PCiRoads uses custom equipment for Minneapolis stormwater project
Minneapolis features a busy and lively downtown area that’s home to nearly 57,000 residents along with 216,000 employees each week, per mplsdowntown.com. The city has consistently topped more than $1 billion in new construction permits over the past 11 years … More from our cover sponsor →
Top Ten Smartest US Cities
The brain training program Luminosity recently conducted an extensive study to determine the smartest cities in the nation. The study found many of the top cities and towns on the list play host to prominent colleges and universities. Ithaca is … Continue reading →
WIU: Developing fire service leaders through a Bachelor of Science degree
By SCOTT WALKER | Instructor, Western Illinois University Through your years of firefighting experience and training, you have become an accomplished fire officer. You’ve earned the respect of your crew and your fellow officers, and you have participated in hundreds … Continue reading →
Minneapolis hosts fleet management
Minneapolis, Minn., Convention Center served as the hub for the largest gathering of fleet managers this year: the NAFA 2014 institute and expo. From April 8–11, they came together to discuss creative ways to reduce municipal fleet spending and distracted … Continue reading →
‘The Magic of Trenchless’
In the battle to extend the viable lifespan of aged water and sewer lines, trenchless technology is gaining ground. At the largest trenchless technology conference in the region, the North American Society for Trenchless Technology’s 2014 No-Dig Show, exhibitors debuted … Continue reading →
Big rigs: the Mid-America Trucking Show
A stadium full of the latest products and services for heavy-duty trucks is reason enough to not miss the annual Mid-America Trucking Show. This year, the cool factor didn’t hurt either. Optimus Prime, a semi-trailer-slash-giant-robot from the popular “Transformers” silver … Continue reading →
Future City Competition
This February found some of the nation’s top middle school students in Washington, D.C., competing at the annual DiscoverE Initiative, the Future City Competition. DiscoverE, a self-described “consortium of professional and technical societies and major U.S. corporations,” chose “Tomorrow’s Transit: … Continue reading →
Driving in Flood Conditions
With so many storms occurring in recent days, particularly in the Midwest and South, now is a good time to review precautions your drivers can take if they ever find themselves driving in an area threatened by flooding. According to … Continue reading →
Port Royal, S.C., relishes its diversity
Founded in 1562, Port Royal, S.C., is believed by some scholars to be the origin of European settlement in the New World. The Spanish first landed in the area around 1514. While the town does not have a continual settlement … Continue reading →
Encouraging economic development: Improve PR and communication
By TROY KIDDER | Kidder and Co. Inc. One definition of a municipality is “a center for the exchanging of goods and services.” In other words, it’s people and money. Chances are you’re already doing a great job serving the … Continue reading →
Pooling resources, reaping benefits
After 20 years the Louisiana Asset Management Pool continues to go strong, with 636 local Louisiana governmental units participating in the program and pooling a total of $1.6 billion in local government funds. Of those participants, 96 are cities, towns … Continue reading →
Citizen-repaired streets
If you had been out in the dead of night in Jackson, Miss., a few months ago, you might have run across Ron Chane’s work. The local resident patched just over 100 of the many potholes that dotted the city’s … Continue reading →
Top five reasons to install an LED-enhanced inroad warning light crosswalk
By DALE STEWART | ITEM Ltd. SAFETY: This reason might seem a bit obvious, but don’t discount the profound and dramatic effect a pedestrian-activated, LEDenhanced in-road warning light crosswalk has on the visibility of a crosswalk — both day and … Continue reading →
Hidden drivers of budgetary expenditures
Personnel costs typically make up the largest expenditure of any municipal budget and regardless of our budgeting philosophy, our approach to these costs as managers and budget directors is often formulaic. We project the personnel hours needed to fulfill our … Continue reading →
Still trending: user fees
States are relying on user fees more than ever: In fiscal year 2011, user fees provided an average of 17.1 percent of revenues raised directly by states. In 1992, that figure was only 5 percent, according to the National Conference … Continue reading →
Flag Day is nationally recognized June 14, 2014
Flag Day is nationally recognized and celebrated on June 14, the day that the Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted a resolution that gave the new Republic its first emblem, the flag of the United States of America. What does the … Continue reading →
Time to come together
Is anyone not tired of the same unanswered questions about municipal finance? We’re all far past the “doing more with less” mantra, which has gone the way of the 100-year-old sewer system and the comfortable pension plan. In 2014 we’re … Continue reading →
Executive suite
This issue of The Municipal magazine broaches some of the issues that occupy the waking hours of municipal administrators, both elected and appointed. Those include general management, the purchase of a major piece of maintenance equipment and, perhaps most interestingly, … Continue reading →
