WACO, Texas — The Texas Chapter of the American Public Works Association recognized Timi Dutchuk, chief of Environmental Programs for the Fort Cavazos Directorate Public Works as an individual award winner for the Sustainability Practices Award at a ceremony June 28 at the Waco Convention Center.
“I feel honored to be recognized by a group of that caliber, who certainly sees the best of the best,” Dutchuk said.
The APWA provides a forum in which public works professionals can exchange ideas, improve professional competency, increase the performance of their agencies and companies and bring important public works-related topics to public attention in local, state and federal arenas. The TX-APWA awards program presented more than 30 awards to recognize outstanding individuals, groups and communities representing the best in public works.
Dutchuk’s recognition earned Fort Cavazos the honor of winning an APWA award from the state a second year in a row. It is a testament to her strong work ethic, leadership and commitment to the DPW mission since joining the directorate in 2003.
She first began as the Hazardous Materials manager and Environmental Training coordinator until May 2007. Then, she was promoted as the chief of Operations and Maintenance Division for DPW and led a diverse team of tradesmen and professionals performing maintenance activities for buildings and infrastructure across the installation for nearly eight years until March 2015. Afterwards, she returned to DPW Environmental, earning a promotion as the Environmental Division chief.
Throughout her leadership and mentorship, she has leveraged the team of teams concept to grow bonds, promote collaboration and strengthen communication between stakeholders and partners.
“Fort Cavazos is a team of teams. Everybody has chipped in, and not just Environmental but throughout DPW, Range Control, (Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization and Support) and (Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation),” Dutchuk said. “All the directorates have adopted the concept of sustainability as a mindset across the entire installation.”
Under Dutchuk’s leadership, Fort Cavazos has implemented sustainable best practices that is building a framework to facilitate change, improve relationships with stakeholders and support mission readiness.
Notable successes include an aggressive energy management program and energy reduction strategies that save the Army more than $3 million annually; zero current and zero significant violations with the State and Environmental Protection Agency; celebration as a Tree City USA community for the 17th year; first Department of Defense installation to commit to the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge; outreach efforts impacting more than 8,240 individuals in a single year at events like Earth Day, Howdy Y’all, Environmental Quality Control Committee and Eco-Harvest; and continued support and involvement of the Cen-Tex Sustainable Communities Partnership and Youth Environmental Ambassadors! program.
To encourage environmental and community stewardship, Dutchuk encourages Texas municipalities and military installations to think forward.
“It’s really the concept that we don’t own the Earth. We borrow it from our grandchildren,” she said. “It’s making sure that those resources are still available for our children or grandchildren, their children and their grandchildren. Let’s not overdo it and make sure they still have enough.”
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