Tag Archives: Public Works

Kentwood, Wyoming show off their big trucks during Public Works open houses

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By Tessa Schulz
WKTV Contributor

You might be able to climb into this truck during the Wyoming Department of Public Works’ open house on Monday, May 15. (WKTV/Tessa Schulz)

Have you ever looked outside on a snowy day, sipping a hot chocolate while flurries blow through the frosty air? On wintry days plow trucks keep us safe by providing salt for the streets and scraping snow from the roads.

The Public Works team is here for many seasons, whether it is the icy winter, leafy fall, or road construction.

 

The Wyoming Department of Public Works is hosting an open house this Monday, May 15, from 5-8 p.m. at the Public Works Facility located at 2660 Burlingame Ave. SW to educate the community on who they are and what they do.

The Kentwood Department of Public Works will be hosting its public works open house Thursday, May 18, 4-7 p.m. at the Kentwood Department of Public Works facility, 5068 Breton Ave. SE. The event is a joint venture with th eKent County

Both events are an early celebration of Public Works Week, May 21-27, which celebrates how public works connects a community through service and infrastructure.

Public Work professionals include engineers, public service, traffic, and fleet service workers. The Kentwood and Wyoming teams provide construction, maintenance, and repairs for streets, sidewalks, waterlines, sewer systems, traffic signs, city vehicles, and equipment.

During the events, community members will meet the public works team, check out demonstrations and climb into a public works vehicle.

Wyoming Public Works Day

“It’s a fun way to show off what we do for the city,” said Jay VanDyke, Wyoming Public Works assistant director. “It’s a great way for the community to come and meet the team who largely works behind the scenes. It’s a hands-on learning opportunity. It has something for every age. Many people never really grow tired of being fascinated by some of this larger equipment.”

The Wyoming open house will feature equipment, including a hydro excavator, dump truck, salt truck, boom truck, and street sweeper. In addition, guests may play games (hammer toss or Plinko) to win prizes or explore booths and displays, including the sewer jet flusher.

The Wyoming open house will serve hot dogs, chips, popsicles, and refreshments. In previous years, several hundred residents attended the city’s open houses.

“We hope that people walk away with a better understanding of the various responsibilities we have at the Public Works Department and the services we provide,” VanDyke said. “Some of these services include providing everyone clean, safe drinking water and a reliable, efficient sewer system. The nice thing about a reliable, efficient sewer system is if you never have to think about it, it’s working great!”

Kentwood Public Works Day

The Kentwood event will have hands-on activities, maintenance and repair demonstrations, and giveaways. All guests may take home free red maple and river birch tree seedlings. In addition, the event will have complimentary food and refreshments.

The Kentwood Department of Public Works will host an open house with the Kent County Road Commission on Thursday, May 18. (Supplied)

Semifinalists and finalists of the Work Zone Safety Poster competition will be recognized at 5:30 p.m. Sponsored by Kent County Road Commission and public works agencies throughout Kent County, the poster contest invited third-graders from across the county to design a caution sign focused on safety tips for driving through a work zone. A gallery of entries will be displayed during the event.

“The Kentwood Department of Public Works supports many aspects of our residents’ daily lives, from plowing roads to maintaining trails to repairing public safety vehicles,” Public Works Director Chad Griffin said. “We’re looking forward to connecting with the community to share more about what we do and display some of the equipment we use to get the job done.”

The Kent County Road Commission will also have team members and equipment on-site to share more about the department’s role in the community.

“Our team works collaboratively with public works departments throughout the county to serve residents by keeping roads safe,” said Steve Warren, managing director of the Kent County Road Commission. “We are excited to connect with community members and share more about our dedication to maintaining public infrastructure.”

 

The Kentwood Department of Public Works has five divisions that work together to maintain the City’s infrastructure, which includes more than 150 miles of pipes underground and more than 155 miles of streets above ground, as well as parks and grounds, buildings and vehicles. The five divisions are building maintenance, fleet services, grounds maintenance, streets maintenance and utilities (water and wastewater) services. To learn more about Kentwood DPW, visit kentwood.us/DPW.

Kentwood sweeps up awards at the annual Snowplow Roadeo

3-bottom, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, Our Cities, , ,
  • Jeff Bremer
  • Zach Wolford
The winning City of Kentwood team at this year’s 2021 American Public Works Association Midwest Michigan Snowplow Roadeo and Equipment Show. (City of Kentwood)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org


For the second year in a row, the City of Kentwood’s Department of Public Work snowplow team has won the local Snowplow Roadeo.

On Oct. 6, the City of Wyoming Department of Public Works hosted the 2021 American Public Works Association Midwest Michigan Snowplow Roadeo and Equipment Show. The event featured a timed obstacle course where drivers from across Michigan competed to test their skills.

The event featured a timed obstacle course where drivers from across Michigan competed to test their skills. (City of Wyoming)

The roadeo provides an opportunity for public agencies to prepare for winter snow removal operations by training drivers, networking with each other and viewing a variety of useful products and services. More than 28 public agencies competed in this year’s Roadeo. Public administrators and elected officials, as well as other local celebrities were invited to operate snow removal equipment in a non-working/non-emergency atmosphere.

This year the Kentwood team of Jeff Bremer and Zach Wolford won the roadeo with Wolford also being named the top driver. The city also took home first place in the “Pride of the Fleet” competition.

“It is wonderful to celebrate Jeff Bremer and Zach Wolford as the winning driving team of this year’s Snowplow Roadeo,” said Kentwood Public Works Department Director Chad Griffin. “We look forward to the Snowplow Roadeo and Equipment Show each year as part of our training for winter snow removal operations. Placing well in the competition demonstrates the quality of our training and our commitment to excellence in the public works profession.”

Griffin along with Mike Kaminski won the 2020 Snowplow Roadeo and went on to compete in the national competition held annually in Loveland, Colorado. Bremer and Wolford will represent the APWA Midwest Michigan area at the national competition in October 2022. 

The City of Kentwood’s Pride of the Fleet winner. (City of Kentwood)

Wyoming hosts a big truck lover’s dream parade for National Public Works Week

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The leaf truck will be one of the vehicles featured in the Fleets Through the Streets parade. (WKTV File)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Since you can’t come to see the big trucks for National Public Works Week, the big trucks are coming to you.

May 19, the City of Wyoming will be hosting its first-ever public works parade, titled Fleets through the Streets. The event will take place from 5 – 7 p.m.

The City of Wyoming has annual celebrated National Public Works Week, which traditionally takes place the third week of May, with an open house at its facility. However, due to social distancing guidelines because of COVID, city officials decided to switch things up, according to Public Works Assistant Director Aaron Vis.

“Instead of the people coming to us, we are coming to them,” Vis said, adding that last May, the department had a couple of smaller parades for residents and decided to do something a little larger this year.

The parade also underscores this year’s National Public Works Week theme, which is Stronger Together. By having the parade through the city streets, it demonstrates how the city and the community worked together through the past year, Vis said.

The parade will be a big truck lovers dream as it will feature many of the vehicles that are used in the Public Works Department such as the gap vax truck. the street sweeper, a dump truck, the back hoe, a hot asphalt trailer, a plow truck, a leaf trailer, a value turner, and a salt truck.

North Route

A map of this year’s 2021 parade route for the City of Wyoming’s Department of Public Works parade. (Supplied)

Vis said the goal of the event is to help residents understand what type of services are provided by the Public Works Department and to remind people to help keep the staff safe when working on the roads by obeying construction rules and slowing down.

The parade will start at 5 p.m. at Sharon Avenue and 28th Street and will head south through city streets arriving at Lemery Park around 5:15 p.m. The parade will continue south on city streets and then turning to head north, arriving at Lamar Park at 5:30 p.m. The parade then continues north, going up Porter Street and Beverly Avenue and crossing Beverly Avenue and Burton Street at 5:45 p.m.

The route continues north up past Chicago Drive to Whiting Avenue and then back down through city streets passing Godfrey Lee Early Education Center and at Pinery Park at 6 p.m. The route then heads east through neighborhood streets and then south down S. Division Avenue. It heads back west on Bellevue Street jogging over to S. Division Avenue. It passes Resurrection Cemetery around 6:30 p.m. as it heads north again.

It loops through more neighborhood streets crossing Michael Avenue at 6:45 p.m. and finally heads towards Pinery Park, where the parade concludes at 7 p.m.

South Route

The south route starts at Gezon Park off of Gezon Court at 5 p.m. and heads east, then north through neighborhood streets of Chateau Hills and goes by Palmer Park around 5:15 p.m. It continues south and then east heading down 50th Street at about 5:30 p.m.

The route continues north up Walton Avenue and then turns to head south on S. Division Avenue to 56th Street and then back up to 54th Street by 5:45 p.m. The parade will continue down Gezon Parkway turning northing on Byron Center Avenue around 6 p.m.

The parade will make its way west and north staying south off 44th Street making its way on Golfbury Drive at 6:15 p.m. It continues south through neighborhood streets into the Bayberry Farms community and then comes to 52nd Street and Ivanrest Avenue around 6:30 p.m. It goes south on Ivanrest, turn west on 56th Street and weaving through neighborhood streets and finally ending at Resurrection Life Church at 7 p.m. 

Snowplow drivers prep for winter at the annual Roadeo

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RoadeoBy: Mike DeWitt

Mike.DeWitt@gmail.com

 

The sun sat high in the sky beating down on the hot, black pavement. Midday was in the rear view mirror, the competitors in front of me had come and gone, and there I stood face-to-face with more than 50,000 pounds of metal that I was expected to control through a timed obstacle course.

 

“Do you have your driver’s license?” asked the judge to my left as I stared at the vehicle.

 

A grapefruit sized lump made its way into my throat as the little voice inside my head said what everyone was thinking, “you entered a snowplow driving competition and you left your license in the car?” It was a rookie mistake, and I answered back in a way only a novice can, with false confidence and a dash of ignorance, “No, I left it in the car.”

 

RoadeoThe judge chuckled and made a couple of marks on his score sheet. I hadn’t even entered the snowplow yet and my score was already sitting in the negatives.

 

As a celebrity driver at the American Public Works Association (APWA) Snowplow Roadeo, hosted this year by the Wyoming Department of Public Works, I had the opportunity to personally get behind the drivers wheel of a snowplow to catch a glimpse of the challenges the snowplow drivers face come winter. While the competition is all fun and games for myself and the other celebrities, the Roadeo acts as a training seminar for drivers to prepare themselves for the winter ahead.

 

“This is a training session, but it looks very much like a competition because that’s the way we run it,” explained William Dooley, Wyoming Director of Public Works, “The Roadeo is all about preparing the drivers that have to remove snow and ice from our roads in the winter. It’s really about getting all of the drivers in West Michigan thinking about it again, getting in the trucks, and getting used to where those blades start and stop.”

 

The idea for the Roadeo was started by the City of Wyoming where they hosted the event for 21 straight years before cutbacks in the department forced the event to come to a close.

 

“At that time we said we could no longer host it every year but that we would take our turn,” said Dooley. “Well, here we are in 2016, and we’re happy to host the Roadeo once again!”

 

RoadeoThe drivers take turns driving through a timed obstacle course that tests their fundamentals inside the snowplow. Those fundamentals include basics like having your driver’s license and medical cards on hand, entering the snowplow properly and adjusting the mirrors. After the intial prep is completed, drivers make their way through a course lined with cones and barrels designed to test driving ability with maneuvers like going around a turn to the left and right, backing up, and moving snow in-between parked cars.

 

Oh, and it’s all timed.

 

“This event is an opportunity to get drivers back in the trucks to see some real life situations. In addition to the course, we have classroom training on how to interact with the public and stay alert behind the wheel,” said John Gorney, Kentwood Director of Public Works.

 

“Every element they’ll face on the job, we test them on,” added Dooley.

 

And the tests are anything but easy. For starters, from the driver’s seat, both blades – the big one in front and the one underneath – aren’t visible. Yes, you read that correctly, you cannot see the blades. The front blade has one orange pole on each end that acts as a guide for the driver. They give a frame of reference on how wide the blade is and an idea on where it’s located. It’s very much a ‘feel’ thing where a driver must become one with the snowplow.

 

The green cones mimic snow that has to be moved between parked cars
The green cones mimic snow that has to be moved between parked cars

Unfortunately for me, I did not feel one with the machine, and my Master Yoda was nowhere in sight to teach me the ways of the force. During the serpentine I ran over a barrel like it was nothing more than a fly on the windshield. The obstacle that mimics pushing snow between two parked cars was also an epic fail as I distinctly clipped a barrel acting as the rear bumper of a car. Hopefully they had insurance. As I rounded corners, I assume I trucked numerous cones because, truthfully, I couldn’t really see whether I did or not. The sight lines in a snowplow aren’t the most advantageous to a roadway vehicle.

 

Thankfully the obstacles that involved backing up were taken out of the course for the celebrity drivers. After making my way through the course, I know why, it would’ve been a disaster.

 

Upon completion of the course, scores were gathered and tallied. Shockingly, yours truly didn’t bring home the celebrity hardware.

 

I never thought driving a snowplow would be easy, but it didn’t think it would be as difficult as it was. Even with a beautiful day and no true stress of hitting other cars or pedestrians, it was still a lot to process and handle. The ability to drive one of those on a busy street in the middle of winter is daunting, but the Public Works Departments take their biggest job very seriously.

 

“The event is very important,” Gorney emphasized. “Snow removal for all of the Public Works Departments is the biggest efforts we have. It costs the most money and the trucks are the most expensive piece of equipment. To get back in the truck and get some training is critical.”

Big trucks and hotdogs: It’s National Public Works Week

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Kentwood Public Works Department oversees the city's recycling center.
Kentwood Public Works Department oversees the city’s recycling center.

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

 

It’s the kid in all of us that watches those big machines that build and plow our roads in wonderment and a little bit of awe. Next week, thanks to two local Public Works Departments, we will all get the chance to let our inner child out.

 

In celebration of National Public Works Week, May 15 – 21, both the Kentwood and Wyoming Public Works Departments will be hosting open houses, giving area residents a chance to discover all that these departments do for the city and its residents.

 

“Road, water, sewer, recycling, household hazardous waste,” said Kentwood Public Works Director John Gordy as he listed off just some of the items area Public Works Departments take care of on a daily basis.

 

In 1960 the American Public Works Association established National Public Works Week to create a better understand of the various responsibilities of a Public Works facility in maintaining the infrastructure of its community. This includes such areas as ground maintenance, sewer and water, potholes and road maintenance, and snowplowing to list a few of the many services provided by these departments.

 

Having hosted a Public Works Week Open House for the past 22 years, the event has become one of the City of Wyoming’s most anticipated activities for families..

 

The City of Wyoming will have various equipment out at its Public Works Open House set for May 16.
The City of Wyoming will have various equipment pieces out at its Public Works Open House set for May 16.

“It has become a tradition,” said Wyoming’s Public Works Assistant Director Aaron Vis. “We have been doing it so long that people have just come to expect that we will be hosting it.”

 

Because there are several entrances into the event, its hard for staff to take attendance, Vis said, adding they estimate attendance by the number of hotdogs served.

 

Last year, the Wyoming Public Works Department went through about 1,800 hotdogs with staff estimating about 1,500 people attended the event. Vis said he expects about the same for this year’s open house which is set for Monday, May 16, from 5 – 8 p.m. at the Wyoming Public Works building, 2660 Burlingame Ave. SW. Various Public Works Department equipment will be on hand for people to explore along with a police cruiser and fire truck. Staff will be on hand to talk to visitors about equipment and projects as well as serving free beverages, chips, and, of course, hotdogs.

 

Kentwood’s Public Works Department will host its first Public Works Week Family Event with the Kent County Road Commission Wednesday, May 18 from 4 – 7 p.m. at the Kentwood Public Works building, 5068 Breton Rd. SE. Road plow trucks and construction equipment will be on hand for visitors to explore along with 20 different displays on various Public Works topics. Gorney said there also will be live demonstrations on maintenance and repair of water and sewer systems and discussions on how and why different improvements are made on roads. Kent County Public Works officials will be there to discuss household hazardous waste and how to properly dispose of such items. There also will be giveaways for children, free snacks, and yes, hotdogs.

 

According to APWA’s website, National Public Works Week has been growing with more and more municipalities participating. Besides Wyoming and Kentwood observing the week, the City of Grandville will have a display at its library as part of Michgian Week BBQ, the City of Grand Rapids will mark the entire week with a display of Grand Rapids Public Works equipment on Market Street, and the City of East Grand Rapids will host a “Touch a Truck” event starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 18.