HomeMy WebLinkAboutII (B) Recognition of Staff for Competition at FS/AWWA Agenda 01-15-2002
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Ci IV MANAGER
JIM GLEASON
MEMORANDUM
DATE: December 11, 2001
TO: The Honorable Mayor and Board of City Commissioners
FROM: David Wheeler, P.E. fj/4
Assistant City Engineer/Uti ities Director
SUBJECT: Recognition of Employees
Operator Competitions
at
2001 FS/AWWA Conference
The Ocoee Utility Department was once again well represented at the 2001 Florida
Section of American Water Works Association Conference. The conference included
many technical sessions which were geared towards water resources and drought
management, an Exhibit Hall with over 115 displays of equipment and technology of the
water industry, and of course the operator competitions. The conference was held at
the Hyatt Hotel in Kissimmee.
While the staff does attend to further their knowledge of the water industry, the
competitions allow for some fun and humor with what the staff does on a regular basis
for the residents and customers here in Ocoee. The Ocoee Utility staff took part in all
four competitions and made a very good showing for itself against the top competitors
from around the state.
The first competition was the Tapping Contest, where each four man team taps ductile
iron pipe, sets the corp stop, flares the copper service line, and connects the copper
from the pipe to the meter setting. All of this is performed with the pipe under
pressure and against time with penalties assessed for leaks. The Ocoee team of Jimmy
Butler, Bob Clark, Stephen Hollingsworth, and Hector Rivera, while nervous on their first
attempt, completed their second tap fast enough to place second behind the perennial
state champions from the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Authority. The City of West
Palm Beach team was third.
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The Fun Tap Contest followed as the second competition. Each four man team installs
a wrap around saddle and corp stop on poly pipe, taps the pipe through the corp stop
and saddle, cuts and splices poly tubing service line, and connects it from the pipe to
the meter setting. Again, all of this is performed under pressure and against time with
penalties assessed for leaks. The Ocoee team of Jimmy Butler, Bob Clark, Stephen
Hollingsworth, and Hector Rivera used the first attempt to work out the kinks and to
spark the competition. Their second attempt was perfection to again place them first.
The West Palm Beach team was second and the team from the City of Dunedin was
third. The City of Ocoee team has won the competition four of the five years it has
been contested.
Celeste Snowman and Danny Clark entered the Meter Madness Contest. This
competition requires the individual to put together a residential size meter against time
with penalties assessed for leaks. But each broken down meter assembly has extra
parts included, which are not from that meter, which adds some excitement to the
competition. Celeste finished fourth and Danny's best time was good enough for ninth.
The winners were Klell Hollar from Orange County Utilities in first; Bruce Miller from
Orlando Utilities Commission in second, and Merrill Markel) also from Orlando Utilities
Commission in third.
The final competition was the Back Hoe Rodeo. Chris Wise and Jimmy Butler were
Ocoee's two entrants. The individual competitors are required to complete three
separate tasks with the back hoe, against time with penalties assessed for spills,
knocking over material, and crushing the competition devices. The three tasks are to
pick up three buckets full of water and place them into vertical pipes of different
heights, push an egg outside of a three foot circle with a bucket tooth, and to knock
three tennis balls off different height cones without touching the cones. Jimmy's time
placed him a respectable ninth and Chris was very good and finished third. Danny
Buchanon from the City of Lakeland was first and Bradley Young from the City of
Dunedin was second.
While each of these competitions is for speed and quality, the work the department
does in the field is for longevity and quality. Each of these activities is performed on a
regular basis by the Ocoee Utility Distribution Group, so they have the ability to work
and train each other to provide the best service to our customers. Although there were
only four entrants in the two tapping contest, the meter madness and backhoe rodeo
were hotly contested with 14 and 19 entrants, respectively. We plan on video-taping
the competitions next year to visually show the best attempts by the City staff; the
length of the combined efforts for this year would be less than ten minutes.
The City of Ocoee's Utility Distribution Group was also recognized as one of the elite
Distribution Systems in the State of Florida. There are four divisions of recognition
based upon the number of customers. Ocoee was awarded first place in Division One,
under 10,000 customers. The recognition is based upon the Utility's operation records,
maintenance, professionalism, safety, and emergency preparedness which are
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submitted in written form for review of a panel of judges. The other utilities recognized
in their divisions were Orlando Utilities Commission in Division 4, over 110,000
customers; Orange County Utilities in Division 3, from 50,000 to 110,000 customer, and
Division 2, 10,000 to 50,000 customers, did not recognize any utility this year.
Congratulations to each of the staff that attended the conference and participated in
the contests and congratulations to the Utility Department for being recognized as one
of the distribution system leaders in the state.
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