The City of Tulsa recognized two employees Monday for outstanding service to the community.
Engineer Lisa Simpson oversees a traffic design group. She was recognized for creating additional handicapped parking near the Philtower building.
She’s part of a group currently working to reduce copper theft by installing theft-proof bases and mechanisms that limit the amount of wire that can be pulled at once.
"We're also looking at some new technologies that can alert us when circuits are broken or if some of our equipment is being tampered with," Simpson said. "We're also replacing copper with aluminum wire, which is less likely to be stolen at this point."
Shop supervisor Gary Burr developed a program to teach Union High School students auto repair. Burr credited the students for their dedication, with many of them coming in outside of class hours.
"And they've extended their hours to work on something to get it ready," Burr said. "The city surplus auction just recently had a sale, and they prepared a car for that. And it did much better because they worked on it."
According to the mayor’s office, a Union graduate got a mechanic job to help pay for college because of Burr’s Learning With A Wrench program. The student is now studying engineering at OU.
Simpson and Burr's awards were part of the Tulsa Blue program.
