Management Operations and Maintenance Fundamentals

Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 9:00 am–3:00 pm
 Virtual
Maintenance workers pouring concrete on a roadside

About the Workshop

This course relates to the delivery of maintenance and operations services to the public, commonly known as public works. It will identify the equipment and personnel resources needed for efficient and effective service delivery. Discussions will include what to consider when deciding to either purchase or lease equipment, in-house vs. contracting out work functions, emergency preparedness planning, and environmental responsibilities.

Registration

Please let us know how we can ensure that this workshop is inclusive to you. What accommodations or access needs can we help facilitate? Contact Samantha Hahn-Douville when you register to help us provide you with the best access.

Topics Covered

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Topics Covered

Operations overview

  • Organizational structure
  • Mission/vision statements
  • Ethics in public works

Capital Improvement Programs/funding/approval process

  • Typical useful life of infrastructure (depreciation of assets)
  • Identifying potential funding sources and creating project cost estimates and budgets
  • CIP and project approval process
  • Coordinating with other departments and agencies
  • Equipment acquisition and considerations

Emergency preparedness

  • Emergency management operations
  • Priority planning
  • FEMA/damage assessment
  • Organizational roles between local-state-federal agencies
  • Media and crisis management

Environmental responsibilities

  • Citizen lawsuits
  • Clean Water Act
  • MS4 & SWPPP requirements
  • Dealing with contaminated sites & soils

Who Should Attend

Individuals who are interested in becoming a supervisor, newly promoted supervisors, or supervisors wishing to enhance their leadership skills, communication, and effectiveness.

Course Instructors

Jon Haukaas is the director of public services for the City of Waconia. He previously served as director of municipal service for SRF Consulting Group, the director of public works for the cities of Blaine and Fridley, Superior, Colorado, and as deputy director of utilities for Fort Collins, Colorado for a total of nearly three decades of experience in municipal public works. He holds a bachelor of science in civil engineering from the University of Minnesota and a master of business administration from Colorado State University. Past teaching experience includes graduate student teaching assistant at the University of Minnesota in a master’s program and guest lecturer in the Colorado State University civil engineering department. He is an active member in the Minnesota Chapter of the American Public Works Association and American Water Works Association.

Dan Ruiz started working for Brooklyn Park in 2002 as the support services and recycling division manager. He was known as “Dan the Recycling Man” until he was appointed public works director in 2014. Ruiz has a BS degree in earth science and BES in geography from St. Cloud State University and completed graduate work in geohydrology at Illinois State University. He is active in the Minnesota Chapter of the American Public Works Association and serves on the Environment and Sustainability Committee. He is also a die-hard Vikings fan, which has helped him deal effectively with disappointment every year.

Will Manchester is the director of public works at the City of Minnetonka and a licensed professional civil engineer with experience in a variety of municipal, development, and transportation projects in both the public and private sectors. His expertise includes the planning, design, and coordination of public improvement and transportation projects from start to finish. He manages all project aspects ranging from communication, budget, easement acquisition, agency regulation, approvals, and construction administration. His day-to-day responsibilities cover a wide range of activities with municipal engineering, municipal public works and infrastructure, state highway project coordination, and county project improvements.

Virtual Workshop Access

The software we will use for this event is Zoom. We recommend that all registrants test their connection prior to the workshop using Zoom’s test meeting. Additionally, if you are new to Zoom, we recommend viewing this Zoom for Students tutorial.   

Credit

Sponsors

This workshop is presented by Minnesota LTAP at the Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota. Minnesota LTAP is sponsored by the Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). This course is subsidized through funding from LRRB and FHWA.