2009 Public Works Department of the Year Entry Form

Source: PUBLIC WORKS MAGAZINE
Publication date: 2007-06-26

By PUBLIC WORKS Staff

Download the 2009 Public Works Department of the Year Entry Form in Word.doc format.

PUBLIC WORKS magazine invites entries to its fifth Department of the Year competition.

A notable public works department should have a highly qualified staff, a diverse workforce, and a functional arrangement that encourages innovation and communication between its engineers, technicians, and staff members. In addition, the department should meet or exceed its budgets, provide for the safety of personnel in various working environments, offer convenient communication with constituents (citizens), and provide training or continuing education for its employees.

The departments selected as winners will be profiled in the December 2009 issue of PUBLIC WORKS and will receive a plaque commemorating their achievement.

Eligibility

Any city or county public works department, including consolidated agencies serving more than one town, is eligible. State or federal agencies are not eligible.

A department may be nominated only once. Multiple nominations will not boost the department's chances of eligibility. This competition will judge the department based on its operations from Jan. 1, 2008, until Aug. 31, 2009. Note: Departments may not be entered in two consecutive years. For example, a department may be entered in the 2008 competition or the 2009 competition, but not both.

Judging

A jury of representatives from the public works industry and the editors of PUBLIC WORKS magazine will select the departments that merit awards.

At the discretion of the judges, one Public Works Department of the Year and multiple special awards may be selected. The judges also may select no winners.

Entry Fee And Form

1. 2009 ENTRY FEE WAIVED

2. Send complete entry materials by September 4, 2009, to:
Public Works Department of the Year
O'Hare Plaza I, Suite 600
8725 W. Higgins Road
Chicago, IL 60631

If you have questions, please contact Colette Palait, at 773-824-2506 or cpalait@hanleywood.com.

3. If we have questions or want further information, we will contact the person listed as the submitter. Please be sure to include complete contact information. 

Entry Materials Required

Six copies of your entry must be included.

  • Five of these copies should be bound, stapled, placed in a binder/folder, or otherwise held together.
  • The sixth copy should be held together with a simple binder or paper clip to facilitate copying or review of individual sections. This sixth copy should have the CD of products and manufacturers attached (unless it was emailed); and any cover or transmission letter attached (not required).
  • If you include videos, manuals, or samples, please include six of each as they are sent to judges and cannot be shared.
  • All entries should be printed on white, 8.5 x 11 paper, single-sided. And plans, organizational charts, images, or other unusual items should be reduced or simplified so that it fits on 8.5 x 11 paper. Color images/pages are not required.

Mailed on a disk or sent via Email to cpalait@hanleywood.com, provide a list of all products and manufacturers used in the department from January 1, 2008, to August 31, 2009. This should be submitted as a simple spreadsheet in Excel or Access. We don't need the details — what building they are in or how much they cost — just the basics. They can include, but are not limited to:

  • Trucks/fleets used in each division.
  • Software, including fleet management, project management, traffic analysis, etc. DO NOT include general office software, such as Microsoft Word.
  • Light and heavy equipment.
  • Erosion control products, BMPs, etc.
  • GIS, GPS, surveying/mapping, total stations, etc.
  • Communications equipment including two-way radios, software, etc.
  • Road and bridge materials, traffic control devices, etc.
  • Specific technologies (software, new pipe, etc.) that were used in your new project/program (question No. 8).

Each entry must include a detailed description of the public works operations arranged in the following order. The amount of detail is to be decided by the person entering, but lengthy entries will not necessarily score higher than succinct entries. Answer only those that are relevant to your operations. If a question is not relevant to your operations, please copy the question and indicate "not applicable" so that the judges know that you're not avoiding the issue.

1. City/Municipality/County Profile

  • Provide a profile of the city or county that the department serves. This should include history, population, condition of infrastructure (new, rehabbed, etc.), and any other pertinent information. Give us a feel for what it's like to live there.
  • Supply a list of services provided by your department (solid waste hauling, park maintenance, wastewater treatment, etc.). Provide the per-resident cost of all services.
  • Do you have a formal development plan?
  • Do you have a strategic plan?
  • Is there a citywide recycling program?
  • Do you have an emergency management plan? Do you conduct emergency preparedness drills?
  • Are there methods in place to encourage communication among city departments?

2. Facilities and Equipment

  • What facilities does the department have responsibility for?
  • What level of serviceability do those facilities operate at? We define serviceability as: The capacity of a facility to provide a range of performances for which it is designed, used, or required to be used, over time.
  • Do you have a formal preventive maintenance plan?
  • Do you have your own fleet maintenance?
  • Please briefly describe operations of the facilities for whic you are responsible.

3. Staff

  • List the primary staff members including titles. Provide an organization chart if appropriate.
  • List the number of male and female staff members.
  • List the number of minority staff members.
  • Are there paths for advancement?
  • Is pay competitive?
  • Do you conduct formal performance evaluations?
  • Are city workers unionized?
  • Do you have a good retirement plan?
  • What benefits are offered?
  • Describe special perks offered to employees such as onsite daycare, leaves of absence, retirement programs, etc.
  • Do you encourage diversity? Have a formal diversity plan?
  • Do you maintain an engineering staff?
  • How much work is outsourced?
  • Do you award high-performing staff members? With awards and recognition or with money?

4. Budget/Finance

  • Include a copy of the department's most recent budget and indicate whether the department was able to stay within the budget.
  • How are budgets created? Who contributes?
  • How are variances analyzed and reported?
  • Do you have long-term budgets?
  • How do you report asset values (GASB 34)?
  • How is purchasing handled?

5. Innovation/Awards

  • List any awards that the department won from Jan. 1, 2008, to Aug. 31, 2009.
  • List any innovations or unique procedures the department enacted from Jan. 1, 2008 to Aug. 31, 2009.
  • Do you have an up-to-date GIS in place? Describe its capacities.
  • Do you provide the newest technology tools? Describe their use.
  • Did you use any innovative technology from Jan. 1, 2008 to Aug. 31, 2009?
  • Is your department accredited by the American Public Works Association?

6. Training/Safety

  • Describe any special safety, training or emergency procedures used from Jan. 1, 2008, to Aug. 31, 2009. Include a copy of the safety manual if applicable (executive summary is acceptable).
  • Describe the educational opportunities available to staff members for continuing education, certification, or other training. Provide the number of employees who furthered their careers from Jan. 1, 2008, to Aug. 31, 2009, using these tools.
  • Does the department pay for travel to national meetings?
  • Does the department pay membership dues in national or local associations?
  • Do you have a formal orientation process?
  • Do you encourage mentoring?
  • How are injury reports made?

7. Constituent Relations

  • Describe the department's Web site or marketing tools used to educate the public. Include samples.
  • Describe how the department relayed information about any new major projects to the public.
  • Do you have a designated media liaison?
  • How does the department communicate with elected officials?

8. New Projects/Programs

  • Provide information about the largest project undertaken or completed by the department from Jan. 1, 2008, to Aug. 31, 2009. This should include the project's timeline, budget, how personnel were involved, and unique or innovative tactics employed.
  • How much of this project was outsourced?
  • Was it completed on budget and within schedule?
  • Do you use design-build as a delivery method?
  • Do you have model contracts and specifications?
  • What was your delivery methord (i.e., design build)?

Each entry must include answers to the following:

____Yes ____No This department was cited for EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) violations from Jan. 1, 2007, to Aug. 31, 2008.

____Yes ____No This department was cited for OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) violations from Jan. 1, 2007, to Aug. 31, 2008.

____Yes ____No This department was cited for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) violations from Jan. 1, 2007, to Aug. 31, 2008

____Yes ____No This department was cited for EOEC (Equal Opportunity Employment Commission) violations from Jan. 1, 2007, to Aug. 31, 2008.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Name of Department _______________________________

Name of Submitter _______________________________

Title  _______________________________

Email _______________________________

Phone _______________________________

Name of Director _______________________________

Title _______________________________

Email _______________________________

Phone _______________________________

Department Address _______________________________

Address 2 _______________________________

City _______________________________

State _______________________________

Zip _______________________________

General Phone _______________________________

Fax _______________________________

This entry must be signed by the department's elected official, such as the mayor or county board director.

Elected official's statement: To the best of my knowledge, this entry, which includes all data and information submitted as a part of it, is true and correct, and the department is eligible for this competition. 

Name ____________________________

Signature _______________________________

Date (mmddyy) ____________________________

Title _______________________________

Email _______________________________

Phone _______________________________