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WEEKLY BRIEFS - City of Arvada internal news April 15, 2024 Top News Join Us for State of the City Join the Arvada Chamber in partnership with the City of Arvada for the annual State of the City presented by Mayor Simpson, who will address the successes from 2023 and the issues facing the City of Arvada ahead. The event will begin at 8am on Friday, April 19, at Revive Church at The Bridge (8270 W. 80th Ave.). Admission is $10, which includes coffee and tea. Contact Samantha Geerdes [PHONE REDACTED] or visit The Chamber website for more information. April 8 City Hall Facility Closure: Recording on your timecard - April 6 through April 19: On Monday, April 8, City Hall was closed from 8 to 10 a.m. due to a power outage. If you were impacted by that closure and are unsure how to record your time, please use the following guidelines in accordance with Facility Closure and Emergency Communications Procedure 5100.08 Facility Closure. Episode 2 of Inside Arvada podcast is out now! The second episode of the City’s new podcast, Inside Arvada, is available now. In this episode, Co-hosts Katie Patterson and Sean Star talk with Majestic View Nature Center Director Anna Hoover. Anna talks about Saturday’s Earth Day celebration, programming at the Nature Center, upcoming projects, and much more. You can listen wherever you get podcasts by searching for “Inside Arvada” or visit our web page ArvadaCO.gov/Podcast. Thanks for listening! Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- Volunteer Appreciation Committee looking for help at April 27 event The Volunteer Appreciation Committee is looking for up to five City team members to help out at their event on Saturday, April 27. This event is a celebration of all City-affiliated volunteer groups and will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Majestic View Nature Center. Additional support is needed to set up and manage logistics during the event. Interested team members should check with their supervisor to ensure they are able to work outside of their typical schedule and log time accordingly on their timecard. If you are interested in supporting this event, please email Brady Porterfield-Finn, Neighborhood Engagement Coordinator, at [EMAIL REDACTED] OSE Work System Learn about Accessibility with the State of Colorado Learn about complying with the Technology Accessibility Statutes and Rules during an online session presented by the State of Colorado Office of Information Technology (OIT) on Friday, May 10, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. via Zoom. The session is open to all, targeted for local government and special districts. Register on Zoom. For those who cannot attend, the recording will be available after the live session. Total Rewards Survey - Coming soon (April 23 - May 7) The City will be conducting a Total Rewards survey to collect employee feedback on our current Total Rewards and see what you would like us to explore in the future. Total Rewards means all the things an employee receives in exchange for working for the City of Arvada. It includes pay, benefits, health and wellness, retirement, work /life balance, professional and career advancement, and even the overall experience of working as an employee of the City of Arvada. Look for the survey to be delivered to you via email from Annie Swan: Coming soon! A representative from the Zoom phone department will contact you soon to validate your extension and guide you through the selection of a phone and headset. Now available! We have created informational pages on Inside Arvada to help you understand more about Zoom phones and to keep you updated about the project's progress. View the zoom phone webpages to learn: ● The Why, What, Who, and When of Zoom phones ● Call flow options ● Your department's point of contact ● FAQs including: ○ How to decide whether to keep a desk phone or just use the Zoom desktop application. ○ Headsets ○ Phone Features Questions? Email or call your department point of contact (locate yours on the Zoom Inside Arvada Page). – Carlos Vulgamott, Project Manager Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- Register in advance on the Arvada University Learning Calendar. Contact Liza Nolder ([EMAIL REDACTED]) with questions. Session/topic Date Registration details Type of Training Host OSHA 10 Hour Training April 23, 24 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Register on Inside Arvada In Person Indiana Shops Conference Room Dale Robinson, HR Safety Consulting Inclusion and Belonging in the Workplace April 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Register on Inside Arvada Virtual Employment Matters Radical Collaboration April 30, May 1 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Register on Inside Arvada In Person Whisper Creek Community Room Noelle Oberg Historical race-based property covenants in Jefferson County, Colorado May 1 from 9 to 10:00 a.m. Register on Inside Arvada In Person Anne Campbell Chris Thiry, Colorado School of Mines Register for the first Well Being Cohort! Limited spots available! The Wellness Committee and ArvadaU are offering a Well Being pilot learning program. The program is designed around Gallup's Workplace Assessment (creators of which includes Career, Social, Financial, Physical and Community Well Being. While 66% of people are doing well in at least one of these areas, just 7% are thriving in all five. If we're struggling in any of these domains, as most of us are, it damages our well being and wears on our daily lives and our work. When we strengthen our well being in any of these areas, we will have better days, months and decades. Details: register here ● Starts Wednesday, April 24, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for five sessions every other week. Ends June 19. ● External facilitator, five wellness punches given at the completion of the program, lunch included. ● Participant materials are the Well Being book; pre-work includes finishing your self-assessment. This program is available for employees who have been with the City for at least six months and have not been on a performance improvement plan. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- View City of Arvada job postings All City of Arvada job opportunities are posted on our job link. Employee status changes We invite you to view this spreadsheet to see employee status changes. Employees may demonstrate interest in similar job opportunities in the future by contacting Human Resources at [EMAIL REDACTED] or [PHONE REDACTED], or your supervisor, to obtain additional information. Introducing Zach Woolweaver: City Attorney’s Office Hi all, I am so excited to have joined the City of Arvada! I am an attorney with about three years of experience. I spent the last two years as in-house legal counsel to Community Banks of Colorado and its affiliates, and before that I worked in North Carolina as a hearing officer for Wake County (seated in Raleigh, NC). I have just joined the prosecution team of the City Attorney’s Office and I am thrilled to get back into the courtroom. To briefly introduce myself, I went to college at UCCS in Colorado Springs and then law school at Penn State. I am a huge sports fan, particularly of Penn State Football and the Colorado Mammoth. I like to cook, bake, and grill and will definitely be bringing in the occasional snack if you are ever interested. In terms of hobbies, I love games whether they be video games, card games, board games, or any other kind you can think of, my favorite movie is The Princess Bride and I like going paddle-boarding out at Standley Lake! I look forward to getting to know all of you! - Zach Employee Committee Corner Thursday, April 25, is Take Your Child to Work Day! If you are bringing your child to work on Thursday, April 25: Complete and return this waiver to the Risk & Safety Management office before April 20. Please email the signed form to Alison Lantzy [EMAIL REDACTED]. View the full itinerary. Please note that the event at Majestic View Nature Center is full, but you can still drop by between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. for self-guided exploration of the exhibits (but no program). About the Employee Committee Employee Committee representatives meet in order to plan and coordinate events as well as collect departmental updates to bring back to their respective teams. Check out the links below to see who your representative is, view the upcoming list of potential City events and browse Employee Committee meeting minutes: ● 2024 Find My Rep! ● 2024 Events Schedule* - 2024 all-city events are scheduled! *Please note: this is a working document and all events are subject to change. ● Meeting Minutes - March Please contact your Employee Committee at [EMAIL REDACTED] if you have questions. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- Public Safety Work System 31st Annual Courage Walk Join us on Saturday, April 27, at 10 a.m. to honor crime victims and those who assist them in their time of need. The walk will take place at the Jefferson County Court located at 100 Jefferson County Pkwy. in Golden. Chief Brady will be the keynote speaker at this year’s walk, and we will be commemorating the installation of a memorial bench dedicated to the lives of Arvada PD’s four fallen officers. Learn more and pre-register online. Fallen Officers Memorial Service Arvada’s annual memorial service for Fallen Officers will be held on Monday, May 6, beginning at 9 a.m. The ceremony will take place on the east side of the main police entrance (59th and Ammons Street.). All City teams are invited. Infrastructure Work System W. 72nd Avenue road closure April 20 - 21 Railroad work is scheduled Saturday morning, April 20 to Sunday evening, April 21 near the intersection with W 72nd Ave. W 72nd Ave will be closed at the railroad intersection for the duration of the work. This work is separate from the City's road widening project. Train horns may sound during this work. All work is weather dependent. Alternate routes are advised. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- April 10 community meeting information Last week the project team hosted a community open house to share information in the pause in work on the W 72nd Avenue widening project. Nearly 80 people came to receive updates on the project. Thank you to the team members who supported this important meeting and project! A recording of the information shared at the meeting is available on the project page and on the City’s YouTube. Olde Town Hub top level closure scheduled to begin April 17 The Olde Town Hub parking garage is scheduled to close the top level (4th floor) beginning April 17 until approximately June 30. The exposed deck sees significant weather and traffic exposure that requires additional maintenance. The City team is working with the Olde Town Business Improvement District (BID) and other partners to encourage community members to utilize the G Line when visiting Olde Town for larger events during the closure. Parking information is available on the City’s Olde Town Parking webpage. Alkire Lift Station ribbon cutting On Monday, City team members were joined by City Council to celebrate the “re-opening” of the Alkire Lift Station with a ribbon cutting (and some poo emoji cookies!). Prior to the improvements at the lift station, the operations team was there several times a week to unclog the system and keep the station working. This project provides resiliency and increased capacity to continue to serve much of the northwest section of the city. The project was funded in partnership with Jefferson County Metro District (JCMD) as growth from their development was a key factor in the capacity needs. Shared funding ensures developers are paying their fair share of City related utility projects. What’s a lift station? A lift station helps to pump wastewater to its final destination in areas where gravity can’t do all of the work. The City partners with Metro Water Recovery to treat all of our wastewater. Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- Vibrant Community and Neighborhoods Work System Sign up to receive updates on the City’s Climate Action Plan The City’s Sustainability Division recently launched the development of Arvada’s Climate Action and Sustainability Plan (CASP)! The CASP will be a community-wide strategic framework aimed at balancing the City’s environmental, economic, social, and resiliency interests, and will guide the Arvada community in reducing its carbon footprint. Want to know the latest on the project? Subscribe to the City of Arvada Sustainability notification list to stay informed about all things Arvada sustainability, including the Climate Action and Sustainability Plan. If you would like to get involved in the Climate Action Plan, please contact the City’s Senior Sustainability Coordinator, Nalini Margaitis. Majestic View Nature Center - Celebrate Earth Day, Saturday, April 20! This Saturday, April 20, we are celebrating Earth Day - a day to raise awareness of environmental conservation and sustainability, inspire change, and foster a deeper connection with nature. We invite you to join us at the Nature Center from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. for family-friendly activities, booths from local partners, and more! Participants who walk or bike to the event will receive an extra ticket for the rain barrel giveaway. Vist the Majestic View Nature Center website for more information. Annual Kite Festival a huge success Thanks to everyone who helped make the annual Arvada Kite Festival such a huge success this past Saturday at Stenger Sports Complex! This event continues to be one of our community’s greatest traditions! This year’s Kite Fest featured more than 100 vendors, had 344 pounds of waste diverted to compost and a record 240 bikes stashed at Bike Friendly Arvada’s bike valet. John Sharp (pictured right), who founded the Kite Festival in 2003, attended the event and stopped by the Festivals Commission tent to say hi! Email your news to ---PAGE BREAK--- High Tea for Seniors coming up on Saturday, May 4 The time is now to RSVP for the Arvada Festivals Commission’s next event, High Tea for Seniors! The event takes place from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Apex Community Center on Saturday, May 4 and includes a three-course afternoon dining experience plus hot tea throughout the afternoon. High Tea for Seniors is for seniors 90 years and older, and each senior is allowed one guest. If you or someone you know would like to attend, please RSVP to Adelle Burton at [EMAIL REDACTED]. Email your news to