CPWA is pleased to announce the addition of Bob Smith of Squamish, British Columbia and Bill Grabowecky of Winnipeg, Manitoba to the CPWA Board of Directors. CPWA President Darwin Durnie welcomed these new members to the eight member Board of Directors at the January meeting commenting that “CPWA has a very full agenda and we welcome Bob and Bill to help us reach our outreach and advocacy goals.”

Both Bob Smith and Bill Grabowecky have been active in their local Chapters, serving as Presidents of British Columbia and Manitoba Chapters, respectively. Both have extensive experience in public works leadership and will be a great addition to the Board of Directors for CPWA.

Bob Smith is currently the District of Squamish, BC’s Operations Manager and has over 20 years of experience working in local government, starting as Engineering Tech and progressing to Operations Manager. He is also an Applied Science Engineering Technologist. Prior to joining with Squamish, Smith was the Operations Services Manager at the City of Kimberly, and his duties included water distribution, waste water, operations (roads, sidewalks, solid waste, drainage, trails, electrical and fleet), as well as the Engineering Department.

Bill Grabowecky has been a City of Winnipeg employee for the last 23 years, first with the Winnipeg Police Service and with Public Works Department for the last 12 years. He is also the Manager of the Public Works Department’s APWA Accreditation program. Winnipeg’s Public Works Department was first accredited by APWA in 2006, and re-accredited in 2011. Grabowecky is also an APWA Accreditation evaluator, and has conducted site visits with other APWA members for a number of APWA accredited agencies.

Canadian Standards Association Mapping Standard Takes Guesswork Out of Locating Underground Utilities

CSA Standards has just published S250 - Mapping of Underground Utilities. Application of this new standard can help improve accuracy and reliability in locating & mapping underground infrastructure, as well as improve record keeping. It can be applied to proposed, existing, abandoned-in-place, retired or reserved-for-future-use situations. S250 can help ensure that accurate information about underground utility infrastructure is captured and available for future projects.

CSA will host a webinar on February 29th, 2012.

To register, you may copy this into your browser to reach the correct page:

http://shop.csa.ca/en/canada/infrastructure-solutions/mapping-of-underground-utility-infrastructure-overview-of-the-csa-s250-standard-first-edition/invt/2703305preview

In the interest of sharing best practices, here is a copy of the Asset Management BC Newsletter. Former CPWA President Wally Wells is Executive Director of AMBC.

"I am pleased to attach the AM BC Newsletter Issue #4. We are delighted that Infrastructure Canada not only continues regular articles in this newsletter but also is the feature article this issue. AM BC has offered to co-ordinate a regional effort to respond to the consultation request by INFC.

Note that our CPWA chapter the Public Works Association of BC is a partner in Asset Management BC. Saskatchewan Asset Management is now up and running and will be issuing their first newsletter the end of January. I am pleased to advise I am assisting them with it.

Wally Wells P. Eng
Executive Director
Asset Management BC
Nanaimo BC
250 – 741-9887
www.assetmanagementbc.ca

CPWA welcomes the November 30, 2011 announcement by Minister Denis Lebel that outlines the government's next steps in planning for infrastructure that will follow the expiration of the Building Canada program in 2014. CPWA believes that restoring Canada’s infrastructure has both economic and social benefits and by starting now the government demonstrates commitment to infrastructure growth and renewal. Developing a plan with the input of a wide group of stakeholders will ensure that the infrastructure partners build upon the successes and learn from the experiences of the Building Canada Fund and Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

A copy of the press release dated November 30 is below:

FRANÇAIS AU BAS

CPWA is proud to support a Forum that will take place in Montreal March 14 to 16, 2012. B2B Montreal 2012 will gather more than 800 businesses and municipalities from different sectors, including Public works. This event based on the “business to business” format, will allow our members to exchange ideas in person through organized bilateral. We invite you to read the flyer attached and visit their website (www.b2bmontreal2012.com) to found out more about the event.

CPWA encourages its members to participate in this amazing networking event. Also, we’ve developed in collaboration with the organizers the sub sector for Public Works (urban planning, water management, infrastructure’s sustainable development, lighting, snow, construction & engineering and infrastructure) so we know our members will find great opportunities to network with organizations from around the world.

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CPWA est fier de supporter un forum qui se déroulera du 14 au 16 mars 2012 à Montréal. B2B Montréal 2012 va rassembler plus de 800 entreprises et municipalités de divers secteurs incluant les travaux publics. Cet événement est basé sur le format « business to business », qui permet aux participants d’échanger en personne de façon bilatérale. Nous vous invitons à lire les documents joints et de visiter leur site web (www.b2bmontreal2012.com) pour obtenir plus d’informations sur l’événement.

CPWA encourage ses membres à participer à cet événement parfait pour le réseautage. Nous sommes fiers d’avoir développé en collaboration avec les organisateurs les sous-secteurs pour les travaux publics (aménagement urbain, conservation de l'eau, infrastructure, éclairage, neige, construction et ingénierie et développement durable en infrastructure) et nous sommes convaincus que nos membres trouveront que ce réseautage avec des entreprises de partout à travers le monde sera des plus que bénéfique.