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Wilmington District project manager participates in Chamber of Commerce leadership program

Published Feb. 7, 2019

   On January 15, Deep Draft Navigation Project Manager Tim Jones represented the Wilmington District as a member of the City of Wilmington Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Wilmington 2019 Transportation Infrastructure Panel.  Panelist's provided responses to questions on the topics of current projects, future projects, and leadership.

   The Leadership Wilmington class consists of 36 members that are employed by local, state, and federal government agencies as well as local companies in the Greater Wilmington Area.    As a panelist, Jones said that the public is very interested in the proposed developments in Wilmington.  He received general and specific questions about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its projects and role in the greater Wilmington area. 

   “They asked us such questions as past storms that impacted our infrastructure and what have we learned from those experiences that helps us today,” he said.  “Hurricane Florence hit Wilmington as a Category 1 storm with 90 mph winds. The water flooded the area and after the storm passed Wilmington worked closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Naval Sea System Command, Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), to identify and remove obstructions in the Wilmington Harbor. Coordination with the U.S. Navy in this manner was a first for the District, but now we have the experience on how to respond to getting obstructions removed in the harbor.”

   Jones also explained that the Wilmington District is reviewing the North Carolina State Ports Authority's Wilmington Harbor Turning Basin Expansion 408 submittals. Alterations to USACE-constructed Civil Works projects by another party, he explained, requires the party to submit documents in accordance with 33 USC 408, and that USACE will provide a determination that the proposed project will not be detrimental to the public interest and will not impair the usefulness of the Civil Works project. He added that determinations on this and other projects are shared in a public forum.

   The objective of Leadership Wilmington is to educate, challenge and motivate leaders and future leaders to utilize their leadership skills to work for the betterment of our community. There are five components that will be stressed throughout the program. They are:

· Leadership skills/styles

· Community issues and challenges

· Diversity class project

· Dynamics of regional social &

       economic change

   Jones said the ten-month program consists of eight all-day sessions, an orientation social, a two-day retreat to begin the program, and a graduation ceremony. The all-day sessions occur once a month from September through April. To complete the program successfully, each class member is expected to participate in the orientation/social, retreat, all monthly program sessions, and graduation. Participants must make a serious commitment to the program and employers must agree in advance to grant participants time off from their duties to attend all scheduled activities.