The Premier Magazine For America’s Municipalities
August 2020
WASTE & RECYCLING
INSIDE: Global Environmental Wilmington’s wastewater operations public-private partnership Bolingbrook, IL Permit No. 1939
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Contents
August 2020
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VOL. 11 No. 5
26
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www.themunicipal.com
19 Focus on Waste & Recycling
Focus on Waste & 32 20 Recycling: Wilmington, Del., welcomes Jacobs in one of nation’s largest wastewater partnerships
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Focus on Waste & Recycling: Year-round bulky item collections reduce curbside eyesores
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32
Focus on Waste & Recycling: Do changing markets mean a change to your recycling program?
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Public Safety: Knoxville partners to support homeless during COVID-19
Public Safety: Kosciusko County firefighting is all about sharing
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Maintenance & Operations: How cities handled public meetings amidst a pandemic
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Focus on Waste & Recycling: Missoula integrates composting into wastewater operations
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Public Works: MMWD enhancement projects improve Lagunitas Creek habitat conditions Streets, Highways & Bridges: Technology improves parking in East Lansing, Mich. Parks & Environmental Services: Cities combine parks and literacy
ON THE COVER Dedicated to building affordable, reliable and innovative sweepers, Global Environment Products has created purpose-built equipment that not only clean streets but aid the environment, too. Recently, it achieved its goal of zero emissions with the unveiling of the world’s first electric street sweeper. Learn more on page 12.
The Premier Magazine For America’s Municipalities
INSIDE:
www.themunicipal.com
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THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
August 2020
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AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 7
Departments
Meet our Staff publisher RON BAUMGARTNER rbaumgartner@the-papers.com
editor-in-chief DEB PATTERSON dpatterson@the-papers.com
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Editor’s Note: Sanitation remains at the forefront of physical and nasal health
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From the Cover: Saving the environment, one municipality at a time
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Unique Claims to Fame: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Arco, Idaho
16 38
City Seals: Brewton, Ala.
64 65 68 72 73
Conference Calendar
editor SARAH WRIGHT swright@the-papers.com
publication manager CHRIS SMITH chris@themunicipal.com
senior account executive REES WOODCOCK rees@themunicipal.com
account executive Lalanya Bruner lalanya@themunicipal.com
graphic designer MARY LESTER mlester@the-papers.com
business manager CARRIE GORALCZYK cgoralczyk@the-papers.com
director of marketing KIP SCHUMM kschumm@the-papers.com
Personality Profile: Safety innovator: Walter Barrett prioritizes employees’ well-beings
Product Spotlights News & Notes Top 10: The least stressed states Advertiser Index
mail manager KHOEUN KHOEUTH kkhoueuth@the-papers.com
WWW.THEMUNICIPAL.COM PO Box 188 • 206 S. Main St., Milford, IN 46542 866-580-1138/Fax 800–886–3796 Editorial Ext. 2307; Advertising Ext. 2505, 2408 or 2489
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THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
The Municipal does not knowingly accept false or misleading advertising or editorial content, nor does The Municipal or its staff assume responsibility should such advertising or editorial content appear in any publication. The Municipal reserves the right to determine the suitability of all materials submitted for publication and to edit all submitted materials for clarity and space. The Municipal has not independently tested any services or products advertised herein and has verified no claims made by its advertisers regarding those services or products. The Municipal makes no warranties or representations and assumes no liability for any claims regarding those services or products or claims made by advertisers regarding such products or services. Readers are advised to consult with the advertiser regarding any such claims and regarding the suitability of an advertiser’s products. No reproduction of The Municipal is allowed without express written permission. Copyright © 2020.
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Editor’s Note
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Sanitation remains at the forefront of physical and nasal health
Sarah Wright | Editor
A
s one does when events are cancelled and there is really nowhere to go, you settle on your sofa and binge-watch documentaries, or at least that is what some of us chose to do during social distancing. My selection, enjoyed on YouTube, largely dwelled on history and took an odoriferous turn with the Great Stink of 1858, a nightmarish scenario that makes one grateful for modern-day sanitation. This malodorous catastrophe, which struck London, was the accumulation of many things: untreated human waste, industrial waste, animal carcasses from slaughterhouses, refuse and other equally horrendous things that should never be mixed with drinking water. It was the product of an overtaxed sewer system that would dump into the River Thames, well-meaning efforts to reduce disease by closing cesspits, massive population growth, the increasing use of the toilet, a rather hot summer and a drought that caused the Thames to sink and lay bare its putrid gifts. The prime minister at the time, Benjamin Disraeli, described the Thames as “a stygian pool reeking with ineffable and unbearable horror.” From June to August 1858, residents — rich and poor — could not escape the stench that arose until a break in the weather occurred. The whole event forced parliament to pass a bill funding a brand-new sewer to prevent a reoccurrence. This system was designed by civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette and was constructed from 1859 to 1871. Its completion
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bolstered London physician John Snow’s theory that London’s cholera outbreaks prior to the Great Stink were caused by drinking tainted water rather than by miasma — this discovery saving countless lives. The connection between waste and health continues today, but rather than causing some malady at the moment or intolerable stink, scientists are using wastewater to test large groups of people to determine where to allocate resources in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is an effort spotlighted in Peter Andrey Smith’s June 30, 2020, article, “To Spot Future Coronavirus Flare-Ups, Search the Sewers” in Scientific American. One has to marvel at the foresight to map the pandemic in this manner. Humanity has come a long way in sanitation — progress we should all be proud of, just as we should be proud of the individuals who ensure our sanitation processes happen. The Municipal is highlighting waste and recycling this month, focusing on efforts and innovations cities are undertaking to best serve their constituents. Writer Amanda Demster writes on Wilmington, Del.’s, partnership with Jacobs, which has been described as one of the U.S.’s largest public-private partnerships for wastewater operations. Barb Sieminski will cover two cities’ approaches to large item collections while Lauren Caggiano will share Missoula, Mont.’s, composting operation. Recycling costs remain at the forefront of many minds, and Denise Fedorow spoke with two entities about how markets are changing municipal recycling programs in parts of the country while others remain largely untouched. Stay safe everyone, and may your August not have a pungent breeze!
From The Cover
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Saving the environment,
one municipality at a time By SARAH WRIGHT | The Municipal
Global Environmental Products has always envisioned an all-electric, environmentally friendly street sweeper. The company’s pursuit of this goal led first to a hybrid electric/diesel model in 2011, which was followed in 2018 by its first fuel cell model that used hydrogen. Recently, Global Environmental made the jump to building its first fully electric sweeper — the first 100% electric heavy-duty street sweeper in the U.S. — offering cities a means to better achieve their environmental and emission goals. ABOVE: Electric sweepers allow city fleets to reach emission goals. Global Environmental Products’ all-electric sweepers have been purpose built and thoroughly tested in real-world environments. (Photo provided) LEFT: Since Global Environmental Products’ electric sweepers have no engines, maintenance needs are greatly reduced, saving fleets money. (Photo provided) 12
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The company is one of the leading manufacturers of specialized street cleaning equipment and has been leading the industry with innovative designs that have been tested in real-world environments. “All of our equipment is purpose built. We build sweeper chassis specifically tailored to sweeping environment and are the only manufacturer that does so,” Sebastian Mentelski, a partner in Global Environmental Products, explained. As class 7 vehicles, the electric sweepers offer a lot of power to easily complete the tasks set before them and have gross vehicle weight ratings of between 26,001 to 33,000 pounds. Customers can choose between the three-wheel or four-wheel model. The standard electric machine comes with a SAE 1772 Level II charging system standard, which is 240 volts with 80 amp breaker. This system will charge the sweeper overnight with an average charge time of eight hours — perfect for operators who can plug in the sweeper after they finish their shift. A J1772 SAE Level III supercharging system is available as an option, too, reducing charging time to less than four hours. “Normally when you have large equipment like ours, recharging takes a lot of time,” Mentelski explained. “Supercharging cuts down the charging time. But supercharging stations for municipalities are not quite there in most areas yet. Cities still have a ways to go when it comes to supercharging infrastructure. It’s going to be the future though.” For the now, however, standard chargers have a major benefit. Mentelski said, “You can charge overnight and don’t have to modify the building or the charging grid.” Operators can expect about 14 hours of sweeping time before needing to charge the three-wheel model and 11 hours for the four-wheel one. The sweepers do use regenerative braking, in which they are designed to turn the force generated when drivers slow down into energy, extending sweeping time. In addition to reducing emissions and aiding in the realization of environmental goals, electric sweepers require less maintenance from city fleets. Diesel sweepers require a tremendous amount of maintenance from replacing diesel particulate filters to preventive maintenance services like changing oil, cleaning coolants and radiators, and swapping out fuel filters. Since Global Environmental Products’ electric sweepers have no engines, these steps are made obsolete. The front-mounted cooling system also requires zero maintenance and is self-cleaning. The control system is located above the batteries, allowing for easy accessibility for troubleshooting. “Historically sweepers have been costly in maintenance,” Mentelski said. “With electric, there is zero maintenance when it comes to the engine.” As further cost savings, the electric sweepers use no fuel beyond the electricity used. One of the biggest concerns fleet managers have when it comes to electric vehicles is the life span of batteries as they are so used to cellphone batteries quickly charging and discharging. The batteries used in the all-electric street sweepers slowly charge and discharge, which makes a big difference in their life expectancy. Fleets can expect a battery life of up to 10 years, with an anticipated battery efficiency loss of 15% in eight years of its life span.
Fleets can expect a battery life of up to 10 years, with an anticipated battery efficiency loss of 15% in eight years of its life span. (Photo provided)
“The batteries we currently use are designed to last the length of the tenure cycle,” Mentelski said, adding, “As battery technology gets better, tomorrow’s batteries will not be the same as today’s. Their size and weight will decrease.” Global Environmental Products and its team of engineers have tested the sweepers extensively, including placing them in real-world environments to put them through their paces. Operators and technicians have enjoyed the ease of use these purpose-built machines offer as well as the ability to demonstrate to their communities that their fleets are being environmentally conscious. “Our goal is to convert every municipality to electric sweepers,” Mentelski shared. “Our mission is to save our planet one municipality at a time.” For information, visit Global Environmental Products online at globalsweeper.com.
AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 13
Unique Claims To Fame
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Arco, Idaho By RAY BALOGH | The Municipal
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve was millennia in the making. The 618-square-mile lava field underlying the attraction near Arco, Idaho, was formed during eight major periods of countless eruptions between 2,000 and 15,000 years ago. No volcanoes were involved in the process. The hardened lava was generated solely by seepage and spoutings through the Great Rift, a series of deep cracks in the Earth’s crust, aided by the occasionally earthquake and other tensional geological forces. The next eruptive event — speculated to occur within the next 100 to 900 years — is expected to spew more than one cubic mile of magma onto the Craters of the Moon Lava Field. For now, all is quiet, at least on a surface that, implicit in the attraction’s name, evokes an otherworldliness, one whose “eerie beauty” and barren solemnity belies the subterranean processes roiling beneath the feet of visitors. The national monument was created by executive order on May 2, 1924. Upon signing his order, President Calvin Coolidge said, “This area contains many curious and unusual 14
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phenomena of great educational value and has a weird and scenic landscape peculiar to itself.” The monument was significantly expanded by presidential proclamation in 2000. The portions, then administrated by the National Park Service, were designated Craters of the Moon National Preserve in 2002. The area, which spans five counties, is currently cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management. The lava formations take various forms: • Lava beds/fields: lava, sometimes several layers deep, that cooled down and ossified while sliding down an incline or seeping through a fissure • Spatter cones: accumulations of lava thrown into the air from a geological vent and falling back to earth around the eruption’s location • Lava tubes: natural conduits of cooled rock through which lava once flowed • Lava caves: geological cavities formed by surface solidification of lava flows during the last stages of their activity
The entrance sign to the monument and preserve beckons visitors to enjoy an otherworldly experience in the expansive rugged terrain of Idaho. (Shutterstock/ melissamn)
• Pit craters: depressions formed by the sinking or collapse of the surface lying above a chamber carved by subterranean lava activity Tourists may investigate many of the preserve’s features by car along the 7-mile loop road or during guided or individual hikes along the trailheads, which also serve as cross-country skiing courses during the winter. Despite the ostensibly sullen barrenness of the lava expanses, the area bristles with flora and fauna that have adapted to routine summer soil temperatures of 150 F and extremely harsh aridity. Botanists have catalogued 375 species of plants, including wildflowers, which bloom from early May to late September, that survive through the strategies of drought tolerance, avoidance and escape. The extensive root system of the prevalent dwarf buckwheat — 3 feet wide for the 4-inch-tall flowering plant — encourages the natural
The daytime sky and nighttime stars are visible through the opening of Indian Tunnel, which was carved by a lava flow thousands of years ago. (Shutterstock/Kris Wiktor)
precise formation of evenly spaced vegetation that replicates deliberate plotting by a human gardener. Biologists and park rangers have recorded 2,000 species of insects, eight of reptiles and one amphibian, 169 birds and 48 mammals, many of which are nocturnal. The extent of activity for many of the animals varies with the seasons. Night brings its own rarefied beauty. The remote expanse, shielded by its inhospitable ruggedness against manmade light pollution, has been designated as an International Dark Sky Park, defined by the International Dark Sky Association as “a land possessing an exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is specifically protected for its scientific, natural, educational, cultural heritage and/or public enjoyment.” The association noted the Craters of the Moon Monument and Reserve “sits at the edge of one of the largest remaining ‘pools’ of natural nighttime darkness in the lower 48 U.S. states.” Enticed by accounts from fur trappers about “strange things they had seen,” Robert Limbert explored the region in the 1920s and wrote a series of newspaper and magazine articles to increase public awareness of the area. In a 1924 issue of National Geographic, Limbert solidified the name Craters of the Moon and described its Blue Dragon Flows: “It is the play of light at sunset across this lava that charms the spectator. It becomes a twisted, wavy sea. In the moonlight its glazed surface has a silvery sheen. With changing conditions of light and air it varies also, even while one stands and watches. It is a place of color and silence.” The Robert Limbert Visitor Center is located near the monument’s entrance on U.S. Highway 20/26/93 midway between Arco and Carey, Idaho. The facility includes exhibits, educational films and a natural history bookstore. The center’s hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. The building is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. For more information, call (208) 527-1300 or (208) 527-1335 or visit www.nps.gov/crmo.
Craters of volcanic residue are accessible via a hearty hike along Craters of the Moon trails. (Shutterstock/Stephen Moehle)
Visitors can wend their way through lava tubes, geological conduits that once channeled the flow of lava. (Shutterstock/Lucy Audrin)
Some portions of the Craters of the Moon Monument and Preserve are not for the fainthearted, as evidenced by the dangers signs dotting the area. (Shutterstock/Travel with Co.)
AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 15
City Seals
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Brewton, Ala. The city seal of Brewton, Ala., is a busy one. So busy, in fact, a couple of its nearly dozen components seem to be superfluous. John Angel, now retired from his position as the city’s clerktreasurer, explained the significance of most of the seal’s images: “You see a tree in front of a giant sawmill blade, which portrays the area’s wood and pulp industry. The book and lamp of knowledge stand for education. The ‘City of Brewton’ on a scroll stands for the paper industry. “On the left and right side are blueberry plants, which are grown extensively here. The factory and smokestacks are for industry and the paper mills.” But the image of electrons orbiting a nucleus caused Angel to scratch his head. “I’m not sure why there is an atomic symbol.” Also undefined is the image of a wagon wheel half hidden by the scroll. Brewton, population 5,153, is located in south central Alabama, barely a dozen miles above the Florida Panhandle. It is the county seat of Escambia County. The city was twice listed in “The 100 Best Small Towns in America.” The settlement was originally known as Newport, a way-stop for barges traveling along the nearby Murder and Burnt Corn creeks. In May 1861 the town was established as a train stop by Edmund Troupe Bruton, who built and ran the depot as its first railroad agent. In his honor, the city was officially dubbed Brewton Station — misspelling and all. The rail lines were severed during the Civil War, decimating the local lumber trade. Following the war, a resurrected European demand for lumber revitalized the timber mills. The townsfolk rebuilt the area and incorporated the municipality in 1885 as Brewton, then known as “the richest little town in the South.” For about a decade after its incorporation, Brewton’s boundaries included another incorporated town, Alco, named from the Alabama Lumber Company. Alco was finally officially annexed into Brewton in 1945, and some roads and churches still retain Alco in their names. The city is run by a part-time mayor and five part-time city council members. Every June Brewton hosts the Alabama Blueberry Festival, which features arts and crafts, live entertainment, a children’s fun fair and an auto and motorcycle show. Each New Year’s Eve residents gather to watch the Blueberry Drop. The city is the birthplace of Oak Ridge Boys member William Golden. More than half the local commerce derives from educational services, health care, social assistance, manufacturing and retail trade. For more information, visit www.cityofbrewton.org.
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Focus on: Waste & Recycling
Focus on: Waste &
Recycling
105 million gallons Wilmington, Del.’s, wastewater treatment plant was designed to treat 105 million gallons per day. The city is entering into a partnership with Jacobs/OMI, which will operate its wastewater treatment plant, combined sewer overflow facility and renewable biosolids facility.
40,000 cubic yards Missoula, Mont., diverts this many cubic yards a year in green waste through its composting program.
Learn more about this public-private partnership on page 20.
Read about Missoula’s Garden City Compost operation on page 24.
$125,000
Spring cleanup every April would cost Erie, Pa., about this amount in additional pay for employees. The switch to yearround collection of large items has saved the city money. Read more on page 28.
400 The number of waste treatment plants being sampled to track the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: www.scientificamerican.com/article/to -spot-future-coronavirus-flare-ups-search-the-sewers/
$11,000 Rollinsford, N.H., saved this much in its first year after switching back to multi-stream recycling.
Find out how the markets are shaping municipal recycling on page 32.
32% The Recycling Partnership’s “2020 State of Curbside Recycling Report” found that about 32%, or 11.9 million tons, of the U.S.’s 37.4 million tons of recyclable commodities is being captured.
Source: https://recyclingpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/ dlm_uploads/2020/02/2020-State-ofCurbside-Recycling.pdf
AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL
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Wilmington, Del., welcomes Jacobs in one of nation’s largest wastewater partnerships By AMANDA DEMSTER | The Municipal
A good partnership can be hard to find, but Wilmington, Del., knows precisely what it is looking for in a wastewater facility operator.
Wilmington, Del., has a wastewater treatment plant that is designed to treat 105 million gallons per day; as a regional facility, it takes in wastewater from throughout the northern one-third of Delaware. (Paul Brady Photography/Shutterstock.com)
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Jacobs/OMI will operate Wilmington’s wastewater treatment plant, combined sewer overflow facility and renewable biosolids facility. This partnership between the company and the city will help reduce costs and update facilities. (Photo provided)
The city recently hired Jacobs/OMI to operate its wastewater treatment plant, combined sewer overflow facility and renewable biosolids facility. This has been touted as “one of the country’s largest public-private partnerships for wastewater operations,” according to a press release by Jacobs. To give an idea of the scope of what Jacobs will work with, Wilmington’s wastewater treatment plant is designed to treat 105 million gallons per day and sees an average flow of 68 mgd. Primary treatment capacity is 250 mgd, secondary peak treatment capacity is 168 mgd and tertiary is 340 mgd. This is largely because the plant is regional, taking in wastewater from throughout the northern one-third of Delaware, not just from the city of Wilmington. The city has big goals for its wastewater facilities, and according to department of public works Commissioner Kelly Williams and public works Deputy Commissioner Vincent Carroccia, Jacobs/OMI is just the right firm for the job. “We are looking forward to partnering with Jacobs to bring us into the next century: a wastewater treatment plant that reflects that we are in 2020,” Williams said. “We hope that we can achieve things like net zero and reducing landfill application.” Wilmington will combine its CSO program, wastewater treatment plant contract operations, pump stations and renewable energy
biosolids all under Jacobs, for a savings of $1 million in the first year of the contract. “We found that because everything is interconnected, instead of having different people run different parts of the systems, we can have one clear contractor to really integrate the process in the most efficient way possible,” Williams said. Until the mid-1990s, Wilmington used its own workforce to operate its wastewater facilities. Roughly 22 years ago, the city hired Veolia Water Technologies to take over. “A contract operator offers access that we feel represents a long-term value for the city,” Carrocia said. “We were able to reduce costs and update facilities.” However, what worked 22 years ago does not necessarily work now. When it came time to seek a new contract, the city took the time to assess its current needs and expectations. “We wanted to get our goals straight and prioritize what was important to us,” Williams said. Five companies responded to Wilmington’s request for proposals. After an extensive review process, the list was reduced to three companies capable of operating and maintaining a wastewater treatment plant the size of Wilmington’s. These remaining contractors were brought in for interviews with the city and a final selection was made. One contractor ended up dropping out, leaving Jacobs/OMI and Veolia as the top two, with Jacobs coming out on top.
AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 21
continued from page 21
“The city evaluation team felt that the Jacobs proposal offered the city ratepayers a better long-term value,” Carroccia said. With Jacobs overseeing wastewater operations, the city has high hopes. Its biggest goal is to achieve net-zero status. This will not happen right away. To start things off, Jacobs will fund a renewable energy biofuel study by PJM Interconnection. Depending on the results, the facilities could reach net-zero capability by year five of the new contract. “There’s only one plant in the U.S. that I’m aware of that they’ve been able to get to true net zero, so it’s a fairly lofty goal,” Williams said. Still, the city, along with Jacobs/OMI, is determined to achieve it. Harnessing enough clean, renewable energy to go net zero revolves around sludge. Sludge produces methane gas, which can be converted into a clean biofuel and used to power electricity-generating engines. This could potentially make enough power for Wilmington to sell back to the grid, Williams said. Sludge is difficult to dispose of and typically ends up in a landfill. Wilmington hopes to incorporate a process that will remove the water from the sludge, making it lighter and easier to dispose of or to use as a Class A biosolid for farmland fertilization. “The whole purpose with the the facility is to use our processes and the landfill gasses and dry the sludge and provide enough power to run our plant,” she said. “It’s a pretty lofty goal and we’re working toward making it efficient. It’s energy saving, cost saving, much better for the environment.”
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By year five of the new contract with Jacobs, the wastewater facilities are expected to achieve a net-zero status. (Photo provided) Besides going net zero, Jacobs plans to upgrade the existing supervisory control and data acquisition system for the wastewater treatment plant. The SCADA system provides data on everything from flow rates and pump speeds to temperatures and chemical treatment dosing. Another goal is to improve the combined sewage overflow monitoring system and integrate it into the new SCADA system. While many cities would also need to factor in anticipated increases in use and capacity, this is not a concern for Wilmington. “We’re essentially geographically restrained,” Williams said. “There are not a lot of opportunities to add a lot of growth.” Though the partnership has just begun, Wilmington is already looking ahead. In 20 years, the city will go through the bidding
process again and will need to know requirements going forward. “We’ll ask the company for any value-added types of ideas their engineering staff wants to bring to the table,” Williams said. Due to the nature of wastewater treatment, environmental regulations are often updated. “The basics of wastewater treatment, you bring in sewage and dirty water and you clean it and you discharge it, in our case back to the Delaware River,” Williams said. “It’s a highly regulated process, so compliance with the regulations is paramount. All of the sudden, we may have to address some type of nutrient or some pollutant.” While it is too soon to tell how much the city will save on energy once the wastewater facilities have gone net zero, Wilmington looks forward to what the future will bring.
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Missoula integrates composting into wastewater operations By LAUREN CAGGIANO | The Municipal
The city of Missoula, Mont., purchased EKO Compost in November 2016. You could say it is now organically reaping the rewards of this investment in more ways than one. Gene Connell, who acts as the treatment facility superintendent in the city’s wastewater division, has been with the facility for nearly three decades. He said the move was strategic on the part of the city. EKO Compost was a privately owned public facility adjacent to their operations. They had been the contracted disposal method for biosolids since the ’70s. When the owner retired, he gave first priority to the city to purchase the assets. According to Connell, the city — which has a population of about 73,000 — saw the purchase as a practical public works investment. “We now use the composting operation as a part of the wastewater treatment process,” he explained. “It processes our initial biosolids 24 THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
into Class A composting available to the public and landscapers and such.” To that end — through Garden City Compost — Missoula is providing a valuable public service year-round. What does that return on investment look like? “Our estimated production of classic compost is about 24,000 cubic yards per year,” he said. “And the city of Missoula generates about 2,200 dry metric tons of biosolids, mixed with municipal community green waste, such as lawn trimmings, tree branches, etc. So that’s diverted from the landfill. Under normal circumstances, that stuff would go to the landfill. We’re able to convert that material into compost. We probably divert around
Gene Connell, treatment facility superintendent, has been with the facility for nearly three decades. He estimated Missoula has divert around 40,000 cubic yards a year of green waste through the composting process. (Photo provided)
ABOVE: In addition to diverting waste from the landfill, Missoula is providing a service to its community by turning biosolids into Class A composting, which is available for use by the public and landscapers. (Shutterstock.com)
40,000 cubic yards a year of green waste to become part of the composting process.” Connell is quick to give credit when credit is due. He said the amount of waste being diverted from the landfill has increased with the help of the public and local businesses in the region. Whether it’s used in a residential garden or for commercial purchases, it’s known that the organic material in and of itself yields many benefits across the board, such as cost savings, improved soil quality and reduced carbon footprint. To that end, Connell said the public seems to be aware of the merits Missoula, Mont., purchased EKO Compost in November 2016; it and they’ve responded favorably. This is especially encouraging when has since become a part of the city’s wastewater treatment promistrust and cynicism of government can get in the way of progress cess. (Photo provided) at the municipal level. “It’s gratifying that the public has come around to really appreciate the composting operation,” he said. “We’ve put a lot of capital into it According to Connell, they were able to address the pervasive notand cleaned it up. And our sales have increased every year since we in-my-backyard sentiment local governments often face from citizens. started to manage the operation.” “You know, people will tolerate a certain amount … of smell,” he said. Speaking of money, Connell said the city was previously paying “But once people get angry, they break this certain threshold and will EKO Compost about half a million dollars annually to dispose of bio- speak up. For example, there were periods of time where we would get solids. Now that it doesn’t have that line item in the budget, the city hundreds of complaint calls. But right now, we receive maybe five per can use that money to fund operating expenses. year total for our wastewater treatment plant and composting facility.” “Our goal is to run the operation at net zero, and we have been Beyond keeping the public happy, Connell said local governments achieving that,” he said. “We’re breaking even on composting sales.” looking to take on a similar undertaking need to take a calculated Despite the program’s success, Connell said it hasn’t come without approach in order to succeed. challenges — especially in the early days. For one, there were some “Develop an engineered system properly and maximize the efficiencompliance issues associated with EKO Compost, which soured its cies in material handling so you don’t have to move material more reputation with the community. So, the city had to do some work on than once to come up with a nice engineered system that is as efficient its end to ensure the odor was controlled. From the outset, it made as possible,” he said. “That gives you every advantage to lower costs, an investment in capital expenditures to do just that. and it makes the operation viable.” AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 25
M Focus on: Waste & Recycling
Year-round bulky item collections reduce curbside eyesores By BARB SIEMINSKI | The Municipal
In 1997, Erie, Pa., started a single large item program, which allowed residents to discard large furniture items — broken tables, old couches, etc. — with their normal household trash. Years later, in May 2018, the city began a threemonth large item pickup pilot program that went very well. “It has been very successful,” said Mayor Joe Schember. “We now do it year-round, and I think it’s much better for the residents because they don’t have to hold things for a certain time every year. It’s also easier for our refuse department because we would collect it four weeks every April and that cost us about $125,000 in additional pay for employees to do that. It has probably saved us at least three-quarters of that amount in 28 THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
expense because now the collectors don’t have to work overtime; they do it just as part of their pickup routine. We limit the number so it can be done in an eight-hour day. The residents like it because they don’t have to hold onto these items and it saves the city taxpayers’ money.” Schember recommended that other municipalities take a look at implementing such a program in their own areas. “I definitely encourage other cities to investigate the benefits of this program,” said
Schember, who decided to continue the pilot permanently. “There was only one problem that we had, and that problem was the April after it was tested and then implemented; a lot of people put stuff out without calling because that’s what they were used to doing. Another problem that this solved was during the four weeks when people were allowed to put out one large item, some residents filled their yards with items, and that was a recurring problem every year prior to when we implemented the year-round opportunity; so that first April after we implemented it, the problem did recur again, but by the second April, everyone was used to the new system so that obstacle went away.”
LEFT: Workers collect large items in Muscatine, Iowa. A future program the city might launch would divert less-damaged and more-repairable curbside items from the trash and to organizations or individuals who could repair or repurpose them. (Photo provided by Kevin Jenison, Muscatine, Iowa) RIGHT: A Muscatine truck heads to the transfer station with its bulky item cargo. (Photo provided by Kevin Jenison, Muscatine, Iowa) Kevin Jenison, communication manager of Muscatine, Iowa, began a new program in lieu of past spring pickups. Now, no more unsightly curb items sit out along with the garbage collections. “The bulky waste curbside collection has been very successful,” said Jenison. “We launched the program in February expecting to schedule no more than 20 pickups a day. We did have problems at first with people putting out items without scheduling and ‘pickers’ going through and littering material around that made it dangerous for our staff, but that has calmed down significantly. In fact, we have waived the limitations for scheduling pickups — you can now schedule as many as you want as far out as you want to meet the residents’ needs — and increased the number of collections per day to 40. At the present time, the program has become so popular that we are currently scheduling collections two to three weeks out as earlier collection days are full.” Jenison said he began the city’s promotion with a press release and social media posts while placing a link predominantly on the front page of the city of Muscatine’s website. “We update the statistics from the collection Muscatine’s year-round bulky item pickup, which started in February, has been so popuprogram and remind residents of the colleclar that collections are being scheduled two to three weeks out. (Photo provided by Kevin tion rules through a combination of social Jenison, Muscatine, Iowa) media and press releases as needed,” said Jenison. “I believe the success of the program in replacing spring cleanup week has a lot to do with the customer service ability of our “Those working from home and those who how far out a resident can schedule one or were displaced by business closures found more multiple pickups.” staff and word of mouth.” Doing all this is difficult enough, but when time to finally get around to cleaning out Residents were asked to call the refuse the garage, basement, attic or other parts collection department two days before their COVID-19 hit, the city’s woes increased. “When the government asked those who of the household. This created an increased regular collection day to schedule a curbside could stay home to help slow the spread of demand for the service, and that demand was bulk waste pickup and leave a message with the virus, an opportunity was created for the instrumental in increasing the number of col- their name and number. A staff member residents to ‘clean house,’” observed Jenison. lections per day and eliminating the limits on would return the call and confirm a time AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 29
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for collection, with the city scheduling 20 bulky waste collections per day. Pile size cannot exceed 10 feet by 4 feet by 2 feet and items must be set out by 5 a.m. the day of pickup but not before 4 p.m. the day before collection, according to Jenison. “As far as useful items, we have seen a lot of furniture that just needs a little loving to be made functional or repurposed,” said Jenison. “One of the ideas that the staff is working on is taking those items that we collect that just need a little repair and have an area set up where people can come look over the items to see if they wanted to take them and repurpose them. The other thought would be to collect the less-damaged and more-repairable items and donate them to an organization or a shop that could fix them for people in need of furniture. But he added, “Those plans are still being developed.” Residents are happy to know that this is a free service the town is offering. “Originally, residents who have refuse collection service through the city of Muscatine were offered three free bulky waste collections per calendar year,” said Jenison. “It was determined to keep this service free of charge to those who already are being charged for refuse collection as we expanded it to throughout the year. “Area residents still have the option to take bulky waste to the transfer station, but the minimum tipping fee is $7 per load. So many residents are opting to schedule a free pickup instead of taking the material to the transfer station.”
A Muscatine, Iowa, employee picks up a discarded dishwasher as part of the city’s large item pickup. (Photo provided by Kevin
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M Focus on: Waste & Recycling
Do changing markets mean a change to your recycling program? By DENISE FEDOROW | The Municipal
Over the last few years, the market for exporting our recycled materials has changed — so does that mean municipal recycling programs have changed, too?
The answer to that question varies depending on location and the size of the city or town. Some, like Rollinsford, N.H., have switched back to multi-stream recycling, while others in organizations, like Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, say single-stream recycling is here to stay. Back to multi-stream Rollinsford Town Administrator Caroline Kendall said the town, population 2,527 at last census, has had several recycling programs going back to the ’90s — mainly paper, cardboard, tin cans and glass before going to single-stream recycling five years ago. The town had a provider who would pick up the materials every week and charged a flat rate. The provider would then find a market or the best disposal method for the material. She said at first “single-stream was a happy, wonderful thing.” But then the price the town was being charged kept going up as did the charge per ton for shipping. “They cited what was going on in China — the market crashed and he said he was operating at a loss. Our agreement allowed for the way he was charging us, but we hadn’t budgeted for all the extra fees,” she said.
LEFT: Several bales of varied types of plastics are shown at the Rollinsford, N.H., transfer station, where they wait to be sent to a local or regional vendor that handles plastics. Rollinsford has assumed responsibility for finding markets for its recyclables with the help of a nonprofit agency. (Photo provided)
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They were being charged $295 a month for one haul a week and then a $30 a ton fee on top of that, and it was that fee that kept increasing. “China was no longer willing to take our waste because their stream was growing and they said American recyclables are dirtier,” Kendall recounted what she’d been told. In 2017 transfer station manager Ed Walsh came on board and started looking for alternatives. The town decided to go back to multi-stream recycling, and to prepare for that switch, Walsh found a used horizontal baler for baling plastic and aluminum. The board of selectmen approved the purchase. Then separate bins for paper, cardboard, tin and aluminum were built and set up. “It ended up as a $25,000 investment,” he said. A nonprofit organization, Northeast Resource Recovery Association, has helped a lot in this endeavor. Walsh said there’s a scrap metal recycling facility close by for tin cans and aluminum and it’s able to truck those materials. NRRA also found a place that would take glass, which would be used in a glass aggregate underneath the road as gravel. So instead of paying $65 a ton to throw it away, it is taking the glass for $35 a ton. Kendall was concerned about not being able to guarantee that residents’ items would be recycled, especially if the provider couldn’t find a market. However, with the changes Rollinsford has since made, where it is actually taking the recyclables directly to local or regional markets, she feels more confident about that. “There’s still not a market for single-stream where the quality of goods are not great. I’m not saying it isn’t (being recycled), but I can’t guarantee that it is; it depends on location. It’s a known unknown,” she said. For paper, cardboard and plastics, Walsh said the NRRA helps broker resources and does price shopping for Rollinsford. He believes most states have an organization similar to NRRA that could assist other cities and towns considering doing their own. When asked how the public responded to the change from single-stream back to having to sort their recyclables, Walsh said, “This time around they adjusted quite well.” The town had to shut down the recycling program for two-weeks while it made the transition to get the bins and equipment in place, and people were upset.
Rollinsford, N.H., transfer station employees load the horizontal baler that the town invested in to bale plastics and aluminum cans prior to shipping them to be recycled. (Photo provided)
“A lot of product went in the trash during those two weeks, and residents were really upset things were being thrown away. So when we opened, the floodgates opened,” he said. Rollinsford had been able to see both cost savings and avoidance as well as make a little money, too. Walsh said in the first year, the town saved $11,000 in transportation costs alone and in 2019 made $1,900 from recycling aluminum cans. Rollinsford shipped over 7,000 pounds of aluminum cans. He admitted $1,900 isn’t a lot of money, but any amount earned on top of cost savings and cost avoidance helps. “You’re not going to balance the budget with this, but you can make a few bucks,” Walsh said. Kendall said, “Think about the fact we were paying $250 every time a compactor came for a load of trash plus $65 a ton so there’s value in not having waste. Trash is the most expensive way to dispose of items. So this is not so much about making money as it is about avoiding cost.” Walsh added, “On plastic we barely break even, but we’re still saving cost. Whether we’re making a few bucks or breaking even,
it’s better than being charged and we have a better chance of knowing it’s being recycled.” One of Walsh’s employees sorts through the plastic and aluminum and takes out what doesn’t belong. Kendall admitted it’s a little more work, “but if you want to reap the best financial benefit out of the market, you need to stay nimble and pay attention — that’s Ed’s job. We’re still doing better financially than when we were just doing single-stream.” Kendall also noted Rollinsford has seen an increase in both trash and recycling as many people were home during the pandemic and cleaning house and producing waste that normally would’ve been at the workplace. When asked about the benefits of singlestream versus multi-stream, both Kendall and Walsh didn’t see many benefits for single-stream other than it keeps people moving through the recycling station faster and it’s convenient. The detriments they cited were cost and the unknown about whether the materials are actually being recycled. They said the benefits of multi-stream are cost avoidance and savings and the ability AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 33
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to make a few dollars as well as have the confidence the items are being recycled and not thrown in the trash. Kendall said with recyclables separated out they’re able to address changing prices of certain commodities and shop around without having to involve the entire system. Kendall said NRRA helps Rollinsford understand the market both in pricing and what it’ll accept and how it’ll accept those materials. For example, one place won’t accept black plastic but another vendor will. Making it work Walsh advises to make a shift like this work, “Do your research.” He wishes the town would’ve researched equipment more before jumping in to make it easier. He also advised getting employees on board with the program and finding out what state organizations might be able to offer assistance and resources. “NRRA made my job easier — they were a tremendous help.” As a smaller community, Kendall noted Rollinsford’s transition was easier for residents since they already have to drop their trash off, too. Kendall added, “Regardless of the size of your community, don’t be resigned to be a victim of the market. Find innovative approaches within your region — there’s a lot of room to partner with other communities to share the load and the cost.” She said, “This is more than a recycling problem; it’s a waste problem. Landfills are filling up. Part of the conversation has to be about manufacturing and consumers — less packaging and buying in bulk. Recycling is not the whole answer; reducing waste should be first.” She added, “If consumers knew how some packaging isn’t recyclable, they’d likely change their buying habits and that might compel companies to make changes.” Single-stream is here to stay On the other hand, many communities and organizations say singlestream has encouraged more recycling and is here to stay, especially if curbside pickup of single-stream is offered. Kendall said neighboring Dover, N.H., offers single-stream curbside, and the city’s contract went up $1 million, but they’re “stuck in consumer behavior.” Wayne Gjerde, recycling market development coordinator with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, said in Minnesota and the Midwest, “If they haven’t yet switched to single-stream, they’re going to.” He noted, “Markets have been pretty good to Minnesota and the Midwest.” Additionally, the area has plastic handling facilities as well as cardboard facilities. “Are people going to switch back from single-stream? Probably not,” he said. The recycling facilities are more technologically advanced with robotics and optic scanners that are helping “to meet China standards even if they’re not shipping there.” That standard is .5% or lower contamination, which is down from the 8% to 10% previously deemed acceptable. He agreed the market place is always changing. He said mixed paper and cardboard is doing well; higher grade writing paper not so much. The material recycling facilities are sometimes owned by local municipalities and operated by employees, while others are privately owned. Some are putting in intermediary processing centers to sort out things that don’t belong before sending them on. Gjerde said, “If 100 tons of
34 THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
The Rollinsford, N.H., transfer station is shown with bales of aluminum cans that are ready to be shipped to a vendor or recycling facility. (Photo provided)
material comes in to the MRF, 85 tons need to go to market — they can’t have more than 15% residual.” A lot of a recycling program’s success has to do with educating people. Gjerde mentioned how an entirely filled file cabinet ended up at an MRF. Car parts, garden hoses, electronics and batteries, especially rechargeable batteries, do not belong in recycling. “A whole MRF burned down because rechargeable batteries caught fire,” he said. “There are other ways to dispose of those things — call Earth911.” Municipal officials need to look at their own habits, with Gjerde asking, “Do you purchase recycled paper? Without that market, facilities can’t survive.” He gave an example of a company in Minnesota that is now making plastic harbor piers out of recycled plastic for a municipality, which is better than wood. “It may cost a little more up front, but most cities and towns are trying to look forward like building roads that last 30 years. And those
Minnesota’s recycling industry at a glance Minnesota’s recycling industry has created more than 9,000 jobs and added an additional $2.98 billion to the state’s economy in the early 2000s. The recycling industry also reportedly creates an additional 10,200 jobs in indirect industries. This robust industry includes companies like Master Mark Plastics, which creates patio furniture out of milk jugs; Nylon Board Manufacturing, which makes products from recycled carpet; Anchor Glass, the biggest consumer of recycled glass; and Bituminous Roadwork, which is working with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and Office of Environmental Association to use recycled shingles in hot mix asphalt for the roadways. OEA provides $12.5 million in S.C.O.R.E. funding to support the state’s recycling infrastructure.
companies are employed by your neighbors. Recycling is a very important part of the economy,” he said. When asked about the benefits of dual- or multi-stream recycling, he replied it might be a benefit if they could sort out the materials even further like fiber cardboard separated from containers, for example. But he believes single-stream recycling has encouraged greater recycling. Costs can be offset by having less trash and paying less for trash pickup. Gjerde added much of what is going to landfills is compostable, and some cities in Minnesota have curbside pickup of organics, while others have drop-off stations. Getting residents on board is equally important, especially when it comes to having them clean their recycled materials. “Rinse and recycle your cans and bottles. They don’t need to be sparkling clean, but it’d be a big help to not have a can filled half way with beans for example,” he said. If an item is made from multiple materials — like toys — it’s likely not recyclable. He encourages people to remember to first reduce, then reuse and lastly recycle. “It’s a circular economy — don’t throw away a job,” he said. So whether your community is offering multi-stream or singlestream recycling, “sustainability is here to stay.” Consider all aspects of recycling: purchasing habits, educating the community about better recycling habits, etc. Gjerde said, “It is possible to be good for the environment and good for the economy.
Much of Minnesota and the Midwest uses single-stream recycling. (Photo provided)
AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 35
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Personality Profile
Safety innovator: Walter Barrett prioritizes employees’ well-beings By JULIE YOUNG | The Municipal
A
s the organizational manager for the city of San Antonio, Texas’, Solid Waste Management Department, Walter Barrett is the safety, reliability and quality assurance chief who oversees the training of nearly 700 employees who serve 358,000 households on a weekly basis and are routinely faced with high-risk conditions. Not only is he deeply involved with the acquisition and screening of new hires, he works tirelessly to reduce the amount of on-the-job accidents, ensure everyone on the team knows what their job is and, most importantly, how to execute it safely.
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“Our team’s safety and morale is the most important thing, and we want them to feel good about what they do, knowing that they are making a difference for the larger community,” he said. Barrett got his start in municipal management in the public works department of Tampa, Fla., in 1998; however, he quickly transitioned to the solid waste department where he served in a number of capacities, including as acting manager over the residential collection program for the city. In 2008, he took a leap of faith and moved to the Lone Star State when the city of San Antonio beckoned. He joined the safety and training program the following year.
ABOVE: In his role as organizational manager for the city of San Antonio’s Solid Waste Management Department, Walter Barrett has prioritized employees’ well-beings and strived to keep them safe, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo provided)
“All totaled, I have 22 years experience in solid waste management,” he said. “I took a chance and I’m glad I did.” Showing appreciation and building morale That experience has paid off. In 2019, San Antonio’s Solid Waste Management Department received the Best Safety Innovation Award from the Solid Waste Association
A San Antonio refuse truck stands at the ready. (Photo provided)
of North America. The award is given to a to develop efficient practices that promote department that has implemented a safety employee and workplace welfare. management system that challenges the “This system allows us to conduct audits status quo, creates collaboration and engages and review those results with the team to employees at all levels and functions. Bar- make sure that the system is working,” he said. rett’s efforts not only reduced accidents by 47% and injuries by 50% but also led to a 28% When lives are threatened reduction in absenteeism. While there are always challenges when it “By implementing our safety management comes to maintaining workplace safety stansystem, we minimize risks while improving dards, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a overall performance within the department. unique opportunity to shore up safety meaSince 2015 we have worked to create a virtu- sures, give employees the proper PPE gear, ally seamless process where everyone knows while maintaining the high-quality services what their role is and how to execute it,” he that residents have come to expect from the department. said. “The coronavirus was completely new and It wasn’t always easy. In 2016, the city manager at the time wanted to get the department no one knew how to navigate it,” he said. down to a zero-accident status, and while “There was a lot of concern from the team, Barrett and his team worked hard to address which is understandable. Although there is a number of behaviors, they learned that the always refuse on the ground, we don’t want goal was not sustainable and a more thought- our employees to risk their lives by touchful process was required. ing it, so we made sure that they had masks, “We hadn’t developed the consistency that gloves, were practicing social distancing as we needed to achieve long-term improve- much as possible and taking care to clean the ment,” he said. trucks so that they felt good about coming to Still, he was committed to making lasting work. We already make safety a priority for change, and it was that commitment that put our team, but now we had to make sure that Barrett and his team on a path to achieve ISO we were doing those precautions on a much 45001 certification, making San Antonio the higher level.” first municipality in the world to earn such Barrett said the pandemic gave him a a distinction. The ISO 45001, released in crash course in crisis leadership, but it also March 2018, is an occupational health and reinforced his commitment to look out for safety management system that outlines the employees whose lives were literally in his requirements necessary for an organization hands.
Barrett has 22 years of experience in the solid waste management field. (Photo provided)
“You have to give them information that they can take home at the end of the day,” he said. “You want to make sure that you are adhering to the policies and recommendations that will help keep them healthy and you have to lead by example. People remember how you make them feel, and while this has been a difficult time for everyone, we’ve done our best to keep our employees as safe as possible.” While the recognition from SWANA is nice, Barrett said his success and the success of his safety management system is about one thing and one thing only. “To ensure our employees go home in the same condition as when they arrived at work,” he said.
AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 39
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Public Safety
M
Kosciusko County ďŹ reďŹ ghting is all about sharing
From left are Indiana Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory firefighters Tristan Pass, Jacob Johnson and Zach Gardner. The trio set up braces, stabilizers and extrication equipment from a technical rescue vehicle. The department makes this available to other towns and counties as well. (Photo by David Hazledine)
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THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
By DAVID HAZLEDINE | The Municipal
At 5:15 a.m. Feb. 28 a fire swept through J&B Pallett Co. in Warsaw, Ind., seat of Kosciusko County. Units from WarsawWayne Fire Territory stations were on the scene in minutes, but an hour later calls were still going out to stations all over the county. Volunteer firefighters from as far north as Milford and Syracuse joined Warsaw, Winona Lake and Leesburg departments to quell the blaze with no injuries or loss of life. The fire was just one example of what Warsaw Fire Chief Michael Wilson called the “unique situation” currently benefitting Kosciusko County residents’ fire protection. Thirty-five career firefighters and 20 parttimers in three Warsaw stations with access to state-of-the-art equipment backed by budgets comprising several million dollars are joined by roughly 375 volunteers from the Kosciusko County Fireman’s Association “all with a common goal of taking care of their community,” said Wilson, which amounts to roughly 80,000 people. On a large commercial fire, Wilson explained, “We rely on all the volunteers to assist in bringing manpower.” Warsaw returns the favor by providing equipment volunteer departments are unable to afford. “We are extremely fortunate to have the allotment of the budgets that we have,” Wilson emphasized. Warsaw-Wayne, which became a fire territory in 2009, assists greater Kosciusko County in hazardous material responses, fire investigation, rope rescue, confined space rescue, trench rescue and EMS. Among the departments receiving assistance is Claypool Fire Department, which protects the Louis Dreyfuss Agricultural Industries’ biodiesel refinery, the largest of its kind in the world. Warsaw-Wayne also reaches beyond Kosciusko County as part of a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System: MABAS 201 Technical Rescue
North Webster-Tippecanoe Township Fire Chief Jeremy Likens stands beside his coat. Turnout gear, which includes coat, hat, boots, gloves and pants, can cost between $2,500-$3,000. (Photo by David Hazledine)
Another expensive vehicle with which Warsaw assists other departments is this ladder truck, fitted with a 100-foot extension ladder. Conversely, Warsaw often depends on other largely volunteer departments around Kosciusko County to assist on larger commercial fires. (Photo by David Hazledine)
Team, which assists seven counties and a population of 640,000. Smaller departments in the county, on the other hand, may not be able to afford a paid career department or equipment such as a ladder truck or a technical rescue vehicle,
which cost around $1 million and $680,000 respectively. Volunteer agencies, said Wilson, have limited budgets and must plan out for years in advance to the best of their abilities. A department cannot just change a few air packs, AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 43
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but all of them, so if a firefighter goes down or has a problem, they can hook into another pack. This goes for many pieces of equipment. “You’re not only talking about an apparatus, but everything that goes with it,” Wilson explained. At the same time, the all-important volunteer system has begun to decline in the last decade. For full-time Warsaw firefighter Jacob Johnson, firefighting goes back four generations. Volunteer departments across the county are similarly supported by “family tradition.” Unfortunately, according to the National Fire Protection Association, the number of volunteer firefighter numbers for 2016 and 2017 are the lowest recorded levels since the group began the survey in 1983. Wilson reckons about 90% of his paid firefighters are also volunteers for their own communities; however, he explained, “Volunteers are on the decline, we have to help bring that back up.”
Brian Haines, right, training officer for Milford Volunteer Fire Department in Indiana, leads a training exercise designed to help volunteers acclimate themselves to new air packs featuring upgrades such as thermal imaging cameras, voice amplifiers and PASS devices, which sound an alarm when the wearer does not move for more than 30 seconds. (Photo by David Hazledine)
New challenges for volunteer fire departments with limited funding, it’s hard to keep up with cost of $440,000, nearly $100,000 lower than the original estimate after Haines pored over In the last 20 years, the numbers of volunteers the changes.” nationally have fallen 15% while the number Just ask Milford Volunteer Fire Depart- 98 pages of specs, cutting features deemed of calls has increased 300%, according to the ment Chief Todd Haines. In 2019, inspections unnecessary. National Volunteer Fire Council. A majority found Milford’s self-contained breathing And, as Rebecca Alles, Van Buren Townof Kosciusko County departments depend on apparatuses — SCBAs — no longer met state ship trustee, pointed out, the truck will also volunteers for some, if not all, of their boots standards, and the department needed be used in mutual agreement scenarios, benon the ground. $140,000 to purchase new masks, air packs efitting the entire county. North Webster-Tippecanoe Township Fire and 46 air bottles. “What isn’t expensive?” Likens asked rhetorDepartment Chief Jeremy Likens has been a New building materials have led to highly ically before enumerating approximate costs. firefighter for 27 years and chief since 2004. toxic fires, Haines told the Milford council: A firefighter’s basic turnout gear — helmet, In that time, he said he has observed a “sharp “We have to be very passionate about this as hat, coat, pants, gloves and boots — runs from decline.” One cause, he believes, is the exten- firemen.” $2,500-$3,000. sive training volunteers need, which takes Among the SCBA upgrades were thermal North Webster replaced its air packs in time from their families and jobs. imaging cameras, voice amplifiers and Per- 2018. “It took a long time to replace them,” Likens also cited North Webster’s distance sonal Alert Safety Systems, which alert nearby said Likens. The best departments can do, Scott agreed, from major employers as a drawback. Vol- firefighters with an alarm when the device unteers, he said, already have to travel for does not detect movement from the wearer is “keep an eye on the equipment schedule work, and employers may not be willing to for 30 seconds. and spread the cost out as much as possible.” let people rush out of work to help stop a fire. Milford Fire, which has enjoyed a tightly The problem is, as Likens observed of his “Society’s changed from 50 years ago,” said knit relationship with the community for new air packs, “In several years, there could Turkey Creek Fire Territory Chief Mickey generations, is partially funded by a com- be changes.” New building materials will Scott. Volunteers worked locally and most bination of entities: Milford Town Council mean new regulations, new equipment and came from one income families, he explained. and Van Buren and Jefferson townships. new training. “It’s challenging to keep up with Building materials have also changed dras- And they were all needed, along with a grant that.” tically in that time. New synthetics, plastics from Kosciusko Community Foundation and In spite of generous donations and local and glues are good for builders but terrible for anonymous donors, to meet the cost. fundraising, the vast percentage of funding In fact, one stumbling block was much of comes from taxes. firefighters when they burn, requiring constant changes in equipment — particularly Van Buren Township’s cumulative tax fund “Taxpayers need to understand that equipbreathing protection — which drive up costs. was already earmarked for a badly needed ment is their equipment,” Scott emphasized. “The cost of equipment has just exploded,” pumper truck. The truck will likely be pur- “It belongs to all of us.” said Likens. “If you are a small department chased before the end of 2020 at an estimated 44 THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
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How cities handled public meetings amidst a pandemic
By MAGGIE KENWORTHY | The Municipal
The COVID-19 pandemic produced a plethora of obstacles for cities around the country to navigate. Not only were municipal leaders working on ways to keep their citizens healthy, but they also had to continue local government operations. One of the more difficult hurdles was the issue of holding public meetings while abiding by social distancing guidelines.
Port Orchard, Wash., experienced an uptick in attendance when it switched to virtual meetings in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in the attendance numbers were new faces. Pictured is Ross Point, which overlooks Port Orchard. (Shutterstock.com) 46
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Many local governments turned to the video conferencing program Zoom to help conduct public meetings during this time. One of the many cities taking advantage of this technology was Port Orchard, Wash. Before the pandemic, all of Port Orchard’s public meetings were held in person at city hall. While meetings were recorded, the recordings were only published after the meeting was completed. This meant that citizens had to submit comments before the meeting or attend in person to share their opinions. “Fortunately, at the beginning of the year, we were in the midst of an initiative to digitalize our records and go paperless at our council meetings. We had issued all of our council members Microsoft Surfaces,” said Port Orchard Mayor Rob Putaansuu. “That resulted in us having the tools necessary to conduct virtual meetings.” The virtual meetings did still receive public comments, which meant that constituents were also adapting to the new public meetings. “We’re probably getting more attendance,” said Putaansuu. “We have a core of a handful of people that come (to physical meetings), but we have actually different people coming into our (virtual) meetings and commenting that we don’t typically see at an in-person meeting. I think it’s working, and I think it might be a tool even when we come back together to utilize some form of this live feed format going forward.” Despite the sudden switch and a slight learning curve when it came to using new technology, the meetings were successful. “I don’t have a council member under 50 and some are 60 and 70 years old, so it was a learning curve,” said Putaansuu. “We had a few laughs and chuckles over things like sharing screens and turning that feature off when it’s done. It’s just different than how we’ve conducted our business before so we’re having to learn some new skills.”
Lakewood, Colo., has used its website, Lakewood Speaks, to allow constituents to see staff presentations, review meeting materials, ask city staff members questions and even submit comments for public record. Pictured is US 6 in Lakewood. (Mr.schultz via English Wikimedia Commons; creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
Once cities were forced to host virtual public meetings, many representatives realized that this is a practice that should happen all the time. “This has been difficult for our community, and it was important to us to continue to perform our job and conduct business in the eye of the public,” said Putaansuu. While most governments were coming up with new ways to conduct their public meetings, not much changed for Lakewood, Colo. In 2016, representatives of the Lakewood Planning Department began looking at ways to achieve more community engagement during the public meetings. “We decided that we really wanted to find a way to replicate the public hearing process online because we weren’t seeing a lot of participation in our planning commission meetings. We weren’t getting good representation from the public in terms of diversity in opinion, and age diversity, and racial diversity and economic diversity,” said Lakewood Planning Director Travis Parker. “The thought was everything else in life you can do on your phones these days … but people can’t participate in our government very well remotely.” At that time, representatives of Lakewood began searching for a software centered around online public hearings, but their search came up short. They knew the need was out there, so they met with
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Once the pandemic hit, Lakewood, Colo., was able to easily embed a Zoom live stream into its already-established online public meeting platform Lakewood Speaks. Here you can see the Lakewood City Council meeting that was held virtually on June 8. (Screenshot https:// lakewoodspeaks.org/agendas/city-council-meeting-june-8-2020-7-00-pm)
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During the June 16 virtual city council meeting in Port Orchard, Wash., Mayor Rob Putaansuu held a small flag while the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. (Screenshot https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=tTSrKYt0L54&t=3820s)
a web development company, People Speak, which came up with the idea of LakewoodSpeaks.org. Lakewood Speaks is an online platform used for the planning department and city council meetings. Through this website, constituents can see staff presentations, review meeting materials, ask city staff members questions and even submit comments for public record. The city started using the Lakewood Speaks in 2017, and now that the pandemic hit, many other cities are teaming up with People Speak to create their own online platforms. According to data collected by the city in 2019, 75% of citizens say that Lakewood Speaks increases the city’s transparency and 94% say they will use the online platform to participate in future hearings. Of the total public participation, 88% of it was done online, with 12% still being done during the in-person meetings.
The city pays a subscription for the online platform and the technology integrated with the existing camera system. And the good news is that the portal doesn’t eliminate the old-fashioned methods. Citizens are still invited to attend the public meetings, and anyone can print the material off of the website if they prefer paper documents. When COVID-19 hit, all Lakewood had to do was socially distance during their meetings via a private Zoom call. This meant that their Zoom was unattended by citizens and took away the security issues. But, citizens were still able to participate before the meeting by leaving comments or during the meeting by watching the embedded Zoom meeting live. “Everybody’s using Zoom as a Band-Aid during COVID, but I think COVID has really shown the need that wasn’t clear to cities before 2020: of allowing people to participate from home and participate online,” said Parker. “I think that’s really brought that to the forefront, and this program and others that may be like it out there are fundamental, and I think every city is going to be doing something like this from here on out.”
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Public Works
MMWD enhancement projects improve Lagunitas Creek habitat conditions By NICHOLETTE CARLSON | The Municipal
As the 2011 Lagunitas Creek stewardship plan comes to an end, Marin Municipal Water District begins to make watershed enhancement plans for the 2021 stewardship plan.
Elizabeth DeLuca and Sterling Meus, both members of the Watershed Stewards Program, an AmeriCorps Program with the California Conservation Corps., wade through the creek conducting a survey to observe and count spawning adult coho salmon and steelhead. (Photo provided by Gregory Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District)
Keana Richmond, kneeling, and Alex Johanson, standing in waders, both members of the Watershed Stewards Program, demonstrate to a group of interested onlookers how to remove the “otolith” from a coho salmon carcass found in Lagunitas Creek. The coho salmon all die after they spawn. The otoliths, the equivalent to an ear bone, can be retrieved and are sent to a professor at U.C. Berkeley who analyzes their chemical composition to determine the watershed that the fish were born in. (Photo provided by Gregory Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District)
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One of the responsibilities of the Marin Municipal Water District is diverting water from the Lagunitas Creek basin to provide a water supply for over 190,000 residents throughout southern and central Marin County. Within the county, the district operates seven water supply reservoirs, five of which are within the Lagunitas Creek watershed. These diversions are regulated by the State Water Resources Control Board, which set order WR95-17 requiring MMWD to implement mitigation measures addressing the impact of water diversions at Kent Lake and the effects on the creek’s fishery resources. These mitigation measures and requirements make up many of the watershed enhancement projects seen in the last 10 years of the 2011 plan. MMWD has set up instream flows, upstream migration flows, water year classifications, special circumstances, ramping, stream gages, reporting and temperature projects, which help to both enhance the watershed and meet the ongoing requirements of the order. In 1997, habitat enhancements were completed and monitoring was conducted to measure the status, trends and habitat conditions of fish and shrimp populations. The stewardship plan in 2011 addressed actions that needed to be taken to benefit aquatic resource populations in Lagunitas Creek, specficially coho salmon, steelhead and California freshwater shrimp. Gregory Andrew, recently retired MMWD fishery program manager, explained the district’s work with instream flows: “MMWD releases water from Kent Lake as needed to maintain the minimum instream flows stipulated in order WR95-17. The flows are intended to benefit the life stages of coho, steelhead and the freshwater shrimp.” Upstream migration flows are completed four times a year between Nov. 1 and Feb. 3. These upstream flows involve a continuous flow of at least 35 cubic feet per second for three consecutive days. This ensures there is sufficient water for adults to swim upstream to spawn. Water classification is done twice a year by Jan. 1 and April 1, and labels the time period as either normal or dry, depending on precipitation levels. Normal levels require 48 inches at the Jan. 1 reading and at least 28 inches at the April 1 reading. Any levels under this are
The footings for a new arched culvert being constructed on a tributary to Lagunitas Creek that will allow salmon to swim upstream through the culvert to spawn in the creek above. The damaged old round culvert had to be dug out first, and the Marin Municipal Water District largest water supply transmission line passes over this culvert crossing, so it had to be drained and an entire section cut out for this fish habitat improvement project. (Photo provided by Gregory Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District)
considered dry. The water classification is important because it affects the instream flows. Water temperature is closely monitored to try to keep it near the optimal temperature for coho and steelhead. This optimal temperature is 58 degrees between May 1 and Oct. 31, and 56 degrees from Nov. 1 to April 30. “We have found that water temperatures exceed the summertime temperature of 58 degrees during the hottest days of the summer,” Andrew described. “We release the coldest water available from the bottom of Kent Lake, and it enters the creek at about 50-52 degrees, but water temperatures become driven by ambient air temperature.” He added, “The district is currently conducting an analysis of water temperatures and evaluating effects on fish.” The goal of ramping is to minimize rapid changes in flow in Lagunitas Creek through releases from Kent Lake. “The November upstream migration flow has been the largest change in flow,” Andrew said. “In some years resulting in the flow increasing from 8 cfs to 35 cfs.” This transition takes place over a four-hour time period. The MMWD is responsible for keeping the United States Geological Survey stream gage at Samuel P. Taylor State Park in operation with continuous monitoring and recording of the daily stream flow. The district also contributes to the continued operation of the USGS Point Reyes station gage and operates the San Geronimo Creek stream gage. Additionally, the district is responsible for submitting an annual report to the SWRCB describing its activities and compliance. “The most beneficial restoration work has been the treatment of unpaved roads for sediment reduction, the roughly 70 installations of large woody debris structures and the recently completed winter habitat and floodplain restoration project,” Andrew emphasized.
A public recreation trail crosses a small stream that has been stabilized with an armored wet-crossing to reduce the potential for erosion and preventing sediment from entering Lagunitas Creek below. This stream crossing, on a trail running through a state park, has also been equipped with a low wooden bridge called a puncheon for people — hikers, cyclists, equestrians and people in wheelchairs — to cross the stream when it is flowing across the trail during winter storms. (Photo provided by Gregory Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District)
A group of elementary students, teachers and parents from a Marin County elementary school release rainbow trout into a stream at the culmination of their Trout-in-the-Classroom program. The TIC program in Marin County is a collaboration between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Trout Unlimited, the Marin Municipal Water District and local schools where students raise trout from eggs in an aquarium in the classroom then release them as baby fry into the stream, in the process learning about healthy watersheds, water quality and trout biology. Here, Michael Fiscel, MMWD ranger aide, and Chuck Shultz, Trout Unlimited, provide guidance to the students during their fish release. (Photo provided by Gregory Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District)
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These large logs are being unloaded to be placed in Lagunitas Creek for a habitat improvement project. The logs are used to build an engineered log structure in the creek to provide habitat for coho salmon and steelhead, both on the endangered species list. Most of the logs used for the habitat project had fallen into a Marin Municipal Water District reservoir and are retrieved and then used in the engineered wood structure. (Photo provided by Gregory Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District)
A large amount of fine sediment discharge can come from roads, particularly unpaved roads, making treatment of the roads vitally important. Without treatment, the sediment can fill in pool habitats occupied by juvenile fish and shrimp or smother the gravel adults use for spawning. The treatment and drainage improvements greatly reduce sediment discharge and create better water quality and habitats. Installing large woody debris structures, also known as an engineered log structure, helps to deepen pool habitats, “collecting other woody debris, creating cover and hiding spaces for both juvenile and adult coho and steelhead to avoid predation and far feeding sites for fish and shrimp,” Andrew illustrated. The structures also enhance the gravel habitats for spawning and provide calm backwater eddies where fish can find flow refuge during a storm. “The winter habitat and floodplain enhancement project has installed larger LWD structures that help to reconnect Lagunitas
Creek to its floodplain channel by impeding the flow in the mainstem, raising the water surface elevation and shunting water into adjacent floodplain channels,” Andrew explained. This provides refuge in calmer waters, additional feeding sites and helps to sort and store fine sediments so they do not negatively impact habitats. When it comes to tracking efforts, Andrew continued, “The extensive monitoring of fish, shrimp and habitat has been invaluable at not only tracking population status and trends but also, and more importantly, in helping to understand the driving forces and limiting factors to the population dynamics of coho, steelhead, shrimp and other aquatic resources. This information, in turn, helps to focus where habitat restoration efforts should be directed.” The MMWD has maintained one of the longest data sets in California, making its monitoring results invaluable and used for recovery efforts regionally. The creation of the Lagunitas Creek Technical Advisory Committee has helped to create
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a fairly unified approach to watershed management and increased both data sharing and collaboration efforts. When it comes to watershed efforts, all stakeholders have remained engaged on TAC and continue to work as a collaborative, multiparty forum on fisheries, water quality and ecosystem restoration. “The MMWD continues to recognize its responsibilities and intends to continue to remain a leader in the aquatic resource stewardship of the watershed within the district’s sphere of influence,” Andrew stated. The district also worked on implementing a fisheries program, seeking grant money for habitat enhancement projects. For the program, MMWD staff and maintenance crews conducted their own studies, planning and implementing the majority of the habitat enhancement work, including LWD structures, road drainage improvements and sediment reduction projects. The MMWD successfully secured $4.8 million for enhancement projects in its grant funding search, with $4.2 million in funding being secured just since the 2011 stewardship plan. This funding has taken
care of 38% of the total costs since 2011. These grants show the commitment of other agencies and the importance of Lagunitas Creek and Walker Creek resources statewide. “As we work to develop the specific actions for the 2021 stewardship plan, we will, of course, continue with the ongoing requirements of order WR95-17,” Andrew said. “And we will define the elements for monitoring, habitat restoration and collaboration, including continuing with the TAC.” However, it is currently too early to tell what specific projects will be developed. “Simultaneous with developing the 2021 stewardship plan, the district is beginning a habitat enhancement planning effort with a Prop 68 grant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife,” Andrew said. “So that will undoubtedly inform and provide the basis for some site specific enhancement projects. For monitoring, we will be reviewing our sediment and streambed monitoring program, and we will likely incorporate new technologies into some of our fish monitoring surveys.”
OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR STRUCTURE
Members of the Lagunitas Creek Technical Advisory Committee view a habitat enhancement project site in Lagunitas Creek. The TAC provides information and recommendations on the protection and recovery of coho salmon, steelhead and other fish and aquatic resources in the Lagunitas Creek watershed. They conduct an annual tour of projects. (Photo provided by Gregory Andrew, Marin Municipal Water District)
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Streets, Highways & Bridges
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East Lansing has used technology to create a much more user-friendly and well-managed parking system for customers of the downtown district. (Photo provided)
Technology improves parking in East Lansing, Mich. By AMANDA DEMSTER | The Municipal
Downtown parking can be a struggle for many cities, especially those that see a large number of visitors and sports fans throughout the year. With this in mind, East Lansing, Mich., home of Michigan State University, continually looks to improve its parking situations, incorporating some of the latest technologies to do so. Parking in East Lansing is not all about game day. Every day, downtown visitors and residents need a place to leave their vehicles while they work, shop and live. Parking meters and paid parking lots are nothing new to urban areas; however, they may look a little different nowadays in many cities, including East Lansing. In 2016, the city replaced its coin parking meters with IPS Smart Meters, and several of its metered lots were upgraded to Parkeon multi-space meters. By 2017, East Lansing’s gated lots were using Skidata cashier-less technology. “Our transition to a cashier-less parking system with cameras has helped our customer service ability, saved money on staffing, assisted with reimbursements for equipment damage and assisted law enforcement,” East Lansing Parking Administrator Caleb Sharrow said. Parking lot exit lanes no longer feature cash/coin options, though pay-on-foot machines have been installed for those who still prefer physical currency. Exit machines accept credit cards, validations and monthly parking permits. According to Sharrow, switching to an electronic system has improved parking throughout the city.
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“The technological upgrades we have implemented over the last four years gave us a much more user-friendly and well-managed parking system for customers of the downtown district,” he said. A plus is that the ISP and Parkeon systems work with the PassportParking app, which allows users to pay using a mobile device. “Customers really like the convenience of the app and that it sends reminders and receipts,” Sharrow said. “It only takes a minute to set up your account, then just seconds to start a parking session from then on.” With this in mind, Sharrow sees downtown East Lansing transitioning from single-space parking meters along the street to pay-by-space machines. “With the mobile payment apps becoming much more popular, having a meter at every space is less necessary,” Sharrow said. “Customers can pay with the app or walk to the machine if they insist on paying with coin or credit card. Having less equipment means less fees, less staff maintenance time and less staff collection time.” Another perk of the new machinery is that it incorporates green energy via solar panels. “Both IPS and Parkeon have solar options,” Sharrow said. “IPS is solar at all the street meters, and we have two solar Parkeon multispace meters.” On the one hand, solar power means energy cost savings. A down side is that during the winter, when there are fewer hours of daylight, the batteries may run out.
The Division Street parking garage in East Lansing adds bright color to the city’s downtown. (Photo provided)
During a period of construction, East Lansing hired a marketing firm to help with a program to ease parking frustrations. The firm created a mascot, a bee in a construction helmet. Throughout the campaign, drivers could look for meters covered with a bag bearing the construction bee logo. Those spots were free throughout the day. (Photo provided) As far as troubleshooting, occasional communication issues can occur, though the city receives emails alerting them to any meters requiring attention. Coin jams in the Parkeon lots have occurred but are quickly resolved, usually in-house. Still, a service provider is available if needed. The Skidata equipment is the most heavily used, and therefore, it has the greatest number of troubleshooting situations. “Customers are not very gentle with parking equipment,” he said. The key, Sharrow said, is good facility maintenance. This not only keeps equipment running longer, it ensures people will return. “If your facilities are not well maintained, clean or well lit, customers will be less likely to visit your downtown,” Sharrow said. As is par for the course, the city has handled its share of complaints as users become accustomed to the new equipment. “Unfortunately, when working with parking, there is not an abundance of positive feedback, as many see parking as a ‘moneymaker’ for the city,” Sharrow said. “In actuality, the parking system is an enterprise system that funds itself and allows us to pay for facilities, facility maintenance, service contracts for elevators, condo dues, land leases, fund art projects in the downtown, do landscaping, assist with funding for homeless outreach, provide parking for customers, etc.” Others have stated they miss face-to-face interaction with booth attendants. “That type of feedback is rare, though we do dispatch a parking ambassador to assist customers if needed or requested,” Sharrow said. According to him, parking ambassadors work from a centralized office and are available 24 hours a day, six days a week, for customer service and machine maintenance.
“In the near future, we would like to invest in back-office integrations so that IPS, Parkeon and Skidata back-offices interface into one backoffice,” Sharrow said. “This would increase efficiencies and allow us to focus staff time in other needed areas.” The city has received plenty of positive feedback as well and has been pleased with the results of using the equipment. “Some positive feedback we have received is regarding our high level of customer service, camera additions, signage, cleanliness of facilities and our preventative maintenance strategies,” Sharrow said. “By far the biggest compliments we receive are for having implemented the PassportParking mobile payment app at the street meters and the multi-space meters.” As far as cost, the ISP meters were around $500 apiece, the Parkeon units were around $10,000 each and the upgrade to Skidata cashierless technology cost around $1,600,000. Monthly service fees apply to all three. Credit card fees are another thing to keep in mind. “Credit card fees are definitely a complication when you get more technological with your parking systems, as more tech usually means more credit card usage,” Sharrow said. Despite the upfront costs, the new technology will save the city annually on staffing, and the equipment has a life span of roughly seven to 10 years. “My hope is that, with each technological upgrade, there will be additional efficiencies and aspects that make the parking experience more user-friendly,” Sharrow said. “The more easy and seamless a customers parking experience is, the more likely they are to come back.” Meanwhile, the city has been working to set aside 10% of its annual parking revenue to fund future repairs and upgrades. “This is easier said than done, with substantial debt-burden left on the parking fund from the past,” Sharrow said. “But with substantial debt service coming off the books in the next five years, we may be in a much better spot to cash-fund these types of upgrades, which will put us in a much better financial situation.” Technology is not the only way East Lansing has been creative with parking. Several years ago, a major construction project began that would ultimately remove a heavily used gated parking lot, replacing
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Pictured is East Lansing’s Bailey Street parking lot. The city has switched to a cashier-less parking system with cameras, which helped its customer service ability, saved money on staffing, assisted with reimbursements for equipment damage and assisted law enforcement. (Photo provided)
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it with residential and business space. The project also included a new 620-space public parking garage. Until the garage was ready, however, there would be one less place to park. Knowing this would be a problem, the city designed a campaign to lighten the situation. With funding from the developer and the Downtown Development Authority, the city hired a marketing firm to come up with a temporary solution, which they dubbed, “Find the Bee, Park for Free.” As its name suggests, the program used a bee in a construction helmet as its mascot. Throughout the campaign, drivers could look for meters covered with a bag bearing the construction bee logo. Those spots were free throughout the day. The East Lansing Communications Department posted daily updates on social media. “The cute bee with a construction helmet was meant to signify that this may sting a little, but we will get through this together,” Sharrow said. Combined with the “Find the Bee” campaign, the city also offered a monthly allotment of free parking validations to businesses near the construction site. “Businesses appreciated the free parking validations, and the ‘Find the Bee, Park for Free’ campaign was a hit on social media,” Sharrow said.
When COVID-19 first arrived on the scene, East Lansing closed its parking system, providing free parking for a time. “It has been a necessary step, but a very difficult financial step,” Sharrow said. The parking system opened back up in June with new and improved sanitation procedures, plus two hours’ free parking in gated facilities. “We hope for a safe and strong recovery for all people and businesses,” Sharrow said. The third aspect of East Lansing parking is game-day parking for MSU home games. Available spaces can fill up fast, as many fans want to park as close as possible. For this, East Lansing offers game-day VIP parking. The meters at designated parking spaces will be covered and the spaces reserved for customers who have paid ahead. Funding from this goes toward general facilities parking operations. Sharrow looks forward to the role technology will continue to play in East Lansing parking. “I envision the future of parking to continue to be more smart technology-based, with cellphone mobile payments in all facilities and much more license plate recognition,” he said. “This removes the need for gated facility equipment and reduces staffing levels for customer service and enforcement.”
Since 2017, East Lansing’s gated lots have been using Skidata cashier-less technology. (Photo provided)
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StoryWalk has created an opportunity for the whole family to stay active and have fun in New Port Richey. (Photo provided)
Cities combine parks and literacy By BARB SIEMINSKI | The Municipal
Grandview Heights, Ohio; Port Richey, Fla.; and numerous other cities are promoting literacy by partnering their parks and recreations departments together with libraries in an effort to make reading fun and educational. In particular, StoryWalk has resonated with cities. The StoryWalk Project has grown into a global movement from its beginnings in 2007. It was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vt., who owns the registered service mark. The project was further developed in collaboration with Rachel Senechal, Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Communities can participate and are asked to use the trademark in promotion of the project and give credit. Eileen McNeil, patron services director and librarian of Grandview Heights Public Library, spoke of her library’s interaction with Michael Patterson, director of parks and recreation, and their dual partnership of creating their own town’s StoryWalk to encourage citizens to keep up their literary skills over summertime. “The project came into existence because we wanted to provide further outreach to our community and heard about StoryWalks in other communities,” said McNeil. “We researched how to do it and 58
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decided Grandview Heights would be a great fit for this type of project. C. Ray Buck (Park) has just the right-size walking path for this, and we had full support from the city and community.” According to Patterson, the StoryWalk was begun in the spring of 2020 and completed May 9, 2020. “This project, from the city standpoint, was fairly easily accomplishable,” said Patterson. “Working with our partners from the Grandview Heights Public Library, the location of the project was determined, installation locations were established and the project was put in motion. The StoryWalk was funded by the Grandview Heights Public Library Foundation and the Northwest Kiwanis.” In addition to Patterson, the former Mayor Ray DeGraw was also part of the endeavor before he retired. His replacement, Mayor Greta M. Kearns, was complimentary about the project.
“The StoryWalk is a wonderful addition to C. Ray Buck Park,” said Kearns. “The Grandview Heights Public Library has been and continues to be a tremendous community partner. We are grateful to the staff for championing this idea and for the donors who made this possible. Our parks are very important and I place a significant value on encouraging kids to spend time outdoors, especially when literacy is an added educational component. We were fortunate to have one of our parks be selected as the location for this project.” McNeil concurred, saying that StoryWalk feedback has been very positive. “Families are really enjoying it, and I believe they appreciate another type of outdoor activity to enjoy, especially since the weather has improved.” Asked what other communities Grandview Heights modeled itself after when building its own StoryWalk, McNeil listed several. “We visited the Cedarville Community Library in Greene County; the Gahanna StoryTrail at Friendship Park,” said McNeil. “I spoke on the phone about a StoryWalk hosted by the Mary Rutan Hospital in Bellefontaine as well. We also looked online at Beavercreek’s StoryWalk and spoke with the Ohio State Parks about their outdoor signage.” The New Port Richey’s first permanent StoryWalk Project in Florida has risen from the ashes to grace the James E. Grey Preserve, according to library Director Andi Figart. “Although our March ribbon cutting seems like ages ago, I am still excited that we were able to make this goal a reality and that it garnered so much support from the community so quickly,” said Figart. “The ribbon cutting was in early March, right before the COVID-19 began to gain strength in our region in Florida. “When I initially proposed this project to City Manager Debbie Manns, it was met with her immediate and enthusiastic support. That conversation included the library’s goal of wanting this project to be one that wasn’t just for the community, but a part of the community. The library hoped to do so by seeking community involvement, including various city departments, in all areas: planning, fundraising, selection, installation and continuing operations and upkeep. If anything, I would say the challenge might be in curbing everyone’s enthusiasm and excitement enough to make sure everyone would have a chance to help.” Friends of the Library President Bonnie Martin added, “We felt this project could have a significant impact on bridging youth literacy with outdoors community activity. It is with great pride that I watched the StoryWalk develop into a community and city program that exists in a beautiful, natural setting and promotes family literacy activities.” These stories will be told on 18 different posts and will be changed quarterly, making this a free attraction that families can delight in seasonally. According to Mayor Rob Marlow, “The StoryWalk project in the James E. Grey Preserve is a wonderful way to introduce children to both reading and nature by combining both in the great outdoors.” “It’s been a fabulous project because so many different people and groups were responsible for its success,” said Figart. “There were several city departments whose work was absolutely pivotal: public works, parks and recreation and the finance department. The FOL spearheaded fundraising efforts, promotions and countless volunteer hours before, during and after the ribbon cutting. We are also thankful for the many private individuals, groups, clubs and organizations that sponsored the costs of individual StoryWalk posts.”
StoryWalk bicyclist stops to read a chapter in Grandview Heights, Ohio’s, C. Ray Buck Park. (Photo provided by Eileen McNeil)
A young child poses next to one of New Port Richey, Fla.’s, StoryWalk posts. (Photo provided)
Future innovations to the StoryWalk include adding a new story and extension activities every quarter. The youth education librarian is planning outside story times to take place in the Preserve as soon as larger social gatherings are safely possible. If another municipality was considering building its own literacy trail, Figart suggested starting with the city manager, mayor or library director, and then move to educating the FOL and seeking support for financing the posts. She also advised, “Give yourself plenty of time to allow everyone an opportunity to participate in what could be a polarizing and exciting event for the entire community for years to come.”
On the Web Learn more about the StoryWalk Project at its official website, www.kellogghubbard.org/storywalk.
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Public Safety
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Knoxville partners to support homeless during COVID-19 As people throughout the world scrambled to protect themselves from the COVID-19 pandemic by staying inside in mid-March, one particularly vulnerable group was left without the means to do so.
Knoxville, Tenn., was able to coordinate local organizations to best serve citizens facing homelessness. (Shutterstock.com)
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By ANDREW MENTOCK | The Municipal
On any given night in the United States, 553,742 people experience homelessness, according to 2017 estimates from Point-In-Time and the Housing Inventory Count. This left cities, big and small, with the challenge of figuring out how to care for and provide medical attention to their citizens facing homelessness. Stephanie Welch is the deputy mayor of Knoxville, Tenn., who serves as the chief of economic and community development, which oversees the Office on Homelessness, and immediately, she, along with the city’s partners on homelessness and the health department, saw a need to protect those without a home. “Through just our ongoing work with the health department and looking at (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines and working with our homeless service providers very early on, a need was identified to ensure that people who were unhoused had a place to isolate or quarantine if they were a possible case or a positive case of COVID-19,” Welch said. “We had worked with our homeless service providers and with the health department and identified a building and a partner who was willing to donate the space. We were able to stand that shelter up in about a week.” While the city didn’t do much of the hands-on work, it was able to coordinate local organizations such as the Knox County Health Department, the Knox Baptist Association, United Way, Next Step Initiative, CAC, Angelic Ministries and others. Welch, who has a background in public health, said that constant communication has been a key to their success in dealing with COVID-19 and working with the city’s partners. The donated building, referred to as “The Guest House,” was located on Fifth Avenue and provided by the Metro Drug Coalition. It was organized to help up to 18 individuals. “The homeless population is one of the most challenging, and MDC has a vacant building near the homeless corridor that we believe can help fill a critical gap in preventing the spread of COVID-19 among this population by offering the space to our homeless service providers. All available resources need to be utilized in times like these,” said Karen Pershing, the Metro Drug Coalition executive director in a press release. The shelter was launched at the beginning of April and was funded for two months, at least in part, from $95,000 donated by the city of Knoxville. While the shelter was never used much, Welch and the city felt good that they were set up well to serve their homeless population and the unique challenges they may face. “That was really important, early on, to know that we were partnering with an organization that had staff with expertise in serving and supporting unsheltered persons,” Welch said. “So social workers and case managers, because it’s more than just providing that quarantine space. But if someone is coming to that quarantine space, and they have an addiction disease, then we need to make sure that they’re getting the support to be able to stay in quarantine and not leaving the quarantine seeking something to help them with their addiction.” When setting up the shelter, Welch said Knoxville looked to larger cities that were impacted by the pandemic earlier on for guidance,
Forming partnerships was a key part of Knoxville’s approach to ensure a low rate of community transmission of the coronavirus. Pictured are Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, left, and Deputy Mayor Stephanie Welch on one of the city’s bridges. (Photo provided) including Seattle and New York, and Knoxville was even sent a presentation that helped them think through the unique challenges presented by COVID-19. Knoxville also leaned on the other major cities in Tennessee: Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga. “We talk with them regularly. This topic has come up on a few occasions about how we’re all addressing the issue of homelessness, so we just sort of share resources back and forth and anything that we’re learning,” Welch said. By the end of May, Knoxville officials realized they were not getting much use out of the shelter. “We had such a low rate of community transmission by the end of May, that there were no new admissions for several consecutive days,” Welch said. “So what we did is we worked with the existing homeless shelters … to come up with a plan so that they could in their existing shelter facilities safely provide quarantine space, so that we wouldn’t have to have a separate shelter. “We also have a plan in place if we need to open up a separate shelter again, then we can quickly do that. In the meantime, we’re going to be smart with our resources and not keep an empty shell open, but we will open it up again as the data tells us that we need to.”
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Conference Calendar EDITOR’S NOTE: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, readers are encouraged to verify their conference’s status. The Municipal has updated entries’ statuses with information available as of press time; however, as the situation is still fluid, plans may change rapidly.
AU G U S T Aug. 6-10 ACA 150th Congress of Correction (CANCELLED) Cincinnati, Ohio www.aca.org
Aug. 17-18 Fire-Rescue Med 2020 (VIRTUAL: Aug. 18) Phoenix, Ariz. www.iafc.org/events/frm
Aug. 8-11 Tennessee Municipal League 81st Annual Conference (CANCELLED) Chattanooga Convention Center, Chattanooga, Tenn. https://www.tml1.org
Aug. 17-19 StormCon (VIRTUAL: Sept. 9-10) Seattle, Wash. www.stormcon.com
Aug. 5-11 Florida Fire Chiefs Association Development Conference (POSTPONED: TBD) Sheraton Panama City Beach Golf & Spa Resort, Panama City Beach, Fla. www.ffca.org/events Aug. 9-12 ITE 2020 90th Annual Meeting and Exhibit (NEW SCHEDULE: Aug. 4-6, Aug. 11-13 and Aug. 18-20) Virtual www.ite.org Aug. 10-14 WasteExpo Together Online (MOVED: Sept. 14-17) Virtual www.wasteexpo.com Aug. 12-15 South Atlantic FIRE RESCUE Expo (CANCELLED) Raleigh, N.C. www. southatlanticfirerescueexpo.com Aug. 13-14 Florida League of Cities Annual Conference Diplomat Beach Resort, Hollywood, Fla. www.floridaleagueofcities.com
Aug. 18-19 Midwest Security & Police Conference/Expo (POSTPONED: Nov. 17-18) Tinley Park Convention Center, Tinley Park, Ill. mspce.com Aug. 19-21 Arkansas Municipal League 86th Annual Convention (VIRTUAL) Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock, Ark. www.arml.org Aug. 19-21 FRI 2020 (VIRTUAL: Aug. 19) Phoenix, Ariz. www.iafc.org/events/fri Aug. 23-26 NIGP Forum (VIRTUAL: Aug. 24-28) Chicago, Ill. https://nsite.nigp. org/2020annualforum/home Aug. 25-26 Thirty-fourth Annual Police Security Expo (CANCELLED) Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic, N.J. www.police-security.com
SEPTEMBER Sept. 15-17 Oklahoma Municipal League Annual Conference Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Okla. https://www.omlconference.org
Aug. 25-28 SIMA 23rd Snow & Ice Symposium (VIRTUAL: Aug. 26-28) Hartford, Conn. www.sima.org Aug. 31-Sept. 2 APWA PWX (CANCELLED: Digital online experience being planned for dates) https://pwx.apwa.net/ Aug. 31-Sept. 3 Florida Recreation & Park Association’s 2020 Vision Possible Conference Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate, Championsgate, Fla. http://www.frpa.org/ conference/confgeneral
Sept. 16-17 Midwest Green Transportation Forum & Expo (VIRTUAL: Sept. 14-25) Marriott Columbus University Area, Columbus, Ohio www.cleanfuelsohio.org
SEPTEMBER Sept. 1-4 League of Arizona Cities and Towns Annual Conference (CANCELLED) Glendale, Ariz. http://www.azleague.org/103/ Annual-Conference Sept. 13-16 Missouri Municipal League Sheraton Crown Center, Kansas City, Mo. https://mocities.site-ym.com/ page/AnnConf Sept 14-17 NAFA 2020 Institute & Expo (Virtual) www.nafainstitute. org/2020Home.aspx
To list your upcoming conference or seminar in The Municipal at no charge, call (800) 733-4111, ext. 2307, or email the information to swright@the-papers.com. 64 THE MUNICIPAL | AUGUST 2020
Sept. 16-18 Iowa League of Cities 2020 Conference (VIRTUAL: TBA) Coralville, Iowa www.iowaleague.org Sept. 21-23 F.I.E.R.O. Station Design Symposium Hyatt Regency, Greenville, S.C. www.fieroonline.org Sept. 21-25 Twenty-eighth Annual Emergency and Municipal Apparatus Maintenance Symposium (CANCELLED) Ohio Fire Academy, 8895 E. Main St., Reynoldsburg, Ohio oaevt.org Sept. 23-25 Utah League of Cities and Towns Annual Conference Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah www.ulct.org
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1/10/2020 12:18:38 PM
News & Notes Have the right equipment this winter DIXON, ILL. — Whether we like it or not, winter is on its way and Bonnell Industries can help you prepare. Good plow maintenance is key to making your equipment last longer and work harder. Installing Curb Shoes and Cutting Edges will help protect your plow and extend its life. • Curb Shoes help to protect plow edges from damage caused by scraping against curbs • Cutting Edges help to protect the moldboard from the road surface Bonnell not only manufactures their own range of Curb Shoes, but are also a proud dealer of four Cutting Edge manufacturers: Built Blades, Valley Blades, Bucyrus Blades and Nordic Plow. Each manufacturer’s product is unique and built to endure the brutal winters. What type of cutting edge you need and how often you change it all depends on what type of roads or surface you will be servicing. Bonnell’s Curb Shoes are built with the same quality and durability they are known for. If you’re fed up with struggling to get plow blades on and off when you’re against the clock in freezing temperatures, try the “Sabre” from Built Blades. Outlast winter with Polarflex — the leanest, meanest and greenest plow blade out there. Bucyrus Blades Cutting Edges are produced from the highest quality steels and are precision punched for quick and easy mounting. The Nordic Plow Edge blade features a patented curved cutting surface that will outlast traditional edges. Whichever cutting edge is best for you, be assured that they are all built with quality and are guaranteed to last. Bonnell is one of the leading truck equipment distributors in Northern Illinois, located at 1385 Franklin Grove Road, Dixon, IL, 61021. For more information on their snow and ice equipment, call (800) 851-9664 or visit www.bonnell.com.
UL and Rubicon announce partnership ATLANTA, GA. — UL, a leading global safety science company, has entered into a partnership with Rubicon, a software company born in the waste and recycling industry, to support each company’s shared circularity and sustainability aspirations to end waste, in all of its forms, while creating economic value. As part of the partnership, UL and Rubicon will work to extend third-party validation services such as UL’s standards for circularity, recycled content and waste diversion to Rubicon’s customers and collaborators, while helping UL customers identify and access Rubicon recycling and waste reduction services across the sustainable material management value chain. This will help manufacturers and brand owners secure recognition for their efforts to help create a more circular and sustainable economy, while creating the ecosystem needed to advance the circularity principle of retaining the value of resources for as long as possible. UL and Rubicon will collaborate on market education and outreach efforts to continue to reduce dependency on landfills. “To achieve greater sustainability and more circular economies, we need to use each tool in our toolbox to stem the flow of valuable assets discarded as waste every day,” said Catherine Sheehy, global lead of sustainability partnerships for UL’s Environment and Sustainability division. “By aligning our strengths and roles 68
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in the value chain, UL and Rubicon can help customers move forward on this decade of action to achieve the aspirations of the U.N. sustainable development goals while also informing environmental, social and governance investment risk analysis.” “This agreement advances Rubicon and UL’s shared goals of enabling new opportunities for economic growth that do not depend on the old take-make-waste economic model,” said David Rachelson, chief sustainability officer at Rubicon. “Since Rubicon’s founding, we’ve known that there are better ways to deal with the global waste problem. This seed has helped us grow a suite of services that not only help our customers manage and divert waste from landfills but reduce associated carbon emissions and improve quality of life. Collaborating with UL, a mission-based organization using the power of science to improve the world, just makes sense.” For more information on UL’s sustainability services, visit UL.com.
Six suppliers named to lifts, fleet maintenance category STAPLES, MINN. — Six suppliers have earned Sourcewell contracts in vehicle lifts with garage and fleet maintenance. This category offers a variety of tools, equipment, and services to manage and maintain vehicle fleets, including lifts, jacks, lathes, presses, stands, alignment and inspection systems, management platforms and more. Following a competitive solicitation process, Sourcewell awarded cooperative purchasing contracts offering access to six top brands: ARI Phoenix | 013020-ARP Mobile column, drive-on scissor and floor lifts; exhaust extraction; tire balancers and changers; floor and transmission jacks; hub and rotor removal tools, brake lathes; king pin presses; and support stands. Liftnow | 013020-LFT Challenger, rotary, and Bend Pak lifts; rotary wheel service equipment; Coats and Bend Pak/Ranger tire changers and balancers; AMMCO brake lathes; shop equipment; lift installation, equipment, parts, repairs and inspection; training and setup; and access to GovGarage equipment management platform. Mohawk Resources | 013020-MRL Two- and four-post, parallelogram, mobile column and fork truck service lifts; tire changers; wheel balancers; alignment systems; brake lathes; inspection systems; service jacks; and large vehicle washers. NAPA Government Fleet | 013020-GPC* Lifts for automobiles, light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks; equipment for agriculture, farm and lawn machinery; equipment for off-highway, industrial, shop, garage, recreational and marine equipment; shop disinfecting equipment; technician and shop management training; multiple distribution channels; and machine shop service at select NAPA stores. Snap-on Industrial | 013020-SNP* Vehicle lifts; under-car, fleet maintenance, vehicle diagnostic and garage equipment; hand and power tools; mobile and stationary toolboxes and storage; and tool control and asset management products.
Stertil-Koni | 013020-SKI Heavy-duty vehicle, mobile column, inground piston and scissor, platform, two- and four-post, truck and bus lifts; lift accessories and shop equipment; video library; and a North American distributor network. * Not available in Canada. These contracts are now available to all Sourcewell participants throughout the United States and Canada — unless otherwise noted. Purchasers from participating agencies — public or nonprofit — save time and money by streamlining the procurement process with cooperative purchasing.
NAFA Announces 2020 Institute & Expo Is Going Virtual PRINCETON, N.J. — NAFA Fleet Management Association, the vehicle fleet industry’s largest membership association, announced its 2020 Institute & Expo will be delivered as a premium interactive virtual experience, presented online from Sept. 14-17. Mindful of the continuing uncertainty about live events and travel restrictions among member companies, NAFA pivoted from an in-person event in Indianapolis in September to an online model ensuring that everyone can benefit from access to the essential tools and resources that I&E is so well known for. “We believe that moving to a virtual event will enable attendees to take advantage of NAFA’s education and insights safely and securely,” said NAFA CEO Bill Schankel, CAE. “Given the unique circumstances of the times, NAFA affirms our commitment to providing best practice focused instruction while staying mindful of the safety and wellbeing of our attendees, exhibitors and all participants from the coronavirus.” NAFA’s 2020 I&E Virtual will feature the latest information, tools, technologies and solutions to meet the evolving needs of the dynamic world of fleet and mobility management. With live Q&As, an interactive expo floor and networking programs, attendees will engage and connect with fleet leaders from around the world from the comfort and safety of their own homes or offices. Registration opened July 15. Further information is available at https://nafainstitute.org/2020home.
News releases regarding personnel changes, other non-product-related company changes, association news and awards are printed as space allows. Priority will be given to advertisers and affiliates. Releases not printed in the magazine can be found online at www.themunicipal.com. Call (800) 733–4111, ext. 2307, or email swright@the-papers.com. AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL
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TOP 10
The least stressed states We could all do with a little less stress in our lives, and WalletHub examined all 50 states and the District of Columbia to see which harbored more and less stressful elements. To determine rankings, the site “compared the 50 states across 41 key indicators of stress to determine the places to avoid and achieve a more relaxing life. Our data set ranges from average hours worked per week to personal bankruptcy rate to share of adults getting adequate sleep.�
The key indicators all fit under four key dimensions: work-related stress; money-related stress; familyrelated stress; and health- and safety-related stress. Data came from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FINRA Investor Education Foundation and others. Minnesota topped the list for least stressful, ranking consistently low in the four key dimensions. Other least stressed states are listed below:
1. Minnesota 2. North Dakota 3. South Dakota 4. Iowa 5. Utah 6. New Hampshire 7. Hawaii 8. Colorado 9. Wisconsin 10. Maryland 72
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Source: wallethub.com/edu/most-stressf Source: wallethub.com/edu/most-stressful-states/32218/
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Advertiser Index A AirBurners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 All Access Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Alumitank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
M Midwest Sandbags LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Mile-X Equipment Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Andy Mohr Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Monroe Truck Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
B
Muncie Power Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
BendPak Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Best Management Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
N
Bonnell Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
National Construction Rentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Bucher Municipal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Nightlock Door Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Buyers Products Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
C
O
Calhoun Super Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Omega Industrial Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CBI Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Orenco Systems, Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Cleanfix North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Clearspan Fabric Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Ctech Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Curbtender Sweepers, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Custom Products Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
D DuoForm Plastics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
E Ebac Industrial Products Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
P Palfinger North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Pep Boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
R Rapid View LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BACK
S
ECM Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Safety Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Environmental Products Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Sign Guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
F
Strategic Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
FCAR Tech USA, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Fluid Control Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Suitter Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Super Products LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
G Global Environmental Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover, 12-13
T
I
TrafFix Devices Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Icom America Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
L Land Pride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Legacy Building Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Lube-A-Boom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
W WAM Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Waste Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Woodland Power Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
This index is provided courtesy of the publisher, who assumes no liability for errors or omissions. AUGUST 2020 | THE MUNICIPAL 73
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