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Welcome back to County Conversations, a podcast
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program by the county to help build community
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trust with the public and expand opportunities
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for them to learn more about the county, our
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operations, and just better access to information.
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This is episode four of County Conversations,
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and we have Greg Caldwell, our Public Works Director,
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returning. Greg, thanks so much for joining us
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yet again. Looking forward to it. This is great.
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I appreciate the opportunity. Our first three
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episodes dealt with infrastructure. This episode
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is also going to deal with infrastructure. We've
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talked about roads, stormwater management, the
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building of parks. Folks may not understand that
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our infrastructure project and particularly the
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role of public works also deals with other types
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of projects. Share with our audience what some
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of those other projects might be that Public
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Works spearheads. So we're able to work, I think
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St. John's County in general is focused on improving
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the overall infrastructure and that includes
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a lot of facilities. Public safety is a key component
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of doing those improvements and we've been able
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to work with Fire Services, the Sheriff's Office
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to try to understand their current situation.
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what they need to continue to provide the level
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of service the St. John's County and the Board
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of County Commissioners and County Administration
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has really supported those efforts to advance
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and get public safety up to where they feel St.
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John's County needs to be. Yes, the St. John's
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County Board of County Commissioners approved
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a plan to not only build new fire stations strategically
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throughout the community to improve response
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time, but also renovations of some older stations.
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Absolutely. So we're working on two renovations
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of existing fire stations. We want to make sure
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that we're still taking care of our existing
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fire stations and making sure they're providing
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the needs of the the fire services people to
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make sure they're able to operate efficiently.
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But one of the key things is the new model that
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we're building the new fire stations. We are
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co -locating the sheriff's office and fire services
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in one building. We're able to do that with trying
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to reduce our cost of the construction of a building
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as well as You know, have a hand in hand. These
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are public safety officers that work together
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all the time. Chief McGee and Sheriff Hardwick,
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they get along very well. They're great partners
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to one another. So they support this effort and
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it's been a great model that we've been able
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to introduce in the St. John's County and it's
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working very well. With these public facilities
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in this budget year alone, Greg, you've got 18
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projects valued at 99 million dollars. We talked
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about the fire stations. Another hidden type
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of project that folks may not know that Public
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Works helps spearhead is the construction of
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libraries. Talk to us about that. The library
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system is somebody, you know, Deborah Rhodes
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Gibson is a great proponent other libraries.
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Obviously she's the director of it and she is
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trying to take that to the next level. She's
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been able to work with Parks and Rec to introduce
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a couple new libraries into their regional parks
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as well as a brand new standalone library up
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in the northeast part of St. John's County. And
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lastly but not least is the community center
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down in Hastings that is nearing completion and
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that is going to be a brand new community center
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with a major library hub inside of it that's
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going to provide so much to that area. Well,
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it's amazing to see the quality of life projects
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that Public Works helps lead. We talked about
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the libraries just a moment ago, and in a previous
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episode we talked about the parks. There are
Load full transcript
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some other public facilities that folks may not
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know that Public Works helps build, such things
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as storage facilities and other administrative
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type facilities that are important to government
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operations. So we're able to sit down with a
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lot of end users. in public works and in St.
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John's County. We all talk every constantly.
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I won't say every day, but we talk a lot. We're
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able to share what improvements are necessary.
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What does it take to provide services to the
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public of St. John's County? And we're able to
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share them with the border county commissioners
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as well as county administration to see if their
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funds are available either through grant opportunities,
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current funding sources or other means and methods.
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And to date, the Board of County Commissioners
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and County Administration you can't ask enough
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of because they are supportive of continuously
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improving the service level to St. John's County
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residents. It's important to note and it's important
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for our public to know not only are we good stewards
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with taxpayer money and grant money and other
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sources of revenue for these projects but we're
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also innovative. And that came to light when
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the Northeast Florida Regional Council presented
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the county with an award for one of the projects
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that Public Works helps lead. This was one of
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those things that the team did an amazing job.
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They worked with the sheriff's team to work on
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a tactical training facility. This is going to
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be a building. This is a building because it
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is complete that the sheriff's office is going
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to use to be able to train to just in case, and
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hopefully it never happens, but if there's a
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school shooting, if there's a shooting at a movie
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or at a church, they are going to be able to
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be trained at this facility to be able to respond
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accordingly. And it's one of those things I'm
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very proud of,
but I thought it would never work
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on something like this. And early in the stages,
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I asked the sheriff to come in and speak to our
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staff about what they're doing and to hear how
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he felt about this, his passion for this building
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and what it was going to do for the citizens
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of St. John's County, continuously trying to
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improve the public safety area. And one of the
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I heard this morning it brings true is. You have
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good schools, that makes a good community. If
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you have a great public safety policy and a team
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out there, it also creates a great community.
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So those are two areas that we're very blessed
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in St. John's County to have. Yeah, the 15 ,000
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square foot training facility that Public Works
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helped build has everything from a driving track
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to elevated tactical operation training, just
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very detailed for the Sheriff's Office and also
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other public agencies to come in and learn tactics.
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Absolutely. This is going to be open to the regional
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area to make sure we're training our staff. And
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that's what it takes for people to be able to
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respond. the way they do. I do believe that Sheriff
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Hardwick is the best sheriff in the state, if
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not the nation, and he's focused on these improvements.
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And that's why we are where we are in our public
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safety. We've talked a lot about infrastructure,
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the CIP as it's known, in this episode, in the
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previous three episodes. We've talked about public
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works, but you've mentioned other departments
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here and there, and I want to give you a couple
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of minutes to do a deep dive on an internal working
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group that's called the Infrastructure Delivery
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Team, because I know you're a huge champion and
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advocate for partnerships and teamwork. Talk
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to us a little bit about what this Infrastructure
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Delivery Team is and what its purpose is. I think
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the purpose really is to break down walls. It's
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to make sure that we're all working
in the same
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pathway. Everybody understands where the placement
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of a current project is and what's the goal of
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it and how to deliver that in the best fashion.
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This is our purchasing department from our facilities,
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public works, parks and rec, land management.
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There are so many different people. Our office
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of management and budget. county administration
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is leading the charge on this. So for us to be
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able to sit down and try to look at projects,
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understand obstacles, figure out ways to get
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over those obstacles and complete the project
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in the best way, the quickest way, as well as
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the most financially responsible way has been
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one of the critical things that we're working
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on. And that leads to innovation. Innovation
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in St. John's County is amazing and we always
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look for opportunities to deliver a project in
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the best way we can for St. John's County. Speed
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is always a good thing. We try to get things
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completed as best we can, but we are looking
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at the financial component as well. Not only
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internal county departments, but you've got some
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partnerships outside the county administration
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in terms of the school district and the sheriff's
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office who have a seat at that table. They do
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and they bring their expertise into that. For
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us to have these conversations open and honest,
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it's a safe room, so anybody can bring up any
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idea and figure out a better way to provide a
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service. But having the school board there is
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amazing. Just to introduce them into the inner
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circle of St. John's County, it has totally opened
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up so many doors, so many relationships, so many
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calls that have led to the Courtney Vista Drive
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agreements that allow us the shared cost of major
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roadway improvements. And the comfort level that
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people have in this meeting, which happens every
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other week. So we're always talking about projects
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from roadways
to facilities to drainage systems
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to anything and everything to make sure that
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we're working for St. John's County and providing
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the best service possible. I got to imagine having
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a regular rhythm and rapport with your peers
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and other county departments and outside agencies
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helps public works pivot and adapt when needed
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on these projects. St. John's County, there's
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a lot going on. Everybody is extremely busy right
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now. So to make sure that we have face time with
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all these directors, county administration every
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other week is essential for us to continue on
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to push these projects forward. If we have to
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pivot, if we have to make some changes, if there's
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something that has come up along the way that
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we need to a challenge that comes up in the project,
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we can work through that. We can work through
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it if it's a land management issue, if it's a
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purchasing, if it's procurement, if it's a contract
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issue. We're able to talk it through, communicate
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that back and forth, and then come up with the
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best solution. In describing what the infrastructure
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delivery team is, you used the phrase breaking
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down walls. Well, Greg, you've certainly broken
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down a lot of walls in these past four episodes
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of County Conversations, sharing with us the
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ins and outs of infrastructure delivery here
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in St. John's County. We appreciate your time
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and attention to having a conversation with us
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on County Conversations, the county's official
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podcast program. Thank you so much for helping
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us. build and sustain community trust in our
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St. John's County community. Well, thank you
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very much for the opportunity because for us
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to show everybody and tell everybody our story
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and how we do it in Public Works and what part
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of the role that we play in delivering some of
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these projects, it's just something that we're
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very proud of. Well, and we're proud of our special
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web page devoted to the topics that Greg has
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talked about these past four episodes again that
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special web page to check out all that Greg's
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talked about and more go to sjcfl .us Slash featured
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dash projects to see and read and learn more
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about all these projects So we great we really
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appreciate your time for this episode of county
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conversations. Thank you very much You've been
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listening to County Conversations with Director
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of Public Affairs for St. John's County, Wayne
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Larson. If you'd like to keep the dialogue going,
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like, share, and leave a review on our social
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media. For news, events, and resources, make
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sure you visit our county website, sjcfl .us.
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That is sjcfl .us.