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program is utilized. Furthermore, several of the sidewalks needing repair are in areas with low to moderate incomes.

To address the need for walkable, accessible and connected sidewalks with an easy-to-administer and equitable program, the revised Sidewalk Improvement Program (SIP) was born. The SIP takes a "zone’"approach towards residential sidewalk management. The City is divided into zones and each zone is inspected annually by the public works department. Any conditions not meeting ADA or the Public Rights of Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG) standards/ guidelines will be marked for removal and placed out to bid. The City has reallocated funds and will cover the entire cost of sidewalk construction and reconstruction. The City is anticipating to fix approximately 9,300+ linear feet of sidewalk in the first year of the SIP. This is roughly the equivalent of the past 10 years of combined repairs using the previous iteration of the program. In the event the City receives an out-of-zone request for sidewalk repair, the City will split the cost with the property owner evenly.

In addition to correcting sidewalk hazards and gaps, City staff collects and inventories conditions and absences of ADA ramps, curbs and gutters that will eventually be addressed by the Street Maintenance Program. Where the two programs had very little interaction prior to the revamped program, the SIP now purposefully feeds data to the Street Maintenance Program. The primary objective of synchronizing the programs is to minimize disruption to neighborhoods by only touching a street once, and ultimately lowering the cost of ownership.

A remarkable, unintended byproduct of these changes is the profoundly positive impact on employee morale. Many within the public works department are excited about making a noticeable and meaningful difference to the infrastructure of the City within the confines of our limited budget.

Like many municipalities, the City has recently experienced unprecedented and rapid fiber optic telecommunication expansion. While the long-term benefit of having fiber available to all is vital in today’s economy, the physical installation of the fiber and construction of associated facilities has been unduly burdensome on the City’s limited resources. The City was not equipped to handle reviewing and permitting numerous work sites throughout the City, perform unrealistic lengths of utility locates, or field the influx of phone calls from concerned residents. After many underground utility hits, the City took strict measures to assure residents and other right-ofway (ROW) users safety is the utmost priority. The City placed restrictions on the timing of construction activities; required pre-construction meetings for certain lengths of installations; limited the amount of permits approved for a single utility (to avoid overlapping work); and started to enforce severe penal action, including but not limited to total disbarment from the ROW. The City would invite any negatively affected utility owner to be a part of the resolution with the responsible contractor and their respective utility owner prior to determining disbarment as the only remaining solution. This created a holistic approach to conflict resolution and also gave utility partners confidence in the City.

The City has also implemented a biweekly safety meeting with utility companies and their contractors/subcontractors, where various topics are covered such as locate ticket issues, how to properly use a fire hydrant, and defining a blind bore. Many contractors were not aware of the demand placed on locate staff by calling in thousands of feet on a single ticket, or that obstructing traffic without proper traffic control was inappropriate regardless of the location. Lines of communication are open between all parties and better coordination has resulted from such efforts.

At a recent council meeting, Mayor Kushner invited the City’s Water Pollution Control Utility Inspector Terry Hawks to come forward for the reading of the Terry Hawks Employee Recognition Proclamation. The proclamation recognized Mr. Hawk’s proactive contributions in response to unprecedented construction activity within the public rights of way by leading the biweekly safety meetings. The meetings have resulted in a decrease of utility hits by 50% since August 2022, and garnered statewide recognition as a model plan by the Missouri 811 agency.

Enrico Villegas serves as the assistant city manager/public works director/IT director for the city of Warrensburg, where he is responsible for all public works, IT and parks maintenance operations.Contact him via email at enrico.villegas@warrensburg-mo.com, or call (660) 262-4660.

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