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Public Works Stormwater Summit (Day One): Green Infrastructure Solutions for Stormwater Management

Green Infrastructure Solutions for Stormwater ManagementPlanned and hosted by APWA's Water Resources Management Committee Don't miss these interesting case studies about practical Green Infrastructure applications. Discover what's working and how you will be able to adapt these approaches to your area and systems.Stormwater Quality Retrofits Made Practical Comparing and choosing stormwater quality retrofit alternatives and strategies is challenging. Representatives from the City of Eugene, Oregon, will discuss the benefits and challenges of different water quality alternatives which include rain gardens, large neighborhood scale swales, and pervious concrete pavement. The City of Eugene is an NPDES Phase I permit holder with years of experience implementing stormwater quality improvement retrofit projects. They'll share the lessons learned and innovative solutions.Town Creek Culvert – Green Infrastructure in the Urban Core Stormwater projects have not traditionally been a major component of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) awards, but the City of Greenville, North Carolina, successfully obtained a grant for the Town Creek Culvert project by including green infrastructure components. The routing of this culvert through the urban core of the city is also being impacted by the construction of a highway which is adding 45 acres to the culvert's watershed. The culvert will discharge into a regenerative stormwater conveyance (RSC) that will remove nutrients as well as reduce velocities. Other green infrastructure features include a bioretention area upstream from the RSC, a permeable paver system, wetlands, tree boxes, and another smaller RSC.Detention Basin Retrofits for Stormwater Quality Treatment The City of Springfield, Missouri, has embarked on an innovative and unprecedented integrated plan to prioritize future environmental programs. One of the goals of the integrated plan is to find relatively low costs methods of improving water quality in area streams. Most of the existing stormwater detention basins in Springfield, as well as most communities in the Midwest, were designed with the single purpose of providing flood control. A total of 178 existing detention basins are evaluated for retrofit feasibility considering two options: 1) downsizing the outlet structure to achieve additional water quality treatment; 2) downsizing the outlet structure to improve the infiltration rate of the basin and adding a vegetative component.Conventional stormwater best management practices (BMPs) have been commonly applied in Florida since the early 1980s. However, with the realization that conventional BMPs do not always achieve the desired pollutant load reduction, coupled with the need for practices that are better-suited for smaller spaces and retrofits in highly urbanized areas, GI/LID practices were added to the BMP palette. Challenges met and overcome included accommodating these practices into the existing regulatory/permitting process and adapting them to local hydrologic conditions.Learning Objectives:Identify stormwater retrofit alternatives and strategies.Describe green infrastructure practices that are useful in pollutant load reduction.Determine which green infrastructure approaches would best fit your local hydrologic conditions.

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More Fiber in Your Life? How Broadband Can Impact Your Community and Public Works Operations

Attend this overview on how to better anticipate, coordinate, and plan for the installation of broadband fiber and other major private utility expansion efforts in your community. Discover how to identify, calculate, analyze, and mitigate the impacts on street maintenance and utility budgets. Get tips for proactively engaging home owner and business complaints, implementing tracking systems, and educating stakeholders on your state and local easement laws.Learning Objectives: Establish and enforce standards, and develop daily inspection reports and punch list documents.Educate excavators on 811 laws, erosion control, and traffic work zone standards.Create a plan for utility strikes; restoration of pavements, sidewalks and other public infrastructure; and use of GIS for utility designation and permit review.

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Dynamic Employees – Programs to Recruit, Train, Develop and Retain Great Staff

While it is getting more difficult to recruit, train, develop and retain dynamic employees, some agencies are looking outside traditional means to build a successful team.

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Ontario’s TowPlow Experience

Has your agency considered using the TowPlow? After years of TowPlow use on our provincial highway network, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation has developed some best practices. Details such as…

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Utilizing Mobile Apps for Weather Responsive Traffic Management

The GIS-IT team at Wyoming DOT worked in conjunction with NeoTreks and CompassCom to design, develop and deploy an Android tablet application for use with the 600+ plows operating within…

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A View from the Top – Women in Public Works Talk About Their Lives and Careers

Women who are at different stages in their public works careers will talk about the factors influencing their decision to work in this field; the importance of having mentors; job challenges they've faced, and how they overcame them; and strategies to balance home and work life.Learning Objectives:Recognize and implement actions that will lead to a successful career in public works.Network with women who have achieved professional and personal success.Negotiate one's career path by avoiding the pitfalls and missteps that can affect public works professionals.

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The Evolution of a Winter Maintenance Operation

The City of Council Bluffs, Iowa had faced poor management, poor morale, antiquated equipment and an unsatisfactory work environment. In response, they developed a program to overcome these deficiencies through…

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Now We Are Here: How Arapahoe County’s Public Works Improved Its Organization One Employee at a Time

Arapahoe County recognized that the true value and strength of the public works department was its employees and their commitment to the community. To support employees, they embarked on a multi-prong approach to further empower employees, improve employee engagement, brand the public works image, embrace new technologies, and advance leadership and employee growth through training.Learning Objectives: Demonstrate various methods for creating strong employee engagement and performance.Discuss the types of soft skill development needed by management and supervisors to better interact with and motivate employees.Explore how challenges can, in the end, make their organizations excel and incorporate changes.

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FEMAs Support for Hazard Mitigation and Resiliency: Preparing for the Impacts of Climate Change

FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) program is focused on funding projects that support risk reduction due to natural and man-made disasters. HMA has been expanded to meet the goals of long-term climate resilience, and funding now supports cost-effective project grants that incorporate flood risk reduction and drought mitigation. This presentation will summarize the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant program, review the Climate Resilient Mitigation Actions (CRMA) now eligible for funding, list the benefit-cost analysis for CRMA projects, and provide tips for preparing a grant application.Learning Objectives: Prepare hazard mitigation grant applications that focus on resiliency.Incorporate climate resilience into hazard mitigation planning.Obtain information about FEMA's grant programs.

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Storying Workshop! How to Tell the Public Works Story

Speaker: Bob Allen, Founder and Chief Storytelling Officer, IDEAS; former Disney ImagineerIn Tuesday morning's General Session, Bob Allen explained the components of a powerful story and the mechanisms of good storytelling. Now, let's practice with some of your public works stories! Public works needs to know how to better tell its story – whether it is to gain community support for capital improvement projects, communicate with residents during times of emergency, report on successes and future needs to the city council, or advocate for increased investment in infrastructure and public works services.People respond to good storytelling. This workshop is your opportunity to practice creating the kind of story that you want told about public works.

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