It’s been a rough year for Central Coast Council, but recognition at the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia Engineering Excellence Awards has provided a note of positivity.
The Council’s Team Leader, Floodplain Management, Parissa Ghanem, picked up the coveted Public Works Leader of the Year award, with the Council highly commended in two other categories.
Director Environment and Planning, Scott Cox, said Ghanem was deserving of her award, which is given to a leader with proven skills, professionalism and knowledge that is seen as admirable, encouraging and inspiring to others.
“During her three years at Council, Parissa has successfully and passionately led a team of engineers to successfully complete over 17 several high calibre floodplain management and water quality projects,” Cox said.
“She is well respected for her effective approach to management providing an equal voice for team members and drawing on their individual strengths to achieve best outcomes for a project and in service for the community.”
Cox said Ghanem had made positive contributions to Council and in turn to the community.
Ghanem said she owed the award to an excellent team of professionals and a great manager whose support made it easy for her to lead her own team.
Section Manager Engineering Assessment, Adam Mularczyk, was highly commended for his efforts in road safety awareness within local government in the category of Excellence in Road Safety Engineering.
Mularczyk has for the past decade built a strong network of industry knowledge sharing between Councils across the State.
The group of development, design and asset engineers and technical staff regularly share notifications on training, guidelines, industry news and advise on new and technical information, with Adam promoting road safety issues for the purpose of reducing road related trauma.
Cox said road safety is an important concern for the region and he was pleased with the positive impact Mularczyk has had in facilitating a united approach to the issue.
“I’m pleased that Mr Mularczyk’s efforts to improve road safety through engineering have been recognised by the industry, and that this award has also contributed to road safety awareness.”
The Council was also highly commended in the category of Design and Construction of a Local Government/Public Works project over $5M for the Somersby Industrial Estate.
Director Infrastructure Services, Boris Bolgoff, said that Somersby Industrial Park has been established as a major industrial precinct for the Central Coast, providing capacity for new companies to establish a presence in our region.
“This major project spanned more than 30 projects and included the upgrade of close to 5,000 metres of road to an industrial standard,” Bolgoff said.
“We also installed more than 2,600 metres of sewer pipelines and 1,400 metres of water mains.
“The project spanned Myoora Rd, Wisemans Ferry Rd, Somersby Falls Rd, Howes Rd and Debenham Rd and encompasses major drainage upgrades, significant retaining walls, kerb and guttering, roundabouts, intersections, road widening and new road pavement.
“We have also installed new sewer pump stations, rising main and gravity main and are currently installing a major water main to ensure water pressure across the precinct.
“Many members of our community commute to Sydney or Newcastle for work.
“This major expansion and upgrade of Somersby Industrial Park means that more companies can establish a presence on the Coast, bringing with them local jobs and an economic boost to our region.”
Minister for Local Government, Shelley Hancock, congratulated the winners of the annual awards, which recognise excellence in local government and public works projects across the State, including road safety, recycling, water supply, wastewater, asset management, and workplace health and safety.
Terry Collins