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Show ACTION LINEEXT. 77000 Concerns voiced about fitness center Off-bas- are walkers and runners required to travel in directions in the bubble? Some of us run and walk intermittently and we have to stop to change directions. Also, we can't hear our constantly music above the aerobics music. Why is it necessary for them to play their music so loud? It also concerns me that the women's locker room area always seems to smell bad. Can something be done about that? QWhy ACTION LINE is your opportunity to make Hul AFB a better place to live, work and play. When you call Ext. 77000, or send on LOGDIS or OffictrVLswn to ID "ACTION," your comments will be recorded and staffed through the agency responsible for action. Tlease give your supervisor and chain of command the opportunity to work with you in answering questions and solving problems before calling ACTION LINE. This will help me better serve your interests through ACTION Walkers and joggers are required to go in opposite directions for safety and convenience reasons. Walkers have a tendency to walk, talk and drift out of the walking lanes, which in the past has caused congestion and interruptions of workouts for both joggers and walkers. In order to ensure the safety of and to accommodate both types of exercisers, opposite directionality was initiated and is working very well I agree with you the aerobic music is quite loud. Several factors are involved in the necessity of the high volume. First, the acoustics of the bubble are not compatible to music or public address systems; second, the fans are very loud; and third, outside noise (aircraft type) necessitates the higher Why break up crows? are they breaking up crews that have QWhy awards for putting out the best aircraft? C-13- 0 It seems like when you have something that works use it and take examples from it to make other things work better. well, you should il Due to manpower reductions of supervisory authorization, it will be necessary to consolidate and realign crews to effectively staff our assigned aircraft docks. When possible, present crews will remain intact and every effort will be expended to minimize these moves and still react to daily changes from reduction in force notices. r center funded self-hel- p Keep have remodeled a lot of rooms in our building, QWe the center has been incredibly helpful self-hel- p to us every time we have gone down there. I appreciate all the self-hel- p center has done for us and would like to see it continue because it is definitely a cost saver for the entire Air Force. Can something be done to see that the program is funded again? I center has been a valuable as-- r set to most organizations on base. Hill AFB people have benefited greatly by performing projects to enhance work environments, both indoors and outdoors. Unfortunately, fiscal 1991 is a very tight budget year; base funds are no longer available to adequately stock the center. Facilities money must be conserved to assure continuation of essential services, for example, summer street repairs, water production and air conditioning repairs, through the end of fiscal 1991. However, stocking the self-hel- p center is high on the base priority list for funding, should money become available later this fiscal year. It's very encouraging to know so many people use the self-hel- p opportunity to improve work areas as you do. Thanks for your interest and the inquiry. I agree. The X 7 year. r Ctn. Dolt W. Thompson Jr. commander ALC Suggestion process too lengthy be done to speed up the suggestion QCan something so that it doesn't take such a long time for people to get their money? I just had one come back for some thing that should have been ironed out on the phone between the suggestion office and the equipment specialist. Can't something be done to improve the communication between offices so that suggestions aren't still being sent back and forth seven months later? nit-pick- Recycling of plastics and glass When I inquired concerning the recycling of plas-Z- J tics and glass I was told that bins would be set up in the expanded facility in Bldg. 1248. However, I was also told there is no company in Utah that is set up to recycle glass or plastic so all the plastic and glass that is collected will be dumped or burned. If that's the case, why even go to the trouble of collecting the glass or plastic? Your concern for an apparent contradiction in the base recycling effort is commendable. To clarify: a station to collect glass and plastics is located drop-of- f south of the recycle center, Bldg. 1248, for use by all base personnel. Additional drop-of- f locations are planned for the near future. Materials collected by the Resource, staf Recovery and Recycling Program from these drop-oftions on base will be sent to mills for further recycle or processing. No materials collected will be burned crews. RRRP dumped by our If you were told about any procedure other than that outlined above, it is unfortunate and inaccurate. Reference was to an unfavorable reality which does occur occasionally in the private sector. If a better understanding of any phase of recycling or additional information about the Hill AFB recycling effort is desired, please contact Alyric Ray, Hill Recycle Center, Ext. 79007. M We are working very hard to speed the suggestion evaluation and approval process. You may have identified an area where significant improvement can be made. Unfortunately, you have not been specific enough in your description of the problem so that we can conduct a meaningful investigation. I encourage you to provide specific data concerning the suggestions which are involved and the specific offices which you believe are causing the delays. We can then take a hard look at the situation and make necessary improvements to the r process. Explain supply consolidation had the understanding that Defense Depot QWe is to be in charge of the supply mission and Hill AFB will be their customer. Now we hear that in two years Hill will take over the whole supply mission. Would you please explain what the missions of DDO and Hill will be in two years? There is a scheduled consolidation of the supply and distribution functions of Hill and DDO on Oct. 1. This is being done in conjunction with Defense Management Review Decision 902 which transfers the receipt, storage and issue functions to the Defense Logistics Agency. DDO, which is part of DLA, will then be responsible for the supply mission at Hill. The mission of Hill in two years will be the same as it is now, with the exception of those supply functions being assumed by DLA (DDO). k Jrk We would like a starting time choice My organization just went to the compressed work schedule with start times at 6:30, 7 and 7:30 a.m. There are some people who have the 410 shift with a starting time of 6 a.m. Was that decision delegated to the individual directorates, and is it possible for us to have a choice in the matter? We appreciate the opportunity to at least try the but some of us would have preferred the 410 shift with a start time of 6 a.m. 5-- il Each directorate selected the compressed work schedule shift and start times which they believed would benefit their organization and provide maximum mission accomplishment. Each organization had the option of either participating in the CWS test or not participating. If the decision was made to participate, the directorate could select the 410 or both, as well as select and identify specific start times. alThe local supplement to Air Force Regulation 0 lows start times from 6 to 8 a.m., and you are correct in stating there are currently employees on a CWS work schedule with those start times for the day shift. These decisions were made by each individual directorate based on mission requirements. Specific questions regarding your organization should be directed to the CWS point of contact within your organization. For general information concerning the CWS, call Nancy Lucas, Human Resources Directorate, Ext. ini 9, 40-61- 76142. Is short parka authorized? winter-typ- e Is the short waist-lengtparka authorized for wear at Hill AFB? I couldn't find reference to it in Air Force Regulation h, 35-1- i 0. The short parka is authorized for wear at Hill. The base supplement only states wear policy for the parka, it doesn't prohibit the wear of any specific type. Individual Equipment Issue issues the short parkas in accordance with TA 016. If, you haye any questions, please call 2nd Lt. Maureen Glenn at Ext. 76976. Jr 4 appreciate your concern for wasted man hours at this center. During March we experienced a large increase in trunk usage. The increase more than doubled our average number of calls blocked due to an condition during the peak hours. While we believe this is a temporary condition due to the return of the Desert Storm participants, we are monitoring the situation if it does not taper off soon, we will ask for additional trunks to be installed. Users can help the situation by attempting, when possible, to make their calls outside the peak hours. This not only makes it easier for them to complete their calls, but helps the overload on our telephone switch. Up until March, our traffic surveys have shown an average call completion rate over 95 percent, with the busy hours dropping to approximately 75 percent. It is difficult to justify additional trunking to meet just a peak load. We are conducting an additional analysis of traffic loads and if call completion rates do not improve, we will program for additional trunks. You are quite accurate in your statement that additional trunks would 1 off-bas- e pay for themselves. y self-hel- p self-hel- p fl4 Ogden lines are hard to get I e Each time try to get an outside telephone Lne it Ukes me four to six tries. If each of us spends ap e proximately 30 seconds each day trying to get an line, it calculates out to be a lot of man hours wasted every week. Wouldn't it be worth it to purchase a few additional trunks to eliminate this waste? The phone lines would probably pay for themselves within the first LINE. Moj. 11 Hi,' off-bas- ail M volume. Since this is the only available area for aerobics and class effectiveness depends on the use of music, it is necessary to turn the volume to a level that all aerobic participants can hear. The aerobics instructor has been contacted and asked to monitor the situation. You are correct in stating the locker room smells bad. All locker rooms smell musty and our situation is compounded by the small and enclosed design of the room, moisture from the pool, heat from the sauna and the increased number of users. In order to combat the problem, the ventilation system has been improved, the cleaning schedule has been stepped up, additional room deodorizers are being used, and floor fans are available for use. This is an inherent problem of all locker rooms and is being worked on a daily basis. We welcome suggestions to better this ongoing problem. May 31, 1991 How will inequities be adjusted? are they going to adjust the inequity, in pay allowbenefits when it comes to holidays that will result with implementation of the compressed work schedule? Some people will receive two hours more than those shift, while others will receive one working the eight-hou- r hour more. That equates to a 12.5 percent and 25 percent increase for those people over the ones working the straight shift. That isn't much for a single holiday, but scattered over the 10 holidays we receive each year, it can become quite a sum. Please explain to us how equality will be achieved in this program. Employees working 80 hours in a pay period will be paid for 80 hours whether they are on an eight-hou- r day or a compressed work schedule. They will also be paid for overtime worked. If they work on a holiday, they will receive holiday pay. During a week with a federal holiday, employees on 549 may work one hour less and those on 410 two hours less than other employees. As you mentioned, this could be considered an inequity. It was one of the issues considered by management and the union before a decision was made to test a compressed work schedule. In addition to your concerns, there are some lost production hours. Currently, there are no provisions to change this. However, it will be assessed in the evaluation of the test which is scheduled to continue until April 1, 1992. I would point out that employees have different opinions of inequity. For example, some employees working the 410 have concern about using 10 hours of annual leave instead of eight when they want a day off. Others are faced with challenges of changing carpools, babysitting issues and working longer days. I don't have answers that will satisfy everyone, but I am excited about expanding the CWS test and the fact that a preponderance of the work force desires to try it. For more information on the compressed work schedule, call Nancy Lucas in the Human Resources Directorate, Ext. 76142. jfi. A4 Bicycle paths needed Would it be possible to establish bicycle paths along a few of the major thoroughfares on base? This would provide a safe place for the bike commuters, as well as reduce a hazard to motorists. If there were bicycle paths on base, more people would be inclined to cycle to work, which would reduce the traffic and parking congestion, reduce the need for road maintenance, and promote the health and fitness of the work force, as well as conserve energy. well-develop- I agree that bicycling is a great way to ease base traffic and parking problems. To accommodate more bicycling, roads need to be widened five feet for a bicycle path and 10 feet to handle two directions of travel. The additions are a sizable investment in the base intraffic survey completed recentfrastructure. A base-wid- e ly showed only 36 out of 11,856 respondents ride bicycles to work, however. Therefore, we can't fund the project at this time. As funds permit, the base roads improvement plan will strive to incorporate the needs of bicyclists by providing wider shoulders on main arteries. The first sign of a change will occur with the remodeling of M Street and the West Gate improvement project, both slated for fiscal 1992. The next opportunity will take place with the construction of a base artery connecting Sixth and Second streets near the tank farm area. At present, the secondary roads on base offer the safest travel routes. In the interim, I suggest that you use caution when traveling on and off base on a bicycle. I encourage you to discuss bicycle route planning with Marge Williams, the base master planner, at Ext. 72145. Your input will be beneficial. rk |