OCTOBER 6, 2010
Scottsdale employee ingenuity ‘racks’ up savings
SCOTTSDALE – Scottsdale employees from several divisions came together recently to devise a low-cost solution to a dirty dilemma.
Construction of the District 1 Police Station had eliminated one of two vehicle and equipment wash racks used by the city. With no funding available to replace the lost wash rack, many workers faced a long line or even longer commute to clean their machines.
Rather than get stuck with the muck, city staff became grime fighters.
Led by Facilities Supervisor Steve Denning and Street Operations Director Rod Ramos, a group of employees planned, designed and built a wash rack to replace the one that went away.
Their multi-disciplined team salvaged what materials they could from the old facility, excavated the new site, poured all the concrete and did extensive plumbing. The city’s traffic operations group even donated and installed a light pole for added safety.
The result is a highly functional, heavily used wash rack near the new police station that was built for a cost of roughly $12,000. There are even plans to capture runoff water and recycle it in a pressure washer.
In all, the project came in “dirt” cheap compared to a traditionally built wash rack that costs up to $40,000.
“Our team really cleaned up,” quipped Denning.
