September Caught DGS

Steve Billings is Deputy Chief of the Facilities Engineering Division within Facilities Planning, Design, Construction & Energy. His expertise is projects that are high profile and/or emergency.

The Lawyers Mall project in Annapolis? Steve’s got that! He is on top of the emergency underground utilities replacement project – a project that took center stage this winter when it was discovered that the piping was so deteriorated, it looked like Swiss cheese.  Steve drove the design team to finish plans in record time. An emergency project, he bid it quickly, contacted the contractors, held the pre-bid, and accepted the prices. Ground was broken in August, immediately hitting an unknown underground fuel tank. Steve was on it!

In addition to being a fast-paced project, is in the heart of Annapolis, within viewing distance of the Governor’s offices in the State House and Government House, his residence. This requires regular and high-level communication with the Governor’s staff, legislative leaders, other state officials and the City of Annapolis. Steve has spent hours coordinating with the City of Annapolis and State Highway on road closures and event relocations. He also works closely with the utility companies and the Maryland Department of the Environment on the underground infrastructure.

On September 6^th, Steve presented this project at the Engineers Club in Baltimore, noting lessons learned so far and explaining how he is managing a project of this complexity.

Dennine “Patrice” Queen, Management Associate, has been an incredibly valued member of the Annapolis FOM team for 11 years. Among her many and varied duties she tracks and reviews budget information for our buildings, monitors the superintendent’s office for incoming calls and coordinates APBG’s parking. She also serves as a liaison between the Annapolis FOM and DGS HR office. Responsible for scheduling job applicants, Dennine prepares paperwork and helps to coordinate new hires.

Despite her busy schedule, she maintains an affable, sunny disposition and is always available to assist employees with any questions or concerns they might have. Dennine Queen is definitely an asset to DGS.

Kim Rennie has been with the Office of Real Estate for 30 years. She has the unique distinction of having worked in all three units in the office: the Appraisal unit, Leasing unit and, for the past five years, the Land Acquisition & Disposal unit.

In her current role as Sr. Acquisition Specialist, Kim handles acquisitions and disposals for state agencies and also represents DGS on two important committees: the Smart Growth Coordinating Committee and the Heritage Areas Technical Advisory Committee. As a member of the Heritage Areas Committee, she conducts a labor-intensive grant review every year from April to June. This year, Kim reviewed 60 grant applications; this, in addition to her regular case-load. The grants provide funding to heritage and tourism groups throughout the state to help stabilize and preserve historic properties, provide funding for exhibits and cultural experiences and assist with historic interpretation.

Kim is ORE’s go-to person for difficult projects. When presented with a new challenge, she diligently researches the project and what options are available to accomplish the task. Kim is known for her out-of-the-box solutions and for getting projects completed.