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Humble Smiles
October 30, 2005
Every Monday morning I attend a GO Bond Program progress meeting. This past Monday’s meeting was like every other - a general discussion of the important projects, their costs and their dates. As the meeting neared its end, the new Public Works Director/City Engineer, stood up to say one more thing. “In the absence of the City Manager, I am pleased to present the GO Bond Program Employee of the Month to Paul Ryckbost.”
What? Huh? Ok. Happiness ensues in my brain. I have been working for Public Works since August 31, and two weeks of that (September 19 - October 3) was spent home sick with Mono. Therefore, being awarded this was quite the surprise. Now, I know that there are only seven of us directly in the program, so it’s not too odd to get this award, but it still surprised and humbled me. I was told it was given to me because I worked hard at completing a plan review checklist for all project managers to use, and also because I was so efficient at guiding my first few projects to City Council approval. Giddy and humbled at the same time.
As of this week, I am now Project Manager for around 15 projects (I say “around” b/c I am not officially managing a couple of them yet). My projects range from drainage projects to bridge repair, from road widening to a new library. The one part of the process that I have no choice over is the project itself. The projects were all approved by voters back in 1995 and 2000. The next Bond issue sent to voters will be in 2007 or 2008. I’m excited to be able to possibly participate in project selection for that.
Through a roundabout way, I will get to use more of my planning education than I thought. Since no one else on my floor has any experience with it, I will become the GIS person for our group. I will be updating maps with project descriptions and locations. Hopefully I can take that further and help do more with that. I am also going to take on the task of trying to get Federal money from the region’s MPO for traffic projects.
I must say, I love this job more every day.
Posted by paul at 01:59 PM | Comments (1)
Amtrak All the Way
October 25, 2005
Who says we don’t need Amtrak (or passenger rail in general). Ridership on the Pere Marquette increased 9.9% this past fiscal year - ended September 30. Even bigger, ridership on the Heartland Flyer, from Oklahoma City to Forth Worth, the same distance as the Pere Marquette, increased a whopping 23% this past fiscal year. And, to cap it all off, overall Amtrak ridership increased for the third straight year (up 1.3% to 25,374,998).
Information courtesy an Amtrak Press Release.
Americans do desire passenger rail. The problem is with the government representatives and their unwillingess to see that something that may be a slight drain on the tax coffers might actually be good for the whole of America - not for those who happen to own cars or trucks.
Posted by paul at 07:11 AM | Comments (0)
AHHHHHHHHHHH
October 19, 2005
Zeeland Township residents “successfully” killed a planned mixed use PUD. Concerns about property value were cited. Poor Ted Bosgraaf, the guy does all this good, starting to rectify his earlier development wrongs, and looks what happens. Studies have shown that mixed use developments often increase property values, if not at least keep them the same. People need to be educated about planning and property values… the problem is how. This is not a new thought for me or other planners, but we need to do something.
Sunday’s Sentinel had an article about Zeeland Township growing and people complaining about new neighbors in their cornfields. Hahaha. Suckers. I saw that development coming, why couldn’t you?
Finally (for this morning), the new BPW watermain under Lake Macatawa is spawning a lawsuit from noneother than a lawyer who lives next to the project. He says the city’s project has cracked his chimney and ruined his house… while another neighbor says the city has been very informative about the project, and he has seen no inconveniences. Hmmmm, do I smell a shark?
Posted by paul at 07:03 AM | Comments (0)
USGBC OKC
October 12, 2005
Christa and I attended a meeting of the Oklahoma Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council tonight. It was quite interesting. The chapter is just starting up, and while it may have over 100 people on the mailing list, far fewer people showed up at the monthly meeting tonight (about 12). It’s kinda cool to be in on the beginning of a new era in design and construction here in Oklahoma.
Hopefully we can stay involved in the chapter. One slight problem is that neither of us can be full USGBC members, since neither Oklahoma Christian nor the City of Oklahoma City are members, and the USGBC does not allow individual memberships (unfortunately). I’d love if we could both become LEED certified in the near futuer (if that’s even possible for a student), but I think it would be wonderful for both of our careers. We shall see.
Posted by paul at 08:47 PM | Comments (2)
Managing
October 11, 2005
So, I’m a Project Manager. In fact, my new business cards say “Paul Ryckbost, Project Manager, G.O. Bond Program.” Pardon my giddy-ness, but having business cards makes me seem all the more important. The General Obligation Bond Program has become the new pet of the city manager’s office. Basically, the city has sold various bonds throughout the years, but there is a large backlog of projects, and TC and I were hired to help manage these projects and get the money out.
More to come.
Posted by paul at 09:03 PM | Comments (2)
Have Fire Truck, Will Travel
October 07, 2005
A Holland Sentinel article today says that Holland City Station Three helped out with a fire in Zeeland Township. I’m inclined to believe that the reporter got the facts mixed up. First, that station is unmanned. Second, it’s the furthest Holland station from the fire. Third, it’s just a pumper truck, it’s not a tanker (tankers were being used to fight the fire). I’m curious to what really happened.
Posted by paul at 07:14 AM | Comments (0)
What’s on TV?
October 01, 2005
Regionally broadcasted games annoy me. ABC is airing Texas vs. Mizzou, which is fine, b/c we’re close to Texas. But what annoys me is that ESPN is nationally broadcasting a 2nd-rate game (Indiana vs. Wisc.). Therefore, I’m stuck watching teams I could care less about, while an awesome game, Michigan vs. Michigan State, is on tv outside my region. Arg. I suppose I could have spent the extra bucks to get ESPN Game Plan, but that would have also required me to have digital cable… which is rather expensive on its own. Sigh.
Posted by paul at 01:09 PM | Comments (2)