Yonkers Insider: City of Yonkers: CITY OF YONKERS DEPARTMENTS NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR IMPROVING SERVICES AND OPERATIONS.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CITY OF YONKERS DEPARTMENTS NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED FOR IMPROVING SERVICES AND OPERATIONS.

Departments of Public Works, Finance & Office for the Aging Receive Industry Awards.

YONKERS, NY – December 6, 2021 –Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano today announced three city departments have been nationally recognized for their work which positively affects city operations and quality of life for Yonkers residents, including the Departments of Public Works, Finance, and Office for the Aging.

The Department of Public Works has been awarded the Platinum Engineering Excellence Award by the New York American Consulting Engineers Council (ACEC) for the comprehensive system-wide Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) improvements to the city’s water system. 

The ACEC, a federation of 52 state and regional councils representing more than 600,000 engineers, architects, land surveyors, and other specialists, recognized the city’s investment into its water system’s 20-year-old declining Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system, also known as SCADA. The three-year state-of-the-art $500,000 investment into the water system displays in real-time the water system’s operational status (system pressures, flow rates, water tower elevations, emergency power status, and water quality parameters) to assist New York State’s Certified Water Operators in the daily operation of the city’s water system. This investment also allows city water operators to make better-informed decisions such as turning on additional pumps to assist the Yonkers Fire Department when fighting fires, be more efficient in assessing treatment and water quality issues, and assess the presence of water main breaks. These additional capabilities improve water system’s response to provide a safe and continuous supply of potable water to the residents and commercial users in Yonkers. 

“Soon into the start of my administration, the city’s over 20-year-old aging water system was starting to fail and had become a priority to restore and bring it up to 21^st century standards,” said Mayor Mike Spano. “Thanks to the fantastic work by the Department of Public Works, we achieved our goal of updating the city’s aging water infrastructure and have been recognized by the ACEC for our advanced innovative system.” 

The Department of Finance has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award presented by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).

The GFOA’s award is presented to government entities for preparing high-quality budget documents that meet program criteria that strives to improve budget transparency in their community. The City of Yonkers is one of four municipalities to be recognized and the only big city in New York State to be recognized with such an achievement this year.

Mayor Spano added, “As the only big city in New York to be recognized for our budget presentation, Yonkers is honored to receive it. Throughout my term, the Finance department has made a commitment to providing an elevated level of transparency when it comes to the city’s finances, starting with making our budget accessible and easy to understand.”

The GFOA is an independent organization which represents public finance officials throughout the United States and Canada.

The Department of the Office for the Aging (OFA) has received the Jawonio Award for its ongoing commitment to providing equal opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Jawonio is a not-for-profit organization which provides services for those with developmental disabilities, behavioral health challenges, and chronic medical conditions.

Mayor Spano concluded, “The City of Yonkers prides itself on its years of commitment to providing those with disabilities equal opportunities. The award we received from Jawonio, an independent not-for-profit, solidifies Yonkers as a leader in our approach to working with individuals with disabilities.”