The Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. Clean and Safe Team is coming off of one their busiest yet very successful years. Even when faced with one of the toughest winter seasons on record, our team was able to adapt and overcome.
We started 2008 by evaluating, repairing, and replacing our mechanized equipment and ended up replacing four of the oldest vehicles in our fleet. All four were outdated and very fuel inefficient and so we replaced them with three vehicles that are being operated for a fraction of the cost. They new vehicles are; a Case tractor with attachments for snow blowing, plowing and sweeping; a Kubota tractor similarly equipped as the Case tractor; and a Kubota RTV with a snow plow. The new vehicles, our 2 Honda ATVs, and our Dodge plow truck served our Maintenance Team well this year. Sidewalks were cleared of ice/snow and litter/debris efficiently and timely. We will continue our research to develop even better methods to deliver our services and to streamline our operations.
Our Maintenance Ambassadors, continue to deal with the daily litter, graffiti, and biological clean-ups. We’ve increased our focus on removing illegal campsites from Downtown and continue to average the removal of 10 camps per month. August 2008 wrapped up a busy summer for the staff of Clean & Safe. Thanks to the Anchorage Convention and Visitors’ Bureau (ACVB), who contracted with ADP to provide 2 additional Security Ambassadors to deal with ACVB specific issues; ADP was able to have 6 Security Ambassadors on the streets Monday through Friday 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Seasonal Staffing was implemented this year and it seemed to be very effective. We now employ a Maintenance Supervisor and 3 full time workers in the winter time and supplement the Maintenance Ambassadors with additional workers for the May-September time period. The same holds true for the Security Ambassador staff as well, but during winter operations the Security Ambassador Supervisor and his staff work side-by-side with the Maintenance Ambassadors to move ice and snow. The results speak for themselves; the sidewalks were cleared and made safe for pedestrian traffic faster than ever–and Downtown Anchorage benefited as a result. Maintenance also adopted an aggressive summer sidewalk sweeping and power washing schedule. However, mechanical inspections performed by our Maintenance Supervisor revealed machinery breakdowns that required some retrofitting. Fortunately, he had the capability of carrying out the retrofits and rebuilding on-site and we were able to complete sweeping and power washing the majority of Downtown sidewalks.
We were fortunate in our ability to hire a new Security Ambassador Supervisor. He has 12 years of security experience working with the Anchorage School District. His level of professionalism and dedication has spread throughout his entire staff and it shows. Anchorage Downtown Partnerships’ Security Ambassadors can be easily spotted in their neon green shirts, independently walking throughout Downtown. In addition to their snow removal in the winter, they daily interact with Downtown business owners and residents, guests and tourists. Although they serve as an additional set of “eyes and ears” for the Anchorage Police Department their presence assisted in the prevention of several crimes. Team members often encountered crimes in progress or gain knowledge about crimes which have occurred.
We will continue to work on our visibility and will soon be using our “door hangers” to let our patrons know that we were there. Maintenance and Security Ambassadors have personally challenged themselves to be the “best Ambassador corps ADP has ever seen.” Personally, I know its working—the feedback has never been better and the complaints are more constructive.