By Craig Wilkins

Randy Glaser’s snowplow truck looks like the other tandem-axle plows used by Mankato/District 7 except for one small thing—a laser beam projector mounted on the cab shield.

Glaser leads the district’s field evaluation of the laser designed to give operators an extra margin of safety when using wing plows, especially in areas where there are guard rails, mailbox posts and other obstacles near the shoulder.

A sensor in the laser system tracks the wing plow’s location in relation to the direction of the truck’s travel. As the sensor tracks the wing, the laser emits a beam that places a green dot on the roadway indicating a path the driver should follow to ensure adequate clearance for the wing.   

Mankato is testing the guidance laser in cooperation with the Maintenance Operations Research Section in the Central Office.

Glaser is a transportation generalist at Mankato.

“The laser guidance system enables us to know the wing plow’s location so we don’t have to constantly check our side-view mirrors,” Glaser said. “Instead, it allows us to focus on the roadway ahead.”

Glaser used the system on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 on his regular plow route, Hwy 169 between Mankato and St. Peter after a heavy snowfall.

He said some problems occurred with its use, but noted that the purpose of field testing is to evaluate innovations under actual conditions and find ways to use them most effectively.

Later this winter, the district will receive a new tandem plow outfitted with a vinyl bladder that will hold 3,500 gallons of brine or other de-icing chemicals. The bladder will be placed in the truck bed to improve weight distribution and stability. The bladder system also includes a spray bar that is expected to apply liquid chemicals more effectively than standard nozzles.

The system is manufactured in Canada. This will be its first trial in the United States, Glaser said.

Glaser and other employees will operate this truck to determine if the bladder system is more effective than rear- or side-mounted chemical tanks now in use.

And he’ll switch the laser system over to the new snowplow to continue its evaluation as well.  

Becky Scott, an office manager Freight and Commercial Vehicles Operations until she left on medical leave in 2005, died Dec. 22. She was 51.

Scott joined Mn/DOT in 1977 as a clerk-stenographer. Before taking her post at FCVO, she served in various administrative posts with the Office of Transit, the Program Management Division and other offices.

“Becky’s personality, backed by supreme competence and a can-do attitude, made her a model teammate and great fun to be around, both on and off the job,” said Jim Dustrude, a planner with the Office of Transit.

Another co-worker, Nancy Lindgren, a senior account clerk in the Business Services Section, said that Scott was a valuable friend and fellow employee.

“She did her job well, enjoyed life and was a great friend,” she said.

Scott’s survivors include her spouse, David Scott, a brother, sister-in-law and two nieces. David Scott is a retired employee from the Office of Traffic Security & Operations.

See the Pioneer Press obituary for additional information.

A new mix of state legislators will kick off the 2007 session today at the Capitol.

Heading Mn/DOT’s legislative team is Betsy Parker, Government Affairs director.

To keep updated on what’s happening with transportation issues, check out Mn/DOT’s Government Affairs Web site at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/govrel/ (external link) and at http://ihub.dot.state.mn.us/information/legislative2007/index.html (internal link).

For a schedule of meetings, bill status and session laws, check out the legislative Web site at http://www.leg.state.mn.us/.

See also Mn/DOT gears up for 2007 legislative session (Mn/DOT Newsline, Nov. 29, 2006).

Jill Pettis, formerly a mediator with the state’s Bureau of Mediation Services, was appointed as the administrative manager for Duluth/District 1. Her appointment began Jan. 2.

Pettis succeeds Jim Laumeyer, who retired after 34 years of service with the department.

In her new position, Pettis manages district functions that include budgeting, employee development and training, management information services and human relations.

At the mediation bureau, Pettis mediated contracts and labor disputes and conducted labor-management relationship training.

Previously, she served as an assistant state negotiator and compensation manager with the Department of Employee Relations. Her experience also includes a decade of service as an administrative manager with the Metropolitan Council in St. Paul .

She is a St. Paul native and now lives with her family in Washburn, Wis.

Pettis may be reached at 218/723-4960, ext 3110 and by GroupWise.

Mn/DOT and other state employees dug a little deeper in their wallets—and hearts—than in 2005 to raise more than $960,000 for the state’s Combined Charities Campaign for 2006.

“This is the highest campaign total since the 2000 campaign,” said Ron Bisek, a contract administrator with Traffic, Security and Operations and campaign chair. “We are all very excited and pleased with this year’s campaign.”

He said the total actually may be higher when all agencies have reported.

Bisek said the 2006 campaign raised 11 percent more than the 2005 campaign, which totaled $863,000 in contributions.

Contributions are made via employee payroll deductions. The campaign supports scores of charity and community organizations throughout the state.

By Kevin Gutknecht

For Mn/DOT employees who want to know more about the ongoing agency telephone conversion to a voice over internet protocol, or VoIP system, a new Web site is available, thanks to the Office of Information Technology.

The VoIP site is on the IHUB Web site at http://ihub.voip. It provides a schedule on the installation, lists of new phone numbers for recently installed phones, answers to frequently asked questions, information on how to get support for the system and other pertinent data, according to Vicky Sarner, project manager.

Mn/DOT’s conversion to a voice over internet protocol phone system is progressing well, according to Sarner and technical architect Bob Bennett.

At the end of 2006, 554 phones had been installed across the state, with plans in place to complete the Central Office by the end of March 2007 and the entire agency by the end of October 2007.

Already Mn/DOT has realized significant cost savings in the areas where the system has been installed, Sarner said. When the installation is complete, Mn/DOT expects to save as much as $700,000 annually on phone costs.

For more information, see Successful pilot spurs departmentwide installation of new phone system (Mn/DOT Newsline, Nov. 1, 2006).

By Craig Wilkins

Holiday fund-raising efforts throughout the department generated thousands of dollars for food shelves, a hospice program and other service providers during 2006.

Special events such as silent auctions, craft sales and toy drives collected cash, gifts and food donations and support for several charities.

Sue Stein, coordinator for the silent auction the Office of Construction and Innovative Contracting held, said the silent auction and raffle raised more than $1,100 for Second Harvest, a Twin Cities metropolitan area food shelf program.

The Hiway Federal Credit Union donated a matching amount of cash to Second Harvest as well.

In another Central Office effort, employees gave $370 in cash and brought in more than 900 pounds of food to support Second Harvest and a neighborhood food shelf in St. Paul.

Rochester/District 6 employees kept up their tradition of supporting the Toys for Tots campaign. Campaign chair Paul Bissen, Construction Office manager at Rochester, said employees contributed more than 300 toys and about $270 in cash to the program.

Bissen said his involvement started by helping a friend who works at a Rochester radio station; he began the district campaign in 1999.

“We had collection barrels at Rochester, Owatonna and Winona where people dropped off their toys and cash gifts for the program,” he said. “This year’s campaign went well.”

In District 2, AFSCME Local 637 in Bemidji donated $100 to the Toys for Tots program and $500 for a camp that serves children who have diabetes. Members of AFSCME Local 438 at Crookston donated 20 half-hams to the area’s annual Christmas food basket drive.

Employees in District 7’s office at Windom donated cash to help a Bingham Lake family recover and rebuild after a fire claimed the life of their toddler and destroyed their home and possessions.

District staff also donated money to the family of Don Baker, a transportation generalist at Mankato who is now serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Hiwayan Club members at the District 3 headquarters in Baxter collected more than $700 to support the area’s Toys for Tots campaign. Baxter employees also held a “soup kitchen” benefit that raised $178 for the Salvation Army.

In addition, members of AFSCME Local 588 at Baxter donated $250 to the Toys for Kids program that focuses on the needs of pre-teens and early teenagers.

A Duluth food shelf received 500 pounds of non-perishable foods gathered by the Headquarters Coffee Club at District 1’s office in Duluth.

John Cavanaugh, club president, said the season of giving helped prompt the response from employees this year.

At Detroit Lakes, District 4 employees continued their support of a hospice program that serves northwestern Minnesota.

Trudy Kordosky, a project engineer at District 4, said this year’s pot luck lunch fund-raiser netted a cash donation of $1,145 for the Hospice of the Red River Valley.

This year’s donation brings total contributions for the hospice to more than $8,620 since the district began supporting it in 1995.

Joy Crouch, an official with the hospice program, visited the district office to explain services the hospice program provides and to thank District 4 employees for their continuing support of the program.

“Joy’s visit was a highlight for our campaign,” Kordosky said. “She explained how hospice programs work and expressed her thanks to district employees, making a personal connection between the hospice center and our district,” she said.