The Municipal - November 2022

17 Focus on Technology

18

Focus on Technology:

The rise of cyberattacks and what municipalities should do to mitigate them 22

Focus on Technology: Dighton, Mass., police and fire connect through fiber 26

Focus on Technology: Bellevue, Wash., launches goal of eliminating roadway injuries and fatalities

30

Focus on Technology: Madison takes firefighter recruitment online

34

Focus on Technology: Reno launches ‘Biggest Little Blockchain’ to test new recordkeeping method

40 Fleet Service &

Management: Surging gas prices cause fleet managers to get creative 44 Streets, Highways & Bridges: Displaced left turn is the right solution for Texas town

48 Fleet Service & Management: Part 1 Taking clean air to new heights with biodiesel

52 Parks & Environmental Services: Silver City engages all demographics with AARPassisted public space renovation

ON THE COVER

Weedoo Greenboat Inc. is a leading manufacturer of environmental workboats. These heavy-duty boats aid in the removal of invasive waterway weeds and vegetation in an ecofriendly manner. Find out how Weedoo can help keep your waterways clean on page 10.

Departments

Digitally bringing back the moat

Sarah Wright | Editor

Technology has made life easier, improving col laboration, furthering transparency, providing new and varied ways to connect with neighbors and, perhaps most importantly, providing endless hours of cute cat videos. Hey, studies show that cats reduce stress and anxiety in their owners! But in all seriousness, the cloud has vastly improved work life for many workers around the world and, for some, kept the workforce turning during COVID.

However, all that ease and connectivity comes with its own com plications. It can serve as a double-edged sword since the world harbors plenty of nefarious players who are interested in making a few quick bucks with other’s data. Ransomware routinely hits the headlines and costs those who fall prey to it a hefty fee in not only coin, but in time and peace of mind. Ransomware is just one way these individuals strike; sometimes, they parade as trusted par ties in an email involving an infrastructure project — their emails so close to the official vendor, but not quite. Or sometimes, they have been able to insert themselves into email threads to pose as a vendor.

Municipalities around the world had fallen prey to these orga nized cybercriminals. In September, Eagle Mountain City, Utah, lost $1.13 million to such an email impersonation scheme, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. In a press release, the city noted it had strengthened its financial policies and implemented an added layer of accountability for city staff when completing financial transactions.

Individuals, municipalities and companies alike can benefit from taking similar steps. In this month’s lead article by Staci Reafsny der, Frank Welder, a technical solutions architect in cybersecurity with Arrow Electronics, says it best: “I always think of cybersecurity as building defenses. We think of a castle. A castle is not just an individual structure. There’s the castle itself, and then there’s walls around that, and walls around that, and walls around that, and then a moat and maybe an open field.”

Ensuring staff are educated on cybersecurity topics is one key part of the defending your castle. As I currently take monthly cybersecurity training, I can’t recommend enough getting your departments on board, especially since not everyone is as tuned in to digital safety.

While technology has its dark corners, the bright spots can’t be forgotten. Nicholette Carlson is spotlighting Bellevue, Wash.’s, use of technology to save lives from traffic accidents. Other topics include Dighton, Mass.’s, use of a grant to improve public safety through the installation of fiber; Madison, Wis., Fire Department’s innovative recruitment efforts; and Reno, Nev.’s, adoption of blockchain.

Technology can be a great blessing, capable of changing lives for the better. However, with that good, take the time to think twice about clicking links and be diligent when responding to emails. A little skepticism can go a long way into preventing a lot of head aches in the future.

Keeping waterways clean with Weedoo Boats

The Weedoo boat at work, cleaning up invasive weeds. (Photo provided)

Established in 1990, Weedoo Greenboat Inc. is a leading manufacturer of environmental workboats. The boats’ mechanical harvesting capability successfully rids invasive waterway weeds and vegetation in an eco-friendly manner. Because of the safety and efficiency of these powerful vessels, many municipalities are turning to Weedoo to keep their waterways clean. And, as a GSA contract holder, Weedoo is positioned to streamline the ordering process for government agencies.

No access. No problem. Because the Weedoo is lightweight, it can easily be hoisted and positioned into place with a Weedoo Lift Kit. (Photo provided)

By Karla Moriarty | Weedoo Greeenboat, Inc.

We all know that time is money. Weedoo boats are rugged machines designed to tackle the toughest lake weeds in extreme and challenging conditions. Yet, they are lightweight, affordable and efficient, running on a 25-horsepower engine. This enables the machines to pick up 500 pounds of vegetation a minute or over 100 tons a day … instant gratification. With their zero-turn capability, these boats are uniquely compact and maneuverable with the stability of harvesters several times their size. Weedoo’s quick change attachments, such as the Silt Sucker, Pole Saw, Root Rake and Loader Bucket Skimmer, allow one workboat to efficiently clean up a variety of weeds and debris.

During the 2018 red tide algae bloom that lasted more than a year, Manatee County officials in Florida hired private contractors operat ing Weedoo Workboats to help remove fish killed by red tide. Records show that Manatee County officials removed 450,000 pounds of dead fish from the shore. Beaches had to close, which greatly affected local businesses and tourism. To prepare for future invasions, Mana tee County has added a pair of Weedoo Workboats to their fleet of equipment.

Alternative cleanup options include chemical sprays; however, many of these can be toxic to wildlife. After spraying, the tainted veg etation falls to the bottom of the pond, along with the heavy metals contained in the spray. Some aquatic creatures that call this pond home will survive, but many of the smaller organisms will die. Once sprayed, the poisonous “cleanup” is a waterway filled with slowly dying vegetation. And after numerous applications, plants can build up a tolerance to these sprays, adding ineffectiveness to poisonous.

The Weedoo demonstrating its maneuverability in extremely tight quarters. (Photo provided)

With a Weedoo, the job is done safely. That’s great news for the envi ronment, the fish, the frogs and all other underwater wildlife. As stated by Weedoo owner and CEO Tara Lordi, “We should all be concerned about what’s going in our water. Often water from lakes and ponds is used to irrigate our yards. Now these toxins are no longer just in the water; they’re in our lawns and gardens.”

Weedoo can be contacted via telephone, (561) 204-5765, or reached through its corporate website, www.weedooboats.com. Weedoo® is a registered trademark of Weedoo Greenboat Inc.

Mount Desert Island, Maine

Bar Harbor is the largest of the municipalities on Mount Desert Island, comprising nearly half of the island’s 10,535 year-round residents. (Shutterstock.com)

By RAY BALOGH| The Municipal

In directing his personal exile eastward, Cain might have inadvertently bestowed upon himself at least a symbolic gesture of redemption for his sins. He may very well have been the first person on Earth at that time to witness the hope of a new sunrise each morning.

Residents and visitors of the United States can experience a simi lar privilege on Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island, Maine, where at 1,528 feet above sea level, the highest point along the North Atlantic seaboard, early risers can greet “the dawn’s earliest light” to reach the United States.

Mount Desert (pronounced by locals as “de-ZERT”) is the secondlargest island in the Northeast, behind Long Island, N.Y. Cadillac Mountain is located within Acadia National Park, one of the Top 10 most visited parks in the country. The 49,052-acre park comprises about half of Mount Desert Island and portions of 16 smaller outlying islands.

Acadia was established by President Woodrow Wilson in July 1916 as Sieur de Monts National Monument and was redubbed Lafayette National Park in February 1919 as the first national park east of the Mis sissippi River. The current name of Acadia National Park was officially settled on in January 1929. The name Acadia derives from Arcadia, a region of Greece of which explorer Giovanni Verrazano was reminded when he sailed past the area in 1524.

Mount Desert Island was originally inhabited by the Abnaki Indi ans, who favored the temperate coastal weather on the island during winter before venturing further inland for hunting and fishing in the spring.

Sunrises haven’t been the only draw for visitors. The national park contains a stunning variety of natural features, including rocky

coastlines, granite mountains, lakes, ponds, evergreens and a menag erie of wildlife, such as various species of wolf, beaver, deer, elk, grey seal, sea mink, raccoon, lynx and muskrat.

Visionary entrepreneurs George B. Door, known as the Father of Acadia National Park, and Charles W. Eliot, also instrumental in the park’s creation, worked tirelessly in the late 19th and early 20th cen tury to preserve the land’s pristineness for posterity.

John D. Rockefeller Jr., an accomplished horseman, funded and developed 45 miles of meandering carriage roads throughout the island, always meticulously assuring the construction was compat ible with the natural landscape of the area. The broken stone paths are still maintained by the National Park Service and the nonprofit organization, Friends of Acadia.

Decades earlier, rusticators, those who appreciated the primitive living condition on the island for their summer vacations, carved more than 100 miles of hiking trails and walking paths.

During the unprecedented financial profligacy of the 1880s and Gay Nineties, Mount Desert Island served as the summer home of such notable families as the Morgans, Fords, Vanderbilts, Carnegies and Astors, who built extravagantly lavish estates they called “cottages.”

Life was good for the upper-crusters for four decades, until the Great Depression and World War II scuttled much of that carefree lifestyle. The coup de grâce occurred in 1947 when a widespread fire destroyed many of the elegant estates.

Today the island hosts four modest municipalities with a collective year-round population of 10,535 and most of the park’s 3.5 million yearly seasonal visitors lodging further inland.

So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.” Genesis 4:16.

The summit of Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island, Maine, is where early-rise-and-shiners can view the first sunrays cast upon the United States. (Shutterstock.com)

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor, population 5,089, situated on the island’s northeast shore, is home to Cadillac Mountain. The town was settled in 1763, incorporated as Eden on Feb. 23, 1796, and renamed Bar Harbor on March 3, 1918.

Early industries included fishing, lumbering, shipbuilding and agriculture, particularly dairy farming.

The town served as a staging area for torpedo practice during World War II.

Mount Desert

Mount Desert, population 2,146, was incorporated in 1789. It consists of the middle third of the island and serves as the governing body of half a dozen distinct villages.

The municipality operates under a town manager and five elected selectmen. Full-time, year-round officials include the town clerk, police and fire departments, assessor, code enforcement officer, high way and sewer department, harbormaster and financial officer.

Southwest Harbor

Southwest Harbor, population 1,756, is located on the island’s south western side known as “the quiet side” and contains five villages within its boundaries.

Several boat companies operate their businesses in Southwest Harbor, and the U.S. Coast Guard maintains a multipurpose facility in town.

The Claremont Hotel, built in 1883, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tremont

Tremont, population 1,544, was settled in 1762 and incorporated as Mansel on June 3, 1848. Two months later, the town was renamed Tremont, French for “three mountains.”

By 1880, the town boast more than 2,000 residents and supported a sawmill, gristmill, shingle mill, shipyard and brickyard. Fishing and fish curing were also major industries.

Today, Tremont subsists largely on the tourist trade.

For more information, visit acadiamagic.com or visitacadia.com.

Tremont is the smallest of the island’s towns, but no less rich in nautical history and milieu. (Shutterstock.com)

Jordan Pond House, located in Acadia National Park, is a popular stop for refreshments. One of the restaurant’s abiding traditions is serving afternoon tea with popovers in the outdoor dining area. (Shutterstock.com)

Mobile Electric offers adaptable solutions for your power distribution needs.

13- and 14-circuit power distribution modules offer a single, space-saving solution that combines intelligent battery protection, optional manual override, and circuit protection. Simple dip switch programming controls each output independently and LED indicators show visual status of the output. Options for remote and local switching provide the unique ability to isolate all auxiliary loads in an instance.

Ransomware breaches have increased 41% since 2021.

Focus on:

Technology

Read how municipalities can protect themselves

page 18.

25 to 30 minutes

Members of the Dighton, Mass., Fire Department sometimes have to wait this long when submitting a report on the fire reporting system due to slow internet connections.

Learn how a new grant is improving Dighton’s fire and police departments’ internet on page 22.

1.7 million

One of Madison, Wis.’s, YouTube videos, titled “MFD Heavy Urban Rescue Team Assists with Rescue Following Plane Crash,” has 1.7 million views.

Read how Madison Fire Department is using the internet to find new recruits on page 30.

Estimated cost of a threeyear, fiberoptic infrastructure project in Kenosha, Wis., that will provide high-speed, broadband internet to residents beginning in 2023.

Source: https://www.cbs58.com/news/kenosha-begins-3-year-100-million-fiberoptic -infrastructure-project-promises-faster-internet.

The number of intersections used in Bellevue, Wash.’s, Leading Pedestrian Intervals pilot study. In these pilot areas, traffic cameras were used, which observed over 650,000 road users. The use of LPIs showed a 42% reduction in conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians.

200

Approximate number of children who cross 109th Avenue between Champlin Park High School and Jackson Middle School in Brooklyn Park, Minn., before and after school. The installation this year of a first-of-its-kind rectangular rapid flashing beacon, or RRFB, will help protect the kids who use that crosswalk: The beacon has been installed on the crosswalk sign and can be activated by just waving a hand in front of the button.

Source: https://ccxmedia.org/news/ brooklyn-park-deploys-latest-crosswalk-technology-near-champlin-park-hs/

70%

The output of leftover sludge at the Clarks ville, Tenn., wastewater treatment plant will be reduced by almost three-quarters after installation is complete on new thermal dryers in 2024. The project is being undertaken so that the stench of leftover sludge will be eliminated for neighbors of the local landfill.

Source: https://clarksvillenow.com/local/ new-technology-coming-to-wastewater-treatment-plant-will-kill-stench-at-landfill/.

Find out how Bellevue is using technology to meet its Vision Zero goals on page 26.

The rise of cyberattacks and what municipalities should do to mitigate them

By STACI REAFSNYDER | The Municipal

Phishing emails. Hacked systems. Ransomed files.

These terms have become all too familiar with reports all over the world from major news outlets. And, let’s not forget the Colo nial Pipeline ransomware attack in May 2021. Now, tensions are even higher, and the risk of a cyberattack on municipalities is more prevalent.

IBM Security’s “2022 Cost of a Data Breach Report” states the global average cost of a breach is $4.3 million. This is a 13% increase from years past an all time high.

“Ransomware attacks are more expensive than average breaches at $4.54 million. Ran somware share of breaches increased 41% since 2021,” the report states.

ABOVE: Ransomware isn’t geared toward physical harm, but typically focuses on a quick payday. If a hacker were to gain access to the network of a municipal ity, there are a lot of controls they could ransom. (Aslysun/Shutterstock.com)

But why hack a municipality? Ransomware isn’t geared toward physical harm, but typi cally focuses on a quick payday.

“Information is the new currency of the 21st century,” Chris Poulin, deputy chief

technology officer (CTO) and director, tech nology and strategy at BitSight, said.

Poulin stated if a hacker were to gain access to the network of a municipality, there are a lot of controls they could ransom. For example, a municipality could no longer collect taxes, direct road repairs or pay city employees, such as the police and fire depart ments. Or, the hacker could gain access to the personally identifiable information (PII) of the taxpayer and individually target them for a quick payout.

According to Frank Welder, technical solu tions architect in cybersecurity with Arrow Electronics, ransoming a municipality’s information would create havoc.

“Every municipality has a process. Think of the money disruption and how they (cities) use taxes to pay for road repairs, etcetera.” Welder said. “Quite literally the bad guys want to create a little bit of havoc and chaos.”

Welder pointed out if our governments are the ones to grant permits, what happens when that city doesn’t have the capabilities to do that?

“Will that slow down operations? Will that have an impact? And that’s what the bad guys are going for,” Welder said. “Cities receive money from us all the time: sales tax, property tax, licensing fees, all of those systems. What happens if the bad guys attack those systems and they deny municipalities access to the money that they need to repair the roads, to pay people, and things like that? Think about that type of disruption it would cause.”

In March 2018, Atlanta, Ga., was hit with a ransom of over $50,000. It took the city months to recover from. At the end, Atlanta paid out $2.6 million in incident response and data forensics to combat the ransom ware attack.

“Though a municipality doesn’t have the specific obligations of a private company, it still has plenty of crucial considerations and costs. Atlanta’s ransomware attack impacted five of the city’s 13 local government depart ments and disrupted many functions people rely on every day, including the police department records system, infrastruc ture maintenance requests and the judicial system. The attack also hindered revenue collection; residents weren’t able to pay their water bills for day,” Wired.com states in its 2018 article “Atlanta Spent $2.6M to Recover from a $52,000 Ransomware Scare.”

According to Poulin, municipalities need to create one IT infrastructure for all the departments they oversee. By having one infrastructure, it creates consistency and guidance for the city’s information technol ogy team and umbrellas every department in the municipality.

“It would be good to have consistency and guidance at a municipality level,” Poulin said. “But even more important is an information sharing analysis center.”

Poulin stated that an information sharing analysis center (ISAC) is a forum to discuss

cyber issues, making everyone aware of who’s being attacked, how they’re being attacked, what the hackers are after and what an orga nization is using that is successful. There is also a more tactful side to an ISAC: Forensic information can be shared to prevent others from the same scenario.

“One thing that can complicate things is city, state and federal regulations,” Poulin said. “There are a crushing amount of regulations that everyone is subject to.”

For instance, if a city takes a credit card payment or anything like that, they are subject to PCI compliance, Poulin stated. Municipalities have a complex network of different departments that store different information taxes, police department records, physicals for officers and fire per sonnel and so much more.

“Complexity is an enemy of cybersecurity,” Poulin said. “Complexity doesn’t only mean your architecture, but also means everything that goes on: how much data you store, where you store it, who has access to it.”

Knowing what compliance regulations your municipality falls under will also help in the development, implementation and execution of your IT infrastructure. For exam ple, certain states have specific compliance requirements that others may not have, and those may apply to a city if it employs some one who lives in that state, or if it conducts business with a vendor from that state.

According to Welder, one key thing any municipality should have in place is a hard ening of its framework.

“I always think of cybersecurity as building defenses,” Welder said. “We think of a castle. A castle is not just an individual structure. There’s the castle itself, and then there’s walls around that, and walls around that, and walls around that, and then a moat and maybe an open field. If you think about all of those lay ered defenses with that, if your mindset is that the hackers only need to be right once, I need to make sure that I have many things that they have to pass through to get into the network. Regardless of budget, how hard do munici palities need to make their network for those cybersecurity criminals to access the ‘crown jewels’? Hardening your network.”

Welder questioned, from a systems-andprocess perspective, have you hardened your environment? He stated the MITRE Frame work perspective points out key areas where cities should harden their environment.

Chris Poulin

Frank Welder

“In many instances, it’s all about keep ing up with patches and plugging the holes. The bad guys aren’t creating new vulner abilities; they are just exploiting existing ones. Harden your systems,” Welder said.

Hardening your network includes routine vulnerability assessments and pen etration tests to see where those holes lie as well as patching known software bugs to ensure systems are operating with current, secure hardware.

Secondly, Welder said, cities need to monitor their networks with a single pane of glass that provides reporting for all the ebbs and flows. When you monitor the network, you can then see when abnor malities appear and investigate those abnormalities.

Vulnerabilities are public knowledge. These vulnerabilities are routinely pub lished by the Internet Crime Complaint Center as well as Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under the FBI. It doesn’t take a lot from a

Cyberattacks continue to increase, presenting a challenge to municipalities that now need to ensure their systems are robust enough to keep attackers at bay. (NicoElNino/Shutter stock.com)

cybercriminal to figure out where a poten tial risk may lie in a network. By creating an all-encompassing IT infrastructure that adheres to compliance, while assessing

risks and vulnerabilities, municipalities can work toward a strong cybersecurity foundation to protect their networks and the people they serve.

Dighton, Mass., police and fire connect through fiber

By DENISE FEDOROW | The Municipal

The Dighton, Mass., Police Department, 1458 Somerset Ave., also contains the 911 central dispatch for the town. The State Municipal Fiber Program grant will help give more efficient service for the police and fire departments. (Photo provided by Dighton, Mass.)

Dighton has two fire stations, and each has its own internet service, as does the police department. This fiber optic grant will, among other benefits, combine the three internet services into one. Pictured is Dighton Fire Station No. 1, 300 Main St. (Photo provided by Dighton, Mass.)

We all know technology makes us more efficient — when it works right, that is; otherwise, it can frustrate.

That frustration is what the fire department of the town of Dighton, Mass., has been experiencing, but it is looking forward to that changing because of a $201,000 state Municipal Fiber Program grant awarded to the town this summer.

Town Administrator Mike Mullen said Dighton applied for the grant in early April. He said the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, under the administration of Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, made it a priority to “partner with cities and towns to help address local pri orities whether that is safety, infrastructure, financial planning, etc.”

This latest grant is a part of that priority. The grants are through the Baker-Polito administration’s Community Compact Cabinet program. Mullen said the town has received several grants through this Commu nity Compact Cabinet program for economic development, updating and upgrading the IT infrastructure through the “same overarching grant opportunity.”

Mullen said the town didn’t hire an outside grant writer; instead, he and the police chief, the building commissioner/facilities director

along with Southeastern Massachusetts region Taunton Municipal Light Plant a utility and fiber optic internet provider came together to write the grant. Mullen said the criteria they had to meet was show ing a need.

“We just had to demonstrate a compelling need in regards to how we would utilize the expanded fiber,” and also to address how “based on our understanding of the challenges the fire department was having with the VPN (virtual private network)” to how having the fiber optic service would benefit the community.

Fire Chief Christopher Maguy explained the challenges his depart ment experienced.

“Our records management system is based out of the police depart ment where central dispatch is (located). The server is based there, and without a direct connection, it’s very slow, very frustrating.”

He said when members have to submit a report about a run on the fire reporting system that is used in Massachusetts and nationwide,

“What should take five to 10 minutes is taking 25 to 30 minutes. This will expedite everything and make it less frustrating.”

Mullen said even before the grant opportunity came up, leadership shared those challenges that the fire department was having with get ting out to the public safety computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system with Taunton Municipal Light Plant.

“Up to this point, they had to log into the VPN, which was sometimes unreliable and time-consuming,” he said.

According to Mullen, the grant will allow the town to have a shared and dedicated public safety fiber line for all three of the public safety buildings the two fire stations and police stations, “plus we also envision the infrastructure will give us a promising opportunity for a foundation to connect all the municipal buildings on one dedicated fiber line.”

Mullen said, “We’re at the point of placing a strong priority on assessing and planning our infrastructure needs and the ability to have one dedicated public safety and municipal lines to address our municipal needs this is a tremendous opportunity.”

Chief Maguy said the change can help improve the town’s safety by “improving the flow of information between each fire station and the police department and central dispatch, streamlining the information flow back and forth.”

He added each building had its individual internet provider, and this change will combine all the buildings into one provider. It will also be a cost savings for the town.

Timeline for the project

Mullen said, “As we speak, we’re in the process of finalizing the contract and scope of work between our community and Taunton Municipal Light Plant.”

Dighton expects to be under contract in October, and while the work will start before the end of the calendar year, most of it will take place in 2023.

Town of Dighton Fire Chief Chris Maguy has experienced frustra tion with the unreliable and slow connections when trying to connect to the fire records management system. The fiber optic service should eliminate that frustration. (Photo provided by Dighton, Mass.)

“Once we’re under contract, contingent upon the winter weather, we expect it’ll take approximately eight months to build out,” Mullen said. “We view this opportunity and investment as the first step in creating and establishing a municipal-operated fiber link to support all town operations. Along with the dedicated public safety line, we’d have the ability to plan and implement (a line for) the rest of the municipal buildings, including the library, highway department, town hall and the Council on Aging.”

The fiber optic lines will be run on utility poles, “Here in Massachu setts, we’re slowly moving toward underground, but predominately, our utilities are all run on utility poles,” Mullen said.

Chief Maguy added, “On the poles, there’s municipal space dedi cated to these kinds of functions.”

When thinking about their future technological goals, Chief Maguy said for the police and fire departments having one email server in town, instead of three, will enable them to build their public safety equipment and radio communications and allow them to reach other locations in town.

Mullen said with the town-run dispatch operations in the police station, it is really the hub of their technology service and having every thing run through one service will streamline that.

When asked how the police chief felt, Chief Maguy said, “I believe he’s of the same opinion as me the more streamlined both our operations are, the better for both of us for sending information back and forth.”

Mullen said, “Our police and fire departments have strong synergy in everything they do, and we believe this will only help to link those efforts and relationships.”

Dighton was one of more than 70 communities to receive the State Municipal Fiber Program Grant through the Baker-Polito Community Compact Cabinet to expand, upgrade or, like Dighton, initiate fiber optic service to their cities and towns.

Town of Dighton Police Chief Shawn Cronin, shown with 911 liaison Theresa Costa, will also reportedly be happy with the streamlined service the fiber optic grant will provide the town’s public safety departments. (Photo provided by Dighton, Mass.)

Bellevue, Wash., launches goal of eliminating roadway injuries and fatalities

By NICHOLETTE CARLSON | The Municipal

The city of Bellevue, Wash., has spent the last seven years working to make its streets safer with the Vision Zero plan. The Bellevue City Council passed a resolution providing the framework to pursue Vision Zero in December 2015. Five years later, in December 2020, the council approved the Vision Zero strategic plan, which included the Safe System approach.

In order to reach Vision Zero, Bellevue adopted the belief that serious injuries and deaths on the road are not simply accidents, they are all preventable.

Franz Loewenherz, Bellevue’s mobility planning and solutions manager, explained, “Crashes result from a set of designs, infra structure and systemic issues, not just road user behavior. This holistic approach accepts that people will make mistakes and that crashes will continue to occur, but it aims to ensure these do not result in serious injuries or fatalities. Stated simply, Vision Zero is the goal and the Safe System approach is how we get there.”

This Safe System approach focuses on safe streets, safe people, safe speeds and safe

vehicles. According to Loewenherz, it also encompasses “the supporting elements of leadership, culture, partnerships and data. Bellevue recognizes that the way we design our streets, educate our road users and estab lish and enforce traffic laws can dramatically improve safety.”

Loewenherz continued, “The leadership strategy, nested within the city’s Safe System approach, states, ‘Commit all levels of the city to keep learning, refining our skills and expanding our toolbox with the best avail able strategies, policies and actions.’ The city of Bellevue adheres to this high performance organization commitment vis-a-vis its active involvement in multiple professional engi neering forums and through collaborations

ABOVE: Recently, Bellevue has tested a pilot program using Leading Pedestrian Intervals, which gives pedestrians the chance to enter the crosswalk before vehicles receive a green light. This makes the pedestrian more visible when crossing a roadway. The goal is to prevent accidents at street intersections, which accounts for 61% of pedestrian serious injuries and fatalities and 54% for bicyclists. (Photo provided by Bellevue, Wash.)

with technology companies. Bellevue is constantly learning and sharing with others. A priority in our Safe System approach is to share our successes with other communities so that we’re moving toward zero together.”

Using the Safe System approach, the city reviews historical trends, roadway features and proactive risk evaluations in order to provide city staff members with insights on potential problem areas and to identify appropriate countermeasures to help solve the problem. These solutions are prioritized to improve equitable, safe access to civic life for road users of all ages and abilities.

The city of Bellevue’s high injury network map shows the road ways with the greatest safety issues in need of intervention to keep residents, employees and visitors as safe as possible and move the city toward its goal of Vision Zero. Utilizing both the map and new technology, the city hopes to eliminate serious injuries and fatalities on roadways by 2030. (Photo provided by Bellevue, Wash.)

Annual action plans are developed by Bellevue’s cross-department team to monitor the progess of Vision Zero and keep efforts on track to meet the city’s goal. Safe System actions are identified in the annual action plans, which is the duty of the city departments to implement throughout the year. These actions ensure the city’s residents, employ ees and visitors navigate the city’s roadways safely and comfortably with multiple options.

The role of technology is crucial in the city’s mission to prevent transportation-related serious injuries and deaths on roads and streets. Typically, crash data analysis is used to pinpoint areas and specific locations that may require intervention. However, crashes are random and police reports do not always state the full extent of safety issues experienced by those using the road. Therefore, an intervention analysis requires a minimum of five years of crash data.

For quicker results, Bellevue has adopted new technology with an emphasis on proactive safety techniques. “Traffic conflict analytics techniques that leverage cloud computing, artificial intelligence and video intelligence offer predictive insight into when, where and why crashes are most likely to occur at specific locations,” Loewenherz described. “The city of Bellevue is an early adopter and accelerator

Traffic control analytics, including cloud computing, video intel ligence and artificial intelligence, provide quicker results in proactive safety techniques. The city of Bellevue has been part nering with multiple businesses over the years in order to adopt these proactive safety solutions more quickly. (Photo provided by Bellevue, Wash.)

of these proactive safety techniques, having set in motion multiple technology development partnerships that convert raw video footage from our existing camera network into traffic flow, speed and conflict event data.”

From 2016 to 2018, the city partnered with Microsoft and the Uni versity of Washington for video analytics. The city then partnered with Transoft Solutions and Together for Safer Roads from 2019 to 2020. In 2020, the city partnered again with Microsoft as well as Jacobs and Advanced Mobility Analytics Group.

The most recent partnership began in 2022 and includes Amazon Web Services, Ouster, Outsight, Advanced Mobility Analytics Group, Blue-Band and Fehr and Peers. With these partnerships and new technologies, it only takes approximately one week for data collec tion as opposed to the traditional five years.

“In addition to identifying conflict hot spots, video analytics offers rapid insight on whether a safety countermeasure achieves a favor able outcome,” Loewenherz said. “Together we are exploring new safety metrics from lidar and video-based edge computer sensors at several downtown intersections. Additionally, we are exploring the potential of interfacing these sensors with the city’s adaptive traffic signals. Currently, the city’s signal system uses inductive loops buried in the pavement to detect vehicles and bicycles, then adjusts signal timing accordingly. The technology we’re developing with our part ners offers the possibility of better detection of road users to increase the safety and minimize traffic delays, as well as lower costs by elimi nating the need to maintain loops under city streets.”

In this most recent partnership, a before-and-after evaluation was conducted on the safety impacts of Leading Pedestrian Intervals. It has been shown in Bellevue the majority of serious injuries and fatalities occur at intersections, including 61% of pedestrian injuries and fatalities and 54% of bicycle injuries and fatalities. The LPIs give walking individuals the chance to enter an intersection crosswalk between three and seven seconds before vehicles are given a green light. This allows pedestrians to be more visible in the crosswalk before any vehicles have the opportunity to turn right or left. This is

especially important in Bellevue given that 41% of all pedestrian fatali ties and serious injuries result from a failure to yield to pedestrians.

Using LPIs has been a proven countermeasure, promoting safety in the city of Bellevue. The city’s LPI pilot study included 20 intersections throughout the downtown and Crossroads areas. In these pilot areas, traffic cameras were used, which observed over 650,000 road users. Thus far, the use of LPIs shows a 42% reduction in conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians.

In 2022, the city teamed up with the Bellevue School District for six road safety assessments on streets near schools, which are considered part of the city’s “high injury network.” These few particular roads see the most fatal or serious injury collisions.

“A road safety assessment is a proven tool to identify safety issues, particularly for vulnerable travelers, such as people walking and bicy cling,” Loewenherz stated.

As part of the road safety assessment, students, parents and other members of the neighborhood were invited to take an online questionnaire and participate in a walking audit. The walking audit included walking along the high-risk roads to identify potential safety issues or street conditions that could be considered unsafe.

“Results from the assessments will be used to make on the street safety improvements through city transportation projects,” he continued.

According to the World Health Organization, over 1.3 million people die each year from roadway crashes. Vision Zero has arisen as an

Considered part of the high injury network of Bellevue, the Bel levue school district and city officials teamed up to participate in six road safety assessments. Pictured are city officials conducting one of these road safety assessments in Factoria, which helped identify potential safety issues along these high risk roads. (Photo provided by Bellevue, Wash.)

international movement to help lower those numbers. Utilizing new partnerships and technology, the city of Bellevue hopes to reach its Vision Zero initiative by 2030, eliminating serious injury collisions and traffic deaths on their city streets.

Madison takes firefighter recruitment online

By DANI MESSICK | The Municipal

The city of Madison, Wis.’s, fire department is forging a new path as it attempts to recruit trainees for this round of recruitment.

In a traditional open house setting, folks are invited to the firehouse to speak in person with recruiters. There’s a presentation and a tour of the firehouse, rigs, equipment and gear. The scenario works well for most aspiring fire fighters, but Madison is looking to connect a variety of people.

“We want to reach out to folks who may not have considered this career before or have some time constraints or location constraints that are keeping them from joining us in person down at the firehouse,” said Cynthia Schuster, Madison Fire Department’s public information officer. “Our chief, he really wants to bring more people into the department who are committed to public service (and) com munity service.”

The idea was spawned when Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon noticed that Seattle,

Wash.’s, fire department was hosting virtual open houses.

“It’s a way to reach a wider audience to make the department more accessible and to get this notion of becoming a firefighter/EMT in front of people who may not have crossed paths with this message before or considered it before,” Schuster explained. “I think a lot of people think about this job as something that they already need to have the fire or EMS experience behind them before they can apply, but with our department, that’s not the case.”

The department has a recruiting academy to teach fire and EMS, so what they want, Schuster said, is people who are driven by a passion for community, who have character and compassion.

“We’ll teach you the skills,” she said. “We don’t want to limit our options. There are a

ABOVE: Pictured is a slide from firefighter/ paramedic Reggie Williams’ presentation at the Madison Fire Department’s first-ever virtual open house in September. (Photo provided by Madison Fire Department)

lot of fantastic people out there who would be amazing firefighters or EMTs, but may not have had the opportunity to explore it. We’re hoping to reach out to those folks and to make it less intimidating.”

The virtual open houses are held over Zoom, and preregistration gets a Zoom link. There is no expectation to eventually host a physical open house on site, but the registration does gain the department access to contact infor mation to keep lines of communication open for the future. The department’s assessment testing has also changed to a virtual format as well to allow for people who might live further away or have time constraints to keep them from participating in the assessment in person.

At the department’s Zoom-based open house meetings, questions can also be

submitted in advance anonymously, which helps to break down the barrier of asking difficult questions.

One set of people the virtual recruitments can cater to is women. Only 4.5% of firefighters are women, but at Madison, it’s closer to 10%, and it’s in large part a result of efforts by the Madison Fire Department’s recruitment team.

The women’s open house will also host a panel with women from various ranks in the department describing their roles and describing other information specifically relevant to women.

“There are concerns about sharing bathrooms or showers, to ‘What happens if I want to start a family?’ ‘Or have a family on the job,’ how ever that looks. When deciding to get pregnant, there are significant risks of infertility just due to the carcinogens and chemicals that we’re exposed to,” said Jenna Larson, a firefighter/paramedic who is also on the recruitment committee, adding that Madison has a prenatal policy of nonhazardous duty and lactation. The department also has an affin ity group for women of the Madison Fire Department where women can discuss current issues they’re struggling with. The department has 43 women on the force out of nearly 400 total three times the national average.

“We have so many women compared to the national average that we can have these conversations in a space that’s beneficial for others.”

Coming from a volunteer department where she was the only woman on the department, Larson knows firsthand the struggle of being on a mostly male fire department. It keeps them silent at times, hoping to just fit in, but talking about it, she said, helps to create a safer environ ment for everyone involved.

“Women need different gear than men do, as traditional fire gear is designed to fit the male anatomical body, where there are differences for women. We’ve really experienced that especially in gloves some thing you wouldn’t think of, but ill-fitting gloves can be detrimental in firefighting activities, and it took a long time to get appropriately fitting gloves, but we wouldn’t have known that without talking about it.”

Professional Zoom meetings can take some time to develop, and Schuster said the department leads on the project rehearse ahead of time to make sure everyone understands how the meetings work, how to mute and unmute, learn about and prevent feedback loops, and more, to ensure a positive experience for potential diverse recruits on the other end of the camera.

“I know that not everyone has the capability,” Schuster said. “We’re really lucky at Madison to have such a robust IT department to support our needs.”

The department only recruits every three years, so regular engage ment is important for it to keep people interested. The department even boasts a YouTube page where they share videos of a “day in the life,” following individuals in the department.

“We also have a series called ‘New Beginnings,’ where a number of our folks share their story of how they were once (for example) a school teacher, and now they’re a firefighter/EMT, and we have chefs and military personnel, and just to be able to share those stories, we hope strikes a chord with people who might be in those same shoes and who might be looking for a change. Maybe you weren’t following us on social media, but someone shared that video and it took off on Facebook.”

One YouTube video, “MFD Heavy Urban Rescue Team Assists with Rescue Following Plane Crash,” dated May 16, 2021, has 1.7 million views.

“For those who have that capability to find versatile ways to relay the same message, you’re going to have a greater success rate, reaching people you didn’t expect to reach,” Schuster said. “It gives people a taste of what the job is, but also shows the people that are inside the department working for us and making them relatable.”

Larson added the Zoom meetings and other videos aren’t perfect. They don’t use extravagant lighting and use the firehouses as back grounds for their videos.

“We want people to feel like we’re approachable,” she said. “We just want to show that, ‘We’re regular people over here, and we hope you’ll join our team.’”

For more information about how Madison handles its recruitment process, visit the one-stop shop at https://www.cityofmadison.com/ fire/join-mfd.

Division Chief Jerry Buechner, left, and firefighter/paramedic Reggie Williams of the city of Madison Fire Department answer questions at a recent in-person recruitment open house. (Photo provided by Madison Fire Department)

Firefighter/paramedic Jenna Larson hosts a virtual open house for women on Oct. 4. (Photo provided by Madison Fire Department)

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Reno launches ‘Biggest Little Blockchain’ to test new record-keeping method

By KEVIN KILBANE | The Municipal

The city of Reno, Nev., harnessed the capabilities of blockchain technology to put city officials, staff, customers and the public all on the same page. In the process, city officials learned some things that could be helpful to other communities adopting new technology.

“In retrospect, it probably would have been nice to have a little disclaimer that says this is a work in progress, and we’ll take your feedback and try to implement it and try to make a better product or a better service for the community,” Nic Ciccone, a city of Reno

community liaison, said during a video call interview. “I think that would be a great addi tion to the site.”

Known as the “Biggest Little City in the World,” Reno debuted its “Biggest Little Blockchain” on Sept. 12 to provide access to

ABOVE: Known as “The Biggest Little City in the World”, Reno, Nev., is now exploring a new technology blockchain as a new record-keeping system. (Hammon Photog raphy/Shutterstock.com)

records for properties on the city Register of Historic Places. Reno believes the city’s his toric registry is the first municipal records system in America to be made available to the public using blockchain technology.

A blockchain is like an online ledger that can be accessed from many locations and can be used to record and track records

This internet screenshot shows the homepage of the Biggest Little Blockchain, which launched Sept. 12. The site is still undergoing enhancements, but the city hopes to use blockchain technology to improve transparency, accessibility and accountability for city records. (Screenshot provided by the city of Reno, Nev.)

and transactions. Reno hopes to use the technology, which is accessible at reno.gov/ Blockchain, to enhance transparency, acces sibility and accountability with city records, it said in an announcement.

“In layman’s terms, it’s like everyone’s working on the same Google Doc, and we can see what kinds of edits are being made,” Ciccone said. Blockchain technology also ensures records can’t be lost or changed by just anyone, which allows residents to track city actions over time.

BlockApps of Brooklyn, N.Y., developed Reno’s blockchain at no cost as a pilot project, Ciccone said. Use of blockchain technology doesn’t create any additional work for city staff and doesn’t require any changes in the city’s information technology resources, he said. The city will have to pay BlockApps for future build-out and expansion of the system.

BlockApps previously has developed blockchains for businesses seeking better ways to track assets and products, the com pany said on its website, blockapps.net.

“We are the first municipality they have ever partnered with, so that was going to bring on challenges of its own just working out that partnership, figuring out what we could put on the site, how could we make it as acces sible as possible,” Ciccone said.

“I think the biggest issue we’ve come in con tact with is just that education component,” he added. “Blockchains can be big and scary, and I think there is this misconception that because things are unchangeable that orig inal record folks are worried that I can’t go

in there and edit and fix a mistake that was made. We can absolutely fix mistakes that are made.”

BlockApps used Reno’s historic register to start building the blockchain because it was the smallest set of records and because the properties go through a clearly defined decision-making process, Ciccone said.

When it launched, the blockchain con tained the original city historic register applications for 21 properties, but it failed to identify them as such, Ciccone noted. The mostly text format also lacked visual elements the city hoped to make part of the blockchain, such as photos, design plans, architectural renderings and images of applications, meet ing minutes, and other documents produced during application, review and decision processes.

Reno’s historic preservation community voiced concern about the blockchain, citing the inaccuracies there are only 17 proper ties on the register now, for example and lack of helpful information, such as how to apply to have a property listed on the city historic register.

“With respect to this project, although it absolutely does touch those historic prop erties, it’s not about the historic properties themselves,” Ciccone said. “It’s about show ing off a new record-keeping system and seeing if it is a viable option for the city to pursue with other records.”

Reno eventually hopes to expand the Big gest Little Blockchain to include city records

The California Building was constructed by the state of California for the Transcon tinental Highways Exposition of 1927 in Reno, Nev., the Historic Reno Preservation Society reported. The building is among properties on Reno’s Register of Historic Places that now appear on the city’s new Biggest Little Blockchain. (Provided by the city of Reno, Nev.)

such as routine maintenance work and per mitting and licensing information.

Ciccone also would like to use the block chain to attach special-use permits to land parcels rather than to property owners. A spe cial use would be needed, for example, when a bar or restaurant wants to have live music but currently doesn’t have that permission. Currently, special-use permits inadvertently sometimes don’t get passed along to new property owners immediately, he added.

Ciccone believes there is “huge poten tial” for blockchain technology to enhance the way cities keep records. For example, a blockchain’s ability to allow everyone to see the same information simultaneously may eliminate the need for people to trade a dozen or more emails to move from a permit application to a final decision, he said. Use of blockchain technology also has the potential to speed up the permitting process.

“My advice with this project and in gen eral is I think oftentimes municipalities and government are a little scared of adopting new technologies or new ways to implement things,” Ciccone said. “I think starting small here has opened up a way for the city to con tinue using this technology, and I think that’s just a good general rule: Starting small and seeing if that small, pilot project will work well and then building that out.”

North Dakota city reveals a creative side

By BETH ANNE BRINK-COX | The Municipal

Devils Lake, N.D., was formed because of a continental glacier that covered most of North America during the Pleistocene Epoch. According to Wikipedia, that part of history lasted until about 11,700 years ago and a basin was formed as the glacier moved, eventually filling as it melted.

During a severe drought in the 1930s, Devils Lake nearly evaporated, but climate change means that the lake now measures 1,450 feet. It continues to expand, which had led to some pretty amazing fishing. Devils Lake is known as one of the best fisheries in the central United States, and both the locals and visitors take full advantage of it. In fact, January will see the 39th Annual Volunteer Fire Department Fishing Tourney take place: It’s three days of family-friendly entertainment for those who are willing to brave the cold.

Cory Meyer, who co-chairs the event along with TeeJay Kurtz, Nathan Bennett and Erik Samuelson, explained the history of the long-running fishing tournament.

“It started 38, 39 years ago, with the Fraternal Order of the Eagles, and when they went defunct, there were already some volunteer firemen who were part of it. It just was a sort of natural, easy transi tion, a little paperwork,” Meyer said. No one wanted to see such a big event lost in a town whose population numbered 7032 in 2020. The tournament draws 3,000 to 5,000 attendees each year, depending on the weather.

Meyers added, “People come from all over the state, really, even others from across the country, to be part of this. It’s just so much fun. There are some who come solo just to participate, while others come as a family.

There are all kinds of things to do besides fishing on Saturday, he noted. “We’ve given away some awesome prizes.”

It takes a lot of volunteers to put the tournament on. There’s food and music, and then there’s the drilling of the holes early Saturday morning.

As with so many other large annual events, planning for the next one begins almost immediately after each tournament ends.

Visitors can also tour the Fort Totten State Historic Site. It was built in 1867 as a military post to protect the Totten Trail and the Totten Indian Reservation. In 1890 the post was decommissioned, and it then served as a Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding School from 1891 to 1935. Murals still on the walls, though faded, show the everyday life of the children housed there.

The Fort also served briefly as the preventorium for residents with tuberculosis. In 1940, it became an educational facility once again, serving as grade school and high school until 1959.

After two days of pre-tournament festivities, the serious fishing happens on Saturday, and there’s always a good turnout. (Photo provided by DLVFD Ice Fishing Tournament)

North Dakota temperatures don’t fool around when it comes to winter; a minus-zero reading is not unusual. If you’re going to ice fish for the first time and didn’t come fully prepared, you might want to avail yourself of similar outfit. (Photo provided by DLVFD Ice Fishing Tournament)

An incredibly talented group that always welcomes more artists, the Woodcarvers Club creates work of such detail it almost has to be touched to realize that those “feathers” are wood. (Photo provided by Lake Heritage Region Center)

LEFT: This finished piece will become an instant, treasured heirloom for generations to come, lending itself to story telling as well as play. (Photo provided by Lake Heritage Region Center)

In 1960, the Fort was declared a state historical site. Visitors can walk the grounds and enter original buildings, a peek into the past with The Interpretive Center, Plummer’s Store, The Fort Totten Little Theatre, Traveling Exhibits and Pioneer Daughter’s Museum, where uniforms and artifacts of Colonel Creel and other former officers sta tioned at the post are on display.

In June, visitors can participate in the Devils Run Car Show, which began in 1993. It started with a car club called the “Lucky Devils” and just a few local classic cars, growing through the years into one of the largest car shows in the upper Midwest and attracting nearly 1,000 cars annually. This event lasts three days, and in addition to the main attraction there’s plenty of food and entertainment, including “Muf fler-Rapping,” Burnout and Balance Beam contests, a parade and a night at the drive-in movie. “What better way to enjoy a celebration of cars?”

The three-day event, usually the first weekend in June, is attended by car enthusiasts from all over the country and Canada. The 30th anniversary of the event is scheduled to begin next June 1.

Another big draw, no pun intended, is the Lake Regions Art Festival. It was held in July and has already been scheduled again for next June. Lisa Crosby, director of operations at Lake Region Heritage Center, bubbled over with a list of superlatives for this display of creativity.

“We had 40 artists exhibiting at the juried exhibition, and they were judged,” Crosby said, noting a juried exhibition displays artwork selected through a competition in the hope of being selected. “The artists were mostly from North Dakota, but we do get some from Min nesota, too.”

The categories were glass, traditional, photography, oil, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media and drawing, with three artists in each

RIGHT: Carol Greywater, an artist on the Spirit Lake Reservation, specializes in Native American, wildlife and fantasy art. (Photo provided by Lake Heritage Region Center)

In keeping with her love of fantasy art, Carol Greywater drew this beautiful dragon that had everyone talking. (Photo provided by Lake Heritage Region Center)

placing. There were two very special prizes: the Heritage Award and Colonel Eugene E. Myers Purchase Award: Artist Ellen Diederich won both prizes, and her “Land of Milk and Honey” became a part of the University of North Dakota permanent collection.

Crosby said, “In addition to the art show, we had active exhib its wood carving, blacksmithing, rug punching. Lake Region demonstrated beautiful Native American music and dancing. We had the Devils Lake Community Orchestra playing; we had Miki’s Dance Studio, where the students were demonstrating tap and other forms of dance; and we saw scenes from ‘Jersey Boys’ performed by the Little Theatre group, a sort of teaser for their upcoming show in Roosevelt Park. There was a boxcar parade for children, with prizes for Most Artistic and Best Use of Recycled Materials, and a bluegrass jam, where anyone with a bluegrass instrument was welcome to join in making music.”

The festival lasts a week, and it would take that long to see and do everything. Crosby explained, “We had food trucks. We had ice cream trucks. We had face painting. We had balloon animals. We had air dry clay projects for children to make at the Lake Region Public Library. We had an artist who brought boxes of colored chalks and did the most amazing picture on the sidewalk, and it was beautiful while it lasted!” The artist was Carol Greywater, an artist on the Spirit Lake Reservation on the southern shores of Devils Lake who special izes in Native American, wildlife and fantasy art.

Native American heritage and many other elements are rich in North Dakota. Immersing oneself in the multiple cultures, the food, music and artwork, probably means a visitor will make plans to return again and again.

Surging gas prices cause fleet managers to get creative

By JULIE YOUNG | The Municipal

They say that what goes up must come down. Although oil prices have fallen since the summer surge, communities are constantly looking for ways to fuel their fleets without breaking the budget. After all, petroleum prices not only impact the cost of gas at the pump, but also the products used resurface roads: Both must be carefully considered by municipalities.

“There is no real magic for anticipating fuel prices,” said Centerville, Ohio, City Manager Wayne Davis. “When we put our budget together for 2022, we anticipated that there would be a price increase, but we weren’t counting on $5 a gallon. I think we assumed it would be $4 a gallon, and then we rode out the wave.”

Creative solutions

The trick, for local governments, is to manage the cost of fueling a fleet without sacrificing services. According to Taylor Gronau, assis tant city administrator for the city of Buffalo, Minn., not only do communities shop around for the best possible fuel price, but they also ask employees to take a wide range of steps to help make the most of their fuel consumption.

“It’s difficult to adjust to higher-than-expected fuel prices because most of the travel is necessary to provide services. So, we do end up

ABOVE: Buffalo, Minn., Assistant City Administrator Taylor Gronau said he encourages his fleet to engage in fuel saving practices, such as not idling, taking fuel efficient routes and more. (Photo pro vided by Buffalo, Minn.)

prioritizing fuel, which leads to budget adjustments and delayed purchases,” he said.

In addition to buying and using the most fuel-efficient vehicles and equipment as possible for the required trip or job, Gronau also encourages city employees to reduce the amount of weight they carry, avoid extended idling and warm-up periods, anticipate traffic condi tions and have the tire pressure checked regularly to conserve fuel.

However, these efforts hardly offset the pain at the pump when gas prices hit historic highs. Buffalo is projecting it will exceed its $199,000 fuel budget for the year.

“Budget-wise, our 2023 preliminary fuel budget is $299,000, or $100,000 higher than 2022,” he said. “That amounts to about a 1% tax levy increase just on that one item alone, never mind the other price increases we’re seeing and have to budget for. This puts significant pressure on decisionmakers to cut costs everywhere.”

Big investments to beat big oil

Experts say one of the best ways to beat the rise in oil and gas prices is to invest in electric and hybrid vehicles/equipment. Davis said there are hidden costs to that option as well.

Centerville has 80 city vehicles on the road and a $300,000 fuel budget for the year. While the city certainly looks to more energy efficient vehicles when it has the opportunity to buy one, no com munity has the funds it would take to convert an entire fleet at once. There is also the issue of charging and storing them.

“One of the challenges with electricity is that it has to be pro duced too, and there is a substantial cost to that. The vehicles are more expensive than the traditional gas-powered ones too and we would have to build new buildings in which to store them,” he said. “Make no mistake, we are not opposed to it, and we will continue to look into it. But the market has not caught up with it yet, and no one will convince me that we have enough electricity on the grid to do it.”

In the meantime, Davis looks for ways to cut costs and stretch every dollar a little further. He uses route assessment software and platforms to help plan the most efficient routes for waste manage ment collection. He realizes that after a couple of unpredictable years, city leaders have to be able to adjust on the fly and deal with each fluctuation as it comes.

Like a lot of American municipalities, the city of Buffalo, Minn., is concerned about how fluctuating fuel prices will affect its fleets. (Photo provided by Buffalo, Minn.)

“You have to constantly focus on value and realize that these things will continue to happen,” he said. “You have to anticipate that coming out of a pandemic, we’re not going to be in the same world as we were before. There are so many things that don’t seem normal anymore, including fuel prices, so you have to be proactive and communicate with your constituents so that they can adjust as well.”

Tips for making your gas go further

Gronau said if a community budgets conservatively, high fuel prices won’t force big changes in the budget or delays in purchasing supplies and equipment. He also suggests staff take the following steps to conserve fuel on the road:

• Reduce the amount of weight carried and, if possible, eliminate items that create drag or wind resistance.

• Avoid extended idling and warm-up periods.

• Start up the vehicle and proceed to the work assignment as soon as the vehicle is drivable.

• Always drive at a moderate speed and accelerate as though an egg is between your foot and the fuel pedal.

• Do not increase engine speed or “rev up” prior to shut ting an engine off. It wastes fuel and increases engine wear.

• Anticipate traffic conditions, signals and slowdowns while driving at a consistent speed.

• Have the tire pressure checked regularly, at least once a month. A low tire can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10%.

• Brake early and slowly to maximize fuel economy.

A city employee shows off a waste collection vehicle to young resi dents. Centerville has 80 vehicles on the city street, and like other cities it has been hit hard by high gas prices. (Photo provided by the city of Centerville)

• Use air conditioning sparingly in stop-and-go traffic. At steady freeway speeds, however, it may be better to use the air conditioner than to drive with your windows down, which increases wind resistance.

• Rideshare to meetings or walk whenever possible.

• If you have several stops to make, plan carefully. It’s best to start the engine while it’s still hot.

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Displaced left turn is the right solution for Texas town

By BETH ANNE BRINK-COX | The Municipal

Pflugerville, Texas, has adopted an innovative new intersection design called the displaced left turn, or DLT, which allows vehicles to make unopposed left turns at an intersection by crossing traffic over to the other side of the road prior to the intersection, thus creating an exclusive left turn lane. Then vehicles turning left may continue through the intersection, while through traffic traveling the opposite direction flows safely at the same time. By maximizing the flow of the intersection, the DLT increases the intersection’s capacity and requires shorter traffic light cycles to reduce the time drivers spend at a red light.

While Pflugerville is not the first DLT in the country, it is, as Amy Madison, execu tive director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation, said, kind of unusual. So why create this unusual turn lane?

Madison explained. “One of the reasons was because we had recruited a 3.8 millionsquare-foot building to house an Amazon Fulfillment center. We knew we would

have at least a thousand employees pass ing through every day to and from work, so it was critical to expedite as quickly as possible. We had a lot vested in the region and there is a business park contiguous to the road, so there is a significant amount of traffic.”

“By doing this, we have improved our recruitment opportunities for other busi nesses and manufacturers and so on,” she

ABOVE: This vector art diagram shows a continuous-flow intersection, featuring some lane variation, directional arrows, turn restrictions, traffic light position/ orientation and even some sidewalks and bike lanes. It also showcases an example of a displaced left turn. (cobaltcigs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

elaborated. “And after COVID-19, when so many had lost their jobs, this was a huge thing. We had more to offer, not just who we had already recruited, but we could also extend further to many more. And we have grown quite rapidly since 2020, the numbers not only in terms of jobs but also population. This really was critical infra structure at a critical time.”

Any road construction project brings its own headaches, and COVID-19 did as well. Shortage supply issues added to that to some extent.

“We did have some delay related to those issues, but not significantly. All in all, it went pretty smoothly. The estimated

An official ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated the completion of Pflugerville, Texas’s, new displaced left turn lane. The lane fully reopened the new configuration on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. (Photo provided by the city of Pflugerville)

timeline seemed good and it was, because it came in within 30 days of the proposed timing. And that was coordinated with another large project to coincide with that for a more fluid usage,” Madison said.

While there was a significant cost for the project, Madison believes the way it was financed is more interesting than any other part of the story. The Pflugerville City Council approved a $3.8 million taxpayerfunded incentive agreement to pay for road improvements, such as the DLT project.

“In 2020, as we were recruiting this large employer (at first known as Project Charm so the Amazon name wouldn’t be used), they agreed to redirect funding to the city. Our grant came from a cor poration meant to incentivize the community to come to us, but we ended up funding with an Economic Development Administra tion (EDA) and Pflugerville Economic Development (PED) grant. I mean, this reduced our costs significantly — from $4.3 million, with the EDA paying $2.3 million and the remainder paid by the PED. There was no cost to taxpayers, no need to use bonds or CDs; it was completely funded by those two grants. What was really unique and different was that Amazon was willing to redirect their money toward us.”

Madison continued, “They were not required to make those improvements. The city was faced with improvements one way or another, and during a time of uncertain budgets thanks to COVID-19, it was a sort of ‘Can we just figure this out, because it will help with traffic flow for your employees?’”

“Did Amazon benefit? Absolutely. But again, it was not a require ment, and everyone worked together and everyone won.”

Without question, once the DLT was completed and ready for use, there was a learning curve much like that which a round about requires.

Pictured is the intersection that was reconfigured, complete with a familiar “No Turn On Red” sign. The new displaced left turn took some getting used to but has been a major asset to the community. (Photo provided by the city of Pflugerville)

“There was lots of confusion with people entering and exiting and folks were kind of lost, going in circles and not sure what to do. Going between two opposing lanes of traffic is an unusual approach, true, but once you get used to it and understand the mentality of it So, we put up additional signage and lighting to help them navigate through, because we found it was one thing during daylight hours but much worse at night, more confusing. It’s one of the busiest intersections in our community, lots of flow-through.”

“There were more confident drivers, and there were those that were kind of lost, but it became sort of like following the leader with

the uncertain drivers following the confident ones. It’s true that there was that hesitance at first, even from those who had wanted this lane when it was proposed. And some avoided using it for a while, which made it easier for those learning to use it; but once traffic was flow ing smoothly through, we heard less and less complaints. And it has definitely reduced drive time. There were times I could be sitting and waiting up to 20 minutes to get through, and now I can get there in less than 10!”

Madison is pleased with all aspects of how well the intersection has worked. “It worked for us as a community, plus then adding the com pany itself. Having the focus on improving the corridor was extremely important to us. It has contributed to significant growth and brought capital investment to the community as well as more employment. It’s truly a remarkable project. It’s one thing to have an interesting inter section, but quite another to see it come about as a result of all those elements, especially with the community so affected with financial difficulties because of the pandemic.”

While there hasn’t been a second DLT built in “Pfabulous Pfluger ville” a local play on words Madison said they are looking at other ways to move traffic along more smoothly and quickly in other areas, because Austin is just down the road. Pflugerville is a suburb of Austin, part of the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan area.

It is definitely a project for other cities to consider where they expe rience slow intersections, and absolutely an alternative to widening

The sheer size of the new Amazon building in Pflugerville, which employs 1,000, made clear the need for better traffic management when getting to work and going home each day. (Photo provided by the city of Pflugerville)

the road and other methods. DLTs may be the kind of progress that has seen bicycle lanes and right turns on red lights become common place: This kind of intersection may well become just as ordinary in time, and maybe Pflugerville will be to thank for it.

Part 1

Taking clean air to new heights with biodiesel

In Illinois, the village of Arlington Heights’ Fleet Services Unit of the municipality’s public works department has been using clean-burning biodiesel since 2007 an impactful fuel solution supported by its membership in the B20 Club of Illinois.

By RON KOTRBA | for the American Lung Association

The Village of Arlington Heights, Ill., located about 40 minutes from Chicago, is one of the largest towns in the Windy City’s affluent northwest suburbs and the 13th largest municipality in Illinois. With approximately 75,000 residents, the village motto is “A City of Good Neighbors.”

During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the residents and elected officials got together and made a “thank-you” video for the essential workers in the police, fire and public works departments. “It was a really nice gesture,” said Ray Salisbury, fleet services foreman for the village of Arlington Heights. “This community comes together in good times and bad. It’s very family and community oriented. This is the first place I’ve been where the community supports public works and all we do, and where they’re happy to have us as part of their community. It makes working here much more rewarding.” The support is reciprocal.

Salisbury and the village’s staff return the favor to the community by operating a fleet of more than 120 diesel-powered vehicles and equipment on cleaner-burning, lower-carbon B20, a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% conventional diesel fuel. Biodiesel is a nontoxic, biodegradable renewable fuel made from biobased feedstocks, such as excess soybean oil, waste kitchen grease and animal fats. In its

ABOVE: The village of Arlington Heights operates more than 120 diesel vehicles in its fleet, all of which run on 20% biodiesel (B20). The carbon-emissions reductions from the municipality’s use of B20 are equivalent to the planting of nearly 2,200 trees every year. (Photo provided)

pure form, biodiesel can reduce CO2 emissions, a powerful green house gas, by more than 85% while cutting carcinogenic particulate matter black soot by nearly 50%, in addition to lowering many other tailpipe emissions.

The diesel vehicles Salisbury manages, however, aren’t the only ones fueling up on this environmentally friendly blend of bio diesel. Several outside agencies including the school and park districts, and the Wheeling Township senior-transport buses, for instance leverage the availability of this green fuel provided by the village of Arlington Heights’ public works department.

“Some of these outside agencies are part of the village but are not under the village’s umbrella,” Salisbury explained. “By offering B20 at our pumps, we are extending our positive impact beyond the village’s own operations. This allows us to provide healthier air and a cleaner environment for our residents and our neighbors.”

B20 Club fuels success

The public works department’s fueling system, managed by the fleet services division, consists of two B20 dispensers, which were recently upgraded thanks to a grant from the USDA’s Higher Blends Infrastruc ture Incentive Program (HBIIP) and application assistance from the B20 Club of Illinois, a partnership between the American Lung Asso ciation and the Illinois Soybean Association checkoff program. The B20 Club is comprised of more than 20 member companies and orga nizations committed to using B20 and higher biodiesel blends. To date, member fleets have consumed more than 62 million gallons of drop-in B20 and higher biodiesel blends.

The public works department for the village of Arlington Heights has been using B20 year-round since 2007. Salisbury has been the village’s fleet services foreman for eight years of his 26-year public works career, serving with the cities of Rock Island and Des Plaines before joining the village in October 2013. While the department was using B20 before he joined the team, Salisbury quickly became a B20 believer and began sharing information on biodiesel with colleagues at Municipal Fleet Managers Association (MFMA) meetings. That is also where he became acquainted with the B20 Club.

“I was at an MFMA meeting in 2015 and the B20 Club was giving a presentation,” he said. “It seemed good to be a part of it. They would highlight our use of B20, not only for others to understand the viability of the product, but also so residents know we’re doing a good thing here that we have the best interest of the village and its residents in mind.”

He said the B20 Club is able to do a much better job of promoting the village’s use of biodiesel to the public than he and his team could do. The club promotes its members’ positive health and environmen tal impacts through their use of B20 and higher blends while also providing among other benefits technical training, fuel-quality testing, education and outreach services, grant opportunities and assistance, and networking support. Many of these perks coalesced when Salisbury was ready to replace his B20 pumps.

“Our fuel system was quickly becoming obsolete, and we needed to replace our dispensers,” Salisbury said. “They were so old that the manufacturer stopped making parts, and it was getting harder and harder to find used parts to repair them.”

At a B20 Club stakeholder meeting, the topic of assistance for sub mitting grant applications was brought up. Salisbury contacted Bailey Arnold, director of Clean Air Initiatives for the American Lung Asso ciation and lead of the B20 Club of Illinois.

“We got together, and he and the Clean Air Initiatives team helped get our application submitted,” Salisbury said. “We were awarded an HBIIP grant to replace our dated and unreliable dispensers with newer, modern ones. The grant covered half the cost of the equipment, which allowed us to make additional upgrades, including the addition of DEF, at the same time.” DEF is diesel exhaust fluid, a urea-based liquid used with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems to drasti cally reduce NOx emissions from diesel engines.

The grant also helped upgrade the fuel kiosk, which was starting to show its age, as well as repaving the entire driveway coming in over the underground fuel tanks, including new below-grade spill con tainers. “We were able to modernize and improve the fuel system to create a better experience for our employees and outside customers,” Salisbury said.

Ray Salisbury, fleet services foreman for the village of Arlington Heights, Ill., said by offering biodiesel blends at the public works department’s pumps — where other agencies can fill up, too — the positive impact of clean-burning fuel is extended beyond the village’s own operations. This allows the municipality to provide healthier air and a cleaner environment for its residents and neighbors. (Photo provided)

The networking opportunities provided by the B20 Club have proven invaluable for the village of Arlington Heights, providing the public works department with a platform to share stories of their success. For instance, Salisbury said some people claim they cannot run or source B20 in the winter because of outdated concerns or misinformation.

“We’ve been able to run B20 for the past 15 years,” he said. “And in that time, we have only had one little glitch, which thankfully our contractor figured out after a fellow B20 member told us where to get winterized B20.”

Arnold said fellow B20 Club member Al Warren Oil Company Inc., a specialized petroleum marketer based in Chicago, helped Salisbury identify terminals offering winterized B20 when his contractor had a difficult time finding the blend over the winter. “The partnerships created through the B20 Club are a prime example of why the club was formed,” Arnold said. “It provides opportunities for folks to reach out to one another to solve problems. And this situation was no different.”

Another B20 Club member, Ozinga, won a competitive bid to pro vide the concrete foundation for the B20 pump islands with a concrete mixer also powered by B20. The job was bid out like any other munici pal engagement but, as Bailey put it, “It was like fate intervened to have a B20-powered mixer pouring the concrete for B20 pumps. It really brought things full circle and made for a great story.”

In the spirit of supporting a fellow B20 Club member, Ag-Land FS Inc., a full-service fuel and lubricants provider based in Pekin, Ill., also lent a hand by cleaning the village’s tanks and polishing its fuel. “Ag-Land stepped in and provided that service for free,” Arnold said. “They don’t market fuel in the Chicagoland area, so it was truly just one member supporting another. I think that highlights how invaluable the connections our members make with one another are.”

Come back for Part II in the December issue of The Municipal, where the benefits of biodiesel are explored in detail.

“On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free.”

- Dan Lipinski

Silver City engages all demographics with AARPassisted public space renovation

By LAUREN CAGGIANO | The Municipal

AARP says it wants to make communities stronger for all ages and demographics, and its Community Challenge grants are one way the organization is making a difference in smaller cities and towns. A recent project in Silver City, N.M., is one example of this funding in action.

Mike Watson, director of AARP Livable Communities, said the grant program launched in 2017 and puts AARP’s work around livability in the public realm.

“The reason we think communities need to be thinking about their aging population is that we’re in the midst of a pretty significant demographic shift that’s been underway for a long time,” he said.

“AARP has been working with community leaders and residents for over a decade to help improve communities so they’re more livable. That means having better housing options and more transportation options so when folks aren’t able to drive anymore, they can safely ride a bus or safely walk to where they want to go.”

Whatever the nature of the funded project, Watson said AARP’s goal is to kickstart its success with seed money and encourage a quick timeline to demonstrate results. The year of the grant’s inception the

organization funded 80 projects, with the average project costing $15,000, he said. To date, it has funded 1,100 projects nationwide and Watson said they are just getting started.

Though the nature of the projects can vary widely, he said there are some common themes and parameters. For instance, they all are grassroots-driven and designed to enliven spaces.

“We saw that there was a need for kind of a lot of these shovel-ready, permanent installations, but also temporary demonstrations to get public involvement and build engagement and then an organiza tion’s or a city’s future plans,” he said.

In the case of Silver City, it was clear that the grantee Silver City MainStreet and Arts and Cultural District had done the hard work of bringing along community partners, engaging residents and

A resident poses with checkers as part of an installation in Silver City, N.M. With the help of AARP, the municipality has repurposed a downtown public space to attract residents during their leisure time. (Photo provided by Silver City)

listening to their concerns and talking to downtown businesses and to elected officials as part of their broader downtown action plan.

The project is going to create some new art installations, adding some checkerboards and tablecloths on a retaining wall on a deadend road. The goal is to bring together people of all ages around leisure activities, while adding an aesthetic element.

That’s exactly what Silver City MainStreet and Arts and Cultural District Executive Director Charmeine Wait has in mind. The activities appeal to citizens of all ages.

“We’ve also painted checkerboards, and the adjoining business allowed us to put these interpretive panels on the building,” she said.

“We have a little sign that says, ‘grab a bag of checkers.’ And then we have two painted tablecloths by two women who are locals. The retaining wall is wide enough to sit on, so it’s a way to do placemak ing and create a place (in an area) that’s often not used and turning an overlooked area into something interpretive and fun.”

Qualifying the impact on the community might seem difficult, although Wait has a plan to do just that.

A man and child engage in a game of washers at the installation of a public space dedicated to promoting interaction among resi dents. (Photo provided by Silver City)

“What’s really gonna be fun is that we have our washers game and the checkers inside this building, so we can kind of keep tally of how many people are using it over the course of this next year.”

Speaking of impact, Wait is confident that the project will resonate with other groups, too.

“This is really a great way to make projects intergenerational, family-focused and bring people together,” she said. “And if you make something nice for your residents, it automatically is good for your tourists.”

Wait said the quaint downtown is a draw, and her organization is an active supporter and advocate of that asset. She’s proud of the fact that Silver City is the earliest and the oldest continuously operating Main Street Community in the United States.

“We have a very walkable downtown that’s about a half-mile long and has about 130 businesses,” she said. “During COVID-19 we actu ally increased our number of businesses. That’s pretty unusual and speaks to how our downtown continues to be revitalized and makes people want to be there.”

NOVEMBER

Nov. 1-3 WJTA Conference and Expo

New Orleans, La. https://www.wjtaexpo.com/

Nov. 1-4 SEMA 360

Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev. https://www.semashow.com/

Nov. 2 Climate Change Specialty Conference

The Delta Hotel, Utica, N.Y. https://www.nywea.org/ SitePages/Education-Outreach/ Events-Conferences.aspx

Nov. 5-8 Virginia Recreation & Park Society Annual Conference

Oceanfront Marriott, Virginia Beach, Va. https://www.vrps.com/

Nov. 7-9 Annual Water Resources Conference

Hyatt Regency Lake Washington, Renton, Seattle, Wash. https://www.awra.org

Nov. 9-12 The Summit in Provo/EMS & Emergency Conference

Provo, Utah https://emsassociates.com/

Nov. 10 Green Mountain Water Environment Assoc. Fall Tradeshow

Double Tree Hotel, Burlington, Vt. https://gmwea.org/falltradeshow

Nov. 10-13 International Association of Fire Chiefs Symposium in the Sun Hilton Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Fla. https://www.iafc.org/events

Nov. 15-17 Indiana Park Recreation Association Conference & Expo

Crowne Plaza Downtown Union Station, Indianapolis, Ind. http://www.inpra.org/ conference

Nov. 15-17 New Jersey State League of Municipalities 107th Annual Conference

Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, N.J. https://conference.njlm.org/

Nov. 16-17 New Hampshire Municipal Association 81st Annual Conference & Expo

Double Tree By Hilton Downtown, Manchester, N.H. https://www.nhmunicipal.org/ nhmas-81st-annual-conferenceand-exhibition

Nov. 17-19 National League of Cities City Summit Kansas City, Mo. https://citysummit.nlc.org/

Nov. 29- Dec. 2 IPMI Parking & Mobility Conference & Expo

JW Marriott Tampa Water Street, Tampa, Fla. https://www.parking-mobility. org/

DECEMBER

Dec. 5-7 Safety & Health 2022 Conference

Embassy Suites by Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista South, Kissimmee, Fla. https://www.ffca.org/

Dec. 6-8 Groundwater Week 2022

Las Vegas, Nev. https://groundwaterweek.com/

DECEMBER

Dec. 6-9 Florida Parking & Transportation Association Annual Conference

PGA National Resort, Pal Beach Gardens, Fla. https://www.flapta.org/annualconference

JANUARY 2023

Jan 11-13 ELTS Conference Executive Leadership Training Seminar

Seaside Civic & Convention Center, Seaside, Ore. https://oracp.memberclicks.net

Jan. 16-19 World of Concrete Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nev. https://www.worldofconcrete. com/en/attendee.html

Jan. 17-20 Fire-Rescue East 2023

Daytona Beach, Fla. https://www.ffca.org/

Jan. 18-20 U.S. Conference of Mayors 91st Winter Meeting Washington, D.C. https://www.usmayors.org/ meetings

Jan. 25-27 ACMA Winter Conference

Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock, Sedona, Ariz. https://azmanagement.org/ events

Jan. 29-31 NAPO’s 34th Annual Police, Fire, EMS & Municipal Pension & Benefits Seminar

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nev. https://www.napo.org/events/ upcoming-events/

JANUARY 2023

Jan. 29-Feb. 1 Ohio Parks Recreation Association Conference & Trade Show

Kalahari Convention Center, Sandusky, Ohio https://opraonline. org/2022/02/14/2023-opraconference-trade-show/

Jan. 30-Feb. 2 CADCA 33rd Annual National Leadership Forum & SAMHSA’s 19th Annual Prevention Day

Gaylord National, National Harbor, Md. https://www.cadca.org/ forum2023

Jan. 31-Feb. 2 TFCA Winter Conference

Double Tree Hotel, Jackson, Tenn. https://www.tnfirechiefs.com/ conferences

FEBRUARY 2023

Feb. 6-8 95th Annual Meeting Technical Conference & Exhibition

New York City Marriott Marquis, New York, N.Y. https://www.nywea.org/

Feb. 15-16 City Action Days Olympia, Wash. https://wacities.org/

Feb. 21-23, 2023 Illinois

Rural Water Assoc. Annual Conference

Keller Convention Center, Effingham, Ill. https://www.ilrwa.org/Training/ Conference.html

Leader in High Quality Trench Shoring

The future is now: Reliable, Zero-Emission Tractors are Here to Stay

By SARAH WRIGHT | The Municipal

Tractors are the workhorse of any fleet and do the heavy lifting for many operations.

Over the past 100 years, tractor designs have remained relatively unchanged, with operators facing the same century-old chal lenges noise and air pollution, rising fuel costs, frequent downtime and maintenance. Modern operators must also factor in a new challenge: sustainability goals motivated by stricter emissions policies and increased public expectation to lower their carbon footprint. To meet these emission reduction

goals, like other vehicles in the fleet, trac tors must evolve. California-based tractor manufacturer Solectrac has stepped up to this industry-wide challenge, transforming the future of off-road and utility tractors by going electric.

Solectrac is a subsidiary of Ideanomics, a global manufacturer of EVs and charging infrastructure. Together, the two companies are accelerating the commercial adoption

ABOVE:A fleet of e25 electric tractors stands ready for delivery from the Solec trac HQ in Windsor, Calif.. (Photo provided by Solectrac)

of electric vehicles. With support from Ide anomics, Solectrac is rapidly enhancing its manufacturing, assembly and distribution capabilities to meet the rising demand for electric tractors.

“Our electric tractor does every thing an equivalent combustion engine tractor does with less noise and zero pollution,” Ideanomics Mobility Presi dent Robin Mackie explained. “I believe

in the Solectrac brand, the company is full of people commit ted to making the best electric tractor possible and ultimately helping farmers.”

Today, Solectrac tractors are available at dealers across the United States. The company is also supplying large orders direct to custom ers. To help make the buying experience as easy as possible, Solectrac recently launched SolecSave an easy-to-use online tool that gives a clear picture of the total cost of owning an electric tractor in com parison to a combustion engine tractor and provides information on available incentives and grants for purchasing an electric tractor.

Reap the benefits of electric

Solectrac’s electric tractors bring many benefits across the broad spectrum of fleets, from cleaner and quieter operations to more reliability with less downtime. These benefits make them ideal for use around people and animals, especially in places where tra ditional diesel tractors would cause unwelcome noise pollution and emissions.

Families can still enjoy a local park while maintenance employ ees move fresh mulch. Golfers can continue their round without interruption. Students can focus on their studies without disruptive noise outside their classroom window. The operators also benefit from safer working conditions without the noise of diesel engines. An electric tractor’s quieter operations mean clearer communication during operations, reducing potential workplace hazards and the risk of long-term hearing damage.

Need a tractor to move equipment indoors? Solectrac’s e25 com pact electric tractor allows for indoor use without the build-up of harmful fumes or the loud echoes of a diesel model.

Fleet operators can also benefit from cost savings in fuel and oper ations, especially as fuel prices fluctuate alongside the price of parts. Solectrac’s multi-unit discount programs and existing governmentbacked incentives, paired with maintenance and fuel savings, also lower the total cost of ownership.

Ease of operations

With fewer parts than diesel tractors, Solectrac’s electric tractors require less maintenance, providing fleets with more uptime. Uptime can be maximized by conveniently charging during off-peak hours. The Solectrac e25 tractor can run for up to six hours with a 22-kWh battery pack, depending on load. The battery can be charged in eight hours from a 220VAC, 30-amp outlet or 12 hours from a 120VAC, 15-amp outlet.

With four-wheel drive and instant torque, the e25 is primed to handle a variety of tasks both outdoors and indoors. It features a three-point hitch and accepts all Category 1N 540 PTO implements and comes standard with hydraulics on its rear hitch. A 1,300-pound capacity front loader is available, as well as turf and industrial tire options.

When fleets choose Solectrac, they can expect best-in-class aftersales support. Solectrac has a certified dealer network nationwide to assist with servicing, warranty or maintenance issues.

Accelerate your zero-emission goals

Solectrac electric tractors give fleets an advantage when reducing their carbon footprint by helping meet sustainability initiatives and

mandates. Operators and the community can breathe more easily as exposure to harmful fumes is removed. Additionally, these 100% electric tractors can reduce the workplace hazards of noise pollution while increasing the public’s quiet enjoyment of community spaces.

Electrification showcases an organization’s commitment to sus tainability, which many communities have come to expect and appreciate. While electric vehicles often require a higher initial investment, they offer long-term savings and benefits when it comes to fuel and maintenance expenses. Financing, incentives on state and federal levels, and multi-unit discount programs can all help to lower the initial investment and put the control in the operator’s hands.

Learn more or schedule a demo at info.solectrac.com/fleet, or contact sales@solectrac.com.

On the Web

View the Solectrac

electric tractor in action

Solectrac e25 compact electric tractor with forklift attachement. (Photo provided by Solectrac)

Solectrac e25 compact electric tractor. (Photo provided by Solectrac)

Agile Fleet expands team with key hires throughout 2022

CHANTILLY, VA. Agile Fleet, a leader in Fleet Management Software, continues to add talent to its team to support the growing need for its products that increase fleet utilization and help right-size fleets in light of the changes in fleet brought on by, amongst other things, the global pan demic and economic hard times. Two new employees join the company in Q3: Ted Cain, vice president of sales; and Mike Hicks, senior director of marketing. They arrive after the promotion of Phelps Rogovoy to vice president of client support services in March.

“Agile Fleet’s team has doubled in size in just the past couple years, thanks to the high-quality of products and services that our team delivers on a daily basis as well as a testament to the point that we are in a sweet spot with respect to what fleet managers need to do their jobs, given the changing fleet landscape,” said Ed Smith, president of Agile Fleet. “With the inclusion of Ted and Mike, we’re supporting our strengths to best position our company and our expansive client base for success.”

Cain, an accomplished sales executive with over 25 years of expe rience, delivers a proven record of strong management performance and unprecedented top-line growth. Prior to Agile Fleet, Cain served as executive vice president of sales for Mike Albert Fleet Services. He also was a regional vice president for sales and support for Affinitiv Inc. (formerly OneCommand). He is a pure “car guy” at his core and has hit the ground running at Agile Fleet.

“I am happy to be joining the Agile Fleet organization at such an exciting time,” said Cain. “The FleetCommander fleet management information system and key control technologies have a value propo sition that transforms fleets and save organizations money, and I am excited to represent them.”

Hicks brings to Agile Fleet 22 years of experience in marketing strategy and business development from diverse organizations such as Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, EnergyCAP Inc. and Remcom Inc.

“Agile Fleet’s FleetCommander application and its development, sup port, and client success teams have an incredibly positive reputation among our clients and throughout the fleet management space,” Hicks shared. “Our impressive growth is a testament to the hard work of our dedicated staff.”

Smith concluded, “Agile Fleet continues to build our staff, applying as our guiding principles our core values of strong partnerships, initiative, approachability, integrity and flexibility. Ted and Mike have demon strated these in the time they have been with us, and I’m excited to see our mutual growth over the coming months and years.”

Contracts lay the foundation for athletic surfaces

STAPLES, MINN. Lay the foundation for school athletics with the help of several awarded suppliers through Sourcewell’s cooperative purchasing program.

These contracts, awarded in the athletic surfaces category, offer access to hardwood, synthetic, rubber, sports vinyl, clay and other athletic surfacing; related equipment, options, accessories, technology and supplies; and services for installation, removal, disposal, refur bishment, inspection, repair, maintenance, training and support.

“We are proud to offer access to these Sourcewell athletic surfac ing contracts and suppliers,” said Sourcewell Supplier Development Administrator Joram Manka. “Participating agencies will find these

solutions to be turnkey, providing a combination of equipment, prod ucts and services, delivery, and installation you can count on.”

Following a competitive solicitation process, Sourcewell awarded cooperative purchasing contracts offering access to these suppliers:

AstroTurf | 031022-AST

Turf fields, running tracks, tennis courts and indoor and outdoor sports surfaces.

FieldTurf | 031022-FTU

FieldTurf synthetic turf; artificial turf surfacing; Beynon running track and polyurethane surfaces; Tarkett indoor athletic floors; tennis, outdoor and pickleball courts; athletic facilities; civil site work; sports construction; and gym sports and fitness flooring.

Gerflor | 031022-GER

Athletic, indoor sports and resilient vinyl sports surfaces; volleyball, pickleball and basketball courts; and multipurpose sports floors. This contract also provides access to the following brands:

• Connor Sports | 031022-GER-2

Weight room, athletic and sports surfaces; hard and portable sports floors; and dance studio flooring.

• Portafloor | 031022-GER-1

Temporary, event, modular, heavy-duty and expeditionary flooring; and temporary walkways.

• Sport Court | 031022-GER-3

Pickleball and basketball courts; athletic, indoor and outdoor sports, and modular sports surfaces; as well as portable sports flooring.

Recreational Group | 031022-REC

This contract provides access to the following brands:

• RG Events Surfaces | 031022-REC-3

Portable, subflooring, athletic, dance, pickleball, tennis, basket ball and skating floor rentals; event and dance flooring; rent-to-own options; do-it-yourself or professional installation; made in the U.S.

• Swisstrax | 031022-REC-1

Dance, locker room, fitness, utility equipment, deck, pool-surround and event flooring; do-it-yourself or professional installation; logo painting; low maintenance; safe and durable; made in the U.S.

• Ultrabase | 031022-REC-2

Alternative base solutions, foundation base for turf and sport tile, permeable foundation, replaces concrete and asphalt, stone alterna tive, modular base panels, recycled and recyclable panels, temporary or permanent, do-it-yourself or professional installation, limited 10-year warranty, made in the USA.

• VersaCourt | 031022-REC-4

Modular, outdoor and indoor court surfacing; in-house game line and logo painting; project management and design; anti-theft solu tions; multi-game court combinations; limited lifetime warranty; court accessory options; safe and durable; made in the U.S.

Robbins Inc. | 031022-RBI

Gymnasium, multipurpose, weight room, stage, and performing arts flooring; indoor running tracks; portable basketball courts; and flooring repair and maintenance.

High Bar Brands acquires Viking Sales Inc.

OWATONNA, MINN. High Bar Brands, the parent company of Minimizer and Premier Manufacturing, is adding to its portfolio of brands by acquiring Viking Sales, Inc of Brighton, Michigan.

Viking is an industry leader in mud flap production and distri bution thanks to its established relationships with several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket distribution customers.

“We are extremely happy to be partnering with High Bar Brands,” Viking Sales owners Gary & Kathi Kramer and Elizabeth Spitler said. “We feel the fit, culture, and capabilities High Bar Brands brings to Viking will help the brand expand in the industry.”

Viking’s manufacturing process is ISO-9001 certified. Under the High Bar Brands umbrella, the brand will have expanded marketing/sales support and an expansive distribution net work throughout North America. The High Bar Brands portfolio will also benefit from the deep-rooted OEM relationships and high-quality manufacturing capabilities that Viking has already established.

“For over 50 years, Viking has provided custom mud flaps to the transportation industry, and we see the addition of those capabilities complimenting the brand portfolio within High Bar Brands,” HBB President & CEO Christopher Thorpe “CT” said. “Along with rubber mud flap solutions, Viking also sources raw polyethylene to manufacture industry-leading mud flaps with custom logos. Their offerings, including Viking’s rain-guard, antispray, and anti-sail technologies, will significantly expand our current portfolio offerings.”

Hart Marx Advisors, Heartwood Partners, and High Bar Brands collaborated to facilitate the Viking Sales acquisition.

“I would like to thank Hart Marx and Heartwood Partners for all of their help in finalizing this important addition to High Bar Brands,” Thorpe said. “A key element of High Bar Brands’ growth strategy is to expand through acquisitions to leverage core com petencies of well-established iconic brands. To this end, we continue looking for additional growth opportunities to comple ment our growing portfolio.”

NTEA releases 23rd edition of Annual Manufacturers’ Shipments Survey Report

FARMINGTON HILLS, MICH. NTEA’s newly released Annual Manu facturers’ Shipments Survey Report (23rd edition) indicates the 2021 bounce out of the 2020 recession led to a truck equipment industry increase of 16.2% in terms of dollar value shipped, after –15.8% growth

in 2020. This publication, featuring 2021 data, enables the industry to estimate market size by dollars and units for 76 product lines. NTEA collects and evaluates aggregate results based on data submitted from 92 participating companies. The resulting report offers directional guidance to help commercial vehicle manufacturers and distributors assess business performance.

Consistent with historic results is significant variation in product line growth rates. Most were up for the year, but some declined. In unit terms, there were more decreases, which is reflective of chassis availability and supply chain issues.

“This report continues to serve as an important business planning tool for the commercial vehicle community,” said Steve Latin-Kasper, NTEA senior director of market data and research. “AMSS data contrib utes to the accuracy of industry market segment analysis by making it possible to understand how various data sets are connected to each other, and also contributes to an understanding of market size and how product markets and the total industry change over time.”

This resource can help

• Evaluate approximate market size.

• Assess changes in market growth (in terms of units/dollars).

• Provide insights in determining your company’s market share.

There are a number of ways to estimate the size of the commercial truck and truck equipment industry. However, dollar measurement is required in order to compare the industry’s contribution to the larger manufacturing and wholesale trade economic sectors. NTEA publishes AMSS data in unit and dollar terms and provides indexes, enabling accurate annual percent change calculation for each market segment. Companies are encouraged to use report findings to support annual business planning processes.

Survey participants receive a complimentary AMSS Report as well as a data tool containing results in an Excel spreadsheet for easier manip ulation. Learn more and purchase the report ($299 NTEA members, $599 nonmembers) at ntea.com/amss. If interested in participating in the next AMSS survey, email info@ntea.com.

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

The importance of resolving pest bird challenges proactively

Rolando “Rolie” Calzadilla, CWCP, CGC | Guest columnist Vice President Sales, Flock Off LLC

Not all birds are pests, but the ones that are, can pose serious threats/risks to your operations. So, the sooner you tackle a pest bird challenge, the easier it will be to resolve. Identifying and resolving a pest bird challenge before it becomes a problem will not only save you money, but it may just keep you out of court.

Whether you are a hospital, a food processing plant or a municipality, identifying and resolving a pest bird challenge always involves the same process. You need to answer the following questions before even considering how you are going to resolve or stop the birds from even becoming a pest:

• What is the pest bird species? There are over 2,000 species of birds in North America and the vast majority are protected (federal/state/local). Work with your local pest/wildlife control professional for assistance with this process and know whether the pest bird is protected in your area. Generally, migrating birds are federally protected while native/indigenous birds are pro tected by the state and some municipalities establish local bird sanctuary laws to protect most (if not all) birds within a certain local area of interest. A “lower” level of government can’t reduce protection, but it can add it. Knowing the pest bird species and its protection status will help you identify the pest bird’s behavior and start to narrow down your options for a solution.

• What are these birds doing that makes them a pest? Most of the time, it’s because of what I like to call their nastiness. Their excrement and propensity to “drop” it pretty much anywhere the urge hits, is the No. 1 reason for the existence of my chosen pro fession. Or like I always say: “No. 2 is No. 1!” Fun fact: The average pigeon weighs one pound and drops 25 pounds of excrement per year. To put that into perspective, the average American weighs 181 pounds and 25 times that number is 4,525 pounds. Now multiply that number by the number of citizens your municipality services, and you can begin to imagine the scale and magnitude of your water and sewer department. While we let that last thought sink in, another “nasty” reason has to do with their nests and the parasitic

Traditional bird abatement efforts can fail as showcased by this commercial roof structure, which is riddled with various products that birds overcame. (Photo provided)

insects they can harbor. These pests can infest a structure when a nest is removed or abandoned by a migrating bird. Other reasons include their feeding behavior, aggressiveness and destructive behavior. Examples of these other behaviors are when a gull steals food from the hands of an unsuspecting toddler at the park. When nesting starlings swoop down on a senior citizen who walked too close to their nests while visiting city hall. When turkey vultures destroy the equipment on the police department’s communica tion tower because they can.

• Where are these birds behaving badly? The specific location is also important to the solution because there are no “silver bullet” bird solutions. No one solution can solve every problem for every bird behaving badly in every possible location. Aside

This Arizona municipal superfund site has an open-air canopy water treatment facility, which hosts many tour visitors and many birds. (Photo provided)

from the species and behavior, the specific location where the bird is behaving badly is going to have a big impact on how you are going to resolve this challenge.

It’s the combination of who, what and where that can make an otherwise beautiful and amazing creature of nature someone’s worst nightmare. If you don’t believe me, just ask the bus mechanic (proba bly a union member) who must clean up the overnight mess of pigeon waste in their workspace every morning.

The risks (liabilities) your municipality can be exposed to by these situations are exponentially lower if you are proactive, and moreover, preventative in your approach to their resolution. These risks can be broadly categorized as health, safety, regulatory, brand and property damage.

• Health covers diseases and other ways birds, and their droppings can affect the well-being of employees and guests. Cross-contam ination of sensitive areas is a serious risk when people walk over the droppings and track them inside. Indoor air quality can be reduced when birds build their nests on or near HVAC equipment.

• Safety covers several topics. What people do when they are being attacked by a bird and lose situational awareness, like on a roof or near a street, for example. Or when birds build their nests inside buildings and cause the risk of fire or carbon monoxide

The Flock Off System is a green, high-tech and humane solution for keeping birds off of structures, permanently. (Photo provided by www.flockoff.com)

poisoning, especially when they build these nests in an exhaust vent, for example.

• Regulatory mainly affects locations where people are at higher risk from the previous two categories (sick, elderly, young and anywhere food is handled or served). It covers the risks from governing bodies (health department/U.S. Food and Drug Admin istration/United States Department of Agriculture) that can shut them down or severely affect their operation for pest bird activity in the wrong place at the wrong time.

• Brand is the least tangible but can be the costliest. This is the name of the municipality itself and/or its leaders being reported in con nection with any of the above risks being exposed in a very public way.

• Property damage can be physical damage to the structure and surrounding areas like trees and vegetation or damage to products inside the building mainly from accumulations of droppings or water from roof damage. This is likely the most tangible (easiest to quantify).

Are you beginning to connect the dots? In today’s hypersensitive, social media world, where everyone has a high-definition video camera that instantly connects to the internet, oh and by the way, makes phone calls ... you cannot afford the luxury of waiting for a pest bird challenge to metastasize into a problem.

Rolando “Rolie” Calzadilla works as a vice president of sales for Flock Off LLC, where he helps manage the sale and control the quality of installation for its humane and revolutionary bird deterrent solution to and through its network of qualified service providers all over the United States. Rolie has 20 years of expe rience resolving pest bird challenges in and around buildings throughout North America and is an active member of the National Wildlife Control Operator’s Association, where he plays in an inte gral role in the development of its bird resolution best practices training program. You can reach out to Flock Off by calling (855) 376-6375 or by email at customercare@flockoff.com if you have any questions for Rolie or about its bird deterrent solution.

White House and Signal Mountain, Tenn.

By RAY BALOGH | The Municipal

Two Tennessee municipalities owe their origins to serving as gathering spots, though for very different reasons.

The two-story way station inn between Louisville, Ky., and Nash ville, Tenn., was one of the few residential structures painted white when it was built in 1829.(Photo courtesy of White House, Tenn.)

WHITE HOUSE

Half an hour north of Nashville on Interstate 65 lies the town of White House, population 12,982, which once served as a waystop for virtu ally all travelers between Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn.

The name was derived from the large two-story inn built in 1829 by Richard Stone Wilks. In November 1828, he paid $200 for a parcel of land and built the structure along a former buffalo and Native American trail then used extensively by travelers. The trail was initially known as the Louisville & Nashville Turnpike, and a century later, in 1928, it was renamed U.S. Highway 31 West.

The building’s signal feature was its white painted exterior, a rarity in those days, as most residences were left as raw wood. Stagecoach drivers and passengers would refer to the way station as “The White House,” and the town that grew up around it adopted the name. President Andrew Jackson was a regular guest in his stopovers between his home in Nashville and the “other” White House in Washington, D.C.

The White House Inn was torn down in 1951 to make way for new development, but in 1986, the community erected a replica of the building, naming it the White House Inn Library and Museum. In 2015, a new library was built and the replicated building now houses a museum and the offices of the local chamber of commerce.

The town of White House one of 23 Tennessee municipalities whose boundaries span more than one county was incorporated in 1971. It is considered part of the greater Nashville region and is expected to grow robustly as a suburb of Tennessee’s capital city.

For more information, visit whitehousetn.gov.

The strategic utility of Signal Mountain, Tenn., went from smoke signals to Civil War communications to an escape from cholera and yellow fever epidemics to a year-round community of 8,574 hillside residents. (Shutterstock.com)

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN

Signal Mountain, Tenn., situated 5 miles north of Chattanooga, Tenn., is deemed to lie within the Chattanooga metropolitan area.

The town’s eponymous edifice was first used by Native Ameri cans to send smoke and fire signals throughout the Tennessee Valley. Originally dubbed Signal Point, the mountain housed a Civil War communications station, and was also used by Union troops to signal messages and monitor traffic on the Tennessee River.

Seasonal visitors had long enjoyed the mountaintop cool breezes during summer months, but 19th-century outbreaks of cholera and yellow fever prompted the more affluent families in the area to migrate up the mountain to escape the diseases and take advantage of the uncontaminated air and water.

One seasonal visitor, C. E. James, bought 4,400 acres of the mountain land and sold parcels for summer homes. In 1913, he built the Signal Mountain Inn and installed a trolley between the mountaintop and surrounding valley. Within five years he had com pleted a resort community featuring a golf course.

Unfortunately, local farmers had long allowed their cows and pigs to graze on Walden’s Ridge, where James’ resort was located. The livestock soon infested the golf course, gnawing on fairways and lazing on greens. The town requested a charter, which was granted by the state legislature on April 4, 1919, and the first town ordinance outlawed animals in Signal Mountain.

Within five years, more than 200 homes had been built and the year-round community flourished. Now more than 3,000 homes grace the hillside, and the promontory became Signal Point National Park, the smallest park in the national park system.

The town contains 18 miles of trails for hiking, running and mountain biking; the local theater troupe performs two plays a year, including an outdoor musical every summer; and the Moun tain Opry hosts bluegrass music shows every Friday evening.

For more information, visit signalmountaintn.gov.

Most educated cities in the U.S.

Extensive infrastructure, public services and amenable tax policies: these are advantages corporations and organizations find when they locate in developed urban areas. Many college graduates are drawn to cities to staff these businesses, which in turn concentrates the high-education demographic in the same locations.

But according to WalletHub.com, not all highly educated people flock to urban areas. Some prefer to prioritize socializing and career connections, and others may enjoy the feeling of “being a big fish in a small pond.” So, what does the distribution of highly educated workers actually look like city by city?

To determine where the most educated Americans are putting their degrees to work, the WalletHub website compared the 150 larges metropolitan statistical areas and looked at which ones had the largest share of adults age 25 or older with a bachelor’s degree or higher. They compared that information to the quality of the public school system and the gender education gap to discover that the most educated areas in the U.S. are:

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