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Communicating with the people of District 12
DISPATCH
Volume XVI, Issue 11 November 2011 October 21, 2011
Page 4 October 21, 2011
The Ohio Department of Transportation is an Equal Opportunity Employer
John R. KasichGovernor
Myron S. PakushDistrict Deputy Director
Jerry WrayODOT Director
www.BuckeyeTraffic.org
ODOT “Suits Up” and Prepares for Winter
A Little Generosity Goes A Long WayJackie Schafer In this economy, if you could turn $1 into $6 – you’d be an investment genius. We’re proud to say some of the folks involved with the I-77 add lane project are not only investment geniuses, they are helping to bring hope to the less fortunate as we head into the holiday season. ODOTers Scott Slack, Jake Bailosky, Rico Banks, Fred Collier, Paul Delbane, Mark Kollin, Linda Nau, Jim Robinson, Erik Zippay and retiree Darlene Schwarzer generously contributed to the 3rd Annual Kokosing Group Food Drive this year. Project members raised $245, which was tripled by the Kokosing Construction Company, then matched to the tune of $1,470 by an anonymous donor with the West Side Catholic Center – the charity the project team chose to receive this year’s donation. “A little went a long way in this endeavor thanks to the individuals associ-ated with the job, the Kokosing corporate office, and others not associated with the project who took part to double the gift,” said ODOT Project Engineer Scott Slack. Members of ODOT’s I-77 construction team have been donating to Kokosing’s Food Drive since its inception. “What a great example of how ODOT and Kokosing went well beyond the call of duty. They should be commended for the work they’re doing and their generosity to help improve the lives of the less fortunate here in our region,” said District Deputy Director Myron Pakush. ODOT and Kokosing officials presented the donation (pictured above) to the West Side Catholic Center September 30. The charity offers hot meals, hospitality, clothing and household goods, emergency services, advocacy, a women and children’s shelter, and a housing solutions program to those in need at no charge, regardless of religious affiliation.
Central Office Staff & Amanda Lee Armed with power tools and wrenches, more than 20 ODOT District 12 mechanics are “suiting up” to inspect, test and fine tune each piece of snow removal equipment to ensure it is
ready for battle this winter season. “Snow and ice removal is one of our core services and is vital to keeping Ohioans safe and our economy running each winter,”
said ODOT Director Jerry Wray. “Our county garages do a great job to make sure our equip-ment is fully operation-al and ready to plow the roads.” Throughout October, ODOT mechanics will perform a 142-point inspection on more than 80 snowplows in District 12, including brakes, lights, fluids and other important safety and mechanical items. “The auto technicians work all year to prepare the equipment for winter,” said Lake County Manager Dave Paponetti. “The equipment receives far more wear and tear during the winter than during the summer. It’s not uncommon for the trucks to run seven to 10 days, 24 hours per day without a break in service during the winter.” Beginning this winter season in conjunc-tion with District 4’s Ashtabula County, the
“Tow Plow” – a multifunctional machine that increases driver productivity, while decreasing snow removal expenses – will be utilized on Interstate 90 in Lake County. The Tow Plow
allows the snow plow driver to clear two lanes of pave-ment at once, reducing road and shoulder clearing time. Besides equipment, another critical element in ODOT’s snow-fighting arsenal is salt. Earlier this year ODOT was able to save nearly $2 million on its annual salt purchase –
or roughly two dollars per ton. The savings were realized thanks to a change in Ohio law which now gives ODOT flexibility to purchase salt from a variety of vendors, making salt bids more competitive. This season, state-wide, ODOT will have more than 3,000 trained drivers ready to clear snow and ice from
nearly 40,000 lane miles of state roadways and bridges. State highways carry ap-proximately two thirds of the state’s daily traffic. The first snow storm usually seems to be the worst because many mo-torists don’t remember the winter driving skills they developed last year. Be-
ing a careful and informed driver is the best way motorists can travel safely. ODOT’s best advice: in Ice and Snow… Take it Slow.
American Red Cross Every minute of every day, someone needs blood. That blood can only come from a volunteer donor -- a person like you who makes the choice to donate. There is no substitute for your donation. When you make a blood donation, you join a very select group. Currently, only three out of every 100 people in America donate blood. From its beginning, the American Red Cross has formed a community of service, generous, strong and decent people bound by beliefs beyond themselves. The American Red Cross blood donor embodies this principle. Please join us in our mission to maintain a safe and stable
blood supply by making your appoint-ment to donate blood today at the ODOT District 12 Blood Drive on November 1, 2011 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please contact Don Barth at 216.584.2027 to schedule your appointment.
November Blood Drive
District 12 is on Facebook & Twitter District 12 has joined the world of social media to keep our employees and customers up-to-date on the happenings not only in District 12, but around the state. We invite you to “like” us on Facebook at www.Facebook.
com/District 12 Cleveland and follow us on Twitter @ODOT_Cleveland for the latest construction and traffic reports and ODOT news!
Scott Slack, West Side Catholic Cen-ter Representative Jennifer Highfield, Kokosing Superintendent Brad Mast.
Page 2 October 21, 2011 October 21, 2011 Page 3
NEWS IN THE MAKING: Around District 12Mark your Calendar:
Customer Kudo Corner
District 12 is being recognized by its customers for its excellent customer service, and now we’re recognizing District employees for their contributions!
If you would like to give a coworker a “kudo,” the Dispatch would like to hear about it! Please contact [email protected] if you’d like to share a “Coworker Kudo” with all of District 12!
Coworker Kudo Corner District 12 is being recognized by its customers for its excellent customer service. The following are messages received recently in gratitude of ODOT’s hard work!
If you’ve received a letter, e-mail, or phone call of thanks, the Dispatch would like to hear about it. Please contact [email protected] if you’ve received a Customer Kudo that you would like to share!
Employee Service Awards
Superload Travels Through Lake County
Blood Drive: November 1
A HUGE THANK YOU to ODOT employee Jim Houston, who helped me this morning on the shoulder of I-90 near Eddy Road, where I was attempting to fix a flat tire. Jim pulled his ODOT truck behind my Volvo to block traffic and then got down on hands and knees to jack up the car and change the tire. Jim went well above and beyond the call of duty and was extremely gracious while doing so. A great example for the rest of the orga-nization. THANK YOU!
Scott Bogard
It’s been quite a while since I wrote about the holes in the pavement on U.S. 422. It’s also been quite a while since they’ve been filled in and the road has become much more pleasant to drive. Thanks for your help and thanks to all the workers who made this happen.
Jeff Nelson
I want to thank Julie Scheckel, who shortly after I called
showed up and found me a keyboard tray in cold storage,
cleaned it and assisted Ron Zak with installing it. Within
an hour of calling everything had been set up. I want to
also thank Ron for installing the tray.
John Wesp
Be Prepared to Be AmazedJackie Schafer We built this city, we built this city on Rock and Roll! Both ODOT and Rock and Roll have played significant roles in putting Cleveland on the map, so we felt it would be fitting to combine the two for our Annual Meeting video presentation in District 12 to showcase our workforce. Photos and videos of our team hard at work in the office and out in the field were accompanied by famous guitar riffs from ACDC and Aerosmith. Between rock star performances from Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Miller Band and STYX, we heard employees of District 12 telling their stories of why ODOT is truly a great place to work. “In a lifetime, I’ve worked here more than 20 years, and in a lifetime, I think you can meet more people here and have family outside of family,” Construction Administra-tive Assistant Michell Goodwin said. “The fulfillment of the job is when we’re going down the highway spreading our salt and plowing, and you look behind you and see the road open up. You know you saved a lot of lives that day,” said Highway Technician Gary Casteel. The recurring theme in more than 25 employee inter-views was the satisfaction of helping people. It’s what we do as public servants and it’s clearly a motivating factor here in District 12. The Director’s message for the future means some changes may be on the way, but we still have a job to do
and people to serve as we continue on ODOT’s “journey to excellence.” Tom Cochrane may have put it best: “through all the cities and all these towns, it’s in our blood and it’s all around...life is a highway.” We’ll keep riding it all night long. Veterans’ Day: November 11
The following employees were awarded for their years of service between July and September 2011: Cortez Browner, Victor Edwards, Gerald Goodgame, Jamie Hall, Reuben Lindsey and Brian Sloan, 10 years; David Nimrichter, Sr. and Scott Turner, 20 years; Melinda Bartizal, Freddy Caraballo, David Karasek, Karen Savage and Donald Ward, 25 years; and Leslie Adams, Ray Bencivengo, Sandra Premura and Brad Stone, 30 years. Congratulations and thank you to these employees for their service.
Thanksgiving Day: November 24
Election Day: November 8
College Jersey Day: November 25
Many, many thanks to the IT department for setting up all the AV needs for the Annual Meeting. We know you spent a lot of time fine tuning everything and it all worked out so well. We could not have done it without you! Also, many thanks to the Facilities crew and the Mechanics who cleaned the entire garage and set up all the chairs and tables.
You did a fantastic job and everything looked wonder-ful! The hard work of everyone involved was much appreciated and contributed to a very successful event.
Jackie Schafer
I travel from the west side through downtown to the east side every day. It’s amazing to see the work (on the new I-90 Innerbelt Bridge) that is being done every day and how you’re able to get it done and still have traffic flow-ing through there. Amazing!
Shawn
Jackie Schafer In order to ensure the safe transport of a superload, several Lake County routes experienced brief closures on Thursday, October 13 for approximately three hours. Crews transported a 521,600 lb. transformer from
Hatch, Inc. in Fairport Harbor, to its final destination at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. The transformer was ap-
proximately 19 feet tall, 12 feet wide and 190 feet long. Once the load departed from Fairport Harbor, it traveled State Route 535 eastbound to Blase Nemeth Road, to U.S. 20 eastbound to County Road 115 (Center Rd). State Route 535 was closed briefly in both directions while the load was transported. U.S. 20 only experienced closures in the eastbound lanes, utilizing rolling road-blocks. Four Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers accompanied the load for traffic control purposes. Because of the size and transporting needs, the load moved extremely slow (10 miles per hour or slower at times). Traffic signals at the intersections of U.S. 20 & Lane Road and U.S. 20 & Center Road were temporarily taken down so the load could clear those intersections.
At District 12’s Annual Meeting, Director Jerry Wray challenged Laurie Scarmuzzi to come to work the next day and “AMAZE” her colleagues. She didn’t let him down and her enthusiasm was contagious. Here is the pic-ture District 12 Real Estate folks shared with the Director shortly after his visit. (Front Row) Jimmie Hart, Jessica Shamshoum, Cur-tice Malone, Lavone Cunningham. (Back Row) Scott Raypholtz, Anthony Signorino, Scarmuzzi, Dan Dough-erty, Thom Stanziale.
Page 2 October 21, 2011 October 21, 2011 Page 3
NEWS IN THE MAKING: Around District 12Mark your Calendar:
Customer Kudo Corner
District 12 is being recognized by its customers for its excellent customer service, and now we’re recognizing District employees for their contributions!
If you would like to give a coworker a “kudo,” the Dispatch would like to hear about it! Please contact [email protected] if you’d like to share a “Coworker Kudo” with all of District 12!
Coworker Kudo Corner District 12 is being recognized by its customers for its excellent customer service. The following are messages received recently in gratitude of ODOT’s hard work!
If you’ve received a letter, e-mail, or phone call of thanks, the Dispatch would like to hear about it. Please contact [email protected] if you’ve received a Customer Kudo that you would like to share!
Employee Service Awards
Superload Travels Through Lake County
Blood Drive: November 1
A HUGE THANK YOU to ODOT employee Jim Houston, who helped me this morning on the shoulder of I-90 near Eddy Road, where I was attempting to fix a flat tire. Jim pulled his ODOT truck behind my Volvo to block traffic and then got down on hands and knees to jack up the car and change the tire. Jim went well above and beyond the call of duty and was extremely gracious while doing so. A great example for the rest of the orga-nization. THANK YOU!
Scott Bogard
It’s been quite a while since I wrote about the holes in the pavement on U.S. 422. It’s also been quite a while since they’ve been filled in and the road has become much more pleasant to drive. Thanks for your help and thanks to all the workers who made this happen.
Jeff Nelson
I want to thank Julie Scheckel, who shortly after I called
showed up and found me a keyboard tray in cold storage,
cleaned it and assisted Ron Zak with installing it. Within
an hour of calling everything had been set up. I want to
also thank Ron for installing the tray.
John Wesp
Be Prepared to Be AmazedJackie Schafer We built this city, we built this city on Rock and Roll! Both ODOT and Rock and Roll have played significant roles in putting Cleveland on the map, so we felt it would be fitting to combine the two for our Annual Meeting video presentation in District 12 to showcase our workforce. Photos and videos of our team hard at work in the office and out in the field were accompanied by famous guitar riffs from ACDC and Aerosmith. Between rock star performances from Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Miller Band and STYX, we heard employees of District 12 telling their stories of why ODOT is truly a great place to work. “In a lifetime, I’ve worked here more than 20 years, and in a lifetime, I think you can meet more people here and have family outside of family,” Construction Administra-tive Assistant Michell Goodwin said. “The fulfillment of the job is when we’re going down the highway spreading our salt and plowing, and you look behind you and see the road open up. You know you saved a lot of lives that day,” said Highway Technician Gary Casteel. The recurring theme in more than 25 employee inter-views was the satisfaction of helping people. It’s what we do as public servants and it’s clearly a motivating factor here in District 12. The Director’s message for the future means some changes may be on the way, but we still have a job to do
and people to serve as we continue on ODOT’s “journey to excellence.” Tom Cochrane may have put it best: “through all the cities and all these towns, it’s in our blood and it’s all around...life is a highway.” We’ll keep riding it all night long. Veterans’ Day: November 11
The following employees were awarded for their years of service between July and September 2011: Cortez Browner, Victor Edwards, Gerald Goodgame, Jamie Hall, Reuben Lindsey and Brian Sloan, 10 years; David Nimrichter, Sr. and Scott Turner, 20 years; Melinda Bartizal, Freddy Caraballo, David Karasek, Karen Savage and Donald Ward, 25 years; and Leslie Adams, Ray Bencivengo, Sandra Premura and Brad Stone, 30 years. Congratulations and thank you to these employees for their service.
Thanksgiving Day: November 24
Election Day: November 8
College Jersey Day: November 25
Many, many thanks to the IT department for setting up all the AV needs for the Annual Meeting. We know you spent a lot of time fine tuning everything and it all worked out so well. We could not have done it without you! Also, many thanks to the Facilities crew and the Mechanics who cleaned the entire garage and set up all the chairs and tables.
You did a fantastic job and everything looked wonder-ful! The hard work of everyone involved was much appreciated and contributed to a very successful event.
Jackie Schafer
I travel from the west side through downtown to the east side every day. It’s amazing to see the work (on the new I-90 Innerbelt Bridge) that is being done every day and how you’re able to get it done and still have traffic flow-ing through there. Amazing!
Shawn
Jackie Schafer In order to ensure the safe transport of a superload, several Lake County routes experienced brief closures on Thursday, October 13 for approximately three hours. Crews transported a 521,600 lb. transformer from
Hatch, Inc. in Fairport Harbor, to its final destination at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant. The transformer was ap-
proximately 19 feet tall, 12 feet wide and 190 feet long. Once the load departed from Fairport Harbor, it traveled State Route 535 eastbound to Blase Nemeth Road, to U.S. 20 eastbound to County Road 115 (Center Rd). State Route 535 was closed briefly in both directions while the load was transported. U.S. 20 only experienced closures in the eastbound lanes, utilizing rolling road-blocks. Four Ohio State Highway Patrol Troopers accompanied the load for traffic control purposes. Because of the size and transporting needs, the load moved extremely slow (10 miles per hour or slower at times). Traffic signals at the intersections of U.S. 20 & Lane Road and U.S. 20 & Center Road were temporarily taken down so the load could clear those intersections.
At District 12’s Annual Meeting, Director Jerry Wray challenged Laurie Scarmuzzi to come to work the next day and “AMAZE” her colleagues. She didn’t let him down and her enthusiasm was contagious. Here is the pic-ture District 12 Real Estate folks shared with the Director shortly after his visit. (Front Row) Jimmie Hart, Jessica Shamshoum, Cur-tice Malone, Lavone Cunningham. (Back Row) Scott Raypholtz, Anthony Signorino, Scarmuzzi, Dan Dough-erty, Thom Stanziale.
Communicating with the people of District 12
DISPATCH
Volume XVI, Issue 11 November 2011 October 21, 2011
Page 4 October 21, 2011
The Ohio Department of Transportation is an Equal Opportunity Employer
John R. KasichGovernor
Myron S. PakushDistrict Deputy Director
Jerry WrayODOT Director
www.BuckeyeTraffic.org
ODOT “Suits Up” and Prepares for Winter
A Little Generosity Goes A Long WayJackie Schafer In this economy, if you could turn $1 into $6 – you’d be an investment genius. We’re proud to say some of the folks involved with the I-77 add lane project are not only investment geniuses, they are helping to bring hope to the less fortunate as we head into the holiday season. ODOTers Scott Slack, Jake Bailosky, Rico Banks, Fred Collier, Paul Delbane, Mark Kollin, Linda Nau, Jim Robinson, Erik Zippay and retiree Darlene Schwarzer generously contributed to the 3rd Annual Kokosing Group Food Drive this year. Project members raised $245, which was tripled by the Kokosing Construction Company, then matched to the tune of $1,470 by an anonymous donor with the West Side Catholic Center – the charity the project team chose to receive this year’s donation. “A little went a long way in this endeavor thanks to the individuals associ-ated with the job, the Kokosing corporate office, and others not associated with the project who took part to double the gift,” said ODOT Project Engineer Scott Slack. Members of ODOT’s I-77 construction team have been donating to Kokosing’s Food Drive since its inception. “What a great example of how ODOT and Kokosing went well beyond the call of duty. They should be commended for the work they’re doing and their generosity to help improve the lives of the less fortunate here in our region,” said District Deputy Director Myron Pakush. ODOT and Kokosing officials presented the donation (pictured above) to the West Side Catholic Center September 30. The charity offers hot meals, hospitality, clothing and household goods, emergency services, advocacy, a women and children’s shelter, and a housing solutions program to those in need at no charge, regardless of religious affiliation.
Central Office Staff & Amanda Lee Armed with power tools and wrenches, more than 20 ODOT District 12 mechanics are “suiting up” to inspect, test and fine tune each piece of snow removal equipment to ensure it is
ready for battle this winter season. “Snow and ice removal is one of our core services and is vital to keeping Ohioans safe and our economy running each winter,”
said ODOT Director Jerry Wray. “Our county garages do a great job to make sure our equip-ment is fully operation-al and ready to plow the roads.” Throughout October, ODOT mechanics will perform a 142-point inspection on more than 80 snowplows in District 12, including brakes, lights, fluids and other important safety and mechanical items. “The auto technicians work all year to prepare the equipment for winter,” said Lake County Manager Dave Paponetti. “The equipment receives far more wear and tear during the winter than during the summer. It’s not uncommon for the trucks to run seven to 10 days, 24 hours per day without a break in service during the winter.” Beginning this winter season in conjunc-tion with District 4’s Ashtabula County, the
“Tow Plow” – a multifunctional machine that increases driver productivity, while decreasing snow removal expenses – will be utilized on Interstate 90 in Lake County. The Tow Plow
allows the snow plow driver to clear two lanes of pave-ment at once, reducing road and shoulder clearing time. Besides equipment, another critical element in ODOT’s snow-fighting arsenal is salt. Earlier this year ODOT was able to save nearly $2 million on its annual salt purchase –
or roughly two dollars per ton. The savings were realized thanks to a change in Ohio law which now gives ODOT flexibility to purchase salt from a variety of vendors, making salt bids more competitive. This season, state-wide, ODOT will have more than 3,000 trained drivers ready to clear snow and ice from
nearly 40,000 lane miles of state roadways and bridges. State highways carry ap-proximately two thirds of the state’s daily traffic. The first snow storm usually seems to be the worst because many mo-torists don’t remember the winter driving skills they developed last year. Be-
ing a careful and informed driver is the best way motorists can travel safely. ODOT’s best advice: in Ice and Snow… Take it Slow.
American Red Cross Every minute of every day, someone needs blood. That blood can only come from a volunteer donor -- a person like you who makes the choice to donate. There is no substitute for your donation. When you make a blood donation, you join a very select group. Currently, only three out of every 100 people in America donate blood. From its beginning, the American Red Cross has formed a community of service, generous, strong and decent people bound by beliefs beyond themselves. The American Red Cross blood donor embodies this principle. Please join us in our mission to maintain a safe and stable
blood supply by making your appoint-ment to donate blood today at the ODOT District 12 Blood Drive on November 1, 2011 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please contact Don Barth at 216.584.2027 to schedule your appointment.
November Blood Drive
District 12 is on Facebook & Twitter District 12 has joined the world of social media to keep our employees and customers up-to-date on the happenings not only in District 12, but around the state. We invite you to “like” us on Facebook at www.Facebook.
com/District 12 Cleveland and follow us on Twitter @ODOT_Cleveland for the latest construction and traffic reports and ODOT news!
Scott Slack, West Side Catholic Cen-ter Representative Jennifer Highfield, Kokosing Superintendent Brad Mast.
