Metropolitan had its own special turkey - construction worker Turkey Smith pictured here at Lake Mathews circa October 1935 and still "on the job" in January 1938 according to the original caption.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT MET THIS WEEK
A weekly newsletter by and for Metropolitan employees
November 26, 2018
Relining the Vital Orange County Feeder
The Orange County Feeder is a major part of Metropolitan’s distribution system in Southern California. It conveys treated water from the Weymouth Plant to six member agencies in Los Angeles and Orange counties. The feeder, which is constructed of welded steel pipe, first came into operation in 1941. Due to steel shortages during World War II, Met purchased used pipe from the city of Pasadena for the project.

While the pipeline’s structural integrity remains sound, r ecent inspections have identified deterioration of the lining.

Final design of the needed repairs for this second phase of the project has been completed, and earlier this month, the Board approved a nearly $7 million construction contract to replace lining in a 4-mile section of the pipeline.

Project Manager Sam Mouawad presented the item to the Engineering and Operations committee. Link to the full presentation is here .

This construction contract will allow rehabilitation work to be performed on the pipeline in Santa Ana and Costa Mesa. The work includes removing pipe segments at 13 sites to enable cleaning and relining machines to access the line. W ater-blasting will be used to remove coal-tar enamel, corrosion and debris. Damaged segments will be repaired, joints will be welded and cement mortar will be applied to the pipe’s interior wall. At each access site, new steel pipe segments with manhole outlets will be installed to improve access to the feeder for future maintenance. 
A (Christmas) Tree Grows at MWD Headquarters
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Metropolitan’s Headquarters with the traditional 20-foot tall tree filling the rotunda.

Assembling and decorating the tree takes a crew of six people about 12 hours. 

The tree boasts 500 yards of ribbon and 14 huge bins of ornaments. This year, instead of the traditional colors of mostly red and green, staff did something different. “We wanted to try something with a more contemporary look using mainly silver, gold, white and black” said Mike Patel who managed the project this year.

Mike explains that staff brought the idea for the new color scheme to the owner of the company that decorates the tree. The owner was excited by the proposal but did not have enough decorations in those colors to do the tree justice. “The minute our meeting ended,” Mike said, “he headed straight for the warehouse so he could get enough ornaments and ribbons in those colors.”

“It was a challenge making a black, white and silver tree on such a large scale,” commented the decorator. “It is rare that we get to create a tree from scratch that is so big. Everyone on the crew loved the creative experience.”

Metropolitan owns the tree and when it is not on display, it is stored in the HQ building. It has five sections and measures 11-feet in diameter at its base. Displays celebrating other cultures and holidays will adorn the rotunda starting in early December. 
After a Wild Cross County Drive, They're Loving CA
Metropolitan increasingly attracts top talent using social media to reach job candidates who are far beyond our service area. Case in point is Rickita Hudson , an Executive Assistant in the Legal Office who saw a job announcement on LinkedIn Jobs about two years ago. She was living in Florida, but the job seemed like a great fit for her skills and experience in the legal field. She came to California for the written test, followed by another trip for the interview, and then landed the job.

“I packed up my things and drove cross country,” Rickita said. “I come from a family of truck drivers, so I was pretty confident I could handle a rental truck and tow my car.” She and her four year-old grandson headed west, but ran into a severe thunderstorm in Baton Rouge that had her driving in circles for hours in dangerous conditions. Once they finally got past the storm, she seriously considered staying in Texas. But fortunately for Metropolitan - and after a visit to a spa - Rickita made the rest of the trip.

As the legal assistant to the Assistant General Counsel and Chief Deputy General Counsel, she manages a huge workload and uses her organizational skills to keep track of thousands of important documents. In her first year and a half, she’s digitized many documents so they can be more easily stored and retrieved.

When she’s not at work, Rickita stays busy with her active grandson who loves sports, playing the game of Uno, and his growing circle of California friends. 
New hires, transfers, promotions & retirements are posted here each month.   
NEXT LIST: DECEMBER 3
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