.Raleigh Water Employee August 2024 newsletter

Sunflower Field at Dix Park

• The creation of the 5 - acre sunflower field at Dix Park is a City of Raleigh partnership between Raleigh Water and Raleigh Parks. • Raleigh Water preps the field in spring and plants the sunflower seeds in May.

• The sunflower field serves as a massive pollinator habitat for bees, butterflies and other wildlife.

• During peak bloom, more than 100,000 people from across the City and around the region visit the sunflowers at Dix Park.

• After the bloom is over, the sunflowers are left for birds and other wildlife to eat the seeds throughout the fall.

• In the fall, Raleigh Water clears the field and plants a winter cover crop.

(Picture copyright from: https://dixpark.org/sunflowers)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome Our New Communications Manager ……..……………………….. pg. 3 Budget 101 Pilot Class ……………………………………………………………………. pg. 4 New Employee Orientation ……………………...…..…………...………..……..... pg. 5 This is What We Do ………….................................................................. pg. 6 RW NC Currents Member Portrait ….……………….……………….………..... pg. 7 - 8 Amazing Artwork on Sewers …………………………………………………………... pg. 9 Employee Kudos ………………………………………………………………………….... pg. 10 Employee Corner ………………………………………………………………………...… pg. 11 PAWS for Life NC...... ……………………………..………………..…………..………... pg. 12 THANK YOU so much to everyone who contributed items to the employee newsletter, including Jake Barnhart, Zack Carscaddon, Susan Decker, Nolan Fry, Jonathan Ham, Kimberly Holmes - Iverson, Meriam Manuel, Haley Page, Michael Rogers, James Sleeper, Donald Smithson, and Nicholas Whitley If you have any items of interest that you would like to submit for the employee newsletter, please contact sarah.weisenburn@raleighnc.gov

What Happens When You Flush? A Deep Dive into Raleigh's Innovative Water System

Contributed by: Kimberly Holmes - Iverson

Join us for a fun and fact - filled episode of " Big Ideas Raleigh ”, the City of Raleigh ’ s own informative and engaging podcast series. Discover the secrets behind Raleigh's award - winning water quality, learn how our water system acts as the lifeblood of the city, and explore the innovative projects turning bioenergy and bio waste into valuable resources. Find out how Raleigh keeps up with the growing demand for water services and extends its reach to serve many communities beyond our city limits. The host, Dan Bagley, is joined by Ed Buchan, Assistant Director in Raleigh Water with the City of Raleigh. Their conversation, recorded at the Dempsey E. Benton Water Treatment Plant, will change the way you think about every drop and leave you with a newfound appreciation for the incredible work happening behind the scenes!

Tune in for an enlightening discussion that will leave you with a deeper appreciation for the essential role of water management in our city! Visit here for the link: https://pod.link/1750891356. Big Ideas Raleigh is powered by the City of Raleigh Communications and Strategy and Innovation Departments, hosted by Dan Bagley, and produced by Dr. Sarah Glova and Earfluence.

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Kimberly Holmes - Iverson, a seasoned storyteller and strategist, is dedicated to engaging the community and fostering strong relationships through impactful communication strategies. With a focus on innovation and community engagement, she is committed to enhancing digital engagement, forging stronger media partnerships, and ensuring all voices in our community are heard and represented in City messaging and outreach. Bringing a wealth of expertise as an accomplished, award - winning journalist and public relations executive, Kimberly is open to collaboration and listening. Her leadership is poised to drive positive change and enhance community impact in Raleigh. Kimberly's unique perspective shapes her dedication to building trust and transparency in all endeavors.

A proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a dedicated community volunteer and mentor, Kimberly teaches a course at North Carolina State University and holds degrees from Duke University and Columbia University ’ s Graduate School of Journalism.

Let's work together to build a brighter future for Raleigh's Public Utilities through effective communication and community engagement! Share your ideas with Kimberly by emailing: Kimberly.holmes - iverson@raleighnc.gov.

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Contributed by: Haley Page

Budget 101 Pilot Class The Finance team held a pilot class to give participants an opportunity to learn the magic behind Raleigh Water ’ s budget. They pulled back the curtain on topics like building the operating and capital budget, our financial rate model, managing our day - to - day operating budget, how the business plan feeds into the budget, and the political pressures we face when building our budget. To learn more about strategy and resource distribution, everyone collaborated at their table to try to make the largest spaghetti tower. Congrats to Olivia Joyner, Susy Spencer, Patricia Creech, and Sophie Helewski for winning with a 27 - inch tower (pictured on left)!

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Raleigh Water Welcomes New Employees!

Performance and Quality Assurance always has fun with New Employees creating paper chains while teaching everyone about the Plan, Do, Check, Act continuous improvement framework! Congratulations to all our winners for making the longest chain!

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Contributed by: Ezra Croft

This photo showcases just one of the many things our Raleigh Water staff does in performing critical work on a daily basis to keep our systems working efficiently and the community and public safe. Michael Carpenter and the sewer repair crew team responded to a sinkhole emergency call up on Chestnut Ave in Wake Forest. The sinkhole was possibly caused by water loosening the aggregate and this particular sinkhole was right next to one of the sewer manholes and a water line running next to a stakeholder ’ s service. The sinkhole also was a driving hazard so the team set up traffic control, and once all of the utilities were located, they fixed the problem by the morning without incident while everyone in the neighborhood slept peacefully. The repair crew and locators are truly the A - Team of the utility world!

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Contributed by: Jonathan Ham

Article retrieved from: Lewis, R. (2024, Summer) Navigating the Waters of Public Service. NC Currents, pg. 17 - 18. https://www.kelmanonline.com/httpdocs/ files/NC_AWWA_WEA/nccurrentssummer2024/ index.html.

NC Currents is produced by the Communications Committee, and is the official publication of NC One Water.

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Contributed by: Michael Rogers

This artwork was part of the Public Art on Greenway Sewer Risers project. This is a collaboration between the Arts, Educations, & Collections Committee, the City of Raleigh Arts Commission, and Raleigh Water to add public art to sewer risers to help beatify and add interest to local landscape areas. The attached photos were related to a project sent to the sewer maintenance division that required assistance in confirming that the manholes were safe for the artists and others to work around, and inspections were conducted to ensure the artists ’ safety. Below are before and after photos of painted sewer risers/manholes along the greenway around Shelly Lake in Raleigh.

Art request from: Stacy Bloom Rexrode ( she, her ) Curator of Exhibitions and Collections ght in front: NCDEQ Secretary Elizabeth Biser, Congresswoman Deborah Ros, Ed

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Kudos acknowledgement provided by: Meriam Manuel

Kudos acknowledgement provided by: James Sleeper and Donald Smithson

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Contributed By: Zack Carscasddon

The Code Enforcement team held Robin Herring ’ s retirement party on Wednesday, July 31st at Lake Woodard. Many people came and enjoyed the food and festivities, especially joking about all that ’ s gone on over her 8 years of service. Robin will be back part time to train her replacement but says she ’ ll be enjoying the beach, pool, and family more in her retirement. And especially being able to spend more time with her two Shih Tzu dogs, Charley and Cooper!

Contributed by: Susan Decker

One of the many activities EET supports throughout the year is Quarterly Birthday celebrations for everyone in CC&B. This time we celebrated 5 in July, 3 in August, and 5 in September. It is fun to see who you may share a birthday month or day with and/or who on your team is really close to your birthday, etc. This time we didn ’ t have anyone on the exact same day, but sometimes it does happen! We hope everyone else in RW enjoys their birthday as well as their NEW birthday LEAVE!!

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Contributed by: Susan Decker

As many of you know, I spend a lot of my away from work time volunteering and advocating for homeless pets in our communities. I ’ d like to invite you to join Paws For Life NC on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 th , 2024 in downtown Wake Forest for our largest fundraiser of the year. Please SAVE the date for our 22 nd Annual 5k, 1 - Mile Dog Walk, and Dog Costume Contest (you do NOT need to have a pet or bring a pet to join us!!) Do you love animals? Do you love a great Fall Day for a walk, a run, or getting out with the family? Then come out and support us; so we can rescue animals from local high - kill shelters and provide much - needed emergency medical care, surgeries, vaccinations, spays & neuters, micro - chipping, food, supplies, and lots of TLC! We do all of this as a 100% volunteer run foster program with no local or national funding support!

Event Schedule

8:45 AM: Race Day Registration 10:00 AM: 5K Race 10:15 AM: 1 - Mile Dog Walk Starts Followed by Award Ceremony & “ Famous ” Dog Costume Parade

Check out event details: 22nd Annual Paws for Life 5K | Paws for Life NC

Hope to see you there!!!

* Reminder that permanent City employees are given 16 hours each year of paid service to others (volunteer) leave - for more information, please reference the Policy 300 - 9A: Leave Policy.

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