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Many cities, particularly those that are small to medium-sized, are challenged with distinguishing and setting themselves apart in a way that stimulates civic pride, entrepreneurship, and a sense of destination. This ""identity crisis"" often creates a climate of economic, social, and cultural stagnation, which can ultimately lead to urban blight, decline, and the lack of a sustainable tax base to enhance public infrastructure. The City of Tavares, Florida, decided to do something about that! Through a process of visioning and an understanding of its geographic position and history, they decided to brand Tavares as ""America's Seaplane City."" Central to the city's renaissance have been the initiatives and innovations of the city's public works department. Their accomplishments include a 5-acre waterfront park, complete with ramps and docks for seaplanes, a seaplane themed children's splash pad, and support for cultural events and festivals that have stimulated the economy.Learning Objectives: Identify opportunities where public works can take a leadership role in enhancing public infrastructure and amenities to bolster the economic, civic, and cultural value of the community.Plan for and apply new ideas and approaches for enhancing community quality of life.Create an atmosphere within the public works unit that fosters the value of creative, innovative and unconventional solutions to issues and challenges.
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Enjoy this exploration of critical and strategic thinking skills and how to apply them to public works management and leadership. You'll be given the framework for how to conduct a thinking self-assessment that will help you see where you stand in developing the required skills. Checklists and resources will be presented, and you will have the opportunity to engage in interactive and engaging dialogue about how to perceive and think strategically.Learning Objectives:Explore critical and strategic thinking concepts and principles and see how they relate to public works leadership and decision making.Assess your thinking capabilities and see where you can focus your efforts to grow.Discover why the boss, your board or council, and your constituents ask so many questions.
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Enjoy these three presentations on how new mobile, digital, and cloud technologies are changing how public works does business. The first presentation will describe how local governments will soon find themselves responsible for managing the community's digital layer with customizable service delivery. The second presentation will reveal how cloud and mobile e-construction technologies are providing greater project efficiency and improved decision making. The third presentation will explore how GIS supports the many workflows of public works.Learning Objectives:Prepare their agencies to step into the digital future.Examine how cloud and mobile technology affects e-construction practices.Use technology for smarter infrastructure management.
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As the saying goes, the future is now! Technologies that seemed futuristic to the average person 5-10 years ago are already part of everyone's work and personal experience. Is your agency currently planning for or implementing any of these strategies?Developing infrastructure to support autonomous cars Repurposing underused utility and traffic signal infrastructure to provide broadband services Adopting pedestrian detectors and crowd management tools that sense cell phone presence Using parametric, predictive, adaptive controls that create ""super streets"" to reduce congestion and improve safety Planning for how the shared economy for cars, bikes, and housing will impact future infrastructure needsNow is the time to get up-to-speed on these and other approaches and technologies.Learning Objectives:Identify emerging technologies, best practices, urban planning approaches, and resource management methods.Help governing bodies see the opportunities, costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of adopting some new technologies.Acquire the skills to compare, design, and implement new transportation, utility, and traffic management techniques.
Read MoreThis webinar will provide an overview of the national guidance on road diets and their potential benefits. Speakers will present information and/or case studies about determining the feasibility of road diets, planning or considering the implementation of road diets in a community, and evaluating the performance of road diets.
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In this session, you hear about the snow and ice control operations of the City of Dubuque, Iowa. It covers activities related to storm preparation, anti-icing, deicing and removal operations.…
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What variables should you consider when optimizing snow routes? In this session you will learn the practicality of route optimization (Theory vs. Reality). Focus will be on how to determine…
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See how the City of Lethbridge curbed drivers' behaviors during snow events on Whoop-up Drive with the implementation of variable speed limits (VSL). Learning Objectives: – Discern how new technology…
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In responding to emergencies, rapid organized actions from public works are critical. The Utah APWA Chapter Emergency Management Committee recognized the need to develop an alliance among state-wide public works agencies to provide assistance across jurisdictional boundaries. Participating agencies that have experienced a natural or man-made disaster can obtain emergency assistance in the form of personnel, materials, equipment or other associated services from other nearby agencies. Learn about the components of the Utah mutual aid agreement and how agencies in your area can set up something similar.Learning Objectives: Initiate an inter-local agreement to address emergencies across jurisdictional boundaries.Incorporate outside public works agencies into their emergency planning and preparation.Acquire additional resources to assist their public works agencies in times of need.
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Keeping your snow-fighting equipment in top shape is a continuous process that begins when the last snow of the season has fallen. This fleet-focused session provides tips on how to…
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