The Storage Room

Right before Christmas, my supervisor gave me the task of cleaning out our storage room so that I can covert it into a library. Jokingly, I thought to myself "am I being punished?" However, I knew that this was part of the deal of being an intern. Sometimes, you're going to get glamorous high-profile projects and sometimes you're going to get not-so glamorous high-profile projects. Whatever the case may be, I approach each project big or small with the expectation of learning something.

In this case, I learned that nobody had cleaned out the storage since 2003. There was so much paperwork that needed to be purged that I spent most of my time shredding. The good thing about this was that I had previously worked on the record retention schedule for the City Clerk's office so I knew what I could and couldn't get rid of.

After a week, you could walk into the room and not hurt yourself.

Finally, it came time to set up our library. I submitted a request to have our Facilities staff construct dividers for our shelves so that they could be used as bookshelves without having to purchase the actual thing. As I organize the information, I am learning about our wells, water quality reports, operating and maintenance manuals, consultant designs, booster stations, Water Reclamation Plant expansion, just to name a few. It has also given me a chance to work with the Water Planning Coordinator, Water Quality Specialist, and Capital Improvement Plan Manager as they provide incite on what we should keep and where it should go for more efficient use of the material.

No matter how tedious this task has been, I'll know that it will be utilized frequently by the department.