The City of Bellevue's Public Works Department was honored to receive the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area Planning Agency's (MAPA) Regional Service Award for 2017 at MAPA's Annual Awards Dinner last week. This award is given to a jurisdiction, organization, department, agency or section thereof, either public or private, operating in Douglas, Sarpy, Washington, Mills, or Pottawattamie counties which has made a significant contribution to the region
The City of Bellevue' Public Works Department, under the direction of Public Works Director Jeff Roberts, was recognized for their efforts in the aftermath of the June 2017 tornadoes that hit the Bellevue area. The men and women of the Bellevue Public Works Department reacted quickly to stabilize the city's infrastructure and worked tirelessly in the weeks that followed to assist Bellevue residents with the massive cleanup effort that resulted from this storm. The Public Works Department is still continuing these cleanup efforts in some areas of the City!
This cleanup and response was truly a cooperative effort. Bellevue worked closely with representatives from Sarpy County, the City of Papillion, the City of LaVista, Offutt AFB, OPPD and the State and Local Emergency Management Agencies to ensure that all of the affected residents got the roads open in these areas, electricity back on and a cooperative plan to assist with the cleanup. The Public Works Department worked with other jurisdictions to open tree dumps to the public and coordinated with our local waste management provider on a plan to dispose of other storm related debris. The cooperation of the jurisdictions and neighbors working together in our community really shined through during the cleanup from this natural disaster and offered a bit of a silver lining during the aftermath of this storm.
Public Works Director Roberts was joined by Bellevue Mayor Rita Sanders, City Councilman Pat Shannon, City Administrator Joe Mangiamelli, Assistant City Administrator Larry Burks, Finance Director Rich Severson, Planning Director Chris Shewchuk, City Engineer Dean Dunn, Recreation Director Jim Shada, Streets Superintendent Bobby Riggs, Wastewater Operations Manager Epiphany Ramos, Parks Superintendent Brian Madison and Fleet Superintendent Todd Jarosz to accept the award.