Briefs

And the winner is…

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has won an Award for Excellence in the Large Utility-Public Relations Program category from the Florida chapter of the Denver-based American Water Works Association. The award honors the city’s Public Services Department and Public Information Office for their creation of “Turn It Off,” a campaign to educate more than 150,000 residents about water restrictions and conservation. As a result of the program, the city experienced a 20 percent decrease in water consumption over an eight-month period.

The Alameda County (Calif.) Waste Management Authority & Recycling Board has received a Stewardship Award from the Alexandria, Va.-based National Recycling Coalition. The county’s recycling rate jumped from 12 percent in 1990 to 49 percent by the end of 1999.

The Asheville, N.C.-based Land-Of-Sky Regional Council and three counties in North Carolina (Buncombe, Madison and Transylvania) have received Innovation Awards from the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Development Organizations for implementing household hazardous waste disposal programs. Each county’s landfill property now has a modular hazardous waste storage building where residents can bring items such as paint, flammables, cleaners, batteries and fluorescent lights.

South Sioux City, Neb., has received the Outstanding Community or Government Program Award from the Alexandria, Va.-based National Recycling Coalition. The award recognizes the city’s recycling efforts, which include implementing the first “Paperless City Council” in the state, constructing a bike path with recycled materials, and installing picnic tables made from 76,000 milk jugs.

Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Wilson & Co. has received two awards for the design of the Uintah Street Bridge in Colorado Springs. It received a Partnership for Community Design award in the Project category from the locally based Partnership for Community Design and an Engineering Excellence Award in the Structural Systems category from the Denver-based American Consulting Engineers Council of Colorado. Both awards recognize engineering achievements that demonstrate ingenuity and technical, social or economic advancements.

Company news

Norcross, Ga.-based BioShield Technologies has partnered with Scottsdale, Ariz.-based AbTech Industries to combine BioShield’s anti-microbial technology with AbTech’s Smart Sponge absorbent polymers. The resulting product will be used to capture pollutants in stormwater drain systems, marinas and industrial sites.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Eastman Kodak Commercial and Government Systems has released its Citypix online earth imagery products through San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk’s personal customer Web site, Point A. Citypix imagery products include orthorectified digital mosaic images at both six-inch and 12-inch ground resolution.

Columbia, S.C.-based Wilbur Smith Associates has established a specialty Water Resources Division, which will be responsible for stormwater master planning, urban and highway drainage design, bridge scour studies, dam safety studies, FEMA flood insurance studies and stormwater permitting.

St. Louis-based Kinetic Solutions has partnered with Redlands, Calif.-based Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) to provide Kinetic customers direct access to ESRI products, including a scalable system of software for geographic data creation, management, integration and analysis.

White Plains, N.Y.-based IBM has partnered with Napa, Calif.-based eONE Global to deliver electronic payment solutions to businesses and governments. The partnership will provide access to data associated with payments and transaction status.

Blue Bell, Pa.-based Unisys has partnered with AcSys Biometrics, a joint venture between Burlington, Ontario, Canada-based Nexus Group International and Toronto-based AND, to provide facial recognition systems to government agencies.

Etc.

The Third Judicial District in Shawnee County, Kan., has selected Irvine, Calif.-based DynTek to manage child support enforcement services for private cases. The company will locate non-custodial parents and enforce child support orders, including issuing income-withholding orders and garnishments.

Chicago has purchased solar-powered, multi-space parking terminals from Austin, Texas-based SchlumbergerSema. The units allow motorists in the Taylor Street section of the city to pay for parking at a central parking terminal.

Getting there

Pomona, Calif., has renewed its contract with Cincinnati-based First Transit, which operates and maintains a portion of the Foothill Transit system. The company will provide fixed-route services in the San Gabriel Valley through 2006.

The Texas Department of Transportation has selected New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff to be general engineering consultant for the development of I-69. The company will be responsible for developing an environmental impact statement and determining the final alignment of the 1,000-mile interstate.

The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) has awarded a three-year, on-call general engineering contract to Omaha, Neb.-based HDR to help implement high-speed rail service from Richmond, Va., to Washington, D.C. The company will help DRPT design and schedule the necessary improvements, beginning with a conceptual master plan for the Richmond area. The rail line will complete the first leg of the Southeast Corridor, which is one of 11 federally designated high-speed rail corridors.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York has partnered with Iseland, N.J.-based Englehard to provide DPX catalytic particulate filters for the city’s 190 new and 500 existing diesel-powered buses. The emission control technology will be used in combination with electronic engine controls on the buses to destroy more than 90 percent of particulate matter.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation has purchased road sign maintenance and sign-installation trucks from Emmetsburg, Iowa-based Flannegan Western.

Hayward, Calif., has selected San Diego-based Berryman & Henigar to provide civil engineering design, construction management and infrastructure analysis services for the city’s $2.9 million, nine-block downtown sidewalk and streetscape improvement project.

If you build it…

The Geauga County, Ohio, Board of Commissioners has selected Atlanta-based Heery International to manage construction of the county’s $8 million correctional facility. The project is scheduled for completion January 2004.

San Diego County has contracted with Irvine, Calif.-based RBF Consulting to provide structural and civil engineering services for a coastal improvement project in the La Jolla Cove area. The project will include constructing a retaining wall, providing bluff stabilization, maximizing public parking, and maintaining access and traffic flow along Coast Boulevard during construction.

The Monmouth County (N.J.) Park System has selected Manalapan, N.J.-based Schoor DePalma to develop a playground for Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold, N.J. The $75,000 project is scheduled for completion by the end of this summer.

Crestwood, Mo., has selected St. Louis-based Horner & Shifrin to conduct a feasibility study for expanding the city’s police headquarters. The existing 5,000-square-foot station is located in City Hall. The study will help determine whether the current quarters should be expanded or if a new facility should be built.

Plugged in

Rush County, Ind., has selected St. Charles, Ill.-based The Sidwell Co. to provide the county with GIS services. The project will involve securing digital orthophotography and creating a countywide digital cadastral database including a new permanent parcel numbering system.

Abingdon, Va., has partnered with Washington, D.C.-based SAP Public Services to provide customer relationship management technology. The technology will allow residents to pay property taxes, sewage, sanitation and other bills; report problems with public infrastructure such as traffic lights; and make complaints and suggestions online.

Louisville, Ohio; Jefferson County, Ohio; and the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District have selected software from Sacramento, Calif.-based Hansen Information Technologies to manage and coordinate operations within and between the three jurisdictions. The software will be used to enhance response to customer requests, manage development review and permit applications, promote departmental and inter-agency integration, and provide data access for customers and staff.

The Michigan Department of Transportation has implemented Heerbrugg, Switzerland-based Leica Geosystems’ GPS data technology to support positioning and mapping applications. The data is available to users throughout the state for surveying, GIS, and environmental and scientific purposes.

Washtenaw County, Mich., has selected Overland Park, Kan.-based NIC to build and manage its eGovernment Internet portal. The portal will provide residents with government information and access to frequently used services.

Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, Champaign, Ill.; Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District, Rock Island, Ill.; and Greater Lafayette Public Transit, Lafayette, Ind., have contracted with Chesapeake, Va.-based INIT Innovations in Transportation to provide computer-aided dispatch/automatic vehicle location services. The company will provide an integrated Intelligent Transportation System solution for fixed route and paratransit vehicles.

The Memphis (Tenn.) International Airport and the Raleigh-Durham (N.C.) International Airport have selected Los Gatos, Calif.-based Identix to provide fingerprint biometric technology for processing employee background checks.

New Hanover County, N.C., has selected Pelham, N.Y.-based Sanborn to update its GIS systems. The company will provide color digital orthophotographs, building footprints and four-foot contour mapping for the county.

Los Angeles County has partnered with Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec to provide security services for the county’s network. Under terms of the agreement, the county will use the company’s antivirus solutions to protect against malicious code at virus entry points — the desktop, server and gateway — and to safeguard the integrity of the county’s systems and data.

Lincoln Parish, La., has selected Clayton, Mo.-based ImageAmerica to produce a six-inch resolution, digital imagery map for the Assessor’s Office. The company already has completed the parish-wide collection of high-resolution imagery.