Street Talk | November 2012 Issue

STREET TALK F1

SPECIAL

ISSUE

director’s message

BY HOWARD LAZARUS DIRECTOR

Taking a Pit Stop

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he theme for this month’s Street Talk builds upon the activities and events surrounding Austin’s first Formula One race. Consistent with that message, I’d like to take a moment to check in with the pit crew and take a look at an important gauge on our overall performance dashboard – the annual Listening to the Workforce (LTW) survey. The results are in, and I’m pleased to report that they indicate continued improvement in work environment and employee satisfaction.

For the second year in a row, overall participation increased, and is now 52%, up three percentage points from last year. In each of the major categories (City Wide Employee Communication, Employee Relations and Commitment, Departmental & Organizational Ethics, About the Department, Occupational Health and Safety, Pay & Benefits, Employee Recognition, Training/Professional Development, Individual Performance Assessment, Organizational Performance Measures, and City Sustainability Measures), Public Workers expressed a higher degree of satisfaction than the City-wide averages. Our results are also among the highest of any department with a large field staff.

Under City-Wide Employee Communications, 2/3 of PWD believes that we use the LTW results to make improvements in the workplace. The truth is that we do scrutinize the results, and work with the entire supervisory chain to address employee concerns.

Well over 80% of you feel that you are well-informed about workplace events and that PWD communicates PRIDE values and is supportive of making Austin the most-livable and best managed City. I hope that Street Talk remains an important part of our communications strategy, and that we continue to have open and honest two-way conversations.

You scored PWD high in the area of Employee Relations and Commitment, with an overall category score of 75%. You know where to go to get information about policies and procedures, and believe these practices are easy to read and understand. You expressed some concern (60% approval) about the interpretation and usage of these policies, and over the coming year we will continue to work with HRD on explaining how policies

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and procedures are consistently applied both in PWD and City-wide. Perhaps the most rewarding part of the entire LTW survey is that over 90% of you stated that you are proud to work for the City, believe we provide exceptional services, plan on being here next year, and look for ways to improve your workplace.

I applaud your dedication and commitment to the Austin community!

Over the past three years, we have shown remarkable improvement in the area of Departmental & Organizational Ethics.

In the LTW, more than ¾ of you believe we have a strong ethical climate. More than 80% of you believe we insist upon ethical behavior throughout the department, and that we are a diverse workplace. Although more than 2/3 of us believe that we are consistent in how we address disciplinary matters (and this is a dramatic increase from two years ago), we can still improve in this area and we will continue to address it through supervisor and manager training.

Over 90% of you believe we have a safe workplace. The only area that scored below 90% was the response to the statement, “I feel wellprotected from violence at my work site.” Your response to this statement was 83% positive, which was still well ahead of the City-wide average of 72%. Nevertheless, we will look at improved training and the physical work environment to ensure that every Public Worker feels secure and comfortable within our offices and service centers.

Under the heading of Pay & Benefits, 72% of you provided positive results, nine points higher than the City-wide average.

The subareas where you expressed the most concern was the overall feeling that you are not keeping up with your peers and that ex-

ceptional performance should be recognized in higher salary increases. Let’s look at each of these issues. First, the fact is that Public Works employees do fare well compared to their fellow City workers. Externally, the City effectively uses the market study system to ensure City workers are fairly compensated. Second, over the past few years the City has done well compared to other places with regard to the national economy. The focus over the past two years has been to preserve the workforce and provide cost of living increases to protect the value of our compensation. As the economy continues to improve, I think we can all look forward to a return to the pay for performance system and the associated recognition of excellence.

Your responses to the LTW indicate we have room for improvement in the area of Employee Recognition. While the 59% approval rating you gave us is 15 points higher than the City average, more than 40% of you think we can do better – and I agree. This coming year we are launching a new Safety Recognition Program that will reward safe behaviors. We’ll look at both monetary and other ways to recognize our Public Works superheroes. However, remember that recognition also comes in the form of providing challenging work assignments, up-to-date equipment and tools, and a sense of teamwork and camaraderie.

We have made large strides in the category Training and Professional Development. More than 75% of you responded favorably, 10 points higher than the City average, with greater than 80% approval in all subareas except one. The “fly in the ointment” is the subcategory of “Overall Satisfaction with your promotion or career opportunities,” with a 57% positive response. Over the past year, we have implemented a new career development field initiative for our Street & Bridge crews.

We are now working on the associated training program, under which field crew members can advance by demonstrating enhanced skill levels. This approach allows the worker to take control over his or her destiny through self-investment. Our commitment to you is to expand this approach throughout the department, addressing the 10 career tracks within PWD and providing training through a “Public Works University” approach. We will provide additional details in the coming months, but the initial feedback from Street & Bridge is highly favorable.

The bottom line from the LTW is that there is a lot to feel good about in being a Public Worker. Above all else, I hope there is a sense that we are in charge of our destiny, that we are making positive strides, and that your voice matters. If you keep talking, we’ll keep listening.

Keep making great things happen, and let’s get back on the track!

VOLUME 2

ISSUE 6

contents

NOVEMBER 2012

COVER STORY

PWD PUTS THE PEDAL TO THE METAL! Fasten your Seat Belts! Public Workers are joining forces with other City Departments to prepare for Austin’s newest Premier Event – Formula 1!

Cyclists on an escalator in Holland.

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VOLUME 2

contributors

ISSUE 6

NOVEMBER 2012

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief: Chief Reporter:

Sara Hartley

sara.hartley@austintexas.gov

Michelle Frith

michelle.frith@austintexas.gov

Lazarus Contributing Writers: Howard howard.lazarus@austintexas.gov Lek Mateo

lek.mateo@austintexas.gov

Luciano Tamayo

luciano.tamayo@austintexas.gov

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Molly Ritter

molly.ritter@austintexas.gov

Sara Krause

sara.krause@austintexas.gov

Max Eby

max.eby@austintexas.gov

Sharon Warren

sharon.warren@austintexas.gov

Kit Johnson

kit.johnson@austintexas.gov

design Chief Graphic Designer: Alexa Muraida

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alexa.muraida@austintexas.gov

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COVER STORY: PWD PUTS THE PEDAL TO THE METAL! Fasten your Seat Belts! Public Workers are joining forces with other City Departments to prepare for Austin’s newest Premier Event – Formula 1!

GETTING THERE SAFELY The holiday season is upon us, and the safety office would like to take some time to talk about traffic safety during this busy time.

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all around austin Public Workers spent time in September and October 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.

MILESTONES What Public Workers are doing out there to achieve, foster community, impress co-workers and citizens alike, and show we really are the ‘Department with a Heart’!

STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

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A LASTING IMPRESSION Street & Bridge applies new techniques to enhance safety and aesthetics in traffic calming projects.

Director of Photography: Shannon Wisner

shannon.wisner@austintexas.gov

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

the austin formula What you can do to make our international guests feel right at home.

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between a rock and a smelly place ESD provides solutions to two emergency projects.

word on the street Public Works is seeking solutions for Sixth Street and is looking for input.

Check out what we’re doing to get it!

Ncd: Studies Abroad Public Works and City leaders are striving to make Austin’s bicycle network “world class”.

the need for speed... reduction QSMD wants to be PWD’s “pit crew”here’s how!

HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR?

circuit of the americas boosts austin’s economic engine Austin gets the inside line on the excitement!

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austin honors those who serve November is becoming a busy month here in Austin, but the City wants to make sure our military veterans are not overlooked.

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safety zone

BY SHARON WARREN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Getting There Safely Roadway smarts during the busy holiday season.

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or a lot of families, the fall and winter holiday seasons are about traditions. You may be one of those people who always goes out and shoots a turkey for your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast, or you may have a tradition of always driving to grandmother’s house for the holidays. (After all, no matter where the turkey comes from, nobody cooks it like grandmother!) Whatever your tradition, it may involve some traveling. If you do drive, statistics say it will usually be more than 50 miles to wherever you’re going. This distance is enough to expose you to a lot of roadway hazards.

To keep yourself safe, consider the following information about your own habits, and those of other drivers.

A national survey found that driver behaviors are the biggest safety hazard on the road. The research was specially done for “Drive for Life: The National Safe Driving Initiative,” a group of highway safety experts and safety supporters.

Drivers who answered this survey admitted to speeding and considered reported that they regularly do some it okay to routinely exceed the speed careless and dangerous things while they limit by five miles per hour. The National are driving. Results Highway Traffic Safety showed that most Commission says drivdrivers engage in er inattention is a prione or more activities mary or contributing while driving. These factor in many crashactivities include uses. If you will be driving mobile phones, over the holidays, admitted to speeding ing eating and drinking, please remember to and considered it okay drive defensively, alreaching for items, and other activities to routinely exceed low plenty of time to that make drivers less arrive at your destinathe speed limit by five tion, and take extra attentive to the road.

The survey also care in the heavier miles per hour. found that Americans holiday traffic. Finally, believe that cars are don’t be a turkey besafer but drivers are more dangerous hind the wheel: obey the speed limit and than in the past. Furthermore, 71 percent stay focused on driving.

71%

For more information on Drive for Life, visit www.driveforlife.com.

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BY MOLLY RITTER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A Lasting Impression SBO applies new techniques to enhance safety and aesthetics in traffic calming projects.

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he Street and Bridge Operations Concrete and Structures division recently completed the Crestview Traffic Calming Project sponsored by Austin Transportation Department. The Austin Transportation Department is committed to providing the most safe, efficient, cost-effective and sustainable roadway, bikeway, walkway and transit system for our community.

For this project, crews began work on June 11th and completed the project on August 2nd.

Originally forecasted to take between 4 and 6 months, Brad Kirk and his two hard working crews came in under budget and exceptionally under time. SBO staff worked closely with other entities such as Engineering Services, Project Management, Infrastructure Management, and Watershed Protection to identify concerns and resolve construction and design issues.

There were a total of 39 calming devices installed, which include custom medians, asphalt cushions, curb extensions, rain gardens, bike lane delineators, and a traffic circle. The concrete crews poured over 275 yards of concrete within the neighborhood. Street and Bridge crews introduced a variety of new techniques and materials

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not traditionally used by City forces to enhance the aesthetics of the devices. This included using integral colored concrete associated with a “stamp” to emulate a broken joint brick pattern on the devices.

The advantage of using this technique is that this type of concrete is far easier to maintain than the more traditional pavers that are typically specified for this type of project. The concrete provides much more structural integrity than do the pavers.

SBO has not been traditionally known for its landscaping efforts, but has broken new ground on this project with the help of Public Works Operations forester, Chris Meyer, and Project Coordinator, Tyler Steinbarger. With Chris and Tyler’s expertise, SBO was able to install native, drought resistant plants that provide the devices effective visual perception in addition to offering color and aesthetic enhancement in what is usually a “sea” of concrete. Once established, the plants and trees will need little water and minimal maintenance.

The Crestview project is an excellent display of SBO’s Team concept as well as its enthusiastic attitude and willingness to apply new approaches and take on new opportunities.

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BY MAX EBY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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ustinites, start your engines!

Formula 1 is the talk of our town and it’s all over the international media. All eyes are on Austin! For many, the energy, people, and constant media buzz all create an intoxicating rush. Our City already hosts several world-renowned events such as South by Southwest and Austin City Limits. F1 should be just another big Austin party, right?

Austin may just be in for the ultimate agility test in November when the inaugural Formula One race brings in about 300,000 fans from all over the world. Predictions are that we will have 45,000 to 60,000 foreign visitors. Many of those will be European, but fans will come from all over the world. We can expect a good portion from the Americas for this race due to our Texas location.

The sheer amount of traffic and congestion may feel a bit overwhelming to Austin residents but, every citizen and business will benefit from a generous spike in revenue and (hopefully) good press about Austin.

In order to accommodate our international guests, governments and private companies are strategizing to provide customer service, traveler assistance, money exchange, and multilingual literature. Restaurants are gearing up for customers preferring ten o’clock dinners and a choice of regular or mineral water. They’re adapting to patrons who don’t normally tip and are allowed to drink alcohol legally at age 18 in their native countries!

All of these preparations are great steps in the right direction. As a Public Worker or Austinite, you may be asking yourself what you can do to make our visitors feel welcome. Having recently made a trip to France, a country incorrectly rumored to be less than friendly, I have a few ideas. During our day-to-day interactions in France, our hosts demonstrated powerful communication and listening skills. While each person had a different background and level of English comprehension, they all displayed a genuine interest in our trip

Max Eby, Alex Bolton, and Shuv L. Reddy in Paris!

The Austin Formula Making our international guests feel right at home.

and wanted to hear about our favorite or humorous experiences while being tourists abroad. They enjoyed comparing and contrasting the United States and France. Most importantly, they responded with empathy to any frustration, confusion, or culture shock we experienced. The majority went out of the way to assist us, even reaching out to us in languages other than French or English if that made communication easier. After all, we’ve all been to a strange city and needed some help.

We left France feeling like we now had a second home and we’ve shared our positive experiences with everyone who will listen. I believe that Austinites are naturally friendly and helpful, so extending our visitors

just a little bit more of our Texas courtesy, interest, and empathy will certainly send them home wanting to return very soon! Don’t hesitate to use that rusty 2nd language or to stop to help a confused F1 fan. Our visitors may eventually forget what we said to them, but they’ll never forget how we made them feel!

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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.

Austin Corps- city planning boot camp!

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subtracting transportation elements, adding or subtracting open space, etc. This year’s group came up with some great ideas and the ultimate objective of the exercise was met; to increase awareness of their surroundings, connectivity, and compromising with other interested parties – in this case, their classmates.

his year, Shannon Wisner and Susan Garnett from Public Works partnered up with representatives from Planning & Development Review, Transportation, Contract Management, and Real Estate to form an exciting youth program focused New Cycle track on on Neighborhood Planning. This year, Akins, bluebonnet gets kids Crockett, and Travis High schools sent students from their Civics classes to come learn moving about what it takes to plan cities, reach compromise, and create transit solutions. The new cycle track on Bluebonnet is defiThis very engaged group was provided nitely a one-of-a-kind bicycle facility. One with a map of the region surrounding their of the new ‘green lane’ initiatives, the ‘cycle school and was asked to ‘imagine’ it track’ is a separated bicycle facility that as their ideal neighborhood. This makes cyclists feel more comfortable by includes re-zoning, adding or separating them from motorists, with the ultimate goal of increasing safety for both

groups. Neighborhood leaders from the Citizens in this class were treated Bluebonnet area came to our Bicycle Pro- to something a lot different – cell phone gram because the community expressed polling! Public Works Assistant Director interest in wanting to bike with their kids James Snow headed-up our portion with to school… but they were concerned about a general discussion on what our departsafety. ment does. Then, Nadia Barrera took the

After meeting with the neighborhood stage to discuss our new bicycle initiaand analyzing the area, the Bicycle team tives and introduce the first cell phone came up with a great solution. The result is poll. The participants were asked to text that the two-way cycle track on Bluebonnet in their response to the question ‘how on a two-way street configuration serves a do you feel about cycling around town major park and an elementary school; feed- by bicycle?’ The results were displayed ing into an off road multi-use trail system. on the screen in real-time and we were

The community gathered to celebrate surprised to see that our participants felt the grand opening of this new facility on Fri- pretty comfortable with cycling! Michelle day, August 24th with Council Member Chris Frith closed out our portion with a great Riley and Police Chief Art Acevedo in atten- interactive activity using cell phone polldance, as well as AISD members, the Neigh- ing to capture votes for the 6th Street borhood Association, Child Safety, and of Design Project and discussing how Pubcourse, the Bicycle Program. lic Works handles community outreach.

It was great fun to try something PWD Engages the Com- new, and the results from polling will munity at the CityWorks Michelle’s be incorporated in Academy the overall City results!

Every year, the Public Information Office puts on an event called CityWorks to allow Austin’s citizens to get a feel for what we do at the City of Austin. Citizens are invited to apply to the academy, and 30 applicants are accepted to attend the weekly sessions that run from October-November. Each department is asked to give a presentation on what the department does, then answer questions. This year, Public Works, Austin Transportation, and the Capital Planning Office partnered for the Academy.

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Field trippin’ with the nfbpa Each year, Public Works participates in the NFBPA (National Forum for Black Public Administrators) high school program. It’s kind of like a CityWorks… for high schoolers! This year’s event took place on October 25th, and the kids got to check out some of the things going on with Waller Creek: the outlet, inlet, and the newly completed Boathouse. Gary Jackson was on-hand to discuss the project and how all the pieces fit together.

The students then caught up with our Street and Bridge Crew and watched them operate heavy machinery during a street re-surfacing. They all went home with decorated hard hats and gained invaluable knowledge on just how diverse our workforce options are. Hopefully, we inspired a few future public workers!

Tejano Trail Celebration On September 6th, elected officials, neighborhood activists, and city staff were on hand to celebrate the designation of the Tejano Trails as a National Recreation Trail. This designation recognizes and preserves the historical or cultural significance of over 24 points of interest. The trail system is comprised of two trails: the Tejano Walking Trail, which celebrates healthy lifestyles, and the Tejano Music Legends trail, which showcases local latino musicians who rose to prominence in the 40’s and 50’s. The system encompasses nearly 11 miles of East Austin’s roadways stretching from Lady Bird Lake to as far North as East 7th and as far East as Pleasant Valley. Nadia Barrera, of the Neighborhood Connectivity Division, assisted this project by working with the neighborhood and University of Texas Civil Engineering classes to get volunteer work done for the project. The East Cesar Chavez Neighborhood Contact Team, which worked on the project for 6 years, will now begin working on installing signage on the trail.

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divisions

BY KIT JOHNSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Need for Speed...Reduction QSMD rolls out plan to be PWD’s “pit crew”.

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s F1 races into town, our minds are on the idea of speed--the speed of the cars, the speed of the track construction, the speed of placing City infrastructure, and the speed of getting City services ready in time. For me, this brings to mind another race. Lightning McQueen’s ill-fated attempt for the Piston Cup in the movie “Cars.” If you have young children like me, you have probably seen this movie a million times. For those who have not had this pleasure, let me give you the view out your windshield.

Lightning McQueen is a young, brash, rookie racecar. He’s not a racecar driver; he’s literally a racecar. Lightning is the new kid…err, um car…in town and his phenomenal speed has taken him straight to the top, racing with the fastest cars and competing for the coveted Piston Cup. As the new darling of the racing circuit, we find the audience of cars cheering McQueen on as he is a full lap ahead of his closest rival. When the pit crew advises McQueen to take advantage of his lead and change out his tires, Lightning presses on full-throttle--too busy to stop. As you might expect, McQueen’s tires blow and he in turn blows the race.

Often we find ourselves speeding along to stay on schedule and assume quality will be maintained as we cross the finish line. As the Public Works team speedily brings projects along, the Quality Standards Management Division (QSMD) wants to be PWD’s pit crew. Our mutual goal is to bring in all CIP projects with all four tires safely intact. A racecar driver is able to monitor his fuel consumption, oil pressure and the grip of his tires. However, sometimes focus on the road and the position of adjacent competitors steals the greater share of a driver’s attention. A good pit crew can spread the load of focus and provide that extra set of eyes to help a driver bring his car across the finish line. Likewise, our project managers have complete oversight over CIP projects under their care, but QSMD can help lend that extra set of eyes to assure quality is not sacrificed when schedules grow tight and costs throw our projects a curve in the road. The QSMD “pit crew” wants to help our PM’s monitor the performance of contactors and the quality

ging each CIP project in QSMD’s review process before the project begins, and adding QSMD reviews to the project review schedule. The hope is that by seeing projects earof installation—assuring a project is being lier in the design process and on a regular built as designed and specified. By combasis, we will help catch issues before they ing alongside our PMs and reviewing key become a problem. We are developing new submittals, visiting construction sites and ways to speed up our “pit stop” review prodefending our consultant’s documents, we cess by reviewing projects collaboratively. hope to become a trusted ally.

For example, QSMD’s new office space has a collaborative review area You may have noticed the quote Jay Ullary in which we plan to engage (PWD QSMD) has under his email signature: several reviewers at the same time to look at a projQuality is the ally of schedule and ect. Design documents will projected on our smart costs, not their adversary. If we have be board, giving the ability for to sacrifice quality to meet schedule, several reviewers to comit’s because we are doing the job wrong ment at the same time. I have experienced this and from the very beginning. can say the process was very effective at bringing out the - James A. Ward energy of several minds.

QSMD wants to

The PWD “pit crew” is most excited be your trusted pit crew. Our goal is to get about the scheduled “pit stops” that should you and your project across the finish line be coming on line soon. Rather than the as fast as possible, while maintaining the “help-when-needed” approach, QSMD has highest level of quality in construction. a different strategy--taking in the past, log-

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Word on the Street

Seeking Solutions for Sixth Street.

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ublic Works is working hard to get the opinions of residents, business owners and visitors on the new design for Sixth Street. The destination district is becoming a little worse for the wear, and could a little rejuvenation. Four design options are being offered to obtain stakeholder opinions on the characteristics they most value.

Austin is an opinionated and vocal city, so Outreach Coordinator Michelle Frith opted for several methods of obtaining feedback from Austinites and visitors alike. With the help of PIO at City Hall, an online survey on SpeakUp Austin has been established at http://austintexas. gov.granicusideas.com, which requests demographic information, a selection of the favored design, and room for comments. Text surveys are also being conducted in much the same way, and a PIO intern was literally on the street at varying times of day and night during the week and weekend to get a valid cross-section of opinions. 2,500 postcards have been delivered to area businesses and residents directing them to SpeakUp Austin and inviting them to a Public Participation meeting.

Public participation meetings took place on October 30 at the Driskill Hotel from 9-11am and from 6-8pm. Presentations were made and then the audience was broken into groups to determine which characteristics they most value.

Finally, an Open House will take place at City Hall in December with a hands-on approach to help people with their decisions. A scale model of the street with the variations of options will be available for stakeholders to get a real feel for how “making it all fit” with a limited amount of space isn’t possible.

Project Manager Mark Schruben has worked closely with PDRD on the varying options being presented to the public.

The options include various degrees of parking spaces, room for trees, sidewalk space for pedestrians, space for sidewalk cafés, and a bicycle lane option. “It’s been a terrific cross-functional team effort to come up with the proposed designs.” Mark says. “We’re really excited about involving the community in the creation of a more vibrant and effective Sixth Street.” Once all public participation activities have concluded, recommendations will be made on the final design to Public Works Director Howard Lazarus, to Assistant City Managers Goode and Edwards and finally to City Council.

TELL US WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU AT

SPE A K U P

AUSTIN

http://austintexas.granicusideas.com

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BY LEK MATEO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Austin Honors Those Who Serve The City takes time to recognize its military veterans workforce.

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here are over 1,800 City employees who have worn a uniform in the service of our country. This year marks the City’s 5th annual Veterans Day Appreciation Luncheon, which is held at the Palmer Events Center on November 7th. Current and retired veteran employees are honored at this annual event. In addition, the City will continue to partner with Travis County to host the Veterans Day parade on November 11th. The parade will give the community the opportunity to honor the men and women who served our country as they march up Congress Avenue to the Texas State Capital.

The City was the first municipal employer to receive the prestigious Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) Freedom Award. Presented by the Department of Defense, the City achieved this distinction for the outstanding support given to its employees serving in the National Guard and Reserve and for its proactive initiative to hire veterans.

Veterans in City Service Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who served as a U.S. Navy pilot, showed his support for military veterans by joining 50 Austin area World War II veterans in Washington, D.C in early October. As part of the Honor Flight program, the veterans were flown to the Nation’s capital to see the World War ll memorial that was built in their honor.

are currently serving in the National Guard and Reserves when they are mobilized for combat deployments. Equally important is supporting them during their transition home from duty. “It is very important that we support the employees who are in the guard and reserve along with their families and to assist those individuals who have served our nation,” Bergeron said.

Allen Bergeron, a retired Marine, is the City’s Veterans Consultant with the Human Resources Department. Bergeron explained that there is a benefit to hiring Veterans, who tend to be disciplined and hard working. Veterans, says Bergeron, supported our country in times of need, and when they transition to civilian life they bring their training and leadership skills to the organizations for which they work. Bergeron also emphasized the importance of supporting the employees who

Clay Harris, who served as an artilleryman during Desert Storm, said that he is able to apply the leadership and organizational training that he received on active duty to his job as a project manager with the Project Management Division. The most important skill that he learned with his fellow soldiers was how to work together as a team to complete a mission. Harris served in a unit that is trained to make meticulous mathematical calculations in a stressful environment to

shoot warheads at targets miles away with complete accuracy. “The Army taught me how to get a group of people from diverse cultures, beliefs and backgrounds to work together to build the team into something greater than the individual members,” Harris said.

Bill Hadley with the Quality and Standards Management Division also stands in the ranks of about 40 or more employees of the Public Works Department who are military veterans. Hadley served in the U.S. Army as a platoon leader within a Nike Hercules missile battery during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

“I think that it is commendable that the City tries to hire veterans and recognizes our service,” Hadley said.

CIP Inspection Division inspector John Rich, another Army veteran that served in Vietnam, acknowledged that he didn’t receive much of a formal homecoming when he returned home from overseas duty 45 years ago. Rich said the City is the only employer that he has worked for that has a program in place to recognize the service of its employees. Rich says he really appreciates the initiative to honor all veterans from every branch of service. “I am very proud of my city for honoring its veterans by providing the Veterans Day events to recognize their service. Those actions are helpful for the Veterans community and also for maintaining the morale of our employees.”

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BY LUCIANO TAMAYO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

little walnut creek tunnel odor control unit facility

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an you smell that smell? Concerned citizens certainly could, particularly during peak hours of wastewater usage! The offending odor was emanating from one of the junction boxes in an existing 60” wastewater tunnel in the Little Walnut Creek Park along Springdale Road. ESD’s Design Team 2 came to the rescue and provided a solution to the sponsoring department, the Austin Water Utility. design team 2 comes to the rescue

Caught Between a Rock and a Smelly Place ESD provides solutions to two emergency projects.

The resulting Odor control facility, or bio-filteration unit, required the following services from esd:

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Structural design for a foundation pad. A wall penetration of an existing manhole structure includes ventilation piping to get air from the wastewater line to the unit.

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Design for a HDPE water service line, approximately 850 LF from the existing water main to the Bio-filtration Unit. A water meter was also included with the design.

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Design for a specific details for the wall penetration connecting the existing Junction Box to the Odor control Unit.

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Design of an electric 3-phase service that will feed or run the Odor Control Unit.

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Acquisition of the necessary permit, preparation of bid items and special specifications.

Barton creek trail rock cliff

This Parks and Recreation Department project is located within the Barton Creek Trail and is an emergency maintenance situation. Some sections of a cliff face have cracked, and may pose a danger to hikers, bikers, and climbers in this popular area of the trail system. The cracks could cause rocks to fall at any time, so the Parks and Recreation Department asked for ESD’s assistance to solve the issue. A private geologist whose expertise is in tunneling and blasting and other experts were hired to study the safest, best, and most inexpensive solution to the problem.

The project is still in the preliminary stages and ESD Design Team 2 will prepare plans (including topographic maps and cross sections), details and permit acquisition and coordination with all involved entities.

The working teams for this project were Luciano Tamayo, Bimal Adhikary and Gail Hamrick-Pigg.

The project was delivered ahead of the schedule, within budget and is currently in construction. AWU Project Manager Joaquin Ordonez, P.E., was very pleased with ESD’s design performance. The project was designed by Luciano Tamayo, reviewed and sealed by Bimal Adhikary and managed (ESD) by Gail Hamrick-Pigg.

NOVEMBER 2012 STREET TALK

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columns

BY MICHELLE FRITH CHIEF REPORTER

How well do you know your neighbor?

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

J

ay Asher says in Thirteen Reasons Why, “You can’t stop the future.

You can’t rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret... is to press play.” Mary Hawkins is pressing “play”, learning to roll with the changes and be open to the next act.

A Survey Professional in NEIGHBOR QSMD (Quality Mary Hawkins and Standards Management DIVISION Division), Mary Quality & Standards works on projects for mulManagement Division tiple departTITLE ments across the City. Some Survey Professionals of the current projects she is involved in include a survey of the Dougherty Arts Center area to design a new children’s park, annexation projects, and several engineering design surveys for ESD and WPRD. Mary was born in Corpus Christi to a father who was a civilian Civil Engineer for the United States Navy and a mother who retired from her profession as a schoolteacher to care for Mary (except for a year when Mary was in third grade, when her mom was teaching down the hall). Mary has two half-sisters from her father’s first marriage, twins Doreen and

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STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

Maureen, 28 years older than Mary. Doreen is a busy housewife; and unfortunately, Maureen has passed away.

Mary attended Del Mar College in Corpus Christi for a while, studying Geology. She realized that she really didn’t want to work in the oil field, and decided instead to take some drafting classes. She married, moved to Giddings, and began her career working for a survey firm as a draftsperson – ironically, in the oil field.

When asked how it felt to be a woman in a male-dominated career, Mary insists that she was always treated with respect and that being a pioneer had its advantages since many firms were actively seeking women to hire. She very much enjoyed surveying because of its unique challenges and because it allowed her to work outdoors as well as in the office.

She learned surveying on the job and obtained her surveying license in 1986.

After some time in Giddings, Mary and her husband moved to Elgin. Mary’s husband got a job in Austin, and she soon after found her own job in Austin, working for the LCRA for eight years.

She later worked for private surveying companies and in 2008 applied for and earned a position with the Public Works Department. Mary says, “I really enjoy the variety of projects we get to work on.

The City sets very high standards on our projects – they are very thorough and done correctly.” A typical day for Mary includes CAD (Computer Aided Drafting),

using software that processes the data collected by the survey crew, analysis of boundaries, writing field notes and reviewing surveys submitted to the city by private firms. She also goes into the field for quality control checks.

Mary is no longer married, but she is close to her children Lauren (21) and Paul (24). Lauren, who practiced ballet for many years, now attends Texas Tech and is studying natural resources conservation. Paul works for a business in downtown Austin driving a Pedicab. When asked if he had ever seen anything interesting while performing his job, Mary shares that he once drove the guys who created “Angry Birds” during SxSW. Paul would like to be a mechanic someday.

Empty nests necessitate change, so Mary has begun to further explore her love of dancing. She once practiced ballet herself, enjoys swing-dancing, salsa, and now is a regular Scottish dancer. The group she dances with regularly hosts social balls and Mary and friends are preparing for a ball in Houston in late October. She would like to travel someday to Europe – especially Italy – but also appreciates the beauty of our own country. Being active, Healthy Connections is a benefit that she values and she participates in the PE classes. She really appreciates this benefit to City of Austin employees.

Mary continues to press play in her daily life and can’t wait to see what the next scene brings.

columns

F

amilies pass on a wide array of traditions through the generations. Traditions can include recipes, music, annual vacations – and hobbies. Steven Thomas’s family shares an exciting one - drag racing! Steven’s grandfather, a Ford mechanic, used to race a company-sponsored ’67 Ford Fastback “drag roadster” professionally and won quite a few races at Temple Academy.

Asked for NEIGHBOR more information, Steven Thomas Steven exDIVISION plains that a “roadster” is Street & Bridge made with Operations bars and not a frame. SteTITLE ven recounts Tech 1 a memory as a young boy when his grandfather was racing and flipped his car into a river and was carried down the river. He survived the accident, but it was very frightening for Steven to see. Steven’s dad was a street racer, burning rubber in a Malibu. Steven has uncles that race at Temple Academy, Dallas Dragway and in Seguin. Their car can get up to 120 miles per hour in just five seconds.

Steven, a big guy with an easy smile, was raised in Taylor with his brother Stacy, who is now a truck driver. Their mom, a home health care nurse in Elgin, did a little matchmaking with her best friend, setting up their two children – Steven and Kamesha Randall. The two had grown up as friends and now will be getting married next year. Steven earned his GED and went to work at JPR Hart Lumber as a forklift operator delivering lumber packs to KB Homes. He moved to Austin in 1997 and then back to Elgin in 2011 with Kamesha. His fiancé is a manager at Taco Bell, is a great cook and is “right there with me” during race time. Steven also has a son Oshalyn (15) who attends McCallum High School and who loves social media,

rapping and going to the track. He wants to play basketball when he gets out of school.

Uncles Kenneth and Larry Williams are “Chevy guys”; one uncle works at the County and one works for DPS. “They are my role models”, Steven says. Larry is a bracket racer, which means one racer starts out a length and Larry catches him, and Kenneth is a grudge racer “it’s faster, there’s a lot of talking smack”, Steven laughs. Steven spends every day with his uncles and Stacy at the shop. “All the fellas hang out there, drinking beer and talking smack” he grins.

Steven is celebrating his first anniversary with Public Works this month. He drives a dump truck with a roller and does surface replacement. He explains that two to four inches of asphalt is taken out; then a crew tacks the edges on the inside of the cut, then hot mix is placed in the cut two inches at a time. Steven then rolls the cut to compact the hot mix.

He works the South District and loves that he is learning a lot;

to continue the culture of teamwork and communication modeled by his current supervisor. Steven especially appreciates the health benefits and training opportunities at the City and CIP Training is a longterm goal.

Steven and his family get together at every opportunity to work on cars, race cars and ride horses. Generations of tradition have built unbreakable ties in this family.

“

I can prosper – I can see myself moving up. Cory Jackson, Johnny Colvin, Michael Goertz and Michael Collier – they all give us what we need to get the job done and they explain instead of tell, so we get a full understanding of the job. Everybody works together and is very flexible – we’re all there for each other. It’s a great environment to work in.

”

He plans to be a supervisor in Asphalt in five years and plans

NOVEMBER 2012 STREET TALK

17

columns

BY MICHELLE FRITHCHIEF REPORTER

Circuit of the Americas Boosts Austin’s Economic Engine Austin gets the inside line on the excitement!

B

enjamin Franklin once said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words and improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.” With the F1 race at the Circuit of the Americas (CoTA) facility just around the corner, Austin is dialing in on a souped-up economic engine – and we’re in the game. This track is the only FIA-certified Grade 1 track in the United States and one of only 26 Grade-1 certified motorsports facilities on the globe. This circuit also holds exclusive rights in the U.S. to host V8 Supercars events. It has a capacity for 120,000 people and will be used for a wide variety of sporting, business and entertainment events year round. Worldclass events bring money to the table - and lots of it.

Events at the Circuit of the Americas are currently estimated to bring an annual economic surge to Central Texas of $400-$500 million. As many as 300,000 visitors will come to our area for the Formula One event alone. Those visitors will undoubtedly be listening to Austin’s finest live music, eating at local restaurants and hanging out in local party-friendly establishments. Retail businesses should see a marked upswing in sales and realtors are expecting greater than average sales in both residential and commercial properties. Additional visitors translate to additional jobs to cover the needs of those guests. Imagine all the cowboy hats and boots flying off the shelves… all the barbeque consumed…. all the two-stepping while imbibing in the local brews.

Game ON!

The area has already felt the powerful rumbling of the new venue. Con-

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STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

struction of the track and surrounding facilities created approximately 1,700 construction jobs and used the services of 16 Texas-based companies to work on the project with participation by minority and women-owned businesses. Around 300 full time jobs have been created directly

by Circuit of the Americas to support the year round events. During major events an additional 3,000 people will be hired for seasonal or event-specific work.

All-in-all, 6,000 new jobs are expected to be created by the CoTA.

CoTA invested $13 million in water and wastewater line installation on an accelerat-

ed schedule. The City has plans to annex the area and would eventually purchase those lines. This means additional revenue for the City as the area is annexed and developed with additional residential and commercial property.

Between 800,000 and 1 Million people are expected to attend an event at the CoTA once the venue is fully operational.

Out of state visitors on average spend $1,500 a day (seriously) and their average stay is 4.6 days. Did I say lots of money?

Put on your seat belts, Austin. We’re screaming up to the start line like flat-out champions.

divisions

BY SHANNON WISNER AND SARA HARTLEY CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

T

he United States Formula One Grand Prix is attracting a multitude of concerts, events, visitors, and other happenings - especially in the Downtown area. That translates to a lot more traffic!

The good news is that you can get to the F1 events in a fast, fun and healthy way – on two wheels!

We did a little research on some other countries that hold Formula 1 races and found that Austin’s will be one of the most Cycle-friendly in the world. For those who are attending the Grand Prix and events after, and want to go by bicycle, the City has planned a route to get you there. The route takes you from the downtown area to Richard Moya Park, where the Bike valet will be located. All bicyclists will need to board a shuttle from the Park, which will depart every 30 minutes as only cars with pre-purchased parking passes and shuttles will be allowed at the Circuit of The Americas site.

If you’re interested in biking to the F1 site, but prefer to do so in a group setting, Bike Austin will have organized rides to the Richard Moya Park bike valet on November 17th & 18th (for more information, visit: http:// www.austintexas.gov/article/formula1-bicycle-commuting-guide)

There will be portable showers available near the valet that will be open from 8:00am1:00pm. It may be dark on the ride back from the Circuit, so make sure your bike is equipped for riding at night (headlight & rear reflector or tail light)!

AND SPEAKING OF INTERNATIONAL VISITORS AND BICYCLE ROUTES…

Public Works hosted a delegation from the Dutch Cycling Embassy, along with a visit from the Ambassador to the U.S. from the Royal Netherlands, for a two-day ThinkBike Austin Workshop. City staff, business leaders, cycling experts and transportation planners were on

hand to help solve some of Austin’s more difficult issues when it comes to incorporating cycling into our infrastructure and our culture.

After an enlightening trip to the Netherlands for Director Howard Lazarus and Annick Beaudet, accompanied by Council Member Chris Riley and City Manager Marc Ott, it was great to have the Dutch come to Texas to see what our infrastructure looks like and offer suggestions and guidance on how we can improve. The trip taken by our group to the Netherlands was sponsored by the Green Lane Project, which Austin became a part of earlier this year, beating out more than 40 others cities to gain a place in the program.

ThinkBike Austin focused on two main study areas: the South Lamar Corridor and

how we could integrate separated bicycle, pedestrian and environmental facilities, and how to integrate a cycle track network in the urban core area. A separate policy group looked at ways to integrate the Imagine Austin Principles into the update of our Bicycle Master Plan as it starts work over the next year.

Friday evening, all three teams presented their project findings to a packed house in Council Chambers at City Hall. The work was incredibly impressive from the groups and all were renewed in their commitment to make Austin a world-class cycling city!

Thank you to all who were involved and planned a great event, or committed their extended time to making an impact on Austin’s mobility!

NOVEMBER 2012 STREET TALK

19

PWD

Puts the Pedal

to the Metal!

Fasten your Seat Belts! Public Workers are joining forces with other City Departments to prepare for Austin’s newest Premier Event- Formula 1!

BY MICHELLE FRITH CHIEF REPORTER

E

veryone’s talking about it – F1 is coming to Austin. Throngs of visitors will descend on our small town grown big in November, forever changing the pace of life and shifting the world’s paradigm of our city. The construction of the Circuit of the Americas (CoTA) track located near Elroy ushers in a new vitality to Central Texas. The state-of-the-art racing, entertainment and education venue will host large events and concerts and will bring additional tourism to Austin. The impact to Austin will not be like a pebble being thrown into a pond – the ripple effect may be more like a boulder being thrown into a kiddie pool!

The Formula One U.S. Grand Prix will roar to life November 16-18 at the CoTA racetrack. But the party will begin several days before – approximately 120,000 visitors will descend on the capital city for part of the week.

Howard Lazarus points out that more people will come to Austin to attend the race in November than normally attend a Super Bowl! Many of the travelers will be wealthy tourists from the

STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

international community, especially Mexico. The three-day general admission tickets sold out in early August.

The track will be green! Not literally, but environmentally. CoTA is the first purpose-built Formula One racing facility to become a member of the Green Sports Alliance. The Green Sports Alliance is dedicated to ensuring that sports venues are

F1

SPECIAL

feature

environmentally friendly through recycling and waste reduction, energy and water conservation and composting. The venue boasts a 3.4 mile circuit track, an enormous outdoor live music space, medical facilities, a conference center and banquet hall. Down the road, the venue hopes to include a driving/ riding experience, a motorsports driving club, kart track, grand plaza event center and tower and a trackside recreational vehicle park. For more info on the venue, see www. circuitoftheamericas.com.

Formula One Grand Prix won’t be the only game in town that week either! Austin Fan Fest will add to the excitement and celebration of the Grand Prix event and will feature

local talent as well as world-famous bands. This free festival will rock the downtown Austin’s Warehouse District with the epicenter at 3rd and Colorado. Fans can ogle Formula One cars on display and dance to more than 50 acts that span several musical genres. Wannabe racers can also enjoy racing team exhibits, simulators and interactive displays. But wait -That’s not all! Weekend festivities around Austin will include such superstars as Aerosmith and Cheap Trick, rappers Flo Rida and Lupe Fiasco and Latin artists Enrique Iglesias and Juanes.

Formula One may be the first event off the starting block at CoTA, but other major events are already slated for the venue. The Australian

V8 Supercars Series in will come to Austin in May 2013 and the world’s premiere motorcycle racing World Championship, MotoGP will rumble into town April 2013. These two events are just scratching the surface of major events that we can expect to see in Central Texas in the next few years.

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continued from pg. 21

What does this mean to the City of Austin?

MONEY!

Loads of cash will be infused into the economy. $300 million has already been invested into the track site. The F1 event alone will generate another nine-figure number in economic impact during the F1 week. In part due to the construction of the track, General Motors is now expressing an interest in Austin, which could bring automotive firms and more jobs to the tech community. Austin will become a destination city, which will create hundreds, if not thousands of new jobs in tourism, hospitality, food businesses and more. Officials are expecting $6.1 million in tax revenues coming from the Formula One event. Over time, if more people move to Austin and more businesses are relocated or built here, the Transportation User Fund will take in more dollars, which will be beneficial to Street and Bridge Operations. The City is currently attempting to access the land around the CoTA site.

TRAFFIC Public Works has been working closely with the Transportation Department. Visitors to Austin will face travel challenges getting to the track. In anticipation of the thousands of additional people and hundreds of additional vehicles, strategies for transportation will be implemented. Transportation plans will require pick-up locations for different commute options. 450 shuttle buses and 750 taxis and limousines will pick up and drop off people on the far northwest corner of Circuit of the Americas site. There are organized bicycle rides planned from One Texas Center to the shuttle

2

area at Richard Moya Park, and a bicycle route mapped by the City. Helicopters can bring visitors to the southeast corner of the facility.

There are 18,000 parking spaces around the track reserved for vehicles with passes. Charter buses, cars and limos can park on site but will not be allowed to make more than one roundtrip per day. Limousine and bus companies have increased their fleets and are educating drivers about Austin traffic and what to expect during this event. More than half the 120K ticketholders are expected to travel by shuttle buses from 15th and Trinity or from the Travis County Expo Center and shuttles will use SH 130.

Getting around downtown is also a weighty proposition. It’s expected that sixty percent of the 120,000 will be from out of state and will likely be using rental cars. Race tickets are three-day tickets, so our guests will likely be here for several days. Downtown and other hot spots may be jammed with cabs, pedicabs and rental cars full of tourists who will be eating in the local restaurants, drinking at the bars, crashing (figuratively, not literally) in the hotels/rentals and waking up with a great cup of coffee in the coffee shops.

STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

As we’ve seen at other major events, lots of people who don’t have tickets just come to be part of the scene. Many blocks will be closed downtown in the week leading up to the race and through the race weekend, for the Fan Fest associated with the race. The week following brings Thanksgiving and associated events, so downtown will stay a hot spot for the holiday, too!

BUSINESS We’ll have a different crowd in Austin for these events as it’s projected that people from 64 countries will be in town. The majority of international visitors will be from Mexico, and many will be traveling to Austin on IH35 from San Antonio, where the San Antonio International Airport has more direct flights. Most visitors will be here for the majority of the week. The Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office is advising businesses to stay open

later and open earlier to accommodate travelers who are used to different hours in their own cultures. Restaurants should understand that many foreign diners spend more time at the table and often don’t leave tips since in some countries it is considered rude to tip.

Real estate businesses are expecting a surge in purchasing homes and commercial properties in the area.

FLYING ABIA Airport plans include gearing up, amping up advertising on the grounds, and implementing aircraft reservation systems for chartered flights and other flights that aren’t based at AIBA. While arrivals will come in gradually, the really busy time will be when everyone leaves. For instance, they expect up to 5,000 rental cars to be returned the Monday following the race - just as thanksgiving begins! That week is going to be really, really busy at the airport.

What does this mean to Public Works?

To be able to accommodate the vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic, Public Works is shifting gears and has issued a moratorium on construction in the downtown area from October 14th through October 19th in the DAPCZ – the Downtown Austin Project Coordination Zone. This zone extends from Martin Luther King south to Oltorf and from MoPac east to Chicon. All capital improvement work will halt from Wednesday until Monday, with a few exceptions.

Public Works is coordinating with the Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office, the Austin Transportation Department (ATD), and the ATD Office of Special Events. Public Works executives are participating on an F1 Core Team, steering city departments in a coordinated effort to alleviate the impact to downtown, and to traffic and pedestrian flow. We will make every reasonable effort to have construction out of the streets and

off the sidewalks during the F1 event.

Street and Bridge Ops will still be keeping it nice and fresh downtown by continuing to clean the sidewalks each evening. SBO will also continue their customary excellent job of helping with street support.

Annie Van Zant will be the GIS Single Point of Contact. She’ll be able to coordinate with GIS maps any necessary communications or shutoffs to Project Managers or Inspectors during the week.

The PWD Communication Team will be working with the Emergency Operations Center throughout the weekend helping to disseminate information as needed.

Traffic coming to work will be heavier than usual starting on Friday and heaviest on Monday, especially in the morning, when most people visiting will be leaving. The One Texas Center parking lot will be harder to find parking in than usual, so you may consider com-

ing to work early if your office is at Riverside or OTC. Other areas should not be affected as heavily as the offices downtown. We need to also keep in mind that AISD will let out beginning on Tuesday for the Thanksgiving Holiday and that the UT game will be in Austin during Thanksgiving this year. We just need to be creative and committed to getting the job done.

The day after the race, the teams will leave and there will be heavy traffic back, especially to the airport and to San Antonio. Hotels all the way from San Antonio to Waco are already booked, so imagine all those people leaving at the same time!

We’re headed full throttle into a new era in Austin. It’s an exciting time but one that needs all of us working together to make sure visitors, residents and businesses are supported by the Department with a Heart. Let’s start our engines, ladies and gentlemen, and put the pedal to the metal!

(More Information at www.atxgrandprix.org)

NOVEMBER 2012 STREET TALK

23

Milestones

awards & recognition NCD: CHILD SAFETY The first day at Rutledge Elementary School in Avery Ranch, there was a rattlesnake by the fence close to the crossing guard where children access the campus.

I know we say we cross anyone and anything that comes to the crosswalk (we have crossed dogs before and got out of the way of a morning deer at Doss Elementary School), but we draw the line when it comes to snakes! The crossing guard, Liz Hudson, quickly notified the school custodians and they removed it before the students arrived.

PMD: LEED Gold certification The Northwest Recreation Center has achieved LEED Gold Certification with 46 points! We now have a facility that is designed and built to demonstrate: Alternative transportation features with parking for fuel-efficient vehicles, electric charging stations and bicycles.

The latest storm water quality features that combine with landscapes of native and adapted species.

Water saving strategies that could use 80% less for landscape irrigation and use 42% less for plumbing fixtures inside.

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STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

A building energy performance anticipated to be 22% more efficient and now 37% with the installation of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof.

Structural changes to the existing building arranged such that 82% of area of floors, walls and roof were reused.

Construction waste recycling that has diverted 97% of materials from landfills.

Specified materials in the design that enabled the contractor to provide 22% recycled content and 24% supplied from within 500 miles of the project.

Indoor environmental design and installation that improves air quality.

Considering this is a renovation, this is a great result that has taken expertise, commitment and persistence to see each item through to completion. Thanks to PM Burton Jones and everyone else who made this project a success! sbo: Downtown Austin gets a Clean Sweep in 2012!

The sidewalk cleaning special projects crew closed out the fiscal year reaching a milestone and crushing the previous year’s record. Last year’s goal was set at 1.2 million square feet of sidewalk cleaned, and was met. This year’s goal was set at an ambitious 2.2 million square feet, and we are pleased to announce that they closed

out the year with 2.51 million square feet of sidewalk cleaned! What an amazing accomplishment! Congratulations to: Charles Felipa Sr Joe Stornes Carlos Brown Jerimiah George James Lee Isaac Rodriguez Kenneth Smith Pete Valdez Jr. SBO: purchasing office We’re pleased to announce that PWD’s JoLynn Ayala, Lisa Escobedo & Brenda Jimenez beat out everyone else in the City for the least errors in accounts payable processing for the last quarter! Congratulations ladies, and keep up the great work! public works “The jerk” psa Public Works’ “The Jerk” has won a TATOA award for Public Service Announcement category! TATOA stands for “Texas Association of Telecommunications Officers & Advisors”. In addition to that, the City of Austin as a whole has received a record 21 nominations for other productions this year! The TATOA awards recognize the best government television programming in Texas. Winners were announced at a formal awards dinner in San Antonio on October 25th.

street talk extra

UPDATES FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

sbo & PMD: Quality Asphalt Pavement Award for 2012 The City of Austin and the contractor, APAC-Texas, were recently recognized by the Texas Asphalt Pavement Association for continued dedication to quality in the hot mix industry. We were granted a TXAPA/TxDOT Quality Asphalt Pavement Award for 2012 in the ‘City Overlay –Large’ category for the Miscellaneous Streets Overlay Phase 1 Project. The project was judged on:

Smoothness of ride Uniformity of mix Consistency of texture

Promotions sbo:

sbo:

baldomero ramirez

anniversary commitment to austin Congratulations to the following employees on your City anniversary:

5 years 10 years 20 years 0

Congratulations to Tony Lopez and Binaya Sharma for managing the project!

Special thanks also to the sponsor, the Street and Bridge Division, as well as to Patti Moreno of the Construction Inspection Division for monitoring quality.

Tightness and visibility of longitudinal and Transversal joints

frank reyes

The Districts Maintenance Division is please to announce that Baldomero “Junior” Ramirez has accepted the position of Street and Bridge Maintenance Supervisor in the North District. Junior will be responsible for road, alley, and bridge maintenance in the North District. Congratulations!

The Pavement Operations Division is pleased to announce that Frank Reyes has accepted the position of Street and Bridge Maintenance Supervisor in the Overlay section. Mr. Reyes has over 17 years of experience in hot mix and will be leading the new milling crew.

Congratulations!

Lacy Garner Steven Penshorn Jay Ulary

congratulations PWD 2012 Executive Academy graduates!

1 Pirouz Moin

2 Steven Penshorn

3 Kevin Sweat

NOVEMBER 2012 STREET TALK

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milestones

continued from pg. 25

h t 6 e h t m o r f s e Tal

Sr. By: Charles Felipa

In the spirit of Formula One coming to town, this tale from the 6th has a need…a need for speed. As we were preparing the sidewalks for a night of cleaning by setting up our signs we noticed headlights coming our way. I know, you may be wondering, “what’s the big deal?”

The problem is that we were facing west; with the flow of traffic… headlights coming at us can only mean one thing- the driver is going the wrong way! APD was already on the scene; as they are every night.

As the lawbreaker sped past APD, the officer yelled out at the young lady who thankfully had her windows down to “turn it around.” In a very dazed and confused state she was able to turn her car around back with the flow of traffic in the middle of 6th street. They asked her to get out of the car, which for her was no small feat. She was so (allegedly) intoxicated that she sort of rolled out of her vehicle and onto the curb. I couldn’t hear the conversation but I imagine the fast, furious, and bizarre encounter between the law and lawbreaker went like this…

26

STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

APD: Have you been drinking?

Young lady: huh?!?

APD: Have you been drinking?

Young lady: No sir, ocifer…

APD: You appear to be under the influence so I am going to do a field sobriety test.

Young lady: Today’s my lucky day because I always do well on tests (Hook em horns!)

APD: Okay… get on your feet.

Young lady: I would like to do that for you Mr. ocifer sir, but I can’t feel my legs…

APD: No problem… (places the cuffs on her) I will help you up… you are under arrest, by the way.

Moral of this story is just like the billboard says: Drink (allegedly). Drive. Go to Jail.

sohuotut PWD’s Neighborhood Partnering Program as a Model for other Departments Public Works was able to help Watershed Protection (WPD) problem-solve in a way that displays great partnership where a homeowners association was concerned. What happened was the HOA built a trail on top of a water retention pond; they graded the top of the pond, taking one bank down by about a foot.

WPD estimated that the cost to engineer, permit, and fix the problem was $80,000.

Public Works’ Sara Krause worked with WPD’s Eduardo Acosta using some of what we learned in building NPP to walk through some of the ways that WPD could help mitigate much of this cost.

The end result is that it looks like WPD will be able to present a real win-win to the HOA. This is just one of the ways the program has benefited the City as a whole, by breaking ground and creating new precedents and new ways of thinking.

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congr annouatulato nceme ry nts

UPDATES FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

COACCC

5th Annual

        F

City of Austin

COOKOF Grayson Ronald Haba was born to proud parents at 10:15 am on August 24th, 2012.

He weighed an even 7lbs and was 20 inches long. Congratulations, Darryl!

 

The Diversity Game Answers! do

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       drinks softdrinks water water&&soft

ory category eachcateg ineach iesin trophies placetroph 1stplace 1st

The CoACCC Chili Cookoff was a great success this year! 13 teams participated with PWD and Fleet Services sponsoring the event. With the sale of soft drinks, water, and donations, the committee made $966.00. Chuck Shoenfeld from Fleet Services chaired the event this year. He will be retiring this year and Larry Simpson will be stepping in and chairing it next year.

diane rice

Simon orta

rohini kumarage

“I used to wear a ‘bunny suit’ to work” (I worked as a Field Engineer building clean rooms).

“I’ve been married for 22 years with 2 kids in college and a junior in high school.

I am an active board member for the (ACA) Austin Creative Alliance. 2nd year.”

“Give up anything for traveling”

tyleah mcguire Jerry carden

Dario octaviano

“I wore long dreadlocks when I played reggae music.”

“Cheaper by the dozen. I have 11 siblings, 5 brothers & 6 sisters.”

“I like sports with wheels, my current favorite playing roller hockey. And when I was 12, I rode my bicycle down the California coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles during an 8 day bike camping tour with the scouts.”

Alexa Muraida “I was a black belt in Karate by age 11. My first concerts I attended were Tina Turner and Joe Cocker. I first learned how to drive a stick shift in Venezuela. I play the djembe drum.”

Jeff travillion This person has attended John Denver, the Police, and Fleetwood Mac concerts.

Eva Moore “I was the first born American citizen of German parents, and for the past 15 years have always had a job in the Engineering field.”

NOVEMBER 2012 STREET TALK

27

milestones

continued from pg. 27

cipid:

Vera labriola

Ron Koehn, Pirouz Moin, Brian Works, Binaya Sharma, Daren Duncan and Veena Prabhakar discuss paving strategies at the St. Elmo field office.

spreading knowledge

CIP inspection Division Manager Patricia Wadsack and award and recognition committee chairperson Freddie Alonzo presented Vera Labriola with the Commitment to Excellence Award on September 14th at the division meeting for her outstanding service.

Vera Labriola has accepted a promotional opportunity elsewhere within the City of Austin. Her last day with the division was September 21st, 2012.

Division Manager Patricia Wadsack said that Vera has been a great asset to the division during her tenure here and although it is sad to see her move on to other things, it is also an opportunity to be happy for her. Congratulations, Vera – we’ll miss you!

Spreading the knowledge! Public Works representatives had the opportunity to present at the APWA 2012 National Congress in Anaheim, CA. The following presenters and topics were: sara hartley

& keri juarez

Good for Government, Good for Communities – The City of Austin’s Neighborhood Partnering Program.

28

STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

howard lazarus

& annick beaudet

Spokeaphobia: Overcoming Community Fears of Bicycle Infrastructure.

Farewell

brainstorming session

stephen penshorn

& keri juarez

How to Use Recycled Glass in Your Public Works Project.

in every issue

WHERE IS SHUV-L-REDDY?

Where In The World Is Shuv-L-Reddy?

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!

location 1

Can you correctly identify both project site locations that Shuv-L-Reddy has visited? Write in to: streettalk@austintexas.gov for a chance to WIN A PRIZE! location 2

ANSWERS FROM LAST ISSUE: Location 1: Cycle Track on Bluebonnet Location 2: Mosaic in Patterson Park

events calendar 2012 NOVEMBER Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday Thursday

Friday

1

0

Saturday

2

0

Austin City Council Meeting First Thursday Defensive Driving class 8:30 AM-4:30 PM OTC-325

5

7

6

0

0

0

Dia de los Muertos

8

9

1

3

4

1 Safety Meeting Make-up PWD

10:30 PM- 11:30 AM OTC 325

New Employee Safety Orientation

1

1

6

1

7

1

8

2

2

2

UT vs. TCU Football Game Turkey Trot OFFICES CLOSED Thanksgiving Day

$ PAY DAY

7

Veteran’s Day

1

1

0

2

$ PAY DAY

1 PM- 2 PM 1501 Toomey Rd.

2

class 8:30-9:30 AM 105 Riverside Room 200

5

1

1

1

Sunday

Computer Ergonomics

6

0

0

Safety Meeting Make-up ATD

class 1-5 PM LRC@ABIA

2

Daylight Savings Time (ends)

9

0

Austin City Council Meeting

class 1-5 PM LRC@ABIA

OFFICES CLOSED Veteran’s Day

4

0

Early Voting Ends

Sunday

New Employee Safety Orientation

2

0

Sunday

Election Day

1

3

Austin Celtic Festival Austin PowWow & American Indian Heritage Festival

8

2

9

2

3

2

4

2

Chuy’s Children Giving to Children Parade

Sunday OFFICES CLOSED Thanksgiving

5

2

0

3

Sunday

30

STREET TALK NOVEMBER 2012

DECEMBER Monday

3

Tuesday

4

0

0

Safety Plus Meeting (PMD/ESD/NCD/QSMD) 8:30-9:30 AM OTC-325

0

1

1

Safety Plus Meeting (CIPID/HRO/SSD/Financial Services, OOD, Systems Engineering) class 8:30-9:30 AM OTC-325

7

1

Defensive Driving class 8:30 AM-4:30 PM OTC-325

4

2

Friday

6

0

5

Computer Ergonomics class 8:30-9:30 AM 105 Riverside Room 200 Safety Plus Meeting (PWD SBO- Utility Structures) class 8-9 AM Cheathem Facility New Employee Safety Orientation class 1-5 PM LRC@ABIA

8

1

5

2

Safety Plus Meeting (SBO Pavement & Infrastructure) class 8-9 AM Cheathem Facility

Austin City Council Meeting Defensive Driving

2

Armadillo Christmas Bazaar (begins) Safety Plus Meeting (SBO District Maintenance) class 8-9 AM Cheathem Facility

9

1

8

0

Chanukah (begins at sunset)

Sunday

9

class 8:30 AM-4:30 PM OTC-325

0 $ PAY DAY

First Thursday

1

Saturday

7

0

0

New Employee Safety Orientation class 1-5 PM LRC@ABIA

1

Wednesday Thursday

3

4

1

1

Austin City Council Meeting ATD Safety Meeting Late Shift 4 PM - 5 PM 1111 Rio Grande Safety Plus Meeting (ATD) class 8-9 AM OTC- 325

5

1

Sunday

6

1 Chanukah (ends)

0

1

2

2

2

2

First Day of Winter

Sunday

3

2

Armadillo Christmas Bazaar (begins)

$ PAY DAY

6

2

7

2

8

2

9

2

Sunday OFFICES CLOSED Christmas Eve

OFFICES CLOSED Christmas Day

Kwanzaa observed through January 1st

0

3

1

3

Sunday Buy a New Calendar!

New Year’s Eve

2012 SEPTEMBER STREET TALK 31 NOVEMBER 2012 STREET TALK 31

Write in to us with your suggestions regarding:

Milestones

nominations

writing a guest column photo contribution special events going on in your division employee PROFILE NOMINATIONS ...and anything else we may have missed or you want people to know about

CONTACT US:

streettalk@austintexas.gov