VOL UME 6 ISSUE 4
APRIL 30, 20 15
We Keep the College Going
EPCC Physical Plant
Director’s Corner
This has been a very difficult year for EPCC and the Physical
Plant. While still mourning the loss of Dr. Ernst Roberts, we just
recently lost Jay Bryant, Campus Technician, who passed
away earlier this month.
We will be commemorating both of them by planting trees
in their honor. Jay Bryant’s tree will be planted at the
Transmountain Campus, where he spent much of his
career, on May 1st.
We will plant a second tree in memory of Dr. Roberts at the
ASC “A” building on May 7th.
This issue also celebrates the anniversary of several of our
personnel, but I want to make special mention of Maria
Gomez, who received the Diamond Award, and Norma
Dragon, who was selected Classified Staff 2015 Employee
of the Year.
Congratulations to both of you!
Inside This Issue
1
2
3
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
10
11
12
12
12
13
13
14
Director’s Corner
Employee of the Year
Diamond Award
Jay Honored at TM
5, 10, 15 Years
Retreat
Campus Happenings
TM in the Dark
TM in the Dark
Grounds News
Traffic Lights
Custodial News
Safety Tips
Recharge
Staff Birthdays
RG Flooding
Gasoline Use
Work Orders
Utilities
Rick Lobato, Physical Plant Executive Director
Turn to pages 7 and 8 for
photos and information
about the power outage
that occurred at the
Transmountain Campus
on April 14th and 15th.
Classes were suspended
that day and throughout
the night and began late
the following day.
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 2
APRIL 30, 2015
Norma Dragon – CSA 2015 Employee of the Year
Norma Dragon, Administrative Assistant
at the Physical Plant, was named CSA
2015 Employee of the Year.
Norma’s 22 year career at EPCC began
as a work-study for Auxiliary Services,
which was followed by a part-time
position at the MdP ISC. Eventually,
Norma arrived at the Physical Plant
where she has held the positions of
Clerk II, Administrative Office Assistant,
and her current position of
Administrative Assistant.
Norma and her husband Edward Dragon.
During this time, Norma has helped
initiate the Work Order System, and
learned the HVAC building
automated control system to respond to temperature requests and assist the Campus
Technicians while they work on other projects.
The honor was bestowed at a recognition dinner held on Friday, April 24 th at the El Paso
Club – La Vista in the Chase Bank building in downtown El Paso. The event also
recognized staff and faculty achievement and included the Employee of the Year for the
Professional Staff, the part-time CSA Employee of the Year, and the NISOD Award.
We congratulate Norma on her accomplishments and we want her to know that we are
very proud that she is the voice of Physical Plant to the rest of EPCC.
Pictured at right are Jesus
Ortiz, MdP Campus
Technician, Norma Dragon,
Administrative Assistant, and
Pascual Martinez,
Construction Supervisor.
They are enjoying a few
moments before the start of
the ceremony held at the
ASC boardroom in order to
commemorate 10, 15, and 5
years of service at EPCC,
respectively.
APRIL 30, 2015
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 3
Physical Plant Employees Honored
Maria Gomez, Sr. Administrative Associate
at the Physical Plant, was one of the
recipients of the Diamond Awards at the 7th
Annual Women’s History Month Celebration.
The awards luncheon, held on March 20th,
was hosted by the EPCC Diversity Programs.
Maria’s career at EPCC began as a
workstudy in the Veteran’s Affairs Office for
two years while she acquired an
Associate’s Degree in Education.
The following 35 years included work as a
Clerk in the Veteran’s Affairs Office,
Certification Specialist at Financial Aid (TM),
Division Secretary for Arts & Sciences
Division, Executive Secretary at the Dean’s
Office (NW), Secretary for the Associate VP
of Auxiliary Services (CSC & ASC), and Sr.
Administrative Associate at Physical Plant.
Maria Gomez receiving the Diamond
Award from Joyce Wilson, CEO,
Workforce Solutions Borderplex.
(Photo courtesy of Diversity Programs)
We congratulate Maria and we are glad she is with us here at the Physical Plant. Maria
has completed over 35 years of service at EPCC, during which she has worked at all five
campuses.
Jay Bryant Honored at TM Posthumously
Jay Bryant, who passed away on April 3rd, has been
elected by the staff at the Transmountain Campus as
the April 2015 Employee of the Month. Jay had
worked as Campus Technician at Transmountain
Campus before his move to the Valle Verde Campus.
This tribute comes 13 days after the celebration of
Jay’s life at the Destiny Family Christian Center, which
was attended by so many people that the seats were
full and some people had to stand.
The event, scheduled for Friday, May 1st, will also
honor Employees of the Month for January, February,
and March.
PAGE 4
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
APRIL 30, 2015
Employees Honored for 5, 10, and15 Years of Service at EPCC
The EPCC Employee Recognition
Luncheon, to recognize 5, 10, and 15
years of service at EPCC, was held
on Friday, April 24th at the ASC
Boardroom. The honorees included
seven Physical Plant employees.
The honorees also were permitted to
take the remainder of the day off as
a token of appreciation. Certificates
were presented by EPCC President
Dr. William Serrata.
Norma Dragon
Administrative
Assistant (15 yr.)
Caesar Lopez
Irrigation
Specialist (15 yr.)
Those who completed 15 years were
Norma Dragon and Caesar Lopez.
The Physical Plant employees who were
recognized for completing 10 years of
service at EPCC were Charles Dean and
Jesus Ortiz.
There was a similar event to honor those
who have completed 20, 25, 30, 35, and
40 years of service on April 2 nd, but none
of the Physical Plant employees had
reached that number in this year.
Charles Dean
Head Maintenance
Worker (10 yr.)
Jesus Ortiz
Campus
Technician (10 yr.)
The Physical Plant
employees who have
completed 5 years of
service are Michael
Alcantar, Pascual
Martinez, and Juan Ruiz.
Michael Alcantar
Mechanic (5 yr.)
Pascual Martinez
Construction
Supervisor (5 yr.)
Juan Ruiz
Maintenance
Worker II (5 yr.)
We congratulate all the
honorees on reaching
this milestone, and we
hope they continue
their EPCC career at the
Physical Plant.
APRIL 30, 2015
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 5
Physical Plant Employees Attend Staff Development Retreat
Physical Plant participants included (l. to r.) Albert Herr, Roberto Samaniego, Juan Ruiz,
Ricardo Torres, Mayra Cordero-Villalobos, Raul Lucero, and Angel Ramirez. The clothes
are for a role-playing exercise, and have been recommended as Physical Plant uniforms.
The 22nd Annual Staff Development Retreat was held between April 9th and 11th in
Galveston, Texas. Seven Physical Plant employees participated in the retreat. After a flight
to the William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, the retreaters were bussed to the Hilton
Galveston Resort in Galveston Island.
The theme of the retreat was “Believing Is Achieving.” A video by Sam Glenn entitled Who
Put a Lizard in My Lasagna? showed participants how to 1) Be Creative, 2) Remember
What’s Important, 3) Go Above and Beyond, and 4) Have Fun!
Alex Hernandez, the Director of Human Resources Development, said that over sixty
people participated, including members of the facilitation team.
The Hilton Galveston Island Resort acknowledged EPCC’s presence in
Galveston through The Daily News newspaper of Galveston County.
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
APRIL 30, 2015
Shattered Dreams Exercise
Photo compliments of Fernie Garcia
PAGE 6
The Grounds Crew blocked the entrance to Valle Verde Campus at the
corner of Hunter Dr. and Hermosillo Dr. and placed barricades in the
area for the crash simulation presented on February 24 th. The event,
Shattered Dreams, sponsored by Student Life, involved the EP Police
Department, EP Fire Department, EP County Sheriff’s office, EMS, and the
EPCC Police Department.
Remodeling of the Valle Verde
Campus Student Services
Center continues and should
be complete by this summer.
The picture at left shows a view
looking west on the first floor.
Rick Torres, Physical Plant
Managing Director, told us that
the contractor is on schedule.
He also said that we will not
recognize the new Center
when the work is completed.
APRIL 30, 2015
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 7
Transmountain Campus in the Dark
The Transmountain Campus
experienced an electrical
outage on April 14th, which
led to cancelled classes that
evening and the following
morning. Night classes
resumed on Wednesday
evening after 5:00 pm.
The outage was caused by a
fault which occurred on the
El Paso Electric Company
side. This fault caused an
aged underground power
line (belonging to EPCC) to
fail, which, in turn, caused
the aged switch gear,
feeding the entire campus,
to fail.
El Paso Electric crews were instrumental in assisting with the replacement of the failed
switch gear. EPCC and Great Southwestern Construction changed and repaired the
faulty line. All crews worked throughout the night and most of the following day to
restore power.
One of the transformer boxes that
was reviewed in the search for
answers about the black-out.
The equipment truck of Great Southwestern
Construction holds what is needed to pull and
repair the underground cables if necessary.
PAGE 8
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
APRIL 30, 2015
Transmountain Campus in the Dark
Work began on the evening of Tuesday, April 14th, in search of the cause of the power
outage that affected most of the Transmountain Campus.
The El Paso Electric Company took advantage of the power outage to replace a
pole and a switch gear (large green metal box) along Kenworthy Street, which
would have required them to turn off the electricity during class time.
APRIL 30, 2015
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 9
Grounds News by Raul Lucero
Now that spring is under way, so is the vegetation throughout
our beautiful district campuses. Transmountain Campus and
its unique desert landscapes show the beautiful blooming
yellow flower Palo Verde tree and the fluorescent orange
Ocotillo cacti welcome atmosphere throughout the campus.
More and more vegetation surrounds the desert campus as
the beautification continues to grow each year. Three more
Mesquite trees were planted west of the campus and a new
flower bed will be added east of the campus as well. A Palo
Verde tree is scheduled to be planted near the flag pole
island and main entrance to the campus in memory of our
Physical Plant co-worker and friend Jay Bryant who worked
for a few years at the Transmountain Campus.
Other campuses that are also getting vegetation at this time
include the Administrative Service Center, Mission del Paso
Campus, Northwest Campus, Rio Grande Campus, and Valle
Verde Campus.
Four planter beds at the VV Americana Village will be filled
with 12 Yaupon Holly Sage to add color to the area. At
Mission del Paso Campus, a pathway with desert plant
material will be finished by early next month. Meanwhile, at
the Northwest Campus Early College High School, a Memorial
Garden alongside the back road and next to the portables is
under way. Rio Grande Campus will get new sod to dress the
front entrance to the main building.
The first phase of the
pathway being installed
at the Mission del Paso
Campus.
Last, but certainly not least, a thornless Palo Verde Museum
tree will be planted in memory of Dr. Ernest Roberts in an
island outside of the ASC “A” building.
The Grounds maintenance continues regardless of how many
projects we have to complete. Aerating and fertilizing are
two of the important work tasks that we are doing at this
time. Another work task that needs to be completed by the
middle of next month is the caulking of all ceramic tiles at the
water fountains. The fountains should be working by the end
of May.
In addition, the crew is also patching away those pesky pot
holes that come out every time it rains. All that and more are
wonderful work tasks that are done throughout these early
months of the year.
Recent additions to the
Transmountain Campus
landscape on the east
side of the campus.
PAGE 10
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
APRIL 30, 2015
Map provided by Rick Torres
Safety Crossing Lights to be Installed
Plans are underway to install School Safety Flasher lights on Phoenix Drive between The
Phoenix of El Paso Apartments and the Valle Verde Campus. There is a lot of foot traffic
at the north entrance to the campus and there are no crosswalk markings or other
traffic control on the street between Hawkins Boulevard and Hunter Drive.
Physical Plant Managing Director Rick Torres says that the work is in the scheduling
phase. He added, “Hopefully the lights will make it a little safer to cross the street onto
our campus.”
Custodial News by Ruben Chavez
GCA Services has changed its training program from
its semi-monthly sessions on various topics to weekly
safety slogans. Managers will review the materials with
the custodians and have them sign-off on the training.
This process will verify that every employee has
received the safety material, which is provided in
English and in Spanish, and document the training.
Peggy Williams, Sr. Regional Manager, told us that we
can never impress enough the importance of working
safely. All managers have been asked to make sure
the training is done weekly and consistently.
Ruben Chavez
Account Manager
APRIL 30, 2015
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 11
Safety Tip from the Office of Risk Management & Safety
The El Paso County Community College District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 12
APRIL 30, 2015
El Paso Electric Loans EPCC a
Charging Station
A recharging station was
installed in the Valle Verde
Campus Cafeteria to allow
recharging of cell phones, ipads, lap-tops, and anything
alse that needs electricity.
The station was placed
compliments of El Paso
Electric Company. There are
plans to place more stations
at other EPCC locations.
The station has twelve outlets
and shelf space to hold
twelve phones. Larger
equipment will require a
longer cord.
Physical Plant
Staff Birthdays
Apr 22
Apr 25
Roberto Mendoza
Carlos Delgado
May 02
May 05
May 09
May 12
May 26
May 26
Mario Valadez
Carol Trejo
Maria Gomez
Rick Lobato
Danny Martinez
William Potter
Cause of Rio Grande Campus Flooding Found
Around 4:00 pm on the
evening of the first day of
this year, a pipe burst and
started a flood from the
6th floor of the Rio Grande
Campus Stanton Building
all the way to the subbasement.
Employees of SERVPRO of
West El Paso and GCA
Services worked until 5:00
am of the next morning
removing the water from
the floors.
Pictured above is the pipe that burst as a result of corrosion, water pressure and below
freezing temperatures. After the water was extracted, 159 floor fans were used to dry the
carpets and 12 dehumidifiers were used on all the floors that were affected. The recovery
was successful and it was business as usual on Monday morning.
APRIL 30, 2015
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 13
Physical Plant Gasoline Usage for Month of March 2015
Physical Plant Gasoline Use 2011-2015
Gallons
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
2011-12
Jan
Feb
2012-13
Mar
2013-14
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
2014-15
The Physical Plant purchased 1,386 gallons ($2,889.12) of gasoline during the month of
March 2015. This amount is 22% less than in the month of February 2015. Comparatively,
the amount used in March 2015 represents 12% more gasoline than that used in March
2014, but it cost 25% less than last year. The price of gasoline seems to have leveled off, so
we may not see such a gap in the future.
EPCC has recently acquired new vehicles, some of which will replace 17 old Physical Plant
vehicles, some as old as 30 years and with mileage exceeding the replacement point. The
new vehicles will help reduce the gasoline use for the entire district.
Physical Plant Work Orders for Month of March 2015
The Physical Plant received 329 Work Order Requests, along with 181 Design Work
Requests, Set-up Requests, and Property Control Records, for a total of 510. This number is
32% morethan the total of 351 for the month of January 2015. GCA Services received 45
calls in March 2015, compared to 67 calls during the month of February 2015.
Location:
Admin. Service Center
Career Training Center
District-wide
Fort Bliss
Mission del Paso Campus
Northwest Campus
Rio Grande Campus
Transmountain Campus
Valle Verde Campus
TOTALS:
Work Orders
53
02
02
00
24
30
54
27
137
329
Completed
45
02
02
00
18
28
45
23
112
275
Percent Completed
85
100
100
00
75
93
83
85
81
83%
EPCC PHYSICAL PLANT
PAGE 14
APRIL 30, 2015
EPCC Utilities from 2013-14 to 2014-15
Electricity - kWh
3,000,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
2013-14
1,000,000
2014-15
500,000
0
Water - Gallons
9,000,000
8,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
3,000,000
2,000,000
1,000,000
0
2013-14
2014-15
Gas - Ccf
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
2013-14
2014-15