Briefs
And the winner is…
Austin, Texas, Mayor Kirk Watson has received the Individual Achievement Award from the Washington, D.C.-based International Downtown Association. The award recognizes Watson’s efforts to implement a smart growth strategy for attracting technology companies, expanding the city’s role as an entertainment and cultural center, and cleaning up the environment.
Bothell, Wash.-based W & H Pa-cific has received an award of merit from the Chicago-based National Steel Bridge Alliance for the design of the East Boise River Footbridge in Idaho. The bridge is a 200-foot single span, steel suspension arch bridge designed exclusively for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
Company News
USFilter Operating Services, Houston, has acquired Pittsburgh-based Modular Environmental Technologies, a national provider of wastewater treatment and byproduct chemical recovery technologies and services.
Severn Trent Services, a Fort Washington, Pa.-based supplier of water and wastewater solutions, and Gruppo De Nora, a Milan, Italy-based electrochemical engineering company, have merged their seawater and marine disinfection businesses. The joint venture will be known as Severn Trent De Nora.
Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Stellent and King of Prussia, Pa.-based Capita Technologies have partnered to provide content management solutions to government agencies.
Greenwood, Ind.-based Endress + Hauser, a measurement instrument supplier for process engineering, has acquired San Jose, Calif.-based Wedgewood Technology, a manufacturer of optical sensors, transmitters and process connections for the water and wastewater, biotechnology and food industries.
Etc.
New York’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications has contracted with Frankfort, Ky.-based PlanGraphics to continue building an Oracle-based spatial data warehouse and Internet-based GIS applications that are aiding the city’s e-government initiatives.
Bossier, La., has contracted with Columbia, S.C.-based Wilbur Smith Associates to develop a comprehensive land use and development master plan. The plan will update previous plans and determine future development in the city.
Howard County, Ind., has contracted with St. Charles, Ill.-based Sidwell to create and implement a uniform, countywide, permanent parcel numbering system.
Getting there
Parkland, Fla., has contracted with Fort Washington, Pa.-based McMahon Associates to provide transportation consulting services. The company will complete a comprehensive citywide transportation study and plan a transportation network to meet needs of the city through 2025.
The Florida Department of Transportation has contracted with New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff to provide construction engineering and inspection services for the $55 million replacement of the Clearwater Memorial Causeway Bridge. The project, which will be completed in March 2004, involves replacing the existing bascule bridge with a new cast-in-place, segmental, concrete bridge founded on drilled shafts.
Roanoke Area (Va.) Dial A Ride has purchased six StarTrans Senator paratransit shuttle buses from Goshen, Ind.-based Supreme.
One Man’s Trash
Philadelphia has retained Fairfax, Va.-based Gershman, Brickner & Bratton to help identify and implement changes to the city’s solid waste serv- ices. The consultant will create a business plan for implementing fee-for-service operations for small commercial establishments. It also will issue a transfer and disposal procurement plan; execute new long-term T&D contracts; and develop a strategic plan for an integrated solid waste management system.
Plugged In
San Diego County has contracted with Gartner Consulting, Stamford, Conn., to oversee a $644 million information technology and telecommunications outsourcing project. The company will provide a strategic assessment of the project, develop the RFP, manage the vendor selection process and negotiate contracts.
The New Jersey State League of Municipalities has formed an alliance with Towndata.com Network, Neptune, N.J., to provide Web-based purchasing services to local governments.