American Public Works Association

Missouri Chapter

Presidential Award for Chapter Excellence

Nomination and Supporting Information

May 31, 2016

Table of Contents

Cover Letter

2015 Chapter Officers

Executive Summary

Section I - Membership

A. Net Membership Gain/Loss and Retention I-1

B. Membership Recruitment and Retention Efforts and Programs I-1

C. Innovative Membership Development and Retention Efforts I-4

Section II – Service to Chapter Members

A. Number of Members Attending Meetings/Events II-1

B. Member-to-Member Outreach II-3

C. Chapter Best Practices II-5

D. Chapter-to-Chapter Outreach II-6

E. Chapter Diversity/Inclusiveness Programs or Activities II-7

F. Young/Emerging Professionals II-8

Section III – Advancement of Public Works and Sustainability

A. Awards/Recognition Programs III-1

B. Public Works Promotion III-7

C. Professional Development III-10

D. Promotes Sustainability in Public Works Management III-12

E. Advocacy Outreach III-13

Section IV – Service to the Community

A. Education Outreach Programs IV-1

B. Community Service Programs IV-3

May 3 1 , 2016 American Public Works Association

PACE Award Program

1200 Main Street, Suite 1400

Kansas City, MO 64105-2100

Re: Missouri Chapter PACE Award Nomination The Missouri Chapter is pleased to submit the attached n o m i n a t i o n f o r the Presidential Award

for Chapter Excellence (PACE). The Missouri Chapter serves the St. Louis area and the out state

area of Missouri excluding the four counties surrounding Kansas City. The chapter had a very

successful year in 2015 with many new and exciting opportunities presented to chapter members. Our

overall goal as a chapter is to promote Public Works in the State of Missouri and we strive to provide

our members with the tools to achieve this. Networking and educational opportunities, among other

things, were available to our members in 2015 and an emphasis was placed upon membership value.

Documentation supporting our chapter activities is provided within the application document. Our past

president, Eric Landwehr, P.E., has compiled this application for submittal. If there are any questions

concerning the submittal, please contact him at (573) 636-3614 or elandwehr@colecounty.org.

Sincerely,

Tod Fagan

President, Missouri Chapter – APWA

Tod.Fagan@spireenergy.com

(314) 658-5496

2015 APWA Missouri Chapter Executive Committee

President: Eric Landwehr

Vice President: Tod Fagan

Treasurer: Chris Boyd

Secretary/Jr. Treasurer: Steve Schultz

Past President: Ty Abbott

Director – Membership and Member Services: Paul Verheyen

Director – Continuing Education & Training: Wes Thiessen

Director – Awards and Historical: Lee Cannon

Director – Advocacy and Outreach: Martin Gugel

Director – Special Events and Activities: Keith Francis

Director – Communications: John Collins

Delegate – Gary Scheipeter

Alternate Delegate – David Miller

St. Louis Branch Chairman – Mike Busch

Young Professionals Committee Chairman – Scott Goforth

Executive Summary

The Missouri Chapter embarked on many exciting activities in 2015. Each year the chapter works to

provide a value and service to the membership. Having a chapter size of 538 members can present

many challenges in engaging the population; however, there are many opportunities for member

engagement and participation. The chapter successfully engaged in some innovative ideas to improve

and take us to the next level in achieving excellence.

The Young Professionals Committee was formed in late 2014 and began implementation in January

2015. Member Scott Goforth chaired this committee and embarked upon a very aggressive campaign

to reach out to young members and even associated non-members. This effort led by Scott and his

committee members provided a spark within the chapter that saw the implementation of many new

activities. These activities centered on attracting young professionals in the chapter allowing them to

intermingle with older members in chapter activities. The chapter leadership provided the YP

committee a budget to conduct social networking events and purchase career fair and vendor booth

materials including banners and table clothes.

The efforts of the young professionals committee impacted the chapter by helping to gain new

members and providing a strong community outreach. The chapter leadership discovered that the

young professionals typically have something that the older members do not have abundance of: Time

and Energy. The chapter utilized these two items to benefit the membership as a whole.

After the YP committee was up and running, the chapter leadership planned and executed a strategic

planning review session held in St. Louis in September. The result of this effort was very significant.

Several items were identified to work on over the next five years. One item in particular was to review

the chapter and branch director and committee structure.

Over the years the chapter and branch committees had grown apart to a degree such that the structures

of both did not correlate very well. Chapter and branch leaders began to see the each doing different

things and unintentionally not working together for the common goals of the chapter. A review of the

director and committee structure resulted in a complete overhaul and restructuring for both the chapter

and branch. The director positions were updated and some were changed. Additionally, the

committees for both branch and chapter were aligned to fall under at least one of the director positions.

The result of this effort has been better use of our resources and many new volunteers from the

membership. These efforts of the chapter leadership to restructure the director and committee

positions will pay dividends for years to come.

Some of the highlights of all the Chapter activities for the 2015 year are listed on the fo l lowing

pages :

Membership Over the 2015 calendar year, the Missouri Chapter membership peaked at 540 members but

ended the year the same as 2014 at 538 members. In 2015 focus was placed on membership

value and retention. The chapter leaders reviewed and updated the strategic plan and part of

that revision includes membership recruitment, engagement and retention. One offshoot of the

new strategic plan was the changing of the director and committee structure. This brought the

St. Louis branch and chapter committees in line with each other to help the chapter as a whole

work toward common goals and engage more members with additional volunteer opportunities.

The chapter implemented a Young Professionals Committee in 2015. This group was very

engaged in chapter activities and in fact provided a spark in the chapter that has proved to be

very successful. Service to Chapter Members The Chapter offered a s pring conference in Jefferson City and a fall conference in Columbia in 2015.

Attendance was great at both events and the fall conference saw the largest attendance of any chapter

event to date. The St. Louis Branch also held monthly luncheons for the St. Louis area with a

speaker and/or awards recognition at each event. An average of 97 members attended the eleven

lunch meetings (November and December were combined due to the holidays). The Mid-Missouri

area members gathered for a luncheon in April with approximately 15 members in attendance.

Numerous social networking activities were held ranging from golf tournaments to happy hour

gatherings. Nine Click, Listen, and Learn opportunities were attended by members of the chapter

and the St. Louis branch held director/city engineer and superintendent roundtable meetings at three

different locations.

In 2015 the chapter maintained a very thorough and informative communications outreach managed by

the chapter communications director. Email notices were sent often to members notifying them of

upcoming events. An outstanding newsletter was sent electronically on a monthly basis and a website

was also maintained. Several other membership engagement activities or programs were conducted.

The new Young Professionals Committee held several networking events and also spearheaded an

education outreach program in schools with attendance at career fairs at local colleges and education

with the Engineering Center of St. Louis.

Advancement of Public Works and Sustainability The chapter maintained its very robust chapter member award program including yearly chapter

awards at the fall conference. The St. Louis branch began a program to award projects of the year in

the St. Louis area as well as a service appreciation award. These awards recognize members for their

achievements and contributions to the chapter.

National Public Works Week was observed by chapter members across the state. The Chapter offers

to provide up to $100 per agency of promotional products/posters and fourteen member agencies

utilized that funding in 2015. A proclamation from the Missouri Governor was signed naming that

week “Public Works Week in Missouri.” Several individuals around the state were presented with

the Vince Tallo Award for 30 years of public works service with a single agency during National

Public Works Week events.

The St. Louis branch joined the Engineering Center of St. Louis as an affiliate society and

participated in the planning implementation of an educational outreach program in the schools.

A program called Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) was planned and

members participated in an event in 2015.

Professional Development was an important part of the chapter in 2015 and the conferences, luncheons

and Click, Listen and Learn events offered several opportunities for the members.

In September, chapter leaders met, reviewed and updated our strategic plan. Three focus areas were

decided on: 1. Membership Recruitment, Engagement and Retention, 2. Education and Training and 3.

Membership Services. The first step in implementing this new strategic plan was to review and

restructure the director and committee positions. The six director positions were revised with new

duties with the most significant change being the director position for Advocacy and Outreach. This

position was previously called National APWA Services. These duties were kept and the position was

expanded with advocacy. Service to the Community The Chapter embarked on several educational outreach programs in 2015. Three college

scholarships were awarded and the chapter participated in career fairs and local school events.

The chapter partnered with MO-LTAP to develop and provide to its members the Scholars

program. This program p r o v i d e s training for superintendents and foremen in the transportation

sector of public works. Four charitable community service events or programs were part of the chapter in 2015 and also each

conference had a local charity that was supported through funds raised from the membership at that

conference. In addition, members of the Springfield area continued their adopt-a-street activity.

I - 1

I. MEMBERSHIP

A. Document Net Membership Gain/Loss and Retention During the 2015 calendar year, the membership of the Missouri Chapter peaked at 540

members in June and ended the year the same as 2014 at 538 members.

B. Outline Membership Recruitment and Retention Efforts and Programs Our first point of contact with new members is by our membership director with a personalized

“Welcome Letter” notifying the member of upcoming events and encouraging them to get the

full benefit out of the membership by participating in the many available opportunities. Each

month our new members are listed in our monthly newsletter with information about them and

their employer. Our best recruitment tool for several years has been the many conferences and

luncheons that the chapter and branch provides. Many non-members attend these events and

several of these people join as a result of the positive experience provided.

The new strategic plan drafted in 2015 identified this item as our Goal 1 Focus Area. The

objectives are listed below:

Goal 1 Focus Area: Membership Recruitment, Engagement & Retention

1. Develop outreach initiatives to recruit and engage members across the state.

2. Maximize membership opportunities in underrepresented segments and agencies.

3. Assess perceived value of membership.

4. Maximize chapter scholarship opportunities.

Efforts and programs under each of these 4 categories are as follows:

1. Develop outreach initiatives to recruit and engage members across the state.

The most difficult membership issue we face is finding ways to serve the areas of the state

that are geographically so far away from our events and activities that it is not practical for

them to attend on a regular basis. Through the use of the email we do maintain contact

with these members. We hold our spring and fall conferences in multiple locations

throughout the state and this provides better opportunities.

The Central Missouri region has been holding periodic luncheon events for APWA

members and guests. There have been members recruited through these events including

several from the City of Columbia in 2015.

2. Maximize membership opportunities in underrepresented segments and agencies.

A small task force consisting of the president, vice president and St. Louis branch president

began implementation of a strategy to research and reach out to these segments in 2015.

New members from the Cities of Cape Girardeau, Kirksville, St. Louis and MoDOT joined

as a result of this effort. In recent years the City of St. Louis did not participate but

progress in 2015. Additional efforts were made to reach out to the construction and

materials industry as well as the utilities industries with some success.

I - 2

3. Assess perceived value of membership.

The Missouri Chapter leadership believes that while it is important to gain new members in

our chapter, it is of equal and perhaps greater importance to give members a reason to stay

and be engaged such that they see value in their membership. This was achieved in 2015

by providing multiple networking and educational opportunities which will be listed and

described in more detail in the Service to Chapter Members section of this submittal.

Feedback from post conference surveys was favorable in the categories representing value

to the members.

A review of our 2015 new members and dropped members found that the majority of

changes were due to general turnover of employees at our various member agencies and

graduation of students from our student chapter.

4. Maximize chapter scholarship opportunities.

We currently have a scholarship program in which we award three or more educational

scholarships for students entering into a field of public works. A scholarship review

committee of five members was appointed in 2015 to review the scholarship applications

and the chapter awarded three scholarships.

Additional goals of our strategic plan under this category include encouragement of intern

programs at members companies and agencies as well as scholarship opportunities for

members to attend chapter conferences and the Public Works Expo. A third and perhaps

the most encouraging scholarship opportunity is the sponsorship of a chapter member to the

Donald C. Stone Center. No work was completed on these goals in 2015 but the

framework was put in place with the new strategic plan.

Our normal yearly activities to develop and retain members are as follows:

The chapter holds two (2) annual Chapter conferences and eleven (11) monthly St. Louis Branch

luncheons that offer educational opportunities for the members as well as a chance to meet and

network. Over 60% of our Chapter membership is in the St. Louis metropolitan area, so the

branch meetings are very important. Chapter conferences are held outside the metropolitan

area of St. Louis to attract more members statewide as well as allow the opportunity for St. Louis

members to attend a conference without feeling the need to stop in at the office.

Members participated in 9 APWA national Click, Listen and Learn webinars, all held at the City

of Maryland Heights. These are advertised through email reminders for our members to attend.

The chapter’s Young Professionals Committee met several times and hosted events. This will be

detailed in section II of this document.

The chapter activities committee scheduled several activities throughout the year to allow

members the opportunity to meet each other. The events sponsored by the Activities Committee

for 2015 included a happy hour socials in April, August, October and November, a washer

tournament in May and a fellowship opportunity at Hollywood Casino after the Branch luncheon

in December.

Two golf tournaments were held in 2015. The first was coordinated by the St. Louis Branch

I - 3

activities committee and was held on May 18, 2015 at the Paradise Valley Golf Club in High

Ridge, MO near St. Louis. The second was coordinated by the Central Missouri members and

was held on August 21, 2015 Tanglewood Golf Course in Fulton, MO. Both activities allow our

chapter members an opportunity to meet and interact with each other.

The Mid-Missouri members held a luncheon on March 13, 2015 in Jefferson City with a program

presented by member Pat Palmer, Missouri Petroleum, on “Asphalt Basics.”

The Missouri Chapter emails our monthly newsletter to all members with email addresses as

well as nearly 200 non-members that have an interest in our chapter. The newsletter includes a

monthly feature article, other articles about upcoming events, help-wanted job postings,

conference information and other pertinent chapter information and announcements. Our

Chapter website is updated and also contains specific information needed by our members.

On August 18, 2015 the chapter received a letter from National President Larry Stevens

congratulating the chapter on achieving a 91% retention rate for the 2015 fiscal year. This rate

was above the 87.14% APWA National Average.

Letter from President Larry Stevens

I - 4

C. Innovative Membership Development and Retention Efforts In addition to our normal yearly activities designed around membership development and

retention, the chapter embarked upon two new items in 2015 designed around member

development and retention. These two items could be considered innovative since they change

a lot of how we do things.

1. The chapter began a young professionals committee that saw large success in 2015. A

detailed summary of the “YP” committee can be found in section II of this document.

2. The chapter reviewed and revised the committee structure in 2015. During our strategic

planning review session, we identified that a review of the committee structure was

needed to bring the Branch and Chapter committees in line with each other and to provide

more opportunities for members to participate. The result of this effort was

overwhelmingly successful and resulted in several members joining the various

committees late in 2015. This effort also allowed the Chapter and Branch to combine

efforts to work towards common goals rather than “do their own thing.”

The new Chapter and Branch Committee Outline can be found in Appendix I on the

following pages:

APWA Missouri Chapter Committee Structure

Standing Committees Established in Bylaws

Membership and Member ServicesDirector Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionPaul Verheyen Todd Rehg Chair Shawnna Eerter Chair

Wade Montgomery Branch Rep. Shawnna Eerter Member

Spencer Litteken YP Rep. OPEN Member

Member

Committee Duties - Track Recruitment and Retention, New Member Welcome Letters, Anniversary pins, Welcoming and Mentoring new members,

Student Outreach (career fairs, student memberships, student chapter)

Continuing Education and TrainingDirector Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionWes Thiessen New Chairman Chair Jim Eckrich Chair

Chris Linneman Branch Rep. Paul Wojoceichowski CL&L

Glenn Smith Inspector Training OPEN Roundtable

Vijay Bhasin Inspector Training Anne Lamitola Roundtable

YP Rep Jim Eckrich Roundtable

Conference Planning Subcommittee Conference Planning Subcommittee

Chris Linneman Co-Chair Bruce McGregor Member

Colleen Holtmeyer Co-Chair Member

Vendors

Committee Duties - Conference Planning, Roundtable Groups, LTAP Liaison, On-Site Trainings, Mid-Am Coordinator,

APWA National Training (Accredation, Leadership)

Awards and HistoricalDirector Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionLee Cannon New Chairman Chair Vijay Bhasin Co-Chair

Vijay Bhasin Vince Tallo Tod Fagan Co-Chair

Eric Landwehr Past President - PACE Steve Stumpf YP Rep

Jeffrey Varughese YP Rep Bill Schwer Member

Johh Collins Member

Committee Duties - PACE Award, National Awards, Yearly Chapter Awards, Yearly Branch Awards (project, innovation, member),

Vince Tallo, Scholarships and Possible Internships

Advocacy and OutreachDirector Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionMartin Gugel New Chairman Chair John Keeven Chair

Jason Dohrmann Member Scott Harding Member

Chris Krueger YP Rep Travis Helmkamp Member

Scott Bollinger Member

Zac Wolf Member

Jason Dohrman Member

Committee Duties - Public Works Week promotions, Public Works Week Proclamations, Legislative Outreach, APWA Advocates

Community Outreach, Chapter and Branch Charitable Endeavors

Appendix I - 1

APWA Missouri Chapter Committee Structure

Standing Committees Established in Bylaws

Special Events & ActivitiesDirector Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionKeith Francis New Chairman Chair Kristyn Newbern Chair

OPEN Branch Rep. Pam Hobbs Member

OPEN YP Rep Jackie Lumsden YP Rep

OPEN YP Rep Matt Groves Member

Wendy Cromer Member

Golf Tournament Subcommittee Golf Tournament Subcommittee

Steve Schultz Chair Ben Niesen Co-Chair

Eric Landwehr Wes Theissen Co-Chair

John Frerking John Collins Member

OPEN YP Rep

Dave Nolan Member

Brett Gaither Member

Committee Duties - Quarterly chapter and branch activities, Conference Get Acquainted Socials and Dinners, Golf tournaments, YP events,

Joint ventures with other associations and organizations

CommunicationsDirector Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionJohn Collins New Chairman Chair OPEN Chair

Chris Boyd Branch Rep. Al Herl Member

Dominique Davinro YP Rep Scott Goforth Member

John Collins Member

Committee Duties - Website maintenance, email distribution, social media, Conference promotions, YAP App, video conferencing

partnerships with other associations and organizations

Special Committees Appointed Yearly by the President

Young Professionals GroupCommittee Chair Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionScott Goforth Steve Stumpf Member Chris Krueger Member

Kristyn Newbern Member Dominique Davinroy Member

Jacque Lumsden Member Spencer Litteken Member

Committee Duties - Recruit young professionals into the chapter, Welcoming committee, integrate YPs into chapter and branch committees

Strategic PlanningCommittee Chair Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionPast President Eric Landwehr Branch Rep. Mike Busch Branch Rep.

OPEN YP Rep Scott Goforth YP Rep

Member OPEN

Committee Duties - Assign strategic plan tasks and set goals, track progress of strategic plan implementation, conduct review sessions as needed

Appendix I - 2

APWA Missouri Chapter Committee Structure

Special Committees Appointed Yearly by the President

AuditCommittee Chair Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionTony Russo Steve Schultz to fill out Member Sunil Thakkar Member

Steve Schultz to fill out Member Al Herl Member

Steve Schultz to fill out Member Chris Krueger Member

Committee Duties - Perform the yearly audit of the chapter and branch accounting records as required by APWA National

NominatingCommittee Chair Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionPast President- Eric Landwehr

Committee Duties - Perform the yearly audit of the chapter and branch accounting records as required by APWA National

By LawsCommittee Chair Chapter Committee Position Branch Committee PositionBy Appointment Gary Scheipeter Member Mike Busch Member

Eric Landwehr Member

Scott Goforth YP Member

Committee Duties - Review and revise by laws to address new committee structure

Past Presidents Advisory CommitteeCommittee Chair Chapter Committee PositionPast President

Committee Duties - Advise the chapter president on issues coming before the chapter leaders

Appendix I - 3

II - 1

Social gathering of members at the spring conference in Jefferson City

II. SERVICE TO CHAPTER MEMBERS

A. Number of members attending meetings/events

Chapter Spring Conference, Jefferson City, Missouri – April 29 – May 1

126 Total Attendees

o 62 Members

o 64 Non-members

o There were 29 vendors and 24 speakers included in these numbers.

Chapter Fall Conference, Columbia, Missouri – November 8-10

199 Total Attendees

o 110 Members

o 89 Non-members

o There were 51 vendors and 25 speakers included in these numbers.

St. Louis Branch Luncheons

January – 81 April – 80 July – Approx. 80 October – 94

February – 67 May – 126 August – 97 December - 162

March - 81 June – 123 September – 76

Mid-MO Luncheon

April – Approximately 15 members

Social Networking Activities

II - 2

In addition to the social networking events at the two conferences, the St. Louis branch activities

committee held the following activities:

Blueberry Hill Happy Hour – St. Louis – April 9

Approximately 25 members in attendance

Washer Tournament after Branch Picnic – City of

Clayton Shaw – May 28

15 members participated in the tournament and

others stayed to watch

International Public Works Congress and Exposition – Phoenix, AZ – August 30 – September 2

Social Happy Hour Activity, Dinner and Drinks at Seamus McCaffrey's – August 30

Joint activity with the KC Metro Chapter

Hosted by members Corrective Asphalt Materials and TREKK Design Group

Approximately 25 Missouri Chapter members in attendance

Joint Social with SITE Improvement Association – O’Fallon Brewery – October 14

About 100 people attended with approximately 40 chapter members in attendance

Social Happy Hour – St. Charles – November 2

This event was after the Superintendent’s Roundtable and was sponsored by Corrective

Asphalt Materials. Approximately 20 members attended.

St. Louis Branch Holiday Lunch After Party – Hollywood Casino – December 10

162 members in attendance at Lunch, approximately 100 members attended the after

party

Young Professionals Committee Happy Hours – See section III for details

On average, approximately 40 people attended each event with about half of those being

chapter members

Community Service Activities (Information provided in Section IV)

Little Bit Foundation – St. Louis

15 members volunteered their time working to help needy children

Peddle The Cause – St. Louis

10 members volunteered their time working this event

Kickin’ For Water Kickball Tournament – St. Louis

The YP Committee entered a team with 14 members participating

Washer Tournament

II - 3

Crisis Nursery

Unknown number of participants in the fundraiser raffles

Golf Tournaments

7th

Annual Ken Yost Memorial Golf Tournament –

Paradise Valley Golf Club

113 total golfers, approximately 80 members.

APWA Mid-MO Fall Golf Classic III – Tanglewood Golf

Course

36 total golfers, approximately 20 members

Nine Click, Listen & Learn Events

Approximately 10 members each event

Roundtable Events

Street Superintendent’s Roundtables

City of Bridgton, April 15 – 17 members

City of St. Charles, November 2 – 15 members

Public Works Director and City Engineer Roundtables

City of Chesterfield, August 13 – 18 members

Executive Committee Meetings

January 28, Jefferson City – 13 members

April 29, Jefferson City – 14 members

July 29, Jefferson City – 13 members

November 8, Columbia – 14 members

B. Member-to-Member Outreach

The Missouri Chapter Communications Committee chaired by Director John Collins has been

tasked with providing the day to day communication with the members through monthly

newsletter, email notices, social media and an active website.

Newsletters

The newsletters feature articles about member activities, educational articles, notifications of

upcoming events, member awards, and many other items related to the activities of the

Missouri Chapter. The monthly newsletters feature a theme each month usually related to

upcoming activities. Members can also find job opportunity postings, sponsorship information

and meeting minutes.

Ken Yost Golf Tournament Ad

II - 4

Monthly Newsletter Header

Website

Items found in the newsletters are also posted on the website. In additional to the various

articles of chapter activities, meeting notices and announcements are found in the upcoming

events section. Members registering for conferences can access the registration information

on the website. The website is also the location to find a listing of the chapter and branch

leaders, chapter bylaws and other information. The website is maintained through the

National website template.

Email Notices

Items posted on the website and in the newsletter are also emailed as notices to chapter

members weekly and in some cases daily. These notices consist of many things including

upcoming meetings, job opportunities, upcoming activities, information from National and

special events such as community outreach activities. In 2015 the chapter moved away for

postcard mailing for conferences and went exclusively with emails. The concern in past years

was that older members would not be able to receive information about upcoming conferences,

however, that proved to be a non-factor with this change.

Social Media

The chapter has a Facebook page and twitter account but these

are used sparingly by members. Currently our members rely

primarily on email and the website as the notification method of

choice primarily. However, the chapter did create a LinkedIn

account in 2015 with two subgroups: St. Louis Branch and Young Professionals Committee.

Conference Scheduling App

In 2015 the Missouri Chapter began using a conference planning and scheduling app for

attendees. As our society moves towards paperless activities, our members are beginning to

implement that in chapter activities as well. Paper copies of schedules and information are

still available but a lot fewer copies have been made helping to cut down on costs and also

help the environment. The app we use is called Yapp and the version we use is free.

Membership Engagement/Volunteer Efforts

As mentioned earlier the chapter revised the strategic plan in 2015 and with that changed the

committee structure of the chapter and branch. This large effort was in part done to engage

the members on a higher level with the goal of increasing member participation in leadership

roles with the chapter and branch. The year ended with an unveiling of the new structure at

the fall conference and a push for volunteers. Implementation of this new structure will begin

in 2016.

In addition to the committee restructuring, the chapter continued to engage the members on a

local level through the many activities mentioned in Section A above and through volunteer

opportunities detailed in Section IV.

II - 5

Member Welcome Packages

The Membership director sends a welcome letter to all new members each month. This

practice has been done for several year.

Member Anniversary Pins

The membership director presents 10 year, 15 year, 20 year and lifetime membership pins to

members achieving these levels at each fall conference. At the fall conference in 2015, several

members in attendance received their pins. Members not in attendance are mailed their pins

after the conference.

Member Surveys

Post conference surveys were requested from attendees at the spring and fall conferences with

several completed in 2015. The spring conference received only 6 completed surveys with an

average score of 4.3/5 across all categories. At the fall conference the survey format was

changed and as a result received 115 completed surveys with an average score of 4.4/5. The

chapter conference planning committee uses these comments for improving and planning

subsequent conferences. The YP Committee conducted surveys of their YP members through

survey monkey.

Leadership Training

The Missouri chapter sponsored 3 members attendance at the APWA leadership training in

February 2015. President Eric Landwehr, Branch President Mike Busch and past Branch

President Anne Lamitola attended this training. The chapter participates in each bi-annual

leadership training provided by National.

C. Chapter Best Practices

The Chapter Best Practices for Capacity Building has been completed and submitted as a part of

this application.

II - 6

D. Chapter-to-Chapter Outreach

Mid-America Conference and Exhibit Show (Mid-Am)

Every three years, five Midwestern APWA chapters gather at a Spring conference called the

Mid-America Conference and Exhibit Show in Overland Park, Kansas. The chapters involved

are: Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Kansas City Metro and Missouri. During 2015, three Missouri

Chapter members, John Frerking, Jason Dohrmann and Eric Landwehr were appointed to serve

on the committee planning the 2017 Mid-Am. The Missouri Chapter provides travel costs to

those persons to help defray the cost of attending the planning meetings in Kansas City,

Missouri. The chapter also promotes the Mid-Am Conference at chapter events and activities

throughout the year.

Gateway Branch of the Illinois Chapter

In 2015 St. Louis Branch members attended meetings of the Gateway Branch of the Illinois

Chapter. The purpose was to reach out to this chapter that shares the same geographical area but

separated by a state line. In January Ty Abbott attending a branch meeting and in March Ty and

2015 St. Louis Branch President Mike Busch attended a board of directors meeting of the

Gateway Branch and discussed upcoming events and initiatives and possibilities for combining

resources in the future.

Kansas City Metropolitan Chapter

KC Metro Chapter members are invited to our Spr ing and Fal l Conferences and

members attended both conferences in 2015. And at Congress in Phoenix both chapters

participated in a happy hour social event sponsored by member agencies of both chapters.

Accreditation Training On November 19, 2015 the Missouri Chapter hosted an Accreditation Training in Clayton,

Missouri, taught by Ann Daniels. This free training was posted on the National website and

offered to all APWA members. One member from the Nebraska Chapter attended as well as

four members of the Illinois Chapter. Strategic Plan The Missouri Chapter’s strategic plan is routinely used by National as a model for other chapters

when they are either creating or reviewing their strategic plan. The first plan was completed in 2010

and in 2015 a revised strategic plan was drafted by a strategic planning committee appointed by the

president. It is expected that this plan will also be used by National for the same purposes.

See Section III-D for details of the new strategic plan.

II - 7

E. Chapter Diversity/Inclusiveness Programs or Activities

Historically the public works profession in Missouri has been an older white male dominated

field and the Missouri Chapter has faced this issue over the years. However, with new

generations of employees entering the workforce, more women and minorities are entering the

public works field. In fact, 21% of the new members in 2015 were women. Several women

accepted leadership roles in chapter in 2015, including election of Anne Lamitola as Secretary at

the Fall Conference.

In the past, the term “diversity” meant mixing men and women and minorities. However, in

2015 the Missouri Chapter embarked on a plan to address an emerging type of diversity called

“Intergenerational Diversity.” This type of diversity is becoming extremely important as our

older workers and chapter members retire out of the workforce. The Missouri Chapter

implemented a Young Professionals Committee in 2015 which will be discussed later in this

document. This committee, as one of its core functions, worked to bridge the generation gap in

the chapter helping to integrate the new generations of members into the chapter.

The chapter had a session at the Fall Conference entitled “Intergenerational Diversity.” This

session was standing room only and received great reviews.

The strategic planning review session held in 2015 included young and older members and 3

women leaders in the chapter. One objective that came out of the session was to maximize

membership opportunities in underrepresented segments of the chapter boundaries. The goal of

this objective is to reach out to minorities and young members in the public works field and

target them for membership. Achieving this will help to create a more diverse chapter.

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F. Young / Emerging Professionals

In 2015, the Missouri Chapter implemented a Young Professionals

Committee. This committee is chaired by Scott Goforth. Below are

the results of the committee’s efforts in 2015.

2015 SHORT TERM GOALS

1. DEVELOP / REFINE YPC’S MISSION STATEMENT - This shall be discussed to ensure that the

National APWA Young Professionals Mission statement should be adopted or revised to better match

the Missouri Chapter’s goals.

Completed - January 28th, Executive Board Meeting - Keep National’s YPC Mission Statement

2. DEVELOP YPC’S STRUCTURE / HIEARCHY & POSITION DESCRIPTIONS - Young

Professional Committees around the county have organized themselves in different ways. Missouri

Chapter’s YP Committee is tasked with defining its internal structure to best achieve and serve its

mission statement.

Completed - January 28th, Executive Board Meeting - YPC will remain as a State Chapter Committee

and will continue to advise the Executive Board and Directors on YP issues. YPC members can

decide how to set up its internal structure as they see fit.

At the close of 2015, the MO APWA Executive Committee began working to reorganize the State’s

Committee structure to more effectively include St. Louis Branch Committee members and the

growing Young Professional Committee.

3. DETERMINE YPC’S COMMUNICATION STRUCTURE - Develop and implement an internal

and external communications structure to appropriately distribute and store the Young Professional

Committee’s information and files.

The YP Committee decided that it will utilize the Chapter’s Google Drive account to effectively pass

information from acting Chair to future Chair each year. Email will remain the primary

communication and scheduling tool for all YP events.

The MO APWA Young Professional Committee held monthly organizational meetings 1 hour prior to

each St. Louis Branch luncheon.

4. ASSIST CHAPTER’S REVISIONS TO SHORT TERM STRATEGIC PLAN - The YP

Committee shall assist the Executive Committee with the development / revision of the MO Chapter

APWA Short Term Strategic Plan.

During the September 21, 2015 MO APWA Strategic Planning Sessions, three YP Committee

Members were present to assist in the development of the 5 Year Plan; Scott Goforth, Chair, Kristyn

Newbern, and Dominque Davinroy.

5. DEVELOP STUDENT OUTREACH PROGRAM - The YP Committee is to develop and

implement a Student Outreach Program with the purpose of promoting the APWA organization in an

effort to increase membership statewide.

The Outreach Committee, headed by Spencer Litteken, investigated career fair opportunities and

attended two during the year:

University of Missouri St. Louis - September 18th, 2015

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St. Louis University - September 23rd, 2015

The YP Committee, with the approval of the State Chapter, developed and purchased MO APWA

Career Fair / Vendor Booth Exhibit Materials including banners and table clothes.

6. IMPLEMENT SOCIAL NETWORKING EVENTS - Social events and cross-networking events

shall be scheduled and organized to promote the APWA’s Mission Statement and increase exposure to

the organization.

January 22nd, 2015 Happy Hour at Fox & Hounds

February 26th, 2015 Happy Hour at LLywelyn’s Pub

March 27th, 2015 Happy Hour at The Grand Hall at Union Station

April 24th, 2015 Happy Hour at Schlafly Bottleworks

May 21st, 2015 Happy Hour at Flying Saucer

July 30th, 2015 Happy Hour at Felix’s Pizza Pub

September 18th, 2015 Happy Hour at The Schlafly Tap Room

7. INVESTIGATE SUCCESSION PLANNING FOR PUBLIC WORKS AGENGIES - Succession

Planning is a tool that many public agencies cannot afford to spend resources to develop. The YP

Committee will be tasked with the development of educational material and resources that public

agencies may use to lessen the impact of staff turnover and training.

LONG TERM GOALS

INCREASE YP’S MEMBERSHIP - Collaboration with State and Local Branch Membership

Committees to recruit and retain Young Professionals and increase the overall membership of the

organization.

PROMOTE YP’S PARTICIPATION ON STATE AND BRANCH COMMITTEES - Increase

Young Professional participation on existing committees to develop / mentor our future Public Works

leaders.

YP RELATED ISSUES - Plan a long term role on the Executive Committee as a liaison to young

professional related issues.

PARTICIPATE WITH CONFERENCE PLANNING - Members of the YP Committee shall be

integrated onto conference planning committees to represent Young Professional’s interest. The main

goal being to increase the Young Professional attendance at APWA conferences.

APWA MISSOURI CHAPTER’S

YOUNG PROFESSSIONAL COMMITTEE

2015 - INAUGURAL YEAR

Scott Goforth, PE, CHAIR Chris Krueger

Andrea Schumann Mark Stirnamann

Jake Schaeffer, EI Kristyn Newbern

Ben Niesen, PE Steve Meyer, PE

Spencer Litteken Beth Manning, MBA

Jackque Lumsden Tom O’Mare

Dominique Davinroy Kevin Ostermiller, PE

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III. ADVANCEMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SUSTAINABILITY

A. Awards/recognition programs

The Missouri Chapter has a very well established awards and recognition program for chapter

members and non-members. The chapter also submits nominations for national awards as a

requirement of the PACE award.

In 2015 the St. Louis Branch implemented as a pilot project chapter Project of the Year awards

and also added a Special Service Appreciation Award. Members and projects from the St. Louis

Metropolitan Area are eligible for these awards. One member and several projects received

awards and the program proved to be successful. The goal is to implement a chapter project

award program on a full chapter level in the coming years.

Information on all these awards and submittals are as follows:

2015 Chapter Member / Non-member Awards

D2 Award

Kenneth Stumpf, P.E. (Posthumously)

Bartlett & West, Inc.

Professional Engineer of the Year Award

Anne Lamitola, P.E.

City of Ladue

Public Works Leader of the Year Award

Bob Ruck – Public Sector

City of Manchester

Tony Russo – Private Sector

TREKK Design Group, LLC

Vince Tallo Awards

Frank Clark, City of Des Peres

Ronald Jackson, City of Columbia

Creedon Miller, City of Columbia

David Straight, City of Columbia

Thomas J. Boedeker, St. Louis County

Mike J. McMahon City of St. Louis

Gerard L. Lippold, St. Louis County

William J. Walterscheid, St. Louis County

Timothy Hale, City of Clayton

Al. Herl, Laclede Gas Company

Susanne Kraft, City of Black Jack

Bob Ruck receiving his award at the Fall Conference

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Larry Bishop, Cole County

Greg Block, Cole County

Johnny Jones, Cole County

Walter Prenger, Cole County

Dan Scherer, City of O'Fallon

Rex Conner, City of Kirksville

David Coy, City of Kirksville

Russell Pruett, City of Kirksville

Kevin Kuse, City of Springfield

Chester Wheeler, City of Springfield

Brian Adams, City of Springfield

David Burrell, City of Springfield

Stan Murrell, City of Springfield

Mr. Michael Wester, City of Springfield

Dennis G. Niehaus, Kuhlmann Design Group

Mr. Ken Barnett, Metropolitan Sewer District

Bill Hargrove, Metropolitan Sewer District

Wayne Hilterbrand, Metropolitan Sewer District

Dave Richardson, Metropolitan Sewer District

Joel Treat of, Metropolitan Sewer District

Henry E. Hoover, City of Mexico

Information about the Chapter Member/Non-member Awards is as follows:

D2 Award

The D Squared Award is the highest recognition award presented by the Missouri Chapter of

APWA. It was established in 1992 to recognize individuals who exemplify excellence and

dedication in serving the public and the public interest through outstanding achievements and

performance in the field of Public Works. The D Squared Award was named to commemorate

and recognize the services of Mr. Allan B. Dieckgraefe and Mr. Walter Davidson, who both

worked untiringly on behalf of the APWA, the Missouri Chapter and the goals of the

organization.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Candidates must be active members of APWA for at least ten years and have made

significant contributions to the field of Public Works. APWA membership is required.

Members of the Chapter Board of Directors are not eligible during the time they serve on the

board.

• Candidates must possess a minimum of ten years of qualifying experience in the public

works field.

• Candidates must manage a diverse engineering and technology service delivery program

characterized by creative engineering activities with a record of

developing/utilizing/leveraging technology.

Vince Tallo Award Recipients at the Branch Picnic

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Selection Criteria:

APWA Service – Outstanding leadership and contributions to the Missouri Chapter and/or

St. Louis Branch of APWA.

Other Professional Organizations – Significant contributions to the advancement of

Engineering and Technology by participating in professional organizations.

Agency Service – Implementation of effective methods to optimize fiscal management of

engineering and technological operations.

Community Service – Promotion of the field of engineering and technology management in

the community, agency or customers served.

Professional Engineer of the Year Award

The Professional Engineer of the Year Award seeks to inspire excellence and dedication in the

private and public sectors by recognizing the outstanding career service achievements of

engineering and technology professionals.

The primary focus of this award is recognition of exceptional leadership and management in the

public works profession.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Any individual whose primary responsibility is management of public works engineering

and/or technology related activities is eligible.

• APWA membership is required. Members of the Chapter Board of Directors are not eligible

during the time they serve on the board.

• Candidates must possess a minimum of ten years of qualifying experience.

• Candidates may be employed by either the public or private sector. However, their career

service must be in the area of public works engineering and technology.

• Candidates must manage a diverse engineering and technology service delivery program

characterized by creative engineering activities with a record of

developing/utilizing/leveraging technology.

Selection Criteria:

APWA Service – Outstanding leadership and contributions to the Missouri Chapter and/or

St. Louis Branch of APWA.

Other Professional Organizations – Significant contributions to the advancement of

Engineering and Technology by participating in professional organizations.

Agency Service – Implementation of effective methods to optimize fiscal management of

engineering and technological operations.

Community Service – Promotion of the field of engineering and technology management in

the community, agency or customers served.

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Public Works Leader of the Year

The Public Works Leader of the Year award seeks to inspire excellence and dedication in public

service by recognizing the outstanding career service achievements of individual public works

professionals and officials, from both the public and private sectors. The primary focus of the

award is on career service to the public works profession rather than on any one single event of

project.

Eligibility Requirements:

The intent of this award is to recognize the career service accomplishments of public works

professionals and officials in either the public or private sector. Candidates with a minimum of

ten years qualifying experience may be nominated from any of the following categories. APWA

membership is not required. Officers and members of the Board of Directors are not eligible

during the time they serve in these positions.

Public sector candidates may come from any of the three following categories.

• Any non-elected, full-time employee of a federal, state, provincial, county or municipal

government, that is responsible for one or more major subdivisions of a governmental

agency. Most of the candidates time and efforts must be devoted to the administration and

management of the design, construction, maintenance and/or operation of a street or highway

system, refuse collection or disposal system, public building, drainage or flood control

facility, airport, harbor, or any other type of public works installation.

• Service in an appointed (non-elected) position of a board or commission charged with

oversight or policy level review of public works or infrastructure issues. Such service may

have been at the federal, state, provincial, county or municipal government level dealing with

surface transportation systems, refuse, solid waste, and recycling systems, public buildings,

drainage or flood control, airports, harbors, or any other type of public works or

infrastructure systems. Such positions may typically be represented by the following

examples: City Manager; Public Works Commissioner; Roads Commissioner; Highway

Commissioner; Transportation Commissioner; Airport Commissioner; Port Authority

Commissioner; or other comparable position.

• Elected officials who have prior qualifying experience from either category above may also

be considered as candidates.

Private sector public works and/or civil engineering professionals having a minimum of ten years

of involvement in private sector of public works activities may be eligible, if their qualifying

activities have come from the following areas:

• Experience as a contract Director of Public Works/City Engineer or comparable position,

which was provided by means of a contract service from a private sector firm to a

governmental entity.

• A combination of prior qualifying experience in the public sector and/or service as a

consultant engaged in the provision of public works related services to the public sector.

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Vince Tallo Award

The APWA’s “30-Year-Service Award” was renamed the

“Vincent A. Tallo Award” after Laclede’s former superintendent

of the Right of Way Department. Mr. Tallo was an active

member of APWA until his sudden death in 2002. The intent of

the award is to recognize the dedicated service of public works

individuals, who perform the responsibilities in an exceptionally

efficient and courteous manner. The Vince Tallo Award is given

to persons with 30 or more years of service to a single public

agency. These awards are normally given out at the St. Louis

Branch picnic during National Public Works Week.

National Award Nominations

The chapter annually nominates a member for Top Ten Leader of the Year and also three or

more other National Awards. There were no winners from the Missouri Chapter in 2015.

St. Louis Branch Project of the Year Awards and Service Appreciation Award

Public Works Project of the Year Award– Less than $250,000

The 2015 winner was the “City of Woodson Terrace Parking Lot”. The team consisted of City

of Woodson Terrace, Bhasin Associates, Bax Engineering & Vee Jay Cement Contracting

Company.

This award is for the excellence in the management and administration of a public works projects

and recognizes the alliance between the managing agency, the consulting firm and the contractor

who, working together, complete a public works project.

Public Works Project of the Year Award– Greater than $250,000 The 2015 winner was the “Route 109 Widening and Roundabouts”. The team consisted of the

City of Wildwood, HR Green Inc. and J.M. Marschuetz Construction Company.

This award is for the excellence in the management and administration of a public works projects

and recognizes the alliance between the managing agency, the consulting firm and the contractor

who, working together, complete a public works project.

Technical Innovation Award

The 2015 winner was the “Rehabilitation of the Holloway Culvert”. The team was made up of

the City of Ballwin and Access Engineering.

This award is to recognize an individual, team, or organization for the development, management

and implementation of a creative idea, device, process or system that enhances the goals of the

public works in serving the public and protecting the environment.

Vincent A. Tallo

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Management Innovation Award

The 2015 winner was the “IMap Right of Way Management System”. The team is made up of

the City of St. Louis Street Department, City of St. Louis City Planning & Urban Design Agency

and the Laclede Gas GIS & Mapping Department

This award is to recognize an individual, team, or organization for the development, management

and implementation of a creative idea, device, process or system that enhances the goals of the

public works in serving the public and protecting the environment.

Service Appreciation Award

The 2015 award winner was Mr. Bryan Pearl, Director of Public Works for the City of

Maryland Heights.

This award is to recognize distinguished public service and commitment and years of

outstanding service to the St. Louis Metro Branch of the Missouri Chapter APWA and the public

works profession.

Service Appreciation Award Winner Bryan Pearl

“My success in public works has been in empowering my employees and co-workers to continuously

improve by introducing innovative programs and technology for a more efficient, productive, and

sustainable department, and working together with the public and elected officials to provide improved

communications that have resulted in a higher level of service to the community.”

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B. Public Works Promotion

Public Works Week

On May 17-23, 2015, the Missouri Chapter celebrated National Public Works Week. The

chapter recognizes the importance of National Public Works Week in promotion of the public works

profession, and those activities related to the profession. To encourage members in promoting National

Public Works Week, the Chapter provides members a variety of items for use in hosting Public Works

Week promotional events and activities. The funding limit per agency is $100 and items may be ordered

off of the National APWA website. Many agencies order more than the allotted amount and pay for the

difference. The following is a list of agencies utilizing this funding:

Branson Florissant Ballwin

Chesterfield Columbia Kirksville

Webster Groves Maryland Heights Mexico

Ellisville O’Fallon Richmond Heights

Springfield Wentzville

All of these agencies as well as several others hold employee appreciate events and do

equipment displays at open houses and/or for the local schools. In central Missouri, the

Jefferson City and Cole County public works departments hold a joint employee appreciation

picnic that is also attended by the mayor, city council members and county commissioners.

Chapter members also meet with school children and civic groups in an effort to share what we

do for our community as public works professionals.

An example of agencies holding special events is the City

of Mexico. Public works employees spoke to about 40

2nd

graders at McMillan elementary school in Mexico

about public works, and showed them the closed circuit

TV for sewer inspection and the street sweeper. Kensey

Russell, Director of Public Works, met with the children

and talked to them about public works.

The City Council also issued a proclamation for public

works week and recognized Mr. Henry Hoover for his

long years of service with the Vince Tallo award.

Kensey Russell

Closed Circuit TV Demonstration Street Sweeper Demonstration

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Public Works Week Proclamation

Every year the Chapter requests and receives a signed proclamation naming

public works week from the Missouri Governor’s office. In some years

chapter members from Missouri and Kansas City Metro meet with the

governor for the proclamation signing. In 2015 Governor Jeremiah “Jay”

Nixon was not able to accommodate this request but his office did send a

signed proclamation through the mail.

Media Campaign

In 2015, Chapter President Eric Landwehr engaged the media on multiple occasions in Central

Missouri to promote the public works profession. He issued a press release announcing National

Public Works Week and also accommodated media coverage of local public works projects.

Members in other areas of the state engage the media on a regular basis as well.

Education Outreach

The St. Louis Branch conducts a Construction Inspection Review Course every even year.

Planning for the 2016 course started in 2015. The course materials are from the APWA

Bookstore. Topics covered include construction inspection, contract administration and current

technologies. Operations staff from several member agencies of the chapter attend the course.

The Chapter also participates in several educational outreach programs in the community.

Details of these opportunities are listed in Section IV. One particular item added in 2015 is the

partnership with the Engineering Center of St. Louis:

Engineering Center of St. Louis – Council of Affiliate Societies

The St. Louis Branch joined this council in 2015 and chapter members attended the meetings.

The council is a cooperation of the many associations and societies in the St. Louis area that have

an emphasis in engineering, including public works. Two goals of the council that the Missouri

Chapter members are working on are:

1. Promotion of Engineer’s Week in February 2016 with planned events centered on

promotion of the profession and public works in the community.

Springfield Public Works Appreciation Picnic during Public Works Week

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2. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Initiative in the schools. This is

centered on promoting engineering to students.

On October 12, 2015, two chapter members participated in a STEM outreach program at St.

Charles Community College.

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C. Professional Development

The Missouri Chapter offers several educational opportunities for the members and associated

non-members throughout the year. The two chapter conferences in 2015 offered many classes

and presentations for the members to gain knowledge in the public works field as well as

leadership training. The St. Louis Branch offers a presentation at several of the monthly

luncheons. For professional engineers, PDH credits are available at these events and members

can earn more than what is required by the State of Missouri over a two year period. Non-

engineers can grow professionally with these programs as well.

The chapter participates in the Click, Listen & Learn program and these sessions typically

involve a technical or leadership topic in which PDH credits are available.

Member agencies also cooperate with other entities and hold educational events for members

and non-members.

The St. Louis Branch held Superintendent and Director Roundtable meetings in 2015. These

events allow the members to visit and discuss similar issues and items that they encounter in

their daily work. Having these roundtable discussions are vital to cooperation efforts in the St.

Louis metropolitan area and offer the members an excellent opportunity to learn what other

agencies are doing, thus improving their operations as a result.

The Chapter Continuing Education and Training director is a member of the Missouri LTAP

Advisory Committee helping the plan and promote educational opportunities for member

agency employees. LTAP training is typically held for front line employees that normally do

not get the opportunity to attend many of the chapter events. The director attended the meetings

of the LTAP advisory committee in 2015.

On November 19, 2015 the Missouri Chapter hosted an Accreditation Training in Clayton,

Missouri, taught by Ann Daniels. This free training was attended by approximately 18 Missouri

Chapter members and included 5 members from other chapters. Accreditation is promoted by

National and the Missouri Chapter has three accredited agencies: Springfield, Columbia and

the most recent in 2015, Chesterfield. In fact, Chesterfield became the 100th

APWA accredited

agency in North America.

The Donald C. Stone Center is promoted by the chapter through the newsletters and discussion

by our chapter delegate. The chapter has members trained through the DCS center who serve as

PWLF mentors. In 2015 as part of the overall scholarship program section during the strategic

planning session, there was discussion about adding a scholarship/sponsorship of a member to

the DCS center and this was added to the plan. A decision on this will be made in 2016.

Additional specific details for the various chapter events are as follows:

Spring Conference Topics – Jefferson City

APWA Resources and Member Benefits

Stormwater Regulation Updates

A Practical Guide to the ADA

GIS for Utilities

The Floodplain Elevation Certificate

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White Cane Walk (ADA hands on training)

Bike and Pedestrian Facilities

Competitive Transportation Funding Programs

Legislative Update

Latest Technologies in Concrete Pavement

Employment and Labor Law 101

MoDOT Resources Available to You

Asphalt Maintenance Preservation:

Stretching Dollars to Meet Needs

Fall Conference Topics – Columbia

Public Works Institutes

Pavement Preservation: Applied Asset Management

NPDES Phase II Audits

Asset Management in the City of Grandview

Building with Trees

Pavement Marking Strategies

Intergenerational Diversity

Joplin Stormwater Damage Assessment

LiDAR for Line of Sight and Hydrology

A Defensible Approach to Flood Mitigation, Stream Restoration and Water Quality

Evolution of Data

Environmental Regulations for Local Public Agencies

Current Legal Trends in Public Works

High Achievers MindsetTM

Branch Luncheon Presentations

“Crisis Management on Social Media and Media Training” – January

“Changes to the Underground Facility Safety and Damage Prevention Act” – February

“Overwhelming Odds” – March

“Envision Infrastructure Rating System-Fostering and Recognizing Sustainable Practices for Infrastructure”

– April

“College Scholarship Winners and Vince Tallo Award Presentations” – May

“Green Infrastructure”and “St. Louis Branch Award Presentations - June

“Weapons of Mass Destruction Presented by the FBI” – July

"Performance and Payment Bonds" – August

“Climate Change” – September

“Evolution of Bicycling in the City of Saint Louis” - October

Click, Listen & Learn Programs

National Highway Institute – An Introduction to the Road Diet

Weather for Public Works

Congratulations, You Are Now an NPDES Phase II MS4

What to do with Historic Buildings? Tips on Management, Maintenance and Retro-Commissioning

Resilient Cities? A Discussion with Chief Resilience Officers

Public Works Senior Leaders Talk About Traffic Incident Management

APWA Accreditation – The Mark of Professionalism, Preparing Your Agency for Success

Paver 7TM

– What is it and Why Do I Need It?

Urban Forestry Role in Community Resilience

A White Cane Walk demonstrates how

blind people navigate sidewalks and

exposes ADA deficiencies

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D. Promotes Sustainability in Public Works Management

The mission and purpose of this chapter are to cause and share with our community, the advancement

of the theory and practice of design, construction, maintenance, administration and operation of public

works facilities and services; the dissemination of information and experiences; the promotion of

improved practices in public works administration; the expectation that all member public works

officials will adhere to high professional and ethical standards; and the professional and social

improvement of its members, as set forth in the “Rules Governing Chapters of the American Public

Works Association.

This mission and purpose drives the chapter and its members to promote the very best of public works

professionals. The chapter’s end goal of this mission is to promote sustainability in public works

management. A strategic plan was adopted in 2010 so in 2015 a review and update to the strategic plan

was necessary. A diverse group of chapter leaders met in St. Louis in September for a two day session.

Brian Van Norman, Chapter Relations Director for APWA, served as a moderator for the sessions. In

between sessions, a social gathering of these leaders took place at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.

Information gathered from the sessions was compiled and a new strategic plan draft was completed in

November in advance of the Fall Conference. Prior to the conference a smaller group of leaders met

and began work on one item from the draft plan. This item was a review and restructuring of the

chapter and branch committee and director positions. The new committee plan was presented at the

fall conference and implementation began late in 2015.

The committee restructuring has been overwhelmingly successful and the future of the chapter has

been significantly impacted by this change in 2015.

Below is a Summary of the 2015 Strategic Plan Goals and Objectives:

Goal 1 Focus Area: Membership Recruitment, Engagement & Retention

Objective Areas

Develop outreach initiatives to recruit and engage members across the state

Maximize membership opportunities in underrepresented segments and agencies

Assess perceived value of membership

Chapter Scholarship

Goal 2 Focus Area: Education and Training

Objective Areas

Provide high quality presentations for the fall and spring conferences

Increase the awareness and participation in chapter educational programs across the state levering

technology resources

Reach the ranks of the para-professionals members of public works agencies and private

organizations

Promote the improved practices developed in public works

Goal 3 Focus Area: Membership Services

Objective Areas

Increase the interface opportunities with APWA National

Explore affiliation opportunities with other organizations

Review Chapter & Branch Committee Structure

Educational and Networking Opportunities

Community Service

Sponsorships

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E. Advocacy Outreach

As mentioned in other areas of this submittal, the Missouri Chapter revised the chapter and branch

director and committee structure as part of the new strategic plan drafted in 2015. One item in

particular was to add the emphasis area of Advocacy to the director position in charge of public works

week. In past years, the chapter was hesitant to engage in discussion of political positions. However,

through information learned at leadership training attended by members in Kansas City in February

2015, the chapter decided to take a more active role in promoting the public works profession with

elected officials. The chapter newsletter was used as a tool to promote advocacy to our members in

2015.

At the Spring and Fall Conferences, the program committee secured two elected officials to speak on

issues affecting public works in the Missouri Legislature. At the spring conference in Jefferson City,

State Senator Mike Kehoe spoke on transportation issues in Missouri and at the fall conference in

Columbia, State Representative Rocky Miller discussed issues affecting public works. Senator Kehoe

is a former Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission Chairman and Representative Miller is

one of only two engineers in the state legislature. Both are strong supporters of transportation and

public works.

As mentioned, the 2015 Strategic Plan update addressed this issue specifically with restructuring the

director position. The previous title of National APWA Services changed to Advocacy and Outreach.

The previous duties stayed the same but several were added to bring the chapter in line with the branch

community service committee. The main addition was advocacy of public works through joining the

APWA Advocates and legislative outreach. With this change being implemented in late 2015, no

actual progress was completed in 2015 but the groundwork was laid for future years. One specific item

identified in 2015 was to schedule meetings with the transportation committees of both the Missouri

House of Representatives and State Senate.

IV - 1

IV. SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY

A. Education Outreach Programs

College Scholarship Program

The Missouri Chapter offers two scholarships yearly and the St. Louis Branch offers one. The

winners were announced in May 2015 and two of the three winners attended the awards

ceremony at the St. Louis Branch Picnic in May. Descriptions and winners are listed below:

Chapter Continuing Education Scholarship

The Missouri Chapter Continuing Education Scholarship is awarded to a Missouri student who

has completed a two-year pre-engineering program at any college or university in the state of

Missouri who plans to enter or continue enrollment at a Missouri university to complete a degree

in engineering or public administration. This $2,500 scholarship may be used at any accredited

college or university in the state of Missouri.

Kelly Heckemeyer was awarded this scholarship in 2015. She is a junior at Missouri S&T and is

pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering. Kelly is a previous scholarship recipient of the chapter.

Chapter Technology Scholarship

The Missouri Chapter Technology Scholarship is awarded to a Missouri High School senior or

graduate of a Missouri high school, who plans to enter a Missouri technical school in a program

leading to a career in Public Works, including the fields of construction technology, surveying,

heavy equipment operation, parks, grounds, and building maintenance, fleet maintenance or

related fields. This $2,500 scholarship may be used at any accredited technical school or

technical college in the state of Missouri.

Bryan Redd was awarded this scholarship in 2015. He began studying at the University of

Missouri – Kansas City in the fall of 2015 and is pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering.

St. Louis Branch Ken Yost Memorial Scholarship

The Ken Yost Memorial Scholarship is offered in honor of Mr. Ken Yost, Public Works Director

of Kirkwood, Missouri to a Missouri High School senior who plans to pursue a degree in a field

leading to a career in Public Works. This $2,000 scholarship may be used at any accredited

college or university.

Joshua Gabel was awarded this scholarship in 2015. He began studying

at the University of Missouri in the fall of 2015 and is pursuing a degree

in Engineering.

Engineering Center of St. Louis – Council of Affiliate Societies

As mentioned in Section III, the Missouri Chapter joined the

Engineering Center of St. Louis. The mission of the Center is to

advance the engineering profession, raise awareness of current issues in

the industry, and encourage the next generation to pursue a career in

engineering by building interest in Science, Technology, Engineering,

and Math. This is known as the STEM initiative.

IV - 2

Chapter members worked in 2015 to plan the first Engineering Discovery Fair during

Engineering Week in February 2016 as well as a Show Me Engineering Workshop. Additional

activities planned for 2016 include open house events at member public works agencies.

Student Chapter at State Technical College of Missouri

The Missouri Chapter began sponsorship of a Student Chapter at the State Technical College of

Missouri in Linn, MO in 2010. As the only two-year vocational/technical education institution

in Missouri with a state-wide mission, it is home to programs of study that are found nowhere

else in the state, making it a logical choice for APWA to be involved.

Unfortunately the Student Chapter disbanded in 2015 upon the completion of the 2014-2015

school year. Member Diane Heckemeyer was the faculty chair of the student chapter until 2014

when she was promoted to a different position at the College. She subsequently has left the

College and with her departure a decision was made by the student activities director there to no

longer continue the chapter.

Student Outreach Program - College Career Fairs

Following the decision to disband the Student Chapter, the

Missouri Chapter embarked on a new opportunity to

participate in college career fairs at universities in

Missouri. The goal of this mission is to present job

opportunities of member agencies to students at these

universities and promote the APWA organization to

students upon graduation in an effort to increase

membership. This effort was headed up by the YP

Committee and they attended two career fairs in 2015:

University of Missouri St. Louis - September 18

St. Louis University - September 23

Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)

For several years, the Chapter has partnered with

the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)

to develop training programs statewide and

provide to member and non-member agencies the

MO-LTAP Scholars program. This program is

targeted to training for superintendents and

foremen in the transportation sector of Public

Works. In 2015 the program had nearly 450

applicants representing 49 agencies. Several

Chapter members serve on the MoLTAP

Advisory Council, including the chapter

continuing education and training director.

MO LTAP Director and chapter member Heath

Pickerell presenting certificates and awards

Members Scott Goforth and Kristyn Newbern

visiting with students at a career fair

IV - 3

B. Community Service Programs

The Little Bit Foundation

On Thursday May 13th, a group of 15 APWA members

volunteered at Little Bit Foundation. Little Bit serves

5,000 elementary and middle school students in 17 St.

Louis area schools with the vision to break down the

barriers of poverty on a child’s ability to enter the classroom confident and ready to learn. Little Bit’s

presence in schools, working one-on-one with each child, combined with providing necessities such

as clothing, shoes, food, wellness checks and eye-glasses, ensures each child’s personal dignity, and

has the power to change lives. They do so with the mission that every person can make an impact in a

child’s life – it just takes a “little bit” to help.

APWA volunteers first watched a video on Little Bit’s mission and vision then received a tour of the

ware-house facility used to house the items provided for needy children. We spent approximately 1

hour sorting and creating dental kits (toothbrush and toothpaste) for the students that the foundation

serves and sorting toiletry items Little Bit received as part of their ‘April Showers’ donation drive. A

little competitive spirit between two rival work groups resulted in the packaging of just over 1,400

dental kits that will be passed out to students next school year. A third group sorted multiple boxes of

donated toiletry items.

Chapter Members Volunteering at the Little Bit Foundation

Crisis Nursery St. Louis

Since 2012, the St. Louis Branch of the Missouri APWA has adopted

families from the St. Louis Crisis Family Nursery during the holiday

season to provide a brighter Christmas morning to those in need. In

2015 we raised our highest total to date and were able to adopt two

families and supply the Crisis Nursery with additional money to help

other families as well.

To raise money for this endeavor, the Branch holds raffles at the May, October and December

branch luncheon meetings. Prizes for the raffle are donated from member companies and this

has proved to be a very successful and fun way of raising money for an important charity in the

area.

IV - 4

Charitable Programs at Conferences

At each conference in 2015, the chapter designated a local charity in the host to assist as part of

the conference activities. This began in 2012 as part of our charitable activities as a chapter.

Spring Conference

In August, Missouri Chapter President Eric Landwehr visited

the Special Learning Center in Jefferson City and delivered a

check in the amount of $1,000. This money was raised at the

spring conference in Jefferson City with the cooperation of

our luncheon speaker, former MLB pitcher Tom Henke. His

daughter Amanda is a former student of the Special Learning

Center. Shown in the picture with Eric is Tom Henke, SLC

director Debbie Hamler and one of their students. The

chapter’s donation will go to provide five of the mobility cars

shown in the picture. “Go Baby Go” is a program that

provides modified, ride-on cars to young children with

disabilities so they can move around independently. The modified toy cars give children with

mobility disabilities a chance to play and socialize with their peers more easily.

Fall Conference

At the fall conference the chapter coordinated a raffle to raise money for the Food Bank for

Central and Northeast Missouri, which is based in Columbia. A total of $440 was raised.

Peddle The Cause

The “Pedal The Cause – A World Without Cancer” event was

an opportunity for APWA/APWA YP members to participate

in a community outreach event on Sunday, September 27,

2015. Approximately 10 volunteers assisted SugarFire BBQ

to serve lunch to the bicyclists, checking wristbands and light

cleanup. Pedal the Cause gives 100% of participant donations

to Siteman Cancer Center and St. Louis Children’s Hospital to

advance lifesaving cancer research.

Kickin’ for Water Kickball Tournament

The Young Professionals Committee entered a team in the Kickin’ for Water kickball

tournament on September 19th

. The event was sponsored by the Engineer’s Club of St. Louis

and Engineers Without Borders – USA Gateway Professional Chapter and the goal was to raise

money to implement a drinking water system in Komucala, Bolivia. Fourteen chapter members

participated in the event.

IV - 5

2015 Missouri Chapter Kickball Team

Adopt-a-Street

Since 2013, the chapter members in the Springfield area have adopted a street and regularly pick

up trash and clean the right-of-way. The road they adopted is heavily by pedestrians much of

which are students and government workers near the college campus in Springfield. Having

APWA recognition in this area highlights the chapter’s contribution to that community.

Springfield Adopt-a-Street