Session 5: GRU - More Than Energy

Session 5 was held at the Kanapaha Water Reclamation Facility, located at 3901 SW 63rd Blvd. The facility serves as one of the City’s main sources of reclaimed water, and now handles up to 14 million gallons of water per day.

To begin the morning, Wastewater Plant Operator 3 Steven Byce gave a general overview and history of the facility, and explained how the water comes in, what the treatment process entails, as well as where the water goes after it is treated. He explained that per federal guidelines, all water coming into the treatment facility must leave the plant as drinking-quality water (although the water is not used for drinking, a point everyone was relieved to hear!). He also explained that the process by which the plant treats the water is no more than a high-tech faster version of what Mother Nature does in the wild. Afterwards, we donned latex gloves, and proceeded to tour the actual equipment used to treat the water. The smell at times was strong to say the least, but we continued on and saw how water enters the “tanks,” and how it is sorted and treated. It was interesting to see how the beginning of the tour involved seeing the dirty, smelly water, while the end of the tour showed the water completely clear.

As an added bonus to the session, Citizen Academy participant Leslie Straub of Florida Wildlife Care and a few remaining participants helped release a wood duck in a nearby pond.

REMEMBER: The final session (#6) will focus on the City’s Neighborhood Improvement and Planning and Development Services departments, with an RTS bus tour around some of the City’s development and redevelopment projects. The session will begin this Friday at the Gainesville Technology Enterprise Center (GTEC), located at 2153 SE Hawthorne Road. We will board the bus following a short presentation at GTEC. The bus will return to GTEC by 11:30 p.m. As always, do not hesitate to contact us by e-mailing parmeleeka@cityofgainesville.org or calling 334-5017 if you have any questions. See you soon!

Session 4: Public Safety

Session 4 discussed Public Safety and was held at the Gainesville Police Department. To begin the cold morning, the Gainesville SWAT team displayed some of the tools and equipment they use, and we got a chance to see first hand how they operate and deal with situations that would require their presence.

Afterwards, we joined GPD Chief Norman Botsford and GFR Chief Bill Northcutt in a briefing room that was renovated and refurbished using funds seized from drug busts.

After Chief Botsford’s introduction, he turned it over to Captain Ed Book and Lieutenant Keith Kameg who explained different aspects of the organization and function of the Gainesville Police Department (http://www.gainesvillepd.org/), and how their officers are assigned to the different patrol zones. Captain Book emphasized that while a police presence is always helpful, the citizens of those individual communities can really help crime control and prevention. The officers assigned to each region make every effort to be heavily involved with neighborhood watch committees, and encourage prevention techniques such as trimming bushes and hedges so patrols can see all the way to the house and windows, etc. Using these prevention and cooperation methods with community and neighborhood leaders, the Gainesville Police Department can serve a more supportive role in keeping crime at a minimum.

Next, Chief Northcutt gave a presentation on the history and locations of the Gainesville Fire Rescue Department (http://www.cityofgainesville.org/gfr/) and stations located throughout the City limits. Did you know that the station located at 10 SW 36th Street was originally designed as a fallout shelter? “The exterior walls and roof are poured concrete 12 inches thick, and is built to withstand the worst nature can offer,” said Chief Northcutt. He then announced that thanks to the City Commission, a new fire station, number 8, was recently approved and the zoning and land use changes are currently taking place. This will relieve other stations and put another layer of protection over that area of the City.

A second point that was mentioned with Gainesville Fire Rescue was the fact that GFR is different from other City fire departments in that every engine or ladder has at least one employee who is trained in EMS. Thus, with the necessary medical supplies on the vehicle as well, GFR is able to do and control any situation that would require a standard ambulance, except for transporting someone who needs medical attention at a hospital. This greatly reduces response time, and could mean life and death if an ambulance was first needed once the Fire Rescue team arrived. This 2-in-1 system has provided numerous benefits to the City, and provides an advantage over a traditional Fire Department.

Next came the part of the session that everyone was waiting for. Multiple demonstrations and hands-on explanations awaited us outside the Police Headquarters building, where both GPD and GFR had fire engines, police patrol cars, the SWAT vehicle, and the HAZMAT team. We broke up into different groups, and rotated amongst the “stations”.

One was with the head of Gainesville Police Department’s traffic division, Officer Steve Girard. He explained what his job with traffic entails, and showed us how to use the laser “guns” that detect certain vehicle’s speeds.


Other stations included Gainesville Fire Rescue’s HAZMAT unit, a GFR ladder-engine, the Gainesville Fire Rescue Department’s Search and Rescue Dog, as well as one of the Gainesville Police Department’s K-9 Units that demonstrated how the officer gives commands to the dog “Grady” and how the dog would handle taking down a suspect.

Kate volunteered to take a ride 100 feet in the air in the basket of the ladder to demonstrate the height of the ladder truck and take photos of the participants enjoying the demonstrations below. You can see some of those photos below.

REMEMBER: The next to last session (#5) will focus on GRU (with a special bonus budget session) and will be held this Friday at the Kanapaha Water Reclamation Facility at 3901 SW 63rd Boulevard. Be sure to wear comfortable clothes and shoes. If you need a ride to the facility (it is a bit distant from the closest RTS bus stop) there will be a van available to transport you that will leave from City Hall - but you will need to meet in the City Hall lobby by 8:00 a.m.(staff is driving and will need to arrive at the facility early). We will return to City Hall by 12:00 p.m. As always, do not hesitate to contact us by e-mailing parmeleeka@cityofgainesville.org or calling 334-5017 if you have any questions. See you next week!

Session 3: Infrastructure & Communication

Session 3 was held at the City of Gainesville’s Public Works Compound on 39th Avenue. The morning began with an overview of the function and responsibilities of the Communications and Marketing Office from Communications and Marketing Manager Bob Woods and Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist Kate Parmelee. In addition to managing external and internal communication for the City, marketing of the City, emergency communications, media relations, special events and other activities the Communications and Marketing Office also manages the City/County Government Access Television Station- Channel 12, seen locally on Cox Cable and online anytime through our live web streaming.

Broadcast Production Technician James Scott debuted slides that revealed the eventual new look to the City of Gainesville’s website. It is still in development, and should likely be launched during January 2008.

The Communications and Marketing Office also discussed the Service Request Center, a new online service request and comment tracking system. The system was created to make it easier for citizens to have better communication with their government when trying to make a request for information and/or solve an issue that a citizen may have that is under City’s jurisdiction. From traffic signals to abandoned vehicles, the City of Gainesville's new Service Request Center makes it easy to submit your requests online, anytime. After you submit your request you will receive a tracking number allowing you to check the status of your request. You can also login any time to monitor the status of your request or add more comments. This new system will allow you to track the progress of the inquiry, and is available 24-7 on the City’s website. It is currently in the “soft opening” phase, but can be used at any time. To access the Service Request Center please visit this Website: http://src.cityofgainesville.org/

You can view the presentation on the Communications and Marketing Office’s role here.

After a short break, Public Education Specialist Gina Hawkins and Public Works Director Teresa Scott gave an informative overview of the Public Works Department, what they do and what they are responsible for. Did you know that they actually encourage citizens to email (or call) to report traffic/city light outages? They can’t fix what they don’t know is broken- so feel free to e-mail Public Works Customer Service at customerservice@cityofgainesville.org. Tom Frisbie, Operations Division Manager also answered more specific questions during this presentation.

The presentation included topics such as traffic and traffic signal maintenance, road projects, storm water location conversion into new storm water parks, just to name a few. You can view the presentation on Public Works here and RTS here at the Citizens’ Academy Online Web page.
Immediately following an informative question and answer session the participants were broken up into three small groups and given a tour of the Public Works Compound. We toured the Mosquito Control Division, where they breed special fish that eat mosquito larvae. The more larvae are eaten, the less adult mosquitoes are around to bite you. Consider it a first line of defense, more so than spraying.

We saw the sign shop, where road signage is made, and peeked in on the “interim” traffic management center. As the City continues to upgrade its traffic signal software from MS-DOS to a significantly more sophisticated system, traffic is monitored from the Compound on multiple screens, and you as a driver should begin to see considerable improvements in traffic patterns in the near future!

We even saw the efficient street sweepers all lined up and ready to begin cleanup of the University of Florida’s Homecoming Parade later in the day.

Finally, the Academy participants were gracious enough to line up and “star” in a promo for Community12, your local government connection. Stay tuned to Channel 12 to see your television debut!

REMEMBER! Session 4 will address Public Safety, and will be held at the Gainesville Police Department, Friday, November 16 at 9:00 am. The address is 721 NW 6th Street- please park in the parking lot on the east side of the new Administration Headquarters Building (just past the new building on 8th Avenue, around the corner from the GPD Headquarters). GPD staff will direct you to the session. Please wear comfortable clothes and shoes. We will explore how our City protects and serves its citizens through the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) and Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR). As always, do not hesitate to contact us at parmeleeka@cityofgainesville.org or 334-5017 if you have any questions. See you next week!