When a person is elected to local office, they quickly realize that there is a lot they do not know. Very few residents of the county recognize how much time that municipal officials spend in training. It starts with the County Commissioners who actively participate in the programs of CCAP, the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. Each of the three present commissioners has actively participated in the CCAP Academy of Excellence in County Government. For borough mayors and council members, there is PSAB, the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, which delivers training and technical assistance to borough officials. The largest of the municipal training organizations is PSATS, the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, which like the name states, is the primary focus for training programs for township supervisors.

Yet, this training is dependent on good trainers. In a recent discussion with Dave Sanko, president of PSATS, he commented to me how difficult it is to find excellent trainers because though there are many who know their subject well, there are few that are good at teaching that subject to others.

A shining example of excellent training was offered on Wednesday, October 10th at the Genetti Hotel in Williamsport by the Pennsylvania One-Call System, Inc (PA One-Call, for short). Their motto is “know what’s below, dial 8-1-1 before you dig.” This is part of the national 8-1-1 system that is designed to prevent any possible damage to the “underground industry.”

This “underground industry” is incredibly vast given that below the ground are pipes and wires for water, sewage, gas, oil, steam, cables, telephone, stormwater, electricity utilities, signal lines, slurry lines, pipelines, etc. All it takes is one little “oops” by an excavator, and a major disaster could erupt.

Since excavation does not just include corporations, but also local municipalities, and for that matter, even a homeowner digging out a ditch, this should concern us all. To that end, the Pennsylvania One-Call System has a very helpful website, PA1Call.org, and also utilizes nine liaison personnel who conduct training seminars throughout the state. The one who conducted the training in Williamsport was Mark Lipka, who represents the north-central part of Pennsylvania for PA One-Call.

Mark grew up in Philipsburg, PA and attended Lycoming College, graduating with a degree in Criminal Justice and Legal Studies in 2006. He then took a job in the state of Indiana where he worked for the next eight years, but he and his wife were looking to get back to the area, and that was when he took the job with PA One-Call as this area’s liaison representative.

It was evident from the presentation in Williamsport that they have the right man. Attended by 20 individuals who had had rugged look of folks who definitely work hard for a living, this is typically not the type of audience that is easy to train. Perhaps it was because of his excellent education at Lycoming, but Mark Lipka was able to take the mundane subject of the proper utilization of a necessary service in the work of excavation, and make his program not just informative, but also incredibly engaging.

And it was not through gimmicks or funny stories, either. Mark’s program was very professionally structured. He presented the essential information clearly and simply, with excellent audio/visuals, which even included short videos. He gave each participant a personalized interactive device that through periodic quizzes cleverly measured whether the trainees were comprehending the material. His manner was so smooth; it made the two hours of training fly by.

The highest compliment that could be paid to a professional is that they made it look easy. Mark Lipka is definitely a professional trainer. There was not a question that he did not answer simply and directly. He kept on the schedule, and yet never appeared rushed. He took eight words, “know what’s below, dial 8-1-1 before you dig,” and made them come alive.