SPECIAL CONSULTANT’S SECTION Consultant Isn’t a Four-LetterWord F BY GREG LEEAN


OR SOME IN THIS INDUSTRY, the term “consultant” can have some negative connotations. That doesn’t have to be the case!


During my career with the Minneapolis-


Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), I used consultants many times during my 32-year career. You can’t be involved with design and construction ofmore than 17,000 parking spaces and multiple transit, parking and building-relat- ed projects without using the expertise of con- sultants. The specialized nature of the various


disciplines that consultants can bring to the table makes them an enormous asset to building projects.


Fromthe beginning Like many of you, I started at the bot-


tomand learned as Iworkedmyway up the ladder. Starting as a vending clerk collect- ing money from parking meters and pay toilets, I eventually became the Assistant Airport Director/ Landside Operations. There were many stops along the way and various areas of increasing responsibility as time passed. Having a goodmentor for the first few


years was a big start, but also the ability to workwith skilled experts in areas such as engineer- ing and architecture helped to build knowledge and allowed the growth for a great career path. When we started out in parking, most of us


were pretty green, and I don’tmean that in the cur- rently popular vernacular!We all needed to “cut our teeth” in the operation as we developed skills sets and just plain experience the operation.As busi- ness grows, newchallenges present themselves, such as the need for expansion, rate changes, operational changes, advertising and public relations. We aren’t all blessed with the inherent knowledge to know


enough about every subject in order to plan each expansion and to write each press release or to make each public presentation. We need the assistance of those who have lived these events before.That is where consultants are advantageous.


Areas of commonality Running a parking operation,whether it is in a hospital, uni-


versity or municipal setting or at an airport means making day- to-day decisions. It also means being responsible for tremen- dous amounts of revenue. There are people to manage, facilities to clean, signs to be


placed, money to be collected, reports to be completed, employ- ees to be hired and fired, andmost important of all, customers to be served.


28 NOVEMBER 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com There are revenue control systems to be operated and


maintained, and massive capital spending efforts to be planned.And there are headaches, lots of headaches! Although each type of operation is different,


there are also certain similarities. The similari- ties lead us to specialized experts that can help us decide when it is time to expand, how to expand, how to maintain the integrity of what we have, how to upgrade the revenue control system, and how to advertise the service that we offer, amongmany other things. The ability to find specialized expert


assistance is paramount to success. These areas of specialty aremany.


Specialty expertise Alarge part of the overall respon-


sibility of engineers and architects involves the design of sustainable structures. This effort is undertaken through various specialty areas with- in engineering and architectural services.


1. Engineering services This area takes a number of


forms such as: Structural engineers design the


supporting structure and foundations of the multi-level parking structures


of today. They ensure the parking structure will stand up to all of the loads from people, vehi- cles, snow, wind and seismic forces, and other building code requirements. Mechanical engineers design plumbing


and air-handling requirements. Local and federal requirements need to be adhered to during design, aswell as finding energy-effi-


cientmethods of operation. Electrical engineers design electrical and communication


routing through a project. Stable power sources and stable com- munication are absolutely necessary in operating the facility. The electrical engineer also likely provides design criteria for proper lighting of the facility for patron safety and operation. Back-up power is often needed for not just life-safety items, but now also for crucial revenue and access control systems to ensure smooth operation. Traffic engineers usually get involved with egress and


access design to a parking facility. Surrounding roadways have a huge impact on the design of parking operations. You can’t designmore parking than the surrounding road systemcan ade- quately handle, and these engineers can provide roadway capac- ity studies to help determine how big your facility can be and howmany access and egress points you need, and howmany the street systemcan handle. Civil engineers typically work on design of surface level roadways and curb and gutter, sidewalk details, and drainage of


CONSULTANTS HIGHLIGHT THEIR BEST


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