via trailer to Laredo, Texas, where they cleared customs and were driven eight hours south to Rioverde by local officials.
Rioverde Fire Department is in desperate need of replacing this vehicle, and has requested APWA’s assistance in locating a surplus unit that might be available for donation. Please contact me at bobk@cityofcampbell.com or (408) 866-2150 if you may be able to help out with this request.
City of Campbell Public Works Director Bob Kass (center) participated in an exchange of recognition plaques in the central plaza in Rioverde, Mexico.
During my two-day stay in Rioverde, I was shown how quickly the surplus equipment and vehicles had been adapted for local use. I was also shown a recently wrecked rescue unit that had only been acquired and put into service a few months ago by the volunteer Rioverde Fire Department. The
2009 Jennings Randolph Fellowship recipients named The American Public Works Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2009 Jennings Randolph Fellowship. Through a formal application process, the following APWA members were selected to study public works/infrastructure-related projects with two of APWA’s international partners. Catherine Chertudi, Environmental Programs Manager for the City of Boise, Idaho, will study water conservation and management practices in Australia to learn how the country has addressed limited supplies and impacts of drought, growth, or overuse and contamination in providing safe and adequate water for needed municipal, industrial and agricultural uses. Issues of interest for her study will be: comparison of water usage; methods used to communicate the value of water to citizens, business and industry; exploration of the sources of water supplies and comparison of what is used in Boise, the western U.S., and overall in the U.S.; methods used to protect the quality of water provided; exploration of what are the water issues of concern to Australian leaders, water managers and citizens; and the determination of their best management practices used to conserve water in arid regions. Ms. Chertudi will also attend the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) Conference in August 2009 and present a paper to the registrants of the conference.
Wrecked rescue unit: The City of Rioverde’s only rescue vehicle sits in a junkyard, wrecked in an accident with a drunk driver.
Mark A. Whitfield, PLS, Director of Public Works for the Borough of State College, Pennsylvania, will study the removal and composting of organic waste from the municipal solid waste stream in the Czech Republic. The project is expected to show the feasibility of recycling organic waste (green waste and food waste) as opposed to depositing into a landfill. If successful, the project will be used as a model for other communities across the state and nation in the recycling of organic waste. Mr. Whitfield will visit small cities with successful programs within the Czech Republic and has plans to meet with the Chairman of CZ BIOM, who is an expert in the field of composting; with the head of the Research Institute of Crop Production in Prague, who studies the beneficial use of compost in crop production; and with an individual who evaluates and studies municipal composting programs within the Czech Republic. Mr. Whitfield will also attend the Slovak Public Works Association/Czech Republic Public Works Association Conference and present a paper to the conference registrants in October 2009. The APWA International Affairs Committee looks forward to receiving applications for the 2010 Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program for studies in Mexico and New Zealand. To learn more about this program, please visit the APWA website at www.apwa.net under “About APWA – International Activities” or contact Kaye Sullivan, APWA Deputy Executive Director, at ksullivan@apwa.net or (800) 848-APWA, extension 5233.
April 2009
APWA Reporter
61