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Show 77000juiy ACTION LINEEIT, Tho problem is smoking ACTION LINE is your' opportunity to make Hill AFB a better place to live, work and play. When you call Ext. 77000, your comments will be recorded and VV Let me give you some of the background concern- ing this building. In September 1984, Bldg. 1231 was officially opened as the DMM Learning Center. At that time, the north hallway was designed as the student break and smoking area and vending machines, ashtrays, etc., were installed accordingly. There is a ventilation system air return vent located in this hallway. When the Og-de- n Air Logistics Center smokingnon-sraokin- g policy went into effect in April 1987, we complied by designating this area as the only smoking area in Bldg. 1231. Reasons for this area being selected were: There are approximately 50 permanent employees signed to this building and we have a student capacity of up to 90 people at a time. We can have 180 transient students per day in the building or 230 different people to accommodate. When classes take breaks we have large groups out at the same time and, depending on the composition of the group, we can have a large number of smokers. The ventilation in this area is the best in the building. We also have two electrostatic air cleaners that will be installed in this area as soon as the installation hardware arrives. This area is the best alternative to a difficult situation. It is in compliance with regulations and is among the least polluted designated smoking areas in the West Area. Sometimes the stated policy cannot be followed to the letter and meet the intent of the overall policy. We have tried to meet the major objectives of the smokingnon-smoking policy and provide a safe working en- of our employees while still allowing all for vironment to smoke to do so. who choose those ""M"MMwm!.jijjw,'jiijj'?iii'i'ijj . . wm V someone needs to they paving are the two better roads in Thunderbird Park. Roads that are in much worse shape are not being paved. The curb and gutters are crumbling, but they're not doing anything about replacing them before paving the roads. Shortly, they'll end up cutting around the curb and gutter and we'll end up with an uneven street. The rubber that was used when the rubber stripping was put on our doors was cracked. I called and reported it, but nothing was ever done about it. Now, a year later, it has cracked out completely. The double windows were made of plastic and are now falling out, the aluminum siding has been blowing off in the wind, and the veneer on the cupboards is coming off already. I think we'd be better off to wait until we had the money to do the job right than ending up with problems like these. staffed through the responsible agency for action. Please 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 the ACTION : LINE. il I appreciate you taking an interest in contract work being done in and around your quarters. Projects in base housing, like other projects, sometimes involve work that appears to be in accordance with specifications which later is found defective. Concerning the Area C projectr numerous factors must be considered when designing a paving repair project, such as drainage, condition of existing surface, base course materials, traffic and availability of funds. The primary reason for reconstruction of Valiant and Vampire streets is to provide proper drainage. Sixth Street will be reconstructed to correct surface failure and improve drainage before overlaying with asphalt. There is a paving project scheduled for next year to reconstruct the driveway garage areas and to install storm drains to im-- . prove drainage. Partial curb replacement will occur at that time. Regarding the garage door rubber molding, the figure guards installed on the garage doors in 1987 were required by contract to be 18 inch thick, and this caused the guards to be too rigid for door operation, resulting in cracking of the rubber. The cracking was limited and at the time was not severe enough to require replacement. The exterior siding was installed in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications. Thunderbird Park is situated in an area where stronger than normal winds are cs Maj. Gen. James W. Hopp Ogden ALC commander hazard spotted Safety There is a hazard at the top of the stairway safety in the 1200 area leading to the lower level from Bldg. 1234. At the top of the stairway the asphalt has been washed out. People have to go around the parked cars and pass over this hole. It could become an even " Q bigger problem because it is eating out underneath the asphalt. Could something be done to correct this problem? This is an obvious safety hazard for people using -the stairway. Thank you for identifying the problem. As you can imagine, civil engineering has many similar repairs to make after our tough winter weather. This repair will be accomplished within 30 days on the civil engineering priority list. Other problems of this nature should be referred to the civil engineering customer service desk at Ext. 72338. jffli I work in a controlled section and every time we have a meeting they smoke. Nobody will do anyabout it and I don't appreciate being in a meeting thing with smoke blowing in my face. Can something be done who have to be in these to help the x meetings? non-smoke- rs : jT tt common, You are correct. I believe you are referring to a recent safety meeting. The training leader conduct- Trying to got help ing the meeting did not enforce the smoking regulation that prohibits smoking during meetingsconferences. He was wrong. Due to the lack of sufficient facilities to accommodate the number of employees at the meeting, the meeting washeld in the lunchroom, which is divided into . areas. I regret the inconvenience or smokingnon-smokin- g discomfort suffered by any employee during the meeting. The training leader is now aware of the regulation and will comply with the smoking regulation. A copy of the smoking regulation will be distributed to all supervisors in the area to prevent a recurrence of such an incident. 0 line i Thank you for calling Action Line. The dedicated active duty line is strictly for the purpose of booking active duty appointments. This is why the appointment desk clerk you spoke with would not schedule an appointment when you called. I am sure you understand the appropriateness of giving our active duty members priority in appointment scheduling. hold on the dependent line is excessive A and as I've answered in this column previously, the hospital has been working several initiatives to speed access to the central appointment desk. Among those recently implemented are a partial decentralization of the appointment system, addiappointment desk, a follow-u-p automate the appointto efforts tional manpower, and The hospital is also service. ment desk, further improving & to acquire telephone management system in working order to pinpoint the exact nature of these excessive waiting times which happen periodically. Be assured the hospital staff is doing everything humanly possible to improve appointment operations. Ajl 0 te this is fraud, waste and abuse because they are planning to build a room on the west side of the building for the smokers that will be vented to the outside of the building as it should be. According to engineering, the construction that is going on at present is only going to blow air back down, so how can smoke be sucked up into the ' system?, . After trying for 35 minutes to get the dependent at the hospital, I called the active duty line but they told me they couldn't help me. Why canjt they help us on that line we're put on hold for 35 minutes on the dependent line? In our lunch room in Bldg! 1239 they are installing some kind of a smoke retainer; however, it is filtering the smoke out and then blowing the air back down directly onto the smokers who are using the room. I feel You are correct that a ceiling flush mount air clean- er unit has been placed in the lunch room of Bldg. 1239. But management has not done a good job of explaining the reason. This unit is on temporary loan to us by the company and has been temporarily installed for a short test period to evaluate and determine if, in fact, it jt room to is effective in purifying the air in a smoke-fille- d an acceptable level. No permanent installation of this unit is intended at this time or until after total evalua-7 tion is complete. An environmental specialist is also testing the effectiveness of the unit. If it is determined the unit is not acthe lunch room will again be used as a lunch ' ceptable, g area. Plans will then proceed to room and construct a permanent smoking room on the west side of the building as you indicated. If the air cleaner works successfully, it will save a considerable amount of money that would have been spent constructing special smoking rooms throughout Hill AFB. Thanks for asking. A of software shortageI bought an Amiga 500 computer at January, find I can't get base exchange and Gin ware it because the BX doesn't carry it. Can softsome- now -- for to thing be done to get the software in we need in order take full advantage of our computer capability? AAFES is aware of the problem in the availability of Amiga software programs. Because the problem affects all AAFES facilities selling Amiga software, the situation has been escalated to the AAFES headquarters, and an effort is being made to improve the availability for all Amiga software programs. Also, we brought this to the AAFES commander's attention during his recent visit to Hill. Hope that it helps. JrJ non-smokin- ' Publication frustration retire from our organization and notification tried to have a published in the Hilltop should think they I down. Times, but they turned it could print that information, along with a picture, for a of. person at that grade level if they just eliminated some advertisements. excessive the We had a GM-1- Overtime cancellations frustrating 5 I JFl Public Affairs receives far more departureretiree notices than we could possibly run in a timely manner. For that reason, except for directors and deputies, we run an abbreviated announcement with everyone's name and length of service approximately once a month. As a commercial enterprise newspaper published at no cost to the government, Hilltop Times is well within Air Force guidelines which call for an average ratio of 40 percent editorial copy to 60 percent advertising. I think it's a good newspaper that does a good job of here at Hill balancing stories about people and events Force. and throughout the Air 1 1 0 We've been working days, and we have with overtime had a problem being canceled at the This is very innotice. advance without last minute any convenient and frustrating. Can something be done to assure we're given advance notice so we can plan our personal lives around it? ' 4 12-ho- ur line I share your concern. As you know, the i has been plagued with modification kit problems fl for some time now which has caused an extreme amount F-1- 6 of work force turbulence. Overtime has become the norm rather than the exception; and you are right, in some cases employees have been inconvenienced by this turbulence. Your management is aware of the problem and is attempting to program overtime as early as possible to reduce hardships.. Thanks for your, great, work in.producr ing F16s despite chronic mod kit problems 11 muoprs Contracts poorly completed contracts that are being accomplished in Area are being poorly contracted and I think QThe are look into it. The roads in ifinni In Bldg. 1231 where we take training, the smoking area is right in the hallway between the office and the classes, so we have to walk through the smoke when we go to class. Can something be done so we don't have to breathe this secondhand smoke? 21, 1989 v. . Design of cabinet projects includes ensuring constructa-bilit- y by using materials consistent with the trade. Overall, the projects have been successful. But again, defects will sometimes surface with time. I am pleased to say that a project to install commercial- grade thermopane windows is now in design with a construction start date of late summer for Phase I. The entire housing staff is very much involved with contract work to ensure the proposed work and design suit the needs of the residents. It is not their intention, nor would it be to their benefit, to accept poor A conflict of classes There is a conflict between the Weber State College and Park College classes held here on base and those held on campus. The quarters overlap, making it impossible to take classes at both locations. Can something be done to make it a little more convenient to for us to pursue an education? G y education is a special Thanks for calling. interest of mine, since that's how I got my advanced degree. I'm sorry that you are finding the eight-wee- k quarter programs offered by Weber State College and Park College inconvenient. The education services y staff has been working very hard to tailor our of needs base meet the education programs to employees and military personnel. The research showed that the quarter format majority of people prefer the eight-wee- k because it permits them to complete the requirements for a degree more quickly. Five quarters per year can be taken instead of four. Since this format is used extensively by bases throughout the Air Force, they asked our providers at Hill AFB to deliver their programs in the eight-wee- k format. The majority of feedback received to format is this point indicates that the eight-wee- k with the While conflicts AFB Hill students. preferred by and the schedule Weber State College campus program do exist, there are methods to work around those conflicts. The education services staff stands ready to assist and counsel you on how best to fulfill your educational goals. Please call Will Hendrick, Ext. 73329, for assistance. yi JrNi Off-dut- off-dut- on-ba- se |