually see him wearing burnt orange on Fridays. Clint oversees the Cap-ital Improvement Project program, as well as the Capital Project Management and Child Safety Funds. However, during his downtime, you’ll find him working on his

goal to visit every continent.Virginia Hudson, another na-

tive of Texas, is originally from Houston. She also graduated from the University of Texas and wears burnt orange on Fridays during football season, which offsets the red and black worn by Susan. Going to college later in life inspired her to spread

the message that it’s never too late and you’re never too old to start or go back to college. She’s responsible for the Street & Bridge Operations’ finances and decom-presses with trips to museums and places afar.

After finishing her MBA in Finance in her hometown of Chicago, Santina Reichow set out on a quest to travel the world. Every year she travels to one or two foreign countries and has collected quite

a few stamps on her passport. When she is not reviewing monthly financial reports for the Austin Transportation Department, she participates in local running races and has completed ten half marathons and one full marathon in the past three years.

One of the main goals of the Financial Monitoring/Budget group is to guide their

responsible departments through a successful bud-get process. Starting in Oc-tober with the results of the Annual Citizens Survey, the Business Plan is developed. The celebration of the new calendar year is just about when crunch time for the Finance group starts. Creat-ing the Financial Forecast, and later the Proposed Bud-get, requires lots of hours and concentration through the beginning of June when the Proposed Budget is sub-mitted to the Budget Office. The other main goal is to review and analyze the day-

to-day spending of the four departments. It is crucial

that each department meet their respec-tive annual goals and performance mea-sures, while staying within the approved appropriated budget.

The Budget group is located at 105 Riverside and the St. Elmo office. They fre-quently visit the One Texas Center build-ing to attend various meetings and to get some fresh air.

BY SANTINA REICHOW CONTRIBUTING WRITER

division

T


Budget Group: BUSTED… for Making the City’s Dollars Stretch FurtherThe City of Austin’s fiscal year begins on October 1, but this is only the beginning for the Financial Monitoring & Budgeting group!

Good thing Virginia’s already at the bank! Sheriff Shuv L. Reddy catches Budget in the act… making sure the ‘money tree’ doesn’t dry up in this extreme weather!


BY JASON HILL GUEST WRITER

guest column

Water conservation is quickly becoming a common household practice in many Central Texas Homes and businesses. Conservation advertising campaigns are bombarding the airwaves and even a mention of the C-word causes an immediate media frenzy. So - why all the hype? …and is this water conservation initiative really all it’s cracked up to be?

ater conservation has major benefits when it comes to the

average cost of water and meeting long-term water needs. Water conservation reduces electricity consumption which saves money, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In the long-term, conserving water may also defer the costly purchase of additional water rights and reduce an-nual costs for water. Water efficiency can also immediately save homeowners and businesses money on their water bill.

Austin City Council’s most recent water conservation goals are to lower citywide water use to 140 gallons per capita per day by 2020. City leaders also want the community to know and under-stand where their water comes from and become more mindful about their water usage. There are a variety of water con-servation programs in place to help the community do their part in reducing daily water usage.

One of the biggest ways to save wa-ter is by monitoring automatic outdoor ir-rigation systems. Lawn watering is where the biggest conservation potential lies. Lawn watering can account for up to 50% of water consumed, dropping slightly to 38% in non-summer months. Currently, Austin is in stage 2 water use restrictions which means all of Austin Water’s custom-ers from residential to commercial must follow a one day a week watering sched-ule. Other voluntary programs and tools include:An online water calculator for families to determine how much water is

used for routine household activities. Rainwater harvesting rebates that encourage the collection of rainwa-ter for non-potable uses such as watering your lawn and garden. A landscape conversion incentive that gives cash back for re-placing turf lawns with native and adapt-ed plants. Irrigation evaluations that pro-vide advice on how to most effectively use residential and commercial irrigation systems.

The response to these programs has been very positive, especially during the current drought. City leaders are urging water customers to continue practicing water conservation.

Another initiative supporting water conservation here in Austin is the Water Reclamation Initiative which began back in 1974 and is dedicated to conserving the drinking water supply, protecting the environment, and providing inexpensive non-drinking water for irrigation, cooling and manufacturing. Reclaimed water is a cost-effective water source created by reusing treated wastewater effluent that is normally discharged to the Colorado River. Reclaimed water improves the City’s ability to provide water for non-potable purposes, even during times of drought.

The newly christened reclaimed wa-ter tower located on 51st street, is the first of seven planned for Austin. The award-winning tower holds two million gallons of reclaimed water and is the latest mile-stone in the utility’s expansion of the re-

claimed water system. The tank also fea-tures 48 solar panels on its roof and has a rain water harvesting system integrated into its design. It will serve customers ranging from area parks and golf courses to hospitals and the University of Texas. This new tower is also an important link in the system that makes it possible to move reclaimed water to the Capitol complex and the Downtown area.

Water conservation starts with a mindset of knowing how water impacts our daily lives. For so long, we have taken this limited resource for granted. Exces-sive showers, un-repaired leaks, poorly managed outdoor irrigation systems, in-efficient outdated toilets, excessive dish-washing and laundry… the list goes on. Once you step back and take a good hard look at your life and how you use water, you can then begin to make the appropri-ate adjustments to make and follow a con-servation plan of action.

Austin Water provides a wealth of information and so many ways for you to watch your water use. Conserving water is more than a year-round commitment - it’s a way of life and that’s why we’re helping to create a new water-wise culture one drop at a time.

To find out more about your family’s water use, visit waterwiseaustin.org.

Water Conservation: Austin Style

W


BY VERA LABRIOLA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

division

CIP Inspection: Behind the Scenes

I after the construction is completed. In addi-tion, Nannett assists CIPID Field Engineers with preparing project final acceptance letters after the projects have been closed. Nannett started with CIPID in 1992 and has been with the City of Austin for 19 years.

Peggy Howard, recently hired for the new position of Engineering Technician C, will be assisting the CIP Inspection field offices with project closeouts. She tracks project closeout status and assists with the drafting of intersection drawings. She also makes sure that Austin Water Utility’s as-builts are properly prepared and turned in to the Maps and Records Office.

Soon, CIPID will also have a certified safety specialist who will be profiled in a fu-ture issue.

Also, inspection on CIP projects isn’t the only service this division offers. Some people might not know that the CIPID can assist with constructability reviews for proj-ect managers before a project goes to bid!

masters’ degree in Organizational Commu-nication and Training and Development at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Lek Mateo oversees all of the sup-port staff and is also the primary contact for Service Agreements. He is usually the first person project managers and sponsors talk to concerning their inspection requests on CIP projects. After Lek holds discussions with clients and determines their inspection needs, he works with the project manag-ers on preparing an estimate and negoti-ates the price for inspection services on CIP projects. Lek also works as the coordinator between the field office staff and the clients. He has approximately 14 years of civil con-struction experience in the private sector and with the City of Austin.

After the executed project manuals are delivered to us, and the Inspection Service Agreements are signed by the clients, they get processed by Nannett Holweger. Nannett is in charge of project set up. She is also responsible for closeouts and prepara-tion of the project documents for archiving

n the last issue, we looked at the overall breakdown of the CIP Inspection Divi-

sion. Now, we’d like to take an in-depth look into the individual groups that comprise CIPID. Let’s start with the management and technical team, which has been relocated from One Texas Center to 105 Riverside Drive, Suite 220.

Trish Wadsack P.E., the CIP In-spection Division Manager, provides leader-ship and management to the division. Her goal is to improve the quality and efficiency of cost effective services. Trish has been with the City of Austin for 9 years and came to CIPID 3 years ago from the Project Man-agement Division. She has 23 years of expe-rience and also worked for a consultant for 12 years before joining the City.

Vera Labriola focuses on purchas-ing, overall division support, and is a divi-sion coordinator for CAFs (Citizen Assistance Forms) and PIRs (Public Information Re-quests). Vera has been with the City of Austin for 5 years and transferred from the Library 3 years ago. She is currently pursuing her

CIP Inspection Division introduces the division’s management and technical team.

divisionsBY LUCIANO TAMAYO CONTRIBUTING WRITER


R oundabouts have recently become extremely popular in the City of

Austin, and credit is due to “Mr. Roundabout” as they jokingly call him: the always-smiling face of Gary Schatz, P.E., Assistant Director of the Austin Transportation Department.

Roundabout is a British word (thank you, Peter Davis!) for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island where priority is given to the circulating traffic flow. Signs direct traffic en-tering the circle to slow down and yield the right-of-way. The Modern Roundabout was developed by the UK Transport Research Laboratory in the mid-twentieth century.

Roundabouts are more common around the world in places like: the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Canada, China, the Middle East, South America, and Scan-dinavian countries. But half of the world’s roundabouts are in France - over 30,000 as of 2008!

ESD Rolls out the Roundabouts

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROPOSED ROUND-ABOUTS PLANNED FOR AUSTIN, I INTERVIEWED “MR. ROUNDABOUT” HIMSELF, GARY SCHATZ:

LT: How did you learn about constructing roundabouts and how long have you been involved with these types of projects?

GS: I learned about roundabouts in 1998 when I was a managing engineer with the City of Houston from the new Assistant Di-rector, who hailed from Florida, and knew a lot about roundabouts. In one particular Houston neighborhood, they needed a dif-ferent means of traffic control to slow down over-speeding. This was the birth of the roundabout in Houston with me as the de-signer.

LT: What are your goals for Austin in terms of installing these roundabouts?

GS: The roundabout is an important tool in the tool box and the City should consider setting a policy that will give options to a designer, either private or public, to include roundabouts in their projects.

LT: What are the traffic impacts with roundabouts? Are there any safety issues?

GS: The roundabout has 5 distinct ad-vantages with regard to traffic impact and safety. They are safer according to The Insur-ance Institute of Highway Safety Report and they reduce crashes by 40%, injury-causing crashes by 70%, and fatal crashes by 90%. Roundabouts are very efficient and serve all roadway users such as vehicles, pedestri-ans, and cyclists. They are flexible in terms of

design and they create a gateway to a com-munity by serving as focal points, especially when the community has supported them and volunteers to provide landscaping to beautify the roundabout.

LT: How do you differentiate between the roundabout and a circle or rotary and what are their advantages/disadvantages? How effective are roundabouts in slowing down vehicles?

GS: Roundabouts are controlled by yield signs while circles or rotaries are controlled by stop or traffic signs. The vehicular flow in a roundabout is counter-clockwise and cars are required to yield to the vehicles in the center. Rotaries require the vehicles to stop on the stop bar before proceeding. A ‘no left turn’ with the roundabout is also permissible. Another key difference is that roundabouts are designed for slow speed,

DESIGN TEAM 1 Rio Grande Bike Boulevard

Davis Lane from Leo to GuidepostABIA - Presidential Blvd2nd St - NuecesTraffic Calming

East Rundberg ExtensionTodd Lane

DESIGN TEAM 2

DESIGN TEAM 3

DESIGN TEAM 4

A FEW OF ESD’S CURRENT ROUNDABOUT PROJECTS


Mr. Roundabout I Gary Schatz uAssistant Director,

Austin Transportation Department

while rotaries are made for high speed. So far, in Austin there are 9 circles or rotaries that require upgrades. They each pose vari-ous challenges; some may be successful but need to be retrofitted for safety and ease of usage.

LT: What is required as far as planning, de-sign and potential pitfalls?

GS: Roundabouts have experienced many challenges, initially related to public accep-tance. A preliminary survey resulted in a 2:1 ratio in opposition to the roundabouts. This is most likely because people were used

Roundabout in Construction at Rio Grande and W. 10th Street. Designed by Carlos Villalpando, managed by Roger Hickman, P.E.

ROUNDABOUT FACTS:

to the old traffic circles or rotaries and weren’t ready to embrace the change. However, by successfully implementing a good design that increased safety and was easy to use, another survey yielded a 3:1 vote in favor of the roundabouts. In order to have a successful round-about design and implementation, you must ask for a peer review, in-volve the stakeholders as early as possible, and eventually they will adopt the roundabout as a part of their community.

Safety: Roundabouts have been shown to reduce fatal and injury-causing accidents as much as 76% in the USA, 75% in Australia and 86% in Great Britain.

Pedestrian Safety: Research sug-gests that modern roundabouts are safer than signalized intersections for pedestrians. This safety advantage has been attributed to the slower traffic speeds at roundabouts and the division of the pedestrian crossing into two stages.

Low Maintenance: Roundabouts eliminate the maintenance costs associated with traffic signals, which amount to approx-imately $3,500 per year per intersection. In addition, electricity costs are reduced with a savings of approximately $1,500 per year per intersection.

Reduced Delay: By yielding at the

entry rather than stopping and waiting for a green light, delay is significantly reduced. A reduction in delay corresponds to a de-crease in fuel consumption and air pollution.

Capacity: Intersections with a high volume of left turns are better handled by a

roundabout than a multi-phased traffic sig-nal.

Aesthetics: In addition, the central is-land provides an opportunity to provide im-proved landscaping.

BY SHANNON WISNER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

events

Public Works Connects You...All Around Austin!Public Works builds our city’s future and celebrates our successes with PWD staff and events all around town.

The Public Works Department in part-nership with PARD held a Ribbon Cutting for the Northwest Recreation Center Re-open-ing on Saturday, July 9, 2011. The commu-nity was invited to explore the newly remod-eled facility - to which 8,000 sq feet have been added! The facility now consists of two classrooms, two multi-purpose rooms, a

kitchen, a fitness room, a lobby and a gym-nasium. Modern amenities, such as flat panel televisions that are laptop and internet con-nectible, will allow for enhanced learning opportunities for youths and adults. The en-tire facility is wireless and there are lounge areas in the lobby for people to play games, work or to relax. Colorful “portholes” were added as an architectural feature to provide a glimpse of the action in the gymnasium from the lounge areas and hallways.

Additionally, the facility has added ‘green’ features such as water collection “funnels” on the roof of the building that direct water into rain gardens filtering out impurities. During heavy rains, the water is funneled into the soccer field where areas of porous soil trap the water before it can flow into Shoal Creek, helping to alleviate flood-ing. Special thanks to the Project Manager, Burton Jones, for a job well done!

THE NORTHWEST RECREATION CENTER RE-OPENS WITH A FRESH LOOK AND ‘GREEN’ FEATURES


PWD GIVES BACK: BUILDING BACKPACKS FOR AISD

Chris Bazzle proudly displays the backpacks prepared by his team!

Once again, 2011’s Build a Backpack Program was a great success for PWD and the City of

Austin. The program helps to support Austin students by supplying backpacks filled with school supplies for low-income students in need. The City will contribute 546 school-supply-filled backpacks and hundreds of pounds of school supplies to AISD schools this month. This almost doubles the 300 that were given last year!

EAST 7TH STREET RIBBON CUTTING CELEBRATION

CHILD SAFETY TEAM ‘HOOKS IT UP’ FOR AISD STUDENTS AT THE BACK TO SCHOOL BASH!


The East 7th Street ribbon cutting took place on Saturday, August 27th to great fan-fare and rejoicing! Growing pains are never easy, but the payoff for this project is huge. Besides the total reconstruction of the street and utilities, 7th Street now sports beautiful obeliscos created by Art in Public Places art-ists, wide sidewalks and landscaping, streets

that are beautifully paved and inlaid with decorative pavers in the intersections and turn lanes, new safety and decorative light-ing, plus enhanced pedestrian crossing and ADA improvements, all of which makes the area much more pedestrian friendly and in-viting.

The ground breaking included remarks from Congressman Doggett among others, and featured dozens of exhibitors from lo-cal businesses and City departments, dance performances from Aztlan Dance Company (http://www.aztlandance.com), Ballet Folk-lorico and a visit from the Austin Bike Zoo (http://www.austinbikezoo.org).

Congratulations to Clay Harris for help-ing out the businesses on East 7th Street through the construction, who can now marvel at the new great street they now share!

This year’s Back to School Bash was quite the event with over 4,500 participants in attendance at the Convention Center. The Bash was co-sponsored by City of Aus-tin and AISD. In such trying economic times, it is incredibly important to remember our children, and as anyone with kids will tell you, purchasing those school supplies can really add up! This is the reason school sup-plies and backpacks were provided at the event – along with bike helmets and even some bikes. Council Member Tovo was in at-tendance and presented the Back to School

Bash Safe Walk to School award to the prin-cipal and students of Cunningham Elemen-tary School.

From PWD’s Child Safety team, Rhon-da Bolick and Leticia Richardson conducted the Safe Walk demonstration and worked at a Child Safety booth answering questions and distributing information. Chris Moore was available to relay information about the Bike on Wednesday Walk on Wednesday Campaign (BOW-WOW), Anti-idling, and pe-destrian/bicycle safety tips for parents. She also helped coordinate this event with AISD. Our Crossing Guard crew was also a big help. They assisted with stuffing 1,000 backpacks with school supplies and helped distribute them at the event! Additionally, they helped properly fit 800 bicycle helmets on students.

To support Active Transportation, the Child Safety Program even donated 5 skate-boards with helmets and two Razors as door prizes.

The Public Works department contrib-uted substantially to that figure by donating 45 total backpacks, which is 13 more than we did last year! Special thanks to Robin Field who helped coordinate backpack do-nations for PWD, and of course, to all who donated!

continued from pg.13


Ground was broken on Wednesday, June 29th on the City’s first Neighborhood Partnering Program (NPP) project. St. Elmo Road will receive safety and aesthetic im-provements in the form of two landscaped pedestrian islands, crosswalks, and bicycle lanes. This is part of the City’s partnership with Foundation Communities, a non-profit whose mission is to empower low-income families by providing high-quality housing in a service-enriched environment.

Foundation Communities provides free after school care at its Sierra Ridge apartment complex for its own residents

IH35 MAKEOVER PROJECT RIBBON CUTTING: ‘STITCHING’ AUSTIN TOGETHER

After decades of being a psychologi-cal barrier between East Austin and down-town, the IH-35 intersection between Sixth and Eighth Streets has been “stitched” together by parking lot improvements, a beautiful public art light display and invit-ing landscaping.

The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on Friday, August 12 and included Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Representa-tive Eddie Rodriguez, Mayor Leffingwell, Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, and Assistant Director Keri Juarez, among others.

Kudos go to Project Manager Burton Jones for bringing the project to comple-tion. Whether you think it looks like a brontosaurus rib cage, a boat or stitches, it’s a thing of unique beauty and definitely a conversation starter! The IH-35 Make-over Coalition has also promised to push all of the partners to keep improving these types of intersections across Austin to tie the community back together.

BUILDING COMMUNITIES: PWD’S NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERING PROGRAM BREAKS GROUND

This photo is from the IH-35 opening ceremony that took place March 29, 1962!


as well as local children referred by St. Elmo Elementary officials. The Foundation serves approximately 150 children per day during

NORTH AUSTIN COMMUNITY RECREATION CENTERGROUNDBREAKING

The North Austin Community Recre-ation Center Groundbreaking will take place on Monday, September 26. The facility will be built at Mearns Meadow and Rundberg. This project is a collaborative effort between the YMCA and the City – the first collabora-tion of its kind. The City owns the land, and both the YMCA and the City will pay for the development costs. The YMCA will ultimate-ly run the facility. Parts of the complex will be available for public use and other parts will be for YMCA members only. Mark Schru-ben is the project manager of this facility.

UPCOMING EVENT:

the school year, and estimates that when the renovations are complete at its newly acquired Sierra Vista complex, about one

half of St. Elmo Elementary attend-ees will be Foundation Communities residents.

“Creating a safe beautiful streetscape with crosswalks for fami-lies to walk together and the commu-nity to flourish in the St. Elmo neigh-borhood is exactly the kind of project I envisioned with the Neighborhood Partnering Program. I am grateful to the leadership of our Public Works Department, the Still Water Founda-tion, and Foundation Communities for planning this project together, sharing resources and talent, and improving this neighborhood,” said Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole.

The City began construction in late July and is near completion. Sincere thanks to Sara Krause, pro-gram manager for the Neighborhood Partnering Program, for making it all happen!

Benefits Enrollmentfor City Employees

Announcing 2012

October 17, 2011 through

November 18, 2011

*Computer based enrollment for Public Works

There will be set-up times for field ops employees to obtain assistance in open enrollment issues at their locations and/or St. Elmo & OTC suite 720.


L ast fall two powerhouse departments within the City of Austin came togeth-

er to form the Diversity Council. The Public Works Department and the Department of Transportation have created this new proj-ect, with the help of volunteers and nomi-nees of roughly a dozen men and women of all ages, educations, and upbringings. The council itself is a shining symbol of what we hope to accomplish.

To understand what the Diversity Council is, you must be clear on what they are not. Public Works and the Department of Transportation did not team up to form a grievance council. The Diversity Council has not spent a year of planning to balance out the number of each ethnicity in each department. While important for an equal employment work force, it is not our focus. The Diversity Council goes deeper into their plan by looking at the bigger picture, and anticipates the successful future of the City of Austin and all departments within. The purpose is to focus on the talent each indi-vidual has, based on his or her values and life experiences.

The council meets once a month to work on important topics and concerns brought to them by other departments. Council members are rotated bi-annually, or yearly, depending on the availability of its members. Members will continue to be a combination of volunteers and nominees. The council plans to begin reaching out to more individuals as the years go by, to see how well it will do in diversifying and unify-ing each department. There may be oppor-tunities to hear speakers from Universities, Corporations, and Non-profits to discuss how diversity was a c c o m p l i s h e d within their work teams. It is the councils’ passion to keep their eyes and ears open to make our dream a reality.

C o m i n g soon, the council plans to hold open forums and brown

bag luncheons to give everyone an oppor-tunity to see what they’re working towards. In addition, the council is even planning small events designed for you to show your support for a diverse workforce based not on color, gender, or wealth, but your individ-uality cultivated throughout your lifetime of experience. The Diversity Council will work with Management and Team leaders to help obtain employees and cultures that will benefit the City of Austin community in the long run. Diversity is no longer about our packaging; it’s about the gift inside all of us.

Diversity Council Members

BY EVA MOORE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

column

The Diversity CouncilNow that the charter has been signed, what comes next? Find out what they’re all about and what they plan to accomplish this year.

divisionsBY KATE MONTGOMERY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

E ver wonder how we know which streets

need our attention the most? It is getting more high tech ev-ery time we do an assessment, and this past year has been a demonstration of exactly how we can get to know our streets even better.

The Infrastructure Man-agement Division (IMD) of Street and Bridge Operations is using the latest in pavement data collection to discover what our streets would tell us if they could. The Automated Distress Vehicle (ADV) is the way they collect the data – which is then used to update the Pavement Management Information System main-tained by IMD.

Fugro Consultants, Inc. is the com-pany driving the vehicle and collecting data on all 2,400 centerline miles of streets in Austin. The pavement data collection includes ride quality measurements for

Pavement Data Collection gets high tech at Street and Bridge.

If these streets could talk…


roughness and cracking distresses which will be quantified by type, severity, and extent.

Distress surveys consist of computer automated crack recognition for longi-

tudinal, transverse alligator, and block cracking. Ride quality assessment by accel-erometer is also be-ing done at the same time. All data collect-ed is stamped with the GPS coordinates and labeled with route reference, dis-tance data, direction as appropriate, and a date/time stamp.

The ADV is also collecting right-of-way images using a

high-definition forward facing and rear facing camera. This will allow the right-of-way images to be associated with the corresponding pavement image and pavement condition. These images can also be used to view other assets such as sidewalks, curb/gutters, signs, guardrails, fencing, traffic signs, etc.

If it all sounds like a lot of techno-jargon, it is. This is advanced pavement assessment technology and our IMD engi-neers are thrilled to have it. Citizens will be too, since it will help us determine where to begin when we start planning our work.

Fugro’s Project Manager, Reuben Williams and IMD’s Supervising Engineer, Ed Poppitt were interviewed on KXAN earlier this year to demonstrate how this all works. See the interview here: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/from-sinkholes-to-potholes-via-laser-scanner.

Fugro ADvantage Van: Our new pavement data collecting machine!

Ed Poppitt discusses pavement data technology on KXAN.

4th Annual4th Annual

COOKOFFCOOKOFF

Open to all City Employees

A team must have at least one (1) City Employee to participate

The competition is FREE

Contact Rebecca Zapata (974-7231) or Carlos Villalpando (974-7153)

October 15October 15October 15October 15October 15October 15@ 10:00am@ 10:00am@ 10:00am@ 10:00am@ 10:00am@ 10:00am

ENTRY DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 7TH

City of AustinCity of AustinCity of AustinCity of Austin


BY MICHELLE FRITH CHIEF REPORTER

columns

City of Austin Combined Charities Campaign

W hen the going gets tough, the tough get going! Since 2008

when the U.S. economy hit a huge bump in the road, many normally generous people closed their wallets and cinched up their belts another notch. It’s a great lesson for all of us to be better money managers, but the fallout includes fewer charitable contributions at a time when they are most desperately needed. In 2009 alone, charitable giving fell by 6%, according to national studies. And when 75% of all charitable giving in our nation is made by individuals, it’s a pretty heavy hit to non-profit organizations whose mission

is to help others. Many services that are desperately needed are being cut while the agencies scramble for funds.

The City of Austin Combined Chari-ties Campaign (CoACCC) is one way that each of us can help lessen the impact to the charities and therefore to the adults, children, animals and other recipients of our dollars. The CoACCC is an annual cam-paign that occurs each October and in-volves every department within the City. Employees are asked to consider making a payroll pledge for as much or as little as they would like for each pay period. The payroll pledges quickly add up to a trea-

sure for the charities. For instance, if a person chooses to give $5 from each pay period for 24 pay periods, it adds up to $120.00. That money could, for example, go to help find a cure for a disease, help a battered woman and her children in a shelter, feed an elderly person, connect seeing-eye dogs to those that need them, purchase livestock for families in other countries so they can continue making a living, or help a child receive the help they need to live a happy, healthy life, etc. What’s great about the campaign is that if you choose to donate, you get to decide who to donate to and how much. It’s all

confidential, and it’s even tax deductible. Every gift makes a difference, no matter how small! If we all gave even a little, it would be a tremen-dous boost for the non-profit agencies!

Most employees think that the CoACCC is about ice cream socials, bake sales and cook-offs. That’s a tremen-dous part of the teambuilding that happens around CoACCC and part of our awareness campaign, but it doesn’t raise nearly as much money as pledges or gifts. The special events are deeply important to the campaign and make this time of year a lot of fun (and pretty fattening too - but luckily, calories don’t count when they’re for charity!). This year in Public Works, we have already had two bake

It’s more than the thought that counts! Public Works employees mobilize to get ready for this year’s fundraising and special events.

Michelle Frith and Annie Van Zant at the COACC 2010 Pumpkin Carving Contest judging booth

sales and an ice cream social and are plan-ning, among other things: a Multi-Media sale (CD’s, books, DVD’s, VHS, and more), an ESD Employee Cookoff with live bands and fabulous eats, a S&B Breakfast, a Hal-loween Costume Contest and Pumpkin Carving Contest, and a recipe book for sale to all City employees.

All of the money donated through the fundraisers is raised for the campaign, and is divided evenly amongst all of the charities in the campaign. While the funds raised are helpful, the purpose of the spe-cial events is to gain enthusiasm for giv-ing, and for educating all of us about how each of us as individuals make a difference to each other. Each one of us has been di-rectly or indirectly touched by at least one of the agencies, if not multiple agencies, and you are encouraged to educate your-self about what these organizations do. Contact your department coordinator for more information, or to schedule a speak-

Pfluger Bridge Extension


2011 COACC Ice Cream SocialNadia Barrera gears up to pie James Snow for COACC 2010

er at one of your upcoming meetings.The campaign officially kicks off on

October 3, 2011 and runs through Octo-ber 31. We are hoping to raise more than the $32,000 that was raised last year, but can only meet this goal with your help! Keep your eye out for emails about how to make an online pledge and call your

department coordinator or a team leader to get help with logging in or with under-standing the form. For those without In-ternet access, the team will distribute hard copy pledge forms and brochures detail-

DEPARTMENT COORDINATORS:

Annie Van Zant 974-2825 Michelle Frith 974-2436 Rebecca Zapata 974-7231

ing information about the individual char-ities involved. Again, please call a depart-ment coordinator or team leader should you need any assistance with finding or filling out a form. It should be stressed that your choice of making a donation or not and any donation made is kept com-pletely confidential and is shared only with the fiscal agent, Earth Share and the payroll department. Your co-workers, su-pervisor, and upper management do not have access to specific information, only how many gifts were given and the grand total.

Finally, we need volunteers to help us lead the charge; to help with events, collect pledges, help with forms, schedule speakers, and more. Please contact one of your Department Coordinators to ask how you can volunteer. And remember, fill out a form if you can and participate in the events. It’s a great time – and its tax deductible!

BY SARA KRAUSE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

divisions

22 STREET TALK MAY 2011

hat is 486 square miles, but also 1666 linear miles, is high, medi-

um and low comfort, but still comfortably fits in your pocket?

Well, if the title of the article hasn’t given it away yet, here’s one more clue: it just underwent a major revision making it even easier to find the perfect route for your trip.

Although there’s no prize for answer-ing the riddle correctly, you can still earn one by stopping by the Neighborhood Connectivity Division and getting your very own 2011 Bicycle Map. And, if you haven’t ventured out into the bicycle net-work lately, then you’re in for a treat.

The revision of the map reflects the improvements and changing nature of the bicycle network. The program has deployed a number of innovative facili-ties to make a user-friendly network that services greater numbers of Austin’s resi-dents and visitors each day. Buffered and contra-flow bike lanes, urban trails, and other fully separated bike facilities are just a few of the new features that are making bicycling an easy choice for transporta-tion and recreation.

A bicycle network is not just about paint and concrete: it’s a system that re-quires promotion and encouragement so people are comfortable with its use. The bike map, a seemingly simple tool, is a huge asset to this network. “When riders have an easy-to-use tool to plan their route ahead of time, then their trip is made much easier and more enjoyable. We worked hard to make it so that people know what to expect during their travels.” says Program Consultant, Annick Beaudet.

W

Putting its Signature on Austin

New, Improved, and Innovative: The Bicycle Program Keeps Austin Rolling

To achieve that purpose, this edition of the map designates high, medium and low comfort routes and identifies steeper streets along those routes. The City is also publishing a Spanish edition of the map this year.

The map is a key asset to the pro-gram, but there is even more continued progress and successes in the bike pro-gram. With the addition of solutions like contra-flow and buffered bike lanes, bike boxes, colored bike lanes, and fully sepa-rated pathways, Austin’s bicycle network is becoming an increasingly popular ame-nity. And with two more signature facili-ties under construction, the Downtown Bicycle Boulevard and the Lake Austin bike lanes, the network promises to be-come even better.

Expected to be completed this spring, the Downtown Bicycle Boulevard will contain several innovative features such as large roundabouts with rain gar-dens. It is designed to be friendly to bi-cycles and pedestrians, while still allowing for car traffic. The Lake Austin Boulevard bike lane project has bike lanes installed on both sides of the street: on the north side, there will be a separated 7’ wide path, and a 5’ wide monolithic bike lane will be installed on the south side.

All Roads Lead to Somewhere

With the increasing number of people traveling by bicycle comes an in-creased demand for bicycle parking. Re-

cently, the bicycle program received a request from a local business that sees large numbers of cyclists come through its doors. The business built support for a type of bicycle parking called a “bike corral” which accommodates 14 bicycles in one regular sized parking space. The City installed the parking in June, and has since received five more requests for the high-volume parking solution.

The City’s bicycle rack program has seen an increase in the number of re-quests for general bicycle racks this year. Jessie Duncan, who started installing the racks at the end of June, has already in-stalled 46 racks. Add to that a recent green light from Capital Metro to install racks at its bus stops, and the Bicycle Program is sure to keep him sweating all summer long.

Street maintenance in Austin means new bicycle lanes and other bicycle facility improvements as NCD fol-lows our friends in Street and Bridge throughout the summer. This year, we’re making some changes to the following streets:

South Congress: Riverside Drive to Oltorf Street – Bicycle Lanes

Airport Boulevard: IH-35 to Lamar Boulevard – Bicycle Lanes

Anderson Mill Road: US 183 to Wagon Gap – Bicycle Lanes

Samsung: Parmer Lane to Sprinkle Cutoff – Bicycle Lanes

51st Street: Berkman to Springdale – Shared Lane Markings


Wrap!aThat’s

PWD has accomplished many things in FY2011

and the Street Talk team set out to interview

the executives about their thoughts on how it

went… and what their vision is for FY2012.

How would you describe your experience as a direc-tor of Public Works in Austin?

If your vision for Public Works in 2012 were real-ized, what would that look

like? Do you think that your vision is something within our reach?

HowardLazarus

t’s almost like you want to say “Happy New Year!” around here each October

1st. We all get that feeling of starting over again, we get our new budgets flowing, plan new goals for this fiscal year, and generally just turn over a new leaf. So wrapping up the Fiscal Year 2010-11, what do our executives feel we have accom-plished? What do they see as our “New Years Resolutions?”

The Street Talk team sat down with each of the Assistant Directors and the Director to ask a few of those exact ques-tions, plus a few more. Read on to see how they feel looking into the rear view mir-ror of FY 2011, and what they see coming down the road of FY 2012.

I

features

DIRECTOR

AM:

INTERVIEWED BY ALEXA MURAIDA

Are there any specific depart-mental achievements you feel have moved us into being a model city this year?

The department does tremendous work and does tremendous things in terms of projects and mainte-

nance work everyday. This year we’ve worked on systems, hiring, and getting the resources in place that will help us be more effective and create a better qual-ity of workplace. I find pride in the little things, like helping solve problems within neighborhoods - sometimes more plea-sure comes from those type of smaller-scale projects. The percent of Austinites who are happy with the condition of neighborhood streets far exceeds the na-tional average of other cities and we are way off the charts in terms of satisfaction. Big projects are important and are a chal-lenge, but what makes municipal service meaningful is the feedback you get from individual citizens in terms of how we

HL:

AM:

To address the quality of the workplace, we need to be en-gaged and think non-tradition-

ally in terms of what our goal is and how it fits into service delivery. I’d like to start looking at how all of those things; person-nel, equipment, vehicles, office space, and processes all help define how we’re going to do work in the next 10 years, and maybe have a broader vision. In terms of moving us to the best managed organization, it requires a broader perspective on things. The workforce has a role in our future as well; having a positive outlook on your work environment really sets the tone for what we can offer the City of Austin and how great our work will be.

HL:

AM:What do you believe are the most important challenges facing PWD today?

Growth and demand will always be a challenge for us, as will succession planning and staff

turnover. We’ve been fortunate in recruit-ing really well. I think we have to retain a good staff, give them the tools they need, provide a good challenging work setting, and show career progression so that staff continues to feel like they have ownership in what we do and that there is a path for-ward for them as they seek a career with the City. I want to focus on creating a healthy and dynamic workplace so people don’t just come to work, but they come to work and they feel that their ideas can be expressed and they’ll be acted on.

HL:

AM:

If you’re going to work for the government, the best level in my mind to work for the gov-

ernment is at the local level. This is be-cause the feedback is immediate, there is less energy lost in bureaucracy, and the relationship to getting results is much more direct than if you work at the state or federal level. What I have enjoyed about working as a director for PWD is the abil-ity to create a positive work environment. There certainly are many technical chal-lenges, which is fun. I enjoy that part of municipal work, and what we do; not only what impacts everybody on a day to day basis but also all of the cool things going on.

HL:

make city government work the way you would want it to work for you - building trust and building a neighborhood one block at a time.

What do you enjoy most about Austin?AM:Austin has a unique culture and is widely recognized as having an exceptional quality of life. We’re the custodians of

that, and if we do our job well, things we do will ensure that we have access to a great quality of life. I think what is unique to Austin, or should be, is that there are things that contribute to a high quality of life that don’t cost a lot of money. You can always count on the hike and bike trail, the library system, the parks and recreation system, and much more, to lead you to a highly connected community. As Austin grows, we need to preserve those things that make it different so that it doesn’t be-come just like every other place, and it’s a real challenge for us.

HL:

24 STREET TALK MAY 2011


KeriJuarez

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

MF:

INTERVIEWED BY MICHELLE FRITH

Are there any specific depart-mental achievements you feel have moved us into being a model city this year?

The development of the Quality Standards and Management Divi-sion is the most significant devel-

opment in Public Works’ Capital Project Delivery group. The formation of this group allows Public Works to tackle some big issues we’ve faced for a long time, such as updating of our standards and specifications. The QSMD staff has been with the City long enough to know what needs to be done and they will be mak-ing a huge difference by solving prob-lems and collaborating in and outside of our department. Their mission will be to pull the right people in, do focused work, and build cross functional relationships. By reaching these goals, QSMD will help allow Public Works to be a leader in tack-ling problems and will help facilitate solv-ing problems with sponsor departments. They will be silo-busters! QSMD was formed by taking components out of PMD and ESD that were not part of their core mission. My vision is for PMD to focus only on Capital Project Delivery and for ESD to focus primarily on design with no distrac-tions.

2011 also included some really im-pressive milestones in our projects like the Central Library. Cindy Jordan was able to clear a path with many obstacles for the progression of this project. The Waller Creek Drainage Tunnel is also a major proj-ect that Public Works has begun, as is Wa-ter Treatment Plant 4. This team has done an impressive job and is producing high-quality work. And that is just to mention a couple of examples, many more great projects have been delivered this year as well.

KJ:



MF:

My vision for 2012 is simply to continue on the path of im-provement in our work. Al-

though I’m definitely proud of the work already being done, I hope that all staff will be willing to challenge themselves with greater performance standards. QSMD will work on defining PWD costs that should be recouped for some things we’re not currently being paid to do. My greatest hope for the coming year is for Capital Project Delivery staff to have work that they are interested in and passionate about and projects that give them satis-faction.

KJ:

What makes Austin stand apart from other cities?MF:We’ve built higher credibil-ity over the last few years and our name is starting to really

mean something. Quality, responsiveness and customer service are the basis of our work. When our City Manager thinks of us as ‘world class’ and gives us tough as-signments, it’s a sign that he trusts us to do a quality job. We need to continue to step up to the plate for the City Manager, Council and the public. Gaining trust with the public is the biggest challenge and our top goal. They need to feel heard and should be able to trust us. The City is at a very interesting point right now. The Ur-ban Rail issue can be a defining mark for Austin and can make a big impact on how we grow and the kind of city we are. It will be interesting to watch the public make a decision.

KJ:

Can we sustain and main-tain the positive attributes about Austin that make it

unique?

MF:

Austin has a deep and enduring character full of creative and passionate people and I feel it

will endure always.

KJ:

How would you describe your experience as an As-sistant Director of PWD

here in Austin?

MF:

I love my job and I feel that it is incredibly important for me to help the people who work

KJ:

for me to be successful, to feel supported, and for me to clear the path for them so they can shine and be passionate about their jobs. I hope we all continue improv-ing on the things that are important and continue ridding ourselves of the extra-neous. I want to be a filter for ideas that aren’t in the best interest of the citizens of Austin and consider myself an ambassa-dor for Capital Project Delivery.

What is the most difficult part about your job?MF:The hardest part for me is to balance the needs of PMD with the demands of City Hall. I am

emphatic about being the representative at City Hall to communicate the Capital Project Delivery. There are often prob-lems delivering the initiative because the CPD wasn’t considered in the past. By rep-resenting the CPD, I help to prevent mis-steps in planning. Over time, I have seen an increase in “aha!” moments of under-standing the process.

KJ:

What will the impact be of the number of PMD em-ployees retiring in the next

few years?

MF:

There will be a deep loss of in-stitutional knowledge. We sus-tain productivity by bringing in

the right people with the right experience. The current economy creates a great hir-ing situation and by encouraging informal one-on-one mentoring relationships, we can succeed. To be even more successful, we can document a formalized lessons-learned process through QSMD, which should be rolled out to all the divisions. It’s all about making connections, forging relationships between the right people, and having regular meetings.

KJ:

How would you describe your experience as an Assistant Di-rector of PWD here in Austin?


features continued from pg. 25

RobertHinojosa

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

SBH:

INTERVIEWED BY SARA HARTLEY

What do you believe are the most important challenges fac-ing PWD Operations today?

Well, obviously right now for our crews, it is the very adverse condi-tions they are working in out there!

But, another challenge is the additional responsibilities we have taken on in the maintenance of the right of way. We want to be more efficient in the way we do that, and some of that will come from the Com-puter Maintenance Management System we are working on right now. Budgetary requirements are another challenge, and the volatility of oil which impacts that, but even with all of those challenges, we have come out pretty well this year. We are as efficient as we can be with what we have, and our Division Managers are doing a good job with those resources. That is the key: everybody is making the best with what we have, and making sure that the public gets served well.

RH:

What do you enjoy about the city you live in?SBH

I have been in Austin for 32 years, so I have seen major changes, but what I love about

Austin is how “weird” it is from top to bot-tom! It’s the people, the culture, and the environment made by people who have this great vision about what a city should be. Starting from when I first got here, with Armadillo Headquarters and the hip-pie culture back in the 70’s; that weirdness has just progressed, it hasn’t gone away. It has morphed, but we are still ‘weird’.

RH:

SBH:

The most impressive part of this new team is their willingness to work together to solve any of the

problems that we have. All of them have complimentary strengths, and work well as a team. I do encourage passionate dis-cussion and they have the ability to step back and compromise, to work it out. They interact very well, and they are each passionate about what they do, but they listen to each other and compromise. This is unique and we are very fortunate to have Division Managers like that. It really makes me proud to see them working that way. It has been very rewarding to see the

RH:

evolution of the last two years and see how a vision that Howard and I had has come together and how it

can work. We are by no means perfect, but we are constantly striving to improve.

Are there any specific de-partmental achievements you feel have moved us into

being a model city this year?

SBH

A big accomplishment with SBO is in the completion of our Business Process Analysis. This

studied every single function in Street and Bridge. We have worked on several hundred processes along the way; how they are now, and what we want them to be. We brought in managers, supervisors, and crew leaders - we wanted all levels of our organization to take part. The Division Managers even take part across division lines so they can see what is happening in the other areas and have a better under-standing… I run them ragged!

RH:

What are some of the more exciting ways you think we have changed in our

Department in FY2011?

SBH

We reviewed our on-call system, and we are about to completely change that process. The Audi-

tor felt it was not a good system, since only a small committee of employees would set up who was on-call and when. There really was very little oversight. Given all that, we faced a big challenge in getting it to be more inclusive, so we took it from being a volunteer program to a manda-tory on-call system. The Division Manag-ers schedule the staff, supervisors have primary responsibility in taking turns, crew leads, seniors and operator leads will

RH:

If your vision for Public Works in 2012 were realized, what would that look like?

SBH

I want to see us successfully procure and implement the Computer Maintenance Man-

agement System. We can then capture all of the data in one place, and do all of the analysis that we need, including allowing us to have the justifications for additional personnel where it’s needed. This helps us answer the question: How efficient are we? Purchasing and implementation is a big hurdle, and then how we make it happen in the field, which requires a lot of cultural changes. This vision is in our reach with a solid combination of train-ing, patience, and persistence. It has to go all the way into the organization from implementation down to putting the ex-pectations into SSPRs. I believe once our employees see the data we get from this, so many things can be done with it to cre-ate efficiencies.

RH:

also be the people who are called in. Now that the guidelines are set, this is a 24/7 coverage on-call process. It will begin on September 16 and be evaluated for 6 months to see if any adjustments need to be made. We had about 18 meetings, and included as many people as we could to make sure we had good input. Not every-one agreed, but the approach was based on good recommendations.

Anything else you would add?SBH

I am so proud of Street and Bridge for going through the Cultural Assessment this

past year. It was with their coopera-tion, patience and acceptance that we got through it. Now they are embracing the changes it brought; and it was a big change!

RH:


JamesSnow

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

INTERVIEWED BY SHANNON WISNER

SW:Are there any specific depart-mental achievements you feel have moved us into being a model city this year?

One of the things I think a lot of people recognize is electronic time-keeping, which has helped us take

a big step forward as far as moving from paper to electronic, improving the system, and making things easier for people to be able to record and submit their time. Another thing we worked on this year is the coordination meeting. This involves coordination in the right of way and help-ing to link capital planning and operations together; not just in the Department, but reaching out to Austin Water, Watershed, PDR, and actually now, TXGas, in a way that we can better coordinate work and save the taxpayers a lot of money. An-other initiative that I’m proud of is Citizen View, which has been a coordinated effort between the Communications group and our group as far as actually being able to provide the citizens with a way to look in and see some of the work that we’re doing and where it’s at. Also, we’re working on getting laptops to Construction Inspec-tion so that they can work more efficiently on-site. As a whole, the group has done really well and we’ve got a lot going on in the future.

JS:



SW:

We have some key things we’re looking at and I think that one of the main things we’ll be

working on within the next year or two

JS:

What do you believe are the most important challenges facing PWD today?

SW:

I think that over the two and a half years I’ve been here, we’ve built a great foundation. But, I

think the challenge still, as with any orga-nization, is going to be vertical communi-cation. I think another challenge is that as we grow, safety is going to be a key issue for us as a department. I also think profes-sional development in our employees is great. We have a lot of tenured employees here and many will have the opportunity to retire in the next few years if they want to, and we need to map out a strategy that will retain all the great knowledge that we have. As far as the City as a whole, a big challenge will be rolling out new software programs. They’re also going to field Win-dows 7, which is a whole new thing. It’s something the City probably hasn’t done for 8-9 years, and may be a challenge to make sure that business remains as usual.

JS:

How would you describe your experience as an As-sistant Director of PWD

here in Austin?

SW:

Well, it’s a lot of fun. I mean, I truly believe if you’re not having fun everyday, you’re not in the

right place. Obviously, I’m not going to have a good day everyday I walk through the door, but I enjoy where I am. I’ve been in the military, I’ve been in the private sec-tor, and I will say this: my experience in the private sector compared to the job I’m do-ing here and the individuals I get to work with here, is that we have just as much tal-ent (if not more) than those in the private sector. That’s something that excites me - finding individual’s skills and where their

JS:

What do you most enjoy about the city you live in?SW:I like that there are many flavors here. It’s a very open, family-friendly, and accepting commu-

nity and there’s a lot to do for everyone. Whether you like the arts, being outdoors, sports, or just family time, it’s great! You’re also not too far from other places in the Hill Country so you can do different things outside Austin. But really, it’s just the way of life here that I enjoy the most… it’s wel-coming.

JS:

is information management strategy. This deals with how we manage the data and documents underneath us and how we share information, which will touch the whole Department in multiple ways. We’re also going to do some incredible things with SharePoint next year to help us do that. EDIMS, another one of those darn acronyms, is the new electronic doc-ument management system that we’re going to try to roll out in the second half of next year. All of this falls under informa-tion management, which is one of the key tenets that the director and city manage-ment believes in as far as transparency of our government to the citizens.

leverage is and helping to empower them. Since I’ve been here, I’ve taken pride that we’ve had many individuals that when you shine a light on them, the light shines so bright that they start taking over the stage! It’s exciting – I like the environ-ment, I like the team that we’re building. I don’t necessarily think that we’re done yet, but I definitely like where we’re going.

If you could take a trip to anywhere in the world, where would you go?

SW:

Probably Fiji. I’ve lived in Eu-rope and I’ve visited the Orient, but someplace in the Pacific

southwest, or somewhere like New Zea-land or Australia would be fun.

JS:

Do you have anything else to add?SW:I guess I would end with the fact that we’ve done a lot of great things in FY11, and a lot of these things will set the

stage for FY12 and set a launch pad for us to move forward.

JS:


columns

How Well Do You KnowYour Neighbor?Michelle Frith profiles two employees that work hard for PWD everyday who you may have never met!

it Johnson is our new City Archi-tect, eager to absorb all he can

about being on the Public Works team. Learning about Public Works and City gov-ernment is like drinking water from a fire hose – there is a lot of fascinating informa-tion to take in all at once! Kit’s job is to be a liaison to other City groups and to the public--keeping the communication lines open, while ensuring Public Works is on the right track for our customers.

Kit readily admits to being an extreme extrovert. His eyes twinkle, and he laughs as he says, “Everyone is so unique and

each brings s o m e t h i n g different to the table--skills, knowl-edge or ex-p e r i e n c e s that I don’t have. I see other people doing jobs I couldn’t pos-sibly do, and

I get really jazzed about the differences in people and their experiences and skill-sets.”

Growing up in Richardson, Texas didn’t give him the opportunity to meet people that were from different cultures and backgrounds. When he came to Aus-tin, he was fascinated at the diversity of personalities, experiences, religions, eco-nomic strata and cultures. He attended UT and earned a Bachelor of Architecture in 1991. His career path took him to Dal-las and then to San Francisco and then back to Texas where he and his wife Debra

K

NEIGHBOR Kit Johnson

DIVISION Quality & Standards Management

TITLECity Architect

formed their own firm. Kit couldn’t resist the call to Austin and moved here to help form a new architectural firm and then re-branded his own family business before coming to Public Works in June, 2011.

Kit muses, “Austin is on the thresh-old of real greatness. Of course, Austin’s been on numerous ‘top ten’ lists for all kinds of things. But, I believe now is the time to put our money where our mouth is.” With projects like Airport Boulevard’s Form Based Code, the East Riverside Cor-ridor’s Regulating Plan, and the construc-tion of “Complete Streets” and “Green Streets,” Austin can be a real leader in bringing sustainability and urbanism to-gether. Not only can Austin show we can be environmentally responsible while embracing urban density, but our city can be an example that the two actually can and should work together. For ex-ample, “Clean Streets” makes the streets pedestrian and bike-friendly and helps us to get out of our cars and see people on the street – an old-world idea made new. This is really what Street and Bridge Op-erations and Neighborhood Connectiv-ity is all about – alternate transportation, sociability and decreasing our impact on the environment. Our tendency is to move from air-conditioned buildings, to air-conditioned cars, to our garages, and into our air-conditioned homes—all the while never connecting with our neigh-bors. Austin can excel at changing the way we get around, and in doing so, help connect us with each other in a way that is healthy for our bodies and healthy for our environment. “

He wants to look back someday and say, “I was a part of that—making our

great city even better—making our great city a leader and an example for others to follow.”

Debra and Kit have been married for 19 years, and Kit describes his spouse as a very patient person. “You have to ap-ply heat to refine something. Learning to live together and appreciate each other’s differences, has applied a lot of heat to us both and as a result, I’m a much better man than I would have been without her.” They have two sons: Jude, a very mature 9 year-old with an excellent sense of justice and compassion and Ezra, 5, the comedi-an—always extroverted and affectionate.

Kit ends by saying, “This city inspires me. I feel like I’m a part of something huge, and it is an honor. I want a bumper sticker that says, “Austinite by the grace of God.” Not a bad idea…that bumper stick-er would likely be a big hit in our town.

BY MICHELLE FRITH CHIEF REPORTER

KitJohnson


he recent ribbon cutting of the East 7th Street project is a culmina-

tion of years of planning and 16 months of construction. There were many obstacles and up to the challenge was Clay Harris, Project Manager. It takes someone with commitment and a big heart to listen to the needs of the community, accept their concerns and still work toward solutions. Clay has those qualities and more.

Clay hails from Newton Falls, Ohio, a small farm town of about 5,000 people where he says the teens have opportuni-ties to get into lots of mischief. Clay knew he wasn’t ready to go to college out of high school, so he joined the Army in 1988 and was sent to Fort Hood. He served 9 months in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, was assigned to heavy artillery, and re-turned to the U.S. to complete his service.

After serving our country, Clay re-turned to Columbus, Ohio and went to

school for Civil E n g i n e e r i n g and Construc-tion Manage-ment, gradu-ating from Franklin Univer-sity. During col-lege he worked five years as a construction in-spector. Gradu-ating in 2000,

he went to work for various contracting companies doing transportation and mu-nicipal projects in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, honing his skills in construc-tion management.

Clay and his family moved to Austin in June 2007 to be closer to his oldest son, Christian. He began his career in Pub-lic Works as a Project Coordinator under mentors Dennis Crabill and Rick Colbrunn. Clay says that he has learned much from Dennis and Rick. Besides the incredible technical expertise, the best lessons from them are to not take things personally when the public or the media is being crit-ical – it’s just business and we can’t make everyone happy. Paying it forward is im-

portant, Clay says, and he hopes to be a great mentor to new employees in the fu-ture.

He’s a real “peo-ple person” and says that people at his church tell him he has “the heart of a servant”. “I like work-ing with people the best, meeting new people, talking with them and delving into creative prob-lem solving. I like to help where I can. By definition, public ser-vants care and want to solve the problems of the citizens of Aus-tin. Each of us plays their part in the solu-tions to Austin’s chal-lenges.”

Clay’s family, his faith and helping others are his inspi-rations. As a young boy, he delivered papers while a little girl that he took little notice of watched from a distance. Many years later, Clay returned to Newton Falls to attend a friend’s wedding and finally noticed the little girl now grown up – Charity. Charity and Clay were married in 2001 and are now the parents of Christian, Cody and Carter. Charity is the Director of Nuclear Medicine at Live Oak Cardiology. Christian (16) is a junior in high school, works at McDonalds and enjoys perform-ing arts and computers. Cody (9) is a We-belo in Cub Scouts and enjoys karate and piano. Carter (6) is thrilled to enter Cub Scouts and loves soccer. Their family goes on frequent campouts together and has been to Pedernales Falls, Llano, Enchant-ed Rock, Piney Woods, NASA and to Sea World, where they “slept with the sharks”. They love Austin for the family-friendly at-

mosphere and the ability to hear live mu-sic and go dancing. They live in Dripping Springs and especially like Nutty Brown Café and the Backyard, and are looking forward to seeing the new Austin City Limits theatre.

Clay’s favorite project thus far has been East 7th Street, unique in the land-scaping, engineering and design commu-nity, and one of the Great Streets. Clay en-courages anyone interested in becoming a project manager to get the Project Man-agement Professional (PMP) certification and to apply for tuition reimbursement through the City. He also encourages per-sonnel to take the Project Academy class-es, which he considers excellent training and a great refresher.

NEIGHBOR Clay Harris

DIVISION Project Management

TITLEProject Manager

T

ClayHarris


divisions

Learning Best Practices in SustainabilityPortland, Oregon offers lessons at the American Public Works Association’s Sustainability Conference.

BY KALPANA SUTARIA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

efore reaching the city of Port-land, I didn’t know what to expect

since this was the first time I was attend-ing APWA’s sustainability conference. It turned out to be a wonderful experience. I came to learn best practices in sustain-ability and what efforts Portland, a city much like Austin, is making.

Portland has a special challenge. Its storm and sanitary sewers are combined, causing a problem with controlling the volume as the city grows. The city entered an amended stipulation with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in August of 1994, requiring the city to con-trol the 55 combined sewer overflows by 2011. The city is aggressively pursuing incorporation of green infrastructure proj-ects to solve this problem and to meet the requirements of the storm water manage-ment criteria.

The best part of the conference was

B a sold out bus tour of Portland’s green in-frastructure projects prior to the official start of the conference. We were joined by Bill Owen, Senior Engineer, in Port-land’s Bureau of Environmental Services and David Elkin, a landscape architect with GreenWorks PC.

These projects created a very inter-esting street configuration allowing park-ing and green infrastructure by reduc-ing street widths. This turned out to be a “win-win” solution for the city and the homeowners. The city spent a lot of time and effort encouraging citizens to sup-port these projects prior to installation, as they couldn’t have succeeded without their input and participation.

Portland is a paradise for bicyclists and pedestrians. The downtown area has many bike routes with safety features like “bike boxes” at certain locations. It was easy to see many bike commuters on the

“The Headwaters at Tryon Creek” which served as a demonstration in sustain-able stormwater management, green development practices, wildlife habitat res-toration, rain gardens, and water conservation. The site includes LEED Silver rated senior housing, town homes and apartments. The highlight of the site was the daylighting of the tributary stream of Tryon Creek.

Three residential sites where the city and the homeowners signed an agreement to maintain the green infrastructure projects constructed in front of the homes.

“River East Center” which uses a formerly abandoned warehouse on an under-utilized piece of real estate near the Willamette River. The renovated building is a LEED gold facility with innovative on-site stormwater management. The developer worked with the city to obtain a revocable permit to turn an unused city street into a public plaza that connected surrounding neighborhoods with the river.

THE SITE VISITS INCLUDED THE FOLLOWING PROJECTS:

123

Hawthorne Bridge over the Willamette River. The light rail throughout downtown is everywhere and is very much a part of the downtown aesthetic. I was able to take this rail starting from the airport to downtown and travel within the city.

Cindy Jordan, Public Works Project Manager, had asked me to visit the “Festi-val Streets” in Chinatown. The city worked with the Chinatown community to create a festive street by removing curbs and installing short granite bollards (vertical posts) and entrance artwork. The Central Library team that Cindy is managing is considering a similar design on 2nd Street in front of the library.

I met many consultants, manag-ers, developers, government employees, manufacturers and suppliers who pre-sented their best practices in sustainable design and construction of streets, high-ways, buildings and waste management.

The conference also had a special appearance by Congressman Earl Blume-nauuer (OR-3). He served as a vice chair on a select committee on Energy Inde-pendence and Global Warming in 2007-2008. He has supported transportation and infrastructure projects in Oregon and said at the conference, “we are trying to make it (Portland) the best European city in the US”. With so much support from elected officials, talented individuals in the public and private sectors, and citizen support, Portland is often at the top of the list of most sustainable cities in the US.

2011SEPTEMBER STREET TALK 31

street talk extraUPDATES FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

WHO’STHAT?

PEGGY HOWARD

GUADALUPE (LUPE)GOMEZ JR.

KENNETH KIRK

Peggy is a returning City employee. She is a native of Texas and a long-time Austin resident. Peggy has a strong background in GIS, civil engineering, and sur-veying. She also has 10 years of

experience in state, county, and municipal govern-ment. She is a mother of two who enjoys spending time with her family outdoors.

Lupe is from San Anto-nio, TX. He served in the United States Army from 1986 to 1991. He brings eighteen years of con-struction experience and is a proud father of four children and

grandfather of nine grandchildren.

Kenneth is assigned to Pat Webre’s group and will be working at the St. Elmo Field Of-fice. Ken has extensive street construction experience in the Austin area and with the State of Texas since 1980. In addition to

his work with the City and State, he has also worked as a contractor.

GAILHAMRICK-PIGG, P.E.

Gail, has been selected as the Division Manager for the Engineering Services Division. Gail brings to the position 25 years of engineering experience in both the public and private sectors and a proven record of

excellence. Gail’s previous City of Austin experience includes work with the Austin Water Utility Systems Planning, Facilities Engineering and Line Mainte-nance Divisions. Gail also served as the Division Manager of the Pipeline Rehabilitation and Techni-cal Services Division. Gail’s private sector experience includes design and management of various water and wastewater infrastructure and environmental projects, including Austin Clean Water and Annexa-tion Program projects.

CIPID:

CIPID:

CIPID:

ESD: NEW DIVISION MANAGER

I’ve appreciated the City’s many efforts to make this project proceed as smoothly as possible for the neighborhood. Being kept informed by emails has really helped. I’ve already encountered one of the “ambassadors” on the street and thought the handouts that he provided were very helpful. Last but not least, crossing South Congress on foot feels exponentially safer now; I especially like the new crosswalk lights at South Congress and Leland--a huge improvement!

Please convey my thanks and appreciation to everyone involved.

Thanks, Dottie

fEEdBACK:

South Congress AvenueProject gets Kudos from the Community

I drove on the southern end on South Congress (south of Mary, north of Oltorf ) and the milling really makes the road amaz-ing! Just wanted to let you know that I ap-preciate your work.

Feel free to share with the crew,

Jody

“

“

”

”I just wanted to give y’all a thumbs up

on the redo of South Congress! It was done very quickly, with good notification and the crew was most helpful and courteous under very hot, trying circumstances! A sincere thank you from adjacent neigh-bors,

Gary

“

”shoutout

SHOUT OUT TO PROJECT MANAGER MARK SCHRUBEN for keeping the neigh-borhood and stakeholders in the loop and making the project run smoothly and efficiently!

LEFT: The markings crew setting up to put in the back-in-angle parking striping. They did it all from 10pm to 7am on the nights of July 5th and 6th. The sign crews worked through the two days after that and got it done well ahead of schedule so it was completed before First Thursday.

MIDDLE: The paving crew laying asphalt in front of the South Congress Baptist Church. They did this on Sunday June 26th and everybody was still able to get to church on time.

RIGHT: South Congress to date: resurfaced, restriped, and ready to go!

Even with many unforeseen utility delays at the start of the project, they still got the job done in less than half of the scheduled time. The paving crews, Signs and Markings Division, Street & Bridge concrete crews, Neighborhood Connectivity, and everybody else that helped hit the ball out of the park!

milestones

milestones continued from pg. 31

awards &recognition

‘PAT ON THE BACK’ AWARD

CIP Inspection Division

Nannett Holweger and Claudette Rhea received the “Pat on the Back” award for covering for a key CIP Inspection Division OTC staff member who is on extended leave by picking up ad-ditional duties. Thanks to these two ladies for their teamwork!

NANNETTHOLWEGER

CLAUDETTERHEA&

‘ABOVE AND BEYOND ’ AWARDRICKGLOSSON

Inspector Rick Glosson received the CIP Inspec-tion Division’s “Above and Beyond” award for the way he handled a difficult on-the-job situation. He received very positive comments from both his project manager and from a citizen who was very impressed by his professionalism in the way the matter was handled.

Project Management DivisionS.T.A.R.awardsSERVICE AWARDCRAIG RUSSELL

for his efforts in resolving claims issues on the Avery Ranch Fire Station Proj-ect.

TEAMWORK AWARD

RANDY HARVEY

for using his extensive program knowl-edge and effective communication skills. He has provided outstanding training sup-port to the Project Management Academy.

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

IMANE MRINI

for her quick and effective response to project challenges on the Braker Lane and 183 TSM Project involving expired tempo-rary real estate easements.2n

d Q

uart

er 2

011

TEAMWORK AWARD

CHRISCALVERY

for the Teamwork she exhibited in sup-porting her Inspector to resolve a con-flict with the Contractor.

RESPECT AWARD

ALISON VON STEIN

for her commitment to providing excel-lent Customer Service to both internal and external customers.

3rd

Qua

rter

201

1


promotions

Has accepted the position of Street and Bridge Maintenance Su-pervisor. Bardo

brings a plethora of experience and skills to the position. He will be an excellent asset to the management team of Street and Bridge Opera-tions. Bardo will be assigned to the Central District (3511 Manor Road) and report to Lawrence Alvarez.

BARDOMENDOZA

Has been promoted to the position of Project Manage-ment Supervi-sor. YueJiao is a

registered Professional Engineer (PE) and Project Management Professional (PMP). She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at Zhejiang University in China and her Master’s de-gree from the University of Cincinnati. YueJiao has more than 15 years of civil engineering and project management experience in the City of Austin, the Midwest, and China.

YUEJIAOLIU

Milestones

‘ABOVE AND BEYOND ’ AWARDJOHNBOWMAN

Congratulations to Inspector John Bow-man for passing the Certified Erosion, Sed-iment and Storm Water Inspector (CESSWI) certification exam!

Project Management DivisionRESPECT AWARD

BRENDA BAKER

For her significant efforts on the South IH-35 segment 9 Project in successfully co-ordinating easement acquisition and con-struction phase services.

treet and Bridge Operations has sadly lost one of its own. J.B. South-

er, who had been in public service with the Street and Bridge Division for over 30 years, has passed away. He had returned to Street and Bridge briefly as a temporary employee in the Overlay organization be-fore his retirement on May 31, 2011. He retired to spend more time with his fam-ily - especially his grandsons. One of his proudest accomplishments was being the man in his grandsons’ lives. He took them to Disney World, air-shows and attended their ball games.

J.B. was enthusiastic about life and his retirement. He was an airplane enthu-siast and had many hours of flying expe-rience. He spoke often about taking his wife on an Alaskan Cruise after he retired. J.B. and his wife were on that cruise when he became ill.

J.B. was an expert at operating equipment in the Street and Bridge or-ganization and was always the early-bird reporting to work. He would talk with everyone while preparing for the day and

SJ.B. Souther

was an employee that everyone wanted to have as a part of their crew. After hours, J.B. even talked to his friends about per-forming maintenance on the equipment.

His skill, ethics and friendship will be greatly missed.

(Info contributed by William Hollins)





LOCATION 1 LOCATION 2

IN EVERY ISSUE WHERE IS SHUV-L-REDDY?

Where In The World Is Shuv-L-Reddy?

Can you correctly identify both project site locations that Shuv-L-Reddy has visited? Write in to: [email protected] for a chance to WIN A PRIZE!

Answers from last issue:Location 1: South Congress Avenue (during street resurfacing)

Location 2: Take Your Child to Work Day; One Texas Center


Remember Carmen San Diego? Waldo? Well, Shuv wanted in on some of the action…play our guessing game as he wanders around the city at various PWD-related sites...and beyond!


events calendar 2011

SEPTEMBERMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

01 03

04

05 06 07 08

13 14 15 16

23

02

19 20 21 22

26

Saturday

12

Health & Lifestyle Expo

Pay Day Sunday

09 10

11Sunday

PE Fall Classes Begin

17

18Sunday

Austin Museum Day(Free all-day)

42

52

Sunday

Pecan StreetFestival (free)

FredricksburgOktoberfest

ACL Music Festival

Pecan StreetFestival (free)

Autumn Begins

28 29 30

Labor DayOffices Closed

Free Day of Yoga (studios all over town)

COACCC PWD Mixed Media Sale @ OTC

12:30

Diez y Seis Celebration

Pay Day

ACL Music Festival

Pay Day

27

COACCC Begins (ends Oct.31st)

South Congress Art Dedication

North Austin Recreation Center Groundbreaking

class 1-5 PM LRC

New Employee Safety Orientation

class 8 AM-5 PM OTC-325

Defensive Driving


Defensive Driving

class 1-5 PM LRC



OCTOBERMonday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

03 04 06 07

10 11 13 14

25 26 27

2117 18 19 20

24

Saturday

05

12

First Thursday(free-South Congress)

Pay DayHAMM Benefit Day

01

02Sunday

08

09Sunday

15

16Sunday

PWD COACCC Mini Golf Putt-Putt Bash @

City Hall

22

23Sunday


2928

30 31


MediterraneanFestival

MediterraneanFestival

COACCC Employee Cook-Off

COACCC Employee Cook-Off

Austin Film Festival

Austin Film Festival

Texas Book Festival

Texas Book Festival

COACCC Bike Ride w/ PWD Director@ OTC, 8AM

Pay Day

Halloween

Open Enrollment for 2012 Begins (ends Nov.18)


Defensive Driving

class 1-5 PM LRC



Defensive Driving

class 1-5 PM LRC


class 8:30-9:30 AM OTC-500

Computer Ergonomics


CPR

class 8:30-9:30 AM OTC-325

Safety Meeting(PMD/ESD/NCD)

class 8-9 AM Cheathem Facility

Safety Meeting(S&B)


Safety Meeting(S&B)


Safety Meeting(S&B)

WRITE IN TO US WITH YOUR SUGGESTIONS REGARDING:

Milestones NOMINATIONS

PHOTO CONTRIBUTION

SPECIAL EVENTS GOING ON IN YOUR DIVISION

EMPLOYEE PROFILE NOMINATIONS

WRITING A GUEST COLUMN

...AND ANYTHING ELSE WE MAY HAVE MISSED OR YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT

CONTACT US: [email protected]

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Street Talk | September 2011 Issue

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