30 | NATIONAL RECREATION AND PARK ASSOCIATION BEST PRACTICES: SITE CONSTRUCTION BEST PRACTICE: ENSURE PARKS STAFF AND CONTRACTORS ARE TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED IN GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE INSTALLATION DESCRIPTION: Not all parks staff, inspectors, and contractors are familiar with green stormwater infrastructure construction techniques. For parks staff and inspectors, many of these practices and the required construction processes may be unfamiliar. Training key parks staff on construction techniques will enable them to make better decisions when selecting contractors. Ensuring a qualified pool of contractors is also important for project success. STRATEGIES: • Establish a training program for targeted parks staff, inspectors, and/or contractor training programs to build broad knowledge and access; alternatively, take advantage of trainings offered by local or regional environmental agencies, universities, extension agencies, or watershed groups. • Utilize a pre-qualification process and require mandatory pre-bid meetings to help identify experienced contractors; encourage contractors to provide certification/participate in a green infrastructure certification program, if one is available in the community. • Maintain a list of firms that provide green infrastructure-related services. • Ensure that staff and contractors have access to landscape manuals, construction manuals, and other manuals or handbooks that provide standards that should be followed. • Require detailed construction staging and sequencing plans to understand and control how contractors will perform their work on the park site.98 • Check contractors’ work early on to ensure that construction crews are following appropriate procedures. • Provide recognition to park staff, inspectors, and consultants for achieving certifications or completing educational programs related to green stormwater infrastructure construction. EXAMPLES: • DC Water, the Water Environment Federation, and several partner organizations recently established an entry-level National Green Infrastructure Certification Program (NGICP) to verify that construction, inspection, and maintenance staff have the capacity to build, inspect, and maintain green stormwater infrastructure practice. The first round of NGICP certifications were awarded to 62 individuals in January 2017.99 • In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Department of Parks and Recreation designs smaller green stormwater infrastructure projects in-house, but Philadelphia Water Department Rain Garden Training Workshop for Contractors in Philadelphia
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTkzMzk=