AWWA ACE56227

Even in the same community, different projects require different approaches to publicoutreach. What works for one project may not necessarily be the most effectiveapproach for another.The City of Wilmington, NC, for example, is conducting public outreach programs forthree projects: two waterline extensions to neighborhoods that were annexed in 1998,and a wastewater treatment plant expansion that increases capacity of the Northsideplant from 8 to 16 million gallons per day. The approach to public outreach and publicrelations is very different for each type of project.For the annexation projects, residents living in the affected neighborhood were invited toa public meeting. At that meeting, City officials and engineers listened to the residents'concerns and tried to incorporate solutions to those concerns in the design andconstruction of the water lines. McKim & Creed's project engineer offered to meetindividually with any property owner, at the owner's home, to discuss the proposedroute, removal of trees, or other concerns.The third project, the Northside wastewater treatment plant expansion, affects 150,000residents of Wilmington and New Hanover County. Before going to the general public tohear concerns and suggestions, McKim & Creed held brainstorming sessions with Cityand County officials to discuss the issues believed to be a concern to certain groups,such as environmental non-profits. From those sessions, McKim & Creed developedoutlines and budgets for different types of outreach and public relations programstargeted toward different segments of the community.This paper will focus on the Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant expansion andaddress methods for determining the values of the community and the most effectiveoutreach/PR program for this project. By offering ideas for addressing a variety ofissues using different approaches, decision-makers can consider the costs of eacheffort and decide what is most important to them as opposed to having the consultanttell them what's best.

Product Details

Edition:

Vol. - No.

Published:

06/16/2002

Number of Pages:

8

File Size:

1 file , 250 KB