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By Dave Lloyd Timely Comment from the District's Executive Director The last few weeks we’ve been working on putting together the agenda for our annual Update on Developments in Stormwater and Floodplain Management seminar to be held this coming February 26. Approximately 250 people attended the seminar this past year and every indication is that we will have similar attendance this coming year. I was reminded of a presentation that was made at this year’s conference by Ed Thomas, Esq., of Michael Baker Jr., Inc. Ed spoke to the attendees about the Legal Basis for Regulation of Floodplains and Natural Hazard Zones. In his presentation, he spoke about the responsibility of government and specifically local government. I would like to have Ed give the same presentation at the Colorado Municipal League annual conference this coming year as I felt that he was mainly preaching to the choir at our seminar and his talk would be more appropriate for locally elected officials, city managers, city attorneys, etc. Ed was emphatic about the responsibility of local government in the area of public safety, specifically as it relates to the management of the nation’s floodplains. I think most local governments take this responsibility seriously unless it stands in the way of generating sales tax revenue. With that said, I would hope that everyone in the field of stormwater and floodplain management would do everything they can to get the word out to their locally elected officials and managers that there is more to good governance than just getting a bigger piece of the sales tax revenue pie. Organizational and Staff Changes Galene Bushor, Senior Administrative Assistant, has worked for the District for almost 27 years. Over the last few years, Galene has worked tirelessly in developing and implementing the District’s Records Management Plan. We’re going to miss her a great deal here at the District. Galene has always been that “go to” person when you wanted something done with accuracy and completeness. Not to mention the fact that she has had the unofficial title of “Office Mom” for several years. Ben Urbonas, Manager of Master Planning, has also decided to retire early next year after 31 years with the District. Ben will leave a tremendous void as we’ve come to rely upon his technical expertise in the area of drainage and flood control a great deal. Besides his responsibilities in the area of drainage master planning, Ben has been instrumental in keeping our Criteria Manual up to date as technology changes over time. Ben was also primarily responsible for the development of our Volume 3, Best Management Practices Manual, one which has gained worldwide acceptance. Ben has been very active with the Water Environment Research Foundation and the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies and I know they will miss his input and hard work on their behalf.
We wish both Galene and Ben the very best in their new adventures. We know that they’ll both be forever busy with hopefully things more enjoyable to them. Taking Galene’s place will be Patti Jefferson who comes to us with tremendous experience in the area of records management. We welcome Patti to the team. We hope to fill Ben’s position internally by mid-February. |
Lloyd's Look
