District of Squamish Selected by CPWA for 2014 National Public Works Week Award

OTTAWA, ON – The District of Squamish, B.C. was recently selected for the second consecutive year to receive the national award for their May, 2014 National Public Works Week (NPWW) Community Celebration. The Squamish Operations Department won the Canadian Public Works Association’s (CPWA) National Public Works Week Contest’s First Place award in the “Small Centre” category of municipalities with population less than 75,000. The CPWA award will be presented to the Squamish Operations Department by CPWA National Public Works Week Committee member Murray Steer, of the City of Vancouver, BC, during the District of Squamish Council Meeting on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 6:00 p.m., Town Hall, 37955 Second Avenue, Squamish, B.C., V8B 0A3.

The District of Squamish will also be presented the Public Works Association of British Columbia’s Community Celebration Award by the BC Chapter Executive Director, Jeannette Austin. Both awards will be presented on November 18th at the Council Meeting.

“Squamish’s Celebration of National Public Works Week events and activities included the dedication and work of the public works staff, who prepared and hosted the event, to showcase the people and services that deliver essential services to the community,” said CPWA President Kealy Dedman, P.Eng., MPA, who is the City of Guelph General Manager - Engineering in Ontario, Canada. “Their public outreach of Public Works Week included a media campaign on the District webpage, in newspapers, and on the Facebook page. The Squamish National Public Works Week provided a unique opportunity for the public and students to meet ‘face to face’ with public works professionals who provide the services and work in the public interest to build, maintain, manage and operate essential infrastructure,” said Dedman.

For the NPWW event, the District of Squamish invited fourth grade students to attend an educational Open House that included the public works staff, who were guiding or manning the 11 educational stations representing the diverse public works areas of crews, water, wastewater collection and treatment, roads and parks, horticulture and SCADA. Afterwards, Council members, the public and staff from other departments went on an educational tour to find out about more about what public works does. Each child on the tour received a water conservation activity book and public works activity book.

“Along with the Acting Mayor attending Public Works Day and conducting a ribbon cutting ceremony, the Council proclaimed Public Works Week in a regular meeting of council, which involved the District’s political leaders,” said Steer. “National Public Works Week showcased the people and services of the Operations Department that deliver a highly livable quality of life in our community,” he said. “It is important for the public and students to be exposed to public works as a career choice, which is also a significant aim of the event. This event was another indication of the great teamwork that is shown in our department each day.”

For more information about CPWA/APWA, or the National Public Works Week program, please visit the website at www.apwa.net, or contact Laura Bynum, Media Relations and Communications Manager, via email at lbynum@apwa.net, or phone at 202.218.6736.

ABOUT CPWA

The Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA) is an organization of 2,200 public works professionals in Canada active in chapters in each province and members of the American Public Works Association, which has more than 28,500 members in the U.S. and Canada. Founded in 1986, the Canadian Public Works Association (www.cpwa.net) is the voice of public works in Canada, promoting professional excellence and public awareness through education, advocacy and the exchange of knowledge.

November 14, 2014

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