Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) recently recognized 32 PennDOT employees with the Star of Excellence Award, PennDOT's highest recognition. Michele Harter, P.E., contract management section chief and resident of Middletown, was among those honored for their outstanding performance.

Harter was recognized for providing swift, professional guidance to customers during the state mandated shutdown. Construction projects were placed on hold to minimize exposure. She provided guidance to support these temporary suspension orders.

PennDOT worked with industry partners on solutions for restarting construction projects with the focus of avoiding the spread of the coronavirus. Harter was the PennDOT lead of the Lettings, Award, and Notice to Proceed (NTP) group of the construction restart team. A multi-organizational project delivery team was formed to identify critical operations and a document was created providing guidance to restart field activities consistent with Department of Health guidance.

Harter created template letters for PennDOT districts to notify consultants of construction inspection and design fieldwork that could resume. Firms were asked to submit COVID-19 Safety Plans, and Harter led a team responsible for the review and acceptance of 128 statewide safety plans.

PennDOT faced a cash flow crisis as motor license fund revenues declined, and a difficult decision was made to pause construction lettings due to these shortfalls. A Cash Flow Team was established, and Harter led a sub-team responsible to provide graphical representations of actual and projected revenues and expenditures in various appropriations. Summary information provided current and projected cash flow, ultimately supporting a restart of the letting program.

Harter was also a Governor's Award of Excellence finalist in 2020 and was nominated by the Department of Labor and Industry for her extraordinary work. She tackled all special assignments while leading the Contract Management Section within the Bureau of Project Delivery and assisted with specification changes, Risk Allocation Committee items, On the Job Training (OJT) System rollout, ECMS activities, consultant agreement concerns, and other initiatives.

The Star of Excellence Awards are presented annually to employees who represent the department's values of service, performance, and integrity. Readers may subscribe to PennDOT news in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York counties at http://www.penndot.gov/District8.