TRANSKRYPCJA 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:08.330 --> 00:00:11.650
Welcome to this episode of our podcast for St.
00:00:11.750 --> 00:00:14.289
John's County called County Conversations. It's
00:00:14.289 --> 00:00:16.730
a program to help build community trust by expanding
00:00:16.730 --> 00:00:19.429
opportunities for the public to gain access about
00:00:19.429 --> 00:00:22.089
information about the county and promoting awareness
00:00:22.089 --> 00:00:24.109
and understanding of our operations. In episode
00:00:24.109 --> 00:00:26.829
one, I'm very pleased to welcome our Public Works
00:00:26.829 --> 00:00:29.469
Director, Greg Caldwell, to have a conversation
00:00:29.469 --> 00:00:31.719
with you, Greg. about county's infrastructure.
00:00:31.980 --> 00:00:33.520
Welcome to the show. Well, I appreciate being
00:00:33.520 --> 00:00:35.600
on the first show. This is amazing. Yeah, this
00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:38.579
is our inaugural broadcast. So let's jump right
00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:42.500
into it. The topic of this episode is infrastructure.
00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:46.960
Many times, infrastructure is called CIP in government.
00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:50.719
What does CIP stand for? What types of projects
00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.140
fall under CIP? It's a great question because
00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:56.159
everybody just uses the CIP reference. It's a
00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:59.039
capital improvement project. A capital improvement
00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.960
project is a large investment by the county,
00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:04.260
over $100 ,000, but most of these projects are
00:01:04.260 --> 00:01:06.340
in the multi -million dollars worth of projects
00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:09.340
and infrastructure improvements. We use CIP as
00:01:09.340 --> 00:01:12.799
our catchphrase, but the CIPs are something that
00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.620
we use and we have over 100 of them right now,
00:01:15.780 --> 00:01:18.019
and they go in front of the Board of County Commissioners
00:01:18.019 --> 00:01:22.549
annually for the budget. So they understand where
00:01:22.549 --> 00:01:24.430
the funds are going, where they're coming from,
00:01:24.430 --> 00:01:26.709
more importantly, because funds are come from
00:01:26.709 --> 00:01:29.170
so many different streams. They come from impact
00:01:29.170 --> 00:01:33.349
fees, transportation trust funds, grants, other
00:01:33.349 --> 00:01:35.450
areas within the county that are specifically
00:01:35.450 --> 00:01:38.450
set up for improvements for the community. And
00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:40.849
I think it's important to note, too, that when
00:01:40.849 --> 00:01:43.989
we publish budgets, sometimes those budgets are
00:01:43.989 --> 00:01:46.090
spread over several years because you can't build
00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:49.430
a particular road or facility in just three months,
00:01:49.849 --> 00:01:53.090
six months. Sometimes it's multi -year budgets.
00:01:53.390 --> 00:01:54.829
Man, you're getting this already, aren't you,
00:01:54.909 --> 00:01:57.829
Wayne? Absolutely. We spread these over multiple
00:01:57.829 --> 00:01:59.930
years because we don't want dead money. We want
00:01:59.930 --> 00:02:02.930
money to be used wisely. But we also know that
00:02:02.930 --> 00:02:04.930
we can't build all these projects in one year.
00:02:05.329 --> 00:02:08.449
A roadway takes a lot of time to design, acquire
00:02:08.449 --> 00:02:11.129
land, and then construct. So we do spread these
00:02:11.129 --> 00:02:14.409
over multiple years. But with that being said,
00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:17.620
the budget is only set for one year. The board
00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:19.759
approves it annually, so it's not like we're
00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:21.939
set up for a five -year work program, which we
00:02:21.939 --> 00:02:25.379
program funds out, but we still work off a yearly
00:02:25.379 --> 00:02:30.060
approved budget. And when these projects come,
00:02:30.460 --> 00:02:32.719
not only does the budget come before the board
00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.439
to approve the entire CIP budget for the upcoming
00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.120
fiscal year, but it's important to note that
00:02:38.120 --> 00:02:41.580
each individual contract for these roads and
00:02:41.580 --> 00:02:43.780
facilities comes before the Board to approve
00:02:43.780 --> 00:02:46.879
design phase or construction in other aspects
00:02:46.879 --> 00:02:49.319
of the project? Over a certain period of money.
00:02:49.659 --> 00:02:52.259
So over $500 ,000 we do bring back to the Board
00:02:52.259 --> 00:02:54.400
of County Commissioners. Most of the projects
00:02:54.400 --> 00:02:57.620
in the CIP reach that threshold, but there are
00:02:57.620 --> 00:02:59.740
programs that we have in the CIP. We have our
00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:01.580
countywide sidewalks. We have our countywide
00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:03.860
drainage. All these other countywide programs
00:03:03.860 --> 00:03:06.960
that allow us to react and respond appropriately
00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:10.800
and quickly to maintenance items. on all the
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:12.379
different infrastructure pieces we have in St.
00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:14.419
John's County. Those are smaller amounts, so
00:03:14.419 --> 00:03:16.599
we're able to respond quickly. You mentioned
00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:18.740
some numbers earlier, but just to give some specifics
00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:22.120
to our audience, currently, as of this broadcast,
00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:26.879
the county has 102 capital projects on the website
00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:33.280
valued at more than $460 million. But it's never
00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:37.569
always been that way. 20 years -ish ago, you
00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:42.069
led a CIP -type program, and the acronym for
00:03:42.069 --> 00:03:44.909
that was DRIP. I think it'd be interesting for
00:03:44.909 --> 00:03:47.669
our citizens to understand where we started and
00:03:47.669 --> 00:03:50.650
how far we've come on all the
Load full transcript
different roads
00:03:50.650 --> 00:03:55.069
and facilities they see today, but 20 -ish years
00:03:55.069 --> 00:03:57.129
ago, you were in charge of something called DRIP.
00:03:57.389 --> 00:03:59.590
It's fascinating. Share that story with us. Absolutely.
00:04:01.509 --> 00:04:04.110
23rd will be my 28th anniversary working for
00:04:04.110 --> 00:04:06.210
st. John's County So I'm a child of the 90s working
00:04:06.210 --> 00:04:08.430
for st. John's County and had the privilege to
00:04:08.430 --> 00:04:11.370
work here for so long I'm back in the early 2000s
00:04:11.370 --> 00:04:14.129
We had this dirt road improvement program drip
00:04:14.129 --> 00:04:17.250
and that was the goal of that project was to
00:04:17.250 --> 00:04:19.350
remove a lot of the dirt roads to reduce our
00:04:19.350 --> 00:04:21.779
maintenance because a lot of our effort and a
00:04:21.779 --> 00:04:24.600
lot of our cost and manpower were going to maintaining
00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:27.879
dirt roads in the county. We had over 150 miles
00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:30.800
of dirt roads in St. John's County. 150 miles
00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:34.560
of dirt road. This isn't one lane or two lane
00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:36.180
you're looking to expand. This is like dirt.
00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:38.300
You're looking to pave this stuff. And these
00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:41.379
were major collectors. Greenbrier Road was a
00:04:41.379 --> 00:04:44.680
dirt road. Roberts Road, Russell Sampson, Holmes
00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:46.420
Boulevard, some of these major roads that we
00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:50.430
use every day. think is paved and has always
00:04:50.430 --> 00:04:52.810
been paved. Back in the pioneer days, there was
00:04:52.810 --> 00:04:55.670
a dirt road. Back in the day, you were going
00:04:55.670 --> 00:04:57.970
down some roads that had some turbulence on them,
00:04:58.129 --> 00:04:59.790
but we were out there trying to maintain them.
00:04:59.910 --> 00:05:02.110
So there was a goal back in the day with the
00:05:02.110 --> 00:05:04.110
Board of County Commissioners, with the administration
00:05:04.110 --> 00:05:06.709
and public works to say, how can we reduce our
00:05:06.709 --> 00:05:09.329
future maintenance, as well as improve the quality
00:05:09.329 --> 00:05:11.269
of life for the citizens of St. John's County?
00:05:11.490 --> 00:05:15.259
And they invested between 500 and a million dollars
00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:17.420
annually. So back then that was a lot of money
00:05:17.420 --> 00:05:20.800
and so every year we were programming and we
00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:24.019
were paving roads through a cold mix asphalt
00:05:24.019 --> 00:05:27.240
program and worked very well with the Water Management
00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:28.800
District to get these things accomplished and
00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:31.399
we were making some headway. This spanned about
00:05:31.399 --> 00:05:34.300
five or six years but even St. Augustine South,
00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:36.079
the community, there were a lot of dirt roads
00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:37.699
in there that were paved through this program.
00:05:38.359 --> 00:05:42.019
Are some of those dirt roads that you paved through
00:05:42.019 --> 00:05:45.680
the drip program still are the way they are today,
00:05:46.259 --> 00:05:48.899
some 15, 20 years later? We set it up with the
00:05:48.899 --> 00:05:50.899
idea that we will come back and overlay that
00:05:50.899 --> 00:05:53.300
in the future. So a lot of them are set up the
00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:56.579
same way except without a nice layer of hot asphalt
00:05:56.579 --> 00:06:00.730
on top of it. Fascinating. So from drip... program
00:06:00.730 --> 00:06:03.930
20, 25 years ago to today where you've got, again,
00:06:03.949 --> 00:06:08.629
100 plus projects, $462 million in total value.
00:06:09.769 --> 00:06:13.529
When we talk about roads, facilities, libraries
00:06:13.529 --> 00:06:16.250
and fire stations that we'll get to in future
00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:18.829
episodes, Greg, explain to the audience what
00:06:18.829 --> 00:06:21.769
they may not know. They think, okay, the budget's
00:06:21.769 --> 00:06:24.329
approved by the board, the contract comes before
00:06:24.329 --> 00:06:27.089
the board to approve and hire this company to
00:06:27.089 --> 00:06:31.620
help do the work. than just laying down asphalt
00:06:31.620 --> 00:06:37.899
for a road project, for example. construction,
00:06:37.899 --> 00:06:41.000
and probably the hidden information there is
00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:42.720
people don't understand the right -of -way that
00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:44.300
you have to acquire. Speak a little bit about
00:06:44.300 --> 00:06:47.000
that. Yeah, so there's so many phases in the
00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.259
construction of a roadway. It starts out with
00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:51.079
the plan and effort. What is this going to produce?
00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:53.220
Is it going to improve the quality of life? Is
00:06:53.220 --> 00:06:55.060
it going to improve traffic or transportation
00:06:55.060 --> 00:06:57.360
throughout St. John's County? Once we can deem
00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:00.139
that as a benefit to the community, then we move
00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:02.819
forward into the design components. It's not
00:07:02.819 --> 00:07:04.740
just picking somebody to come in here. It's not
00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:07.040
an engineer off the streets. We go through an
00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:09.199
RFP process. We go through our due diligence
00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:13.360
to bring in a very experienced and expert in
00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:15.660
that field that helps us go through the design
00:07:15.660 --> 00:07:18.480
and permitting. So those are two of the big things
00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.500
is permitting with the Water Management District,
00:07:20.639 --> 00:07:25.110
the Army Corps, the DEP, whatever agency. is
00:07:25.110 --> 00:07:27.490
impacted by this roadway because it
depends on
00:07:27.490 --> 00:07:30.850
if it's coastal, if it's interior to St. John's
00:07:30.850 --> 00:07:33.649
County or even by the river. And sometimes that
00:07:33.649 --> 00:07:36.829
permitting takes a while and somewhat delays
00:07:36.829 --> 00:07:39.350
the project not because of the county but because
00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:41.810
the permitting agency. I would say the biggest
00:07:41.810 --> 00:07:45.050
controlling points of timing of a project are
00:07:45.050 --> 00:07:48.250
permits and land acquisition. I would say 20
00:07:48.250 --> 00:07:50.029
some odd years ago, there was a lot more people.
00:07:50.230 --> 00:07:51.949
There are a lot less people here that were and
00:07:51.949 --> 00:07:53.949
people that were willing to work with the county
00:07:53.949 --> 00:07:57.610
to provide land or work with us to see some improvements.
00:07:58.269 --> 00:08:00.449
Recently, we are starting to see the land acquisition
00:08:00.449 --> 00:08:03.490
going through a longer process as well as permits.
00:08:03.750 --> 00:08:06.670
The Army Corps of Engineers, you know, specifically
00:08:06.670 --> 00:08:08.889
is challenging. The Water Management District
00:08:08.889 --> 00:08:10.610
has been great to us. They're good partners.
00:08:10.889 --> 00:08:13.370
We have great relationships built with them.
00:08:13.569 --> 00:08:16.329
But those are those two factors that can really
00:08:16.329 --> 00:08:19.939
impact. the design components because land acquisition
00:08:19.939 --> 00:08:22.040
and permitting go hand -in -hand with design.
00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.339
We got about a minute left in this episode. Talk
00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:28.240
a little bit about underground utilities. That's
00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:30.439
another factor that plays a role. You're dependent
00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:33.820
upon the utility companies to relocate lines
00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:36.399
and things of that nature to help build these
00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:38.399
projects and these roads. It's funny because
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:40.100
I always say construction is the easiest part
00:08:40.100 --> 00:08:42.679
of the entire process. Once we start, we're rolling
00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:45.700
all the way through it. What you don't see underground
00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:48.559
what you do see overhead those are very impactful
00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.340
and those are very challenging to get it relocated
00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:55.120
Get them identified because 20 30 40 years ago
00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:57.480
people didn't take records or keep records as
00:08:57.480 --> 00:08:59.500
well as they do today So trying to make sure
00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:01.220
that we understand those impacts and get them
00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:04.480
relocated in a timely manner is is one of the
00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.820
biggest challenges Well, you've certainly taken
00:09:06.820 --> 00:09:08.720
in your team is certainly taking those challenges
00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:13.179
and turn them into successes. So We have a special
00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:15.740
web page, which I know you're very familiar with
00:09:15.740 --> 00:09:20.220
sjcfl .us slash Featured dash projects where
00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:22.059
the public can go there and look at all the things
00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:24.360
you're talking about Greg Not only in public
00:09:24.360 --> 00:09:26.080
works, but coastal management and utilities.
00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:28.799
So Greg, thanks so much for the conversation
00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:31.639
on this first episode of county conversations
00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:35.139
The public can learn more about this by going
00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:37.259
to that special website But we certainly appreciate
00:09:37.259 --> 00:09:39.659
your time and attention to have a conversation
00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:43.080
with us about infrastructure, also known as CIP.
00:09:43.539 --> 00:09:45.240
The last thing I'd like to say is we're all proud
00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:47.620
of what we're doing and we're here to share it
00:09:47.620 --> 00:09:50.000
and be open and honest about the projects themselves.
00:09:50.659 --> 00:09:53.440
So please go to our website. Thanks, Greg. Thank
00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:53.700
you.