| The Washington State chapter of APWA, the American Public Works Association, announced their state-wide awards and honored Sumner’s Wood & Main with Project of the Year! Construction is not easy. It’s not easy to live or work near construction, and it’s really not easy to manage all the moving parts of a major construction project. The intersection at Wood & Main is a good example. We all knew that intersection badly needed to be reworked for years. There were no crossing lights for pedestrians. The signal itself was an antique with no parts available anymore. While we were excited to finally redo this intersection, we also weren’t looking forward to construction, literally in the heart of town. Our staff navigated various challenges, including interesting lot lines, backordered light poles and (gasp) back-in angle parking. And they did it with professionalism and grace, which is mainly why they were recognized state-wide by APWA. Representing APWA and leading the award committee, Tina Nelson from Kitsap County Public Works wrote, “The nomination for the Main Street & Wood Avenue Intersection Improvement project was a delight to review. It was anything but your regular intersection safety improvement, it was a masterful coordination of team members, technical and financial, with extraordinary inclusion of stakeholders. When Public Works delivers well: our customers, the residents, the public, know what’s going on and they get to be part of and have a say in how their dollars are spent. That’s how this project was delivered. The Sumner City Council has a delivery team to be proud and thankful for.” I second what she said. Thank you particularly to Courtney Littrell, Alisa O’Haver-Ayala, Michael Kosa, our Operations and Wastewater Treatment Plant crews, and the entire Public Works team as well as Legal, Finance, Development Services, Community and Economic Development, Police, Communications, IT and Admin. Basically, it’s a team effort across all departments. We’ll never get around the need for construction, but if we do it well, we’ll end up with better infrastructure and stronger relationships across businesses, residents and the City. Mayor Kathy Hayden |
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