Page 5 - Sept/Oct 2018 Vol 36 No 3

TCAPWA Executive
Committee
tennessee.apwa.net
PRESIDENT: Ryan McReynolds
Assistant City Manager, Kingsport
mcreynolds@kingsporttn.gov
(423) 229-9470
PRESIDENT ELECT: Phillip Jones
Operations Manager, Metro Nashville
phillip.jones@nashville.gov
(615) 533-2377
VICE-PRESIDENT: Justin Holland
Administrator of Public Works, Chattanooga
holland_j@chattanooga.gov
(423) 643-6000
SECRETARY: Sharon Rollins
Consulting Program Manager, MTAS
sharon.rollins@tennessee.edu
(865) 974-0411
TREASURER: Kenny Wiggins
Director, Public Works & Engineering, Alcoa is a welcome that includes touching noses and foreheads and pausing for a second or two.
kwiggins@cityofalcoa-tn.gov
(865) 380-4800
WEST DIR: John Fox
Operations Assistant, Collierville
jfox@ci.collierville.tn.us
(901) 457-2800
MIDDLE DIR: Cody Osborne
Waste Superintendent, Metro Public Works
cody.osborne@nashville.gov
615-862-4070
UPPER EAST DIR: Nicholas Bradshaw
Fleet Services Deputy Director
nbradshaw@knoxvilletn.gov
(865) 215-6194
LOWER EAST DIR: Eric Sines
Director of Public Works, Collegedale
esines@collegedaletn.gov
(423) 468-1983
COUNCIL OF CHAPTERS DELEGATE:
Ronnie Hammonds
Streets & Sanitation Manager, Kingsport
ronniehammonds@kingsporttn.gov
(423) 229-9397
PAST PRESIDENT: Manny Belen
City Engineer, Memphis
manny.belen@memphistn.gov
(901) 576-6700
CHAPTER ADMINISTRATOR: Mark Miller
Public Works Director, Pigeon Forge
mmiller@cityofpigeonforge.com
(865) 429-7312
WEBSITE COMM. CHAIR: Rocky Robinson
Technical Specialist, Metro Public Works
william.robinson@nashville.gov
(615) 880-1680; (615) 416-5014 cell
TPW PUBLISHER: Klair Kimmey
P.O. Box 52503, Knoxville, TN 37950
klair@tnpublicworks.com
(865) 288-0815
By Bo Mills, APWA President
On the Road for APWA
Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia Conference
Disruption – The Path to Resilience
First, let me share how grateful Trish and I are to have had the opportunity to represent
APWA at the IPWEA Conference in Rotorua, New Zealand. In total, Trish and I had 3.5
days (crossed the International Date Line losing a day) of sightseeing during this visit. It
is a beautiful, predominantly agricultural country with varying topographies and some of
the most beautiful coastlines you have ever seen. I have served as APWA’s President for 10
months and have not seen higher respect for the office than I saw at this meeting. These folks
truly hold APWA in high regard.
Wednesday, June 20 - The first session was a tour, where I learned about Rotorua’s caldron-
style volcanic and geothermal activity. The facilitator for this session asked me if I would
mind describing the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, caldron-style geothermals. I
was comfortable with that as Trish and I participated in a ranger-led tour of the Yellowstone
geothermal conditions just a couple of years ago. I was pretty knowledgeable and received and
processed several questions from the other tour participants. The first night Samantha Gain,
the IPWEA President and very gracious host, invited us to a fellowship dinner with sponsors,
IPWEA leaders and the conference planning team. It was a very nice event where nearly
everyone there came by and introduced themselves.
Thursday, June 21 – Day two began with a formal welcoming by the native Maori people. I
was invited to sit on the stage for the ceremony with other dignitaries. One of their traditions
This practice was uncomfortable as we all like our personal space, but as I experienced
their sincerity with this greeting it became very comfortable. We heard speeches from the
Rotorua Mayor who was very pro Public Works, from the Transportation Minister, and
the keynote was from Ce’cile Maisonneuve who spoke about good urban planning to build
and rebuild cities. She gave a very fascinating look at energy use, mobility and the digital
revolution. We are behind the times in the U.S. from her perspective. Mid-morning I heard
a fascinating speaker, Irmana Sampedro from Christchurch, who spoke about how to plan
for an earthquake event: essential data collection approaches for underground infrastructure
condition assessment. The techniques used were not that different than I would have
expected, but the reporting using GIS mapping was tremendous. Living and working on
the New Madrid fault here in West Tennessee, her advice was very valuable to me. In the
afternoon we heard speakers on rising sea levels, which is a huge issue for an island, and
another presentation on difficult-to-hold roadways in the mountains.
Friday, June 22 – The morning was dedicated to the American speakers. APWA
member Katie Choe, Boston, MA Public Works Chief Engineer / Director of Construction
Management gave a presentation on “Building a Resilient Boston: The Path from Plan to
Action.” Her presentation drew outstanding interest as rising sea levels and their effect on
the Boston Harbor area were part of it. I spoke after her, feeling very underappreciated as her
talk was so well received. I shared a presentation on APWA, our strategic plan and our future.
I was able to talk a bit about my career and how APWA benefitted me. Following me was
a presentation by one of our Jennings Randolph winners, Jason Waldron PE, Kansas City’s
Streetcar Project Manager. Jason pointed out the successes of the KC streetcar project and
garnered the most interest as he described how this short streetcar section became the catalyst
for Smart City developments all along its length. That afternoon we received a motivational
presentation from a gentleman with cerebral palsy who had overcome many challenges to
become a tremendous Special Olympics athlete. It was very inspirational. That evening the
Institute hosted the Conference Dinner and Excellence Awards presentation.
I would like to acknowledge Pio Terei, Master of Ceremonies, a local TV star and
comedian. He did a marvelous job as MC and included me and my accent in most of his
monologues. He was very good.
In summary, this trip was worthwhile for APWA and I would recommend attendance at
least every other year to continue our relationship with IPWEA. Thanks for giving me this
opportunity.
View online at tnpublicworks.com 5