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Emotionally Intelligent Project Managers – Connecting and Building Relationships

Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions to connect, motivate, and influence others by applying appropriate skills. Project managers are constantly influencing, negotiating, and collaborating…

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Active Threat Training

Watch this presentation from the Washington State Department of Transportation about how to set up an Active Threat training program. Discover how to assess training needs and determine what the components…

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eBART: New Technology Provides a Sustainable, Eco-friendly, and Equitable Transit Solution at Half the Cost of Conventional Options

San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has been providing rapid transit in safe, affordable, equitable, and environmentally-friendly ways for over 40 years. The latest BART train extension from Antioch…

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Maximizing the Client/Consultant Relationship

APWA’s Small Cities / Rural Communities Committee invites you to join them for a conversation about the client/consultant relationship. Due to limited staff and available resources, small cities / rural…

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Communicating in a Crisis: Lessons Learned from the Lower Cape Fear Transmission Main Break

After Hurricane Matthew, a 48-foot raw water main serving southeastern North Carolina failed. More than 12.5 million gallons of daily supply serving 300,000 people was being lost in a location made…

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APWA’s Fleet Management Workshop Part 3 – Operations

Planned and presented by APWA’s Fleet Management Committee. Fleet Managers are responsible for the selection, procurement, use and care, and remarketing of their organizations’ fleet assets. A successful fleet manager…

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How to Deal with the MIRE . . . What is Required by 2026

Model Inventory of Roadway Elements – MIRE, is the collection of data for transportation professions to make data-driven safety decisions.   MIRE can be used to perform analyses supporting the strategic and performance-based goals in SHSP and HSIP.  This presentation will focus on the two Local Road Fundamental Data Elements (FDE's) for Paved and Unpaved Roads.

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$tretching your Green Infrastructure Dollars: Case studies in maintenance costs and Level of Service

$tretching your Green Infrastructure Dollars: Case studies in maintenance costs and Level of Service. Case studies from two communities will be presented by different speakers.  Over the last 20 years, the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan has built 124 rain gardens and bio-swales in public spaces. Although rain gardens have been successful at reducing pollutant loads, our 30 acres of green stormwater infrastructure created a new challenge: maintenance. In 2015, the City of Ann Arbor and the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner’s Office collaborated to formalize the maintenance of the 124 rain gardens. Maintenance schedules and expenditures for each rain garden have been implemented and refined over the last three years. Three case studies will be highlighted showing varied plant designs, spillways and public support. For each case study, a multi-pronged approach has proven successful in implementing the maintenance plan. The variety of rain gardens installed in Ann Arbor have provided the opportunity to learn many lessons and rules of thumb for design. Recommendations for designs that can simplify maintenance, focusing on plant selection, spillway design, size considerations and public involvement will be detailed. The lessons learned from maintenance in Ann Arbor’s rain gardens can be used to improve designs, create realistic budgets and foster positive partnerships.

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Improving Fleet Technician Performance through Competition

As the complexity and diversity of fleet and winter maintenance equipment grows, the need for up-to-date and qualified fleet technicians does as well. Fifteen years ago, the APWA Kansas City Metro Chapter established a fleet technician competition that recognizes their role in public works and winter maintenance operations. This competition not only fosters better job performance, but also provides fleet technicians the opportunity to network and share knowledge. Find out how your APWA chapter or agency could set up a similar program.

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How Organizational Health Drives Service, Productivity, and Employee Morale

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa with a population of 131,127, more than 600 miles of paved roadway, and a vibrant downtown. In 2014, a major ice event nearly crippled the community when only a handful of the City’s 90 street maintenance employees responded to the emergency call to treat roadways. This poor response and low morale required drastic, immediate attention and a renewed effort to build cooperation between bargaining and non-bargaining units. In 2017, a similar ice event occurred with very different results – every employee responded to the call. Don’t miss this interesting story about establishing culture change, instilling pride in levels of service, and involving employees in the solution.

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