Brett Laughlin, PE, managing director of Ottawa County Road Commission (OCRC), and Alex Doty, communications administrator of OCRC, accept the IMPRESS Award for Communications on behalf of OCRC.
The County Road Association (CRA) of Michigan honored the Ottawa County Road Commission (OCRC) with two statewide IMPRESS Awards at CRA’s 2020 Highway Conference. IMPRESS Awards recognize county road agencies that demonstrate innovation with special projects in communications, operations and collaboration.
OCRC received an IMPRESS Award in Communications for its “‘Countywide Road Millage’ Video” and an Award for Operations for its project, “‘The Undertaker’ Under-guardrail Cleaner.”
In its Communications project, OCRC created a video outlining the status of its current road millage to keep its Board of County Commissioners and the general public informed. The video provided information about the millage in an accessible way, allowing viewers to learn about past and future projects as well as how OCRC acts as the steward of millage funds. OCRC posted the video to a millage information webpage showcasing completed projects, a photo gallery and synopsis of the road millage. Over 1,500 people have watched the video on Facebook, and many others have viewed it on OCRC’s website and other platforms.
OCRC earned an Award in Operations for designing and building “The Undertaker,” an under-guardrail cleaner that addresses a long-standing need to efficiently clean and de-berm the area where debris builds up beneath guardrails. The machine has reduced the number of people and time needed for this work and has received positive feedback from OCRC’s staff and board.
“Ottawa County Road Commission has proven its dedication to innovation and the importance of informing its community,” said Denise Donohue, CRA director. “With creativity, OCRC is driving progress in our local road network.”
An independent panel of communications and operations experts from several of Michigan’s 83 county road agencies judged the projects. Award recipients were honored for projects that solved time restraints, labor costs, communication barriers and fostered collaboration.