Greg Filpus Eagle ProjectGreg Filpus Eagle ProjectDescribe the project you plan to do.
The goal of the project is organize volunteers to set up at eight different Chapel Hill town parks fourteen signs to serve various purposes (Rules and entrances) where signs are either nonexistent or need replacing. The town will supply the signs themselves and the hardware that needs to be used to install them, as well as money to purchase materials and rent any necessary tools. Because the project will take place at very different locations both within the parks and between the parks, and because the work should be done efficiently in as few workdays as possible, (As work will need to be done to prepare the signs and posts for installation, and the actual work may disrupt other activities at the parks) coordinating operations simultaneously at different locations will be critical.
What group will benefit from the project?
Name of religious institution, school, or community: The people of Chapel Hill, through Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation
Telephone No.: 968-2787
Street address: 200 Plant Road
City: Chapel Hill
State: NC
Zip code: 27514
My project will be of benefit to the group because:
For the signs that do not exist, the project will
help those that use the parks by better informing of them of the
relevant rules to not disturb the enjoyment of others. In particular,
the policy against smoking near children's play areas, which at some of
the parks I am installing signs in is not marked at all, is an
important one to be followed. For the signs that are being replaced,
the project will improve the visual appeal of the parks.
This concept was discussed with my unit leader on (Date): 5/28/05
The project concept was discussed with the following representative of the group that will benefit from the project.
Representative's name: Bill Webster
Representative’s Title: Assistant Director
Phone No.: 968-2787, ext. 214
Date of meeting: Various, in-person meeting
Plan your work by describing the present condition, the method, materials to be used, project helpers, and a time schedule for carrying out the project. Describe any safety hazards you might face, and explain how you will ensure the safety of those carrying out the project.
If appropriate, include photographs of the area before you begin your project. Providing before-and-after photographs of your project area can give a clear example of your effort.
Some of the locations are ones where signs are clearly needed, such as the play area at Hargraves Park with only one sign in the middle of the children's play area telling to not smoke in the area, or the other parks that have no "no smoking" signs in similar areas. At those locations where a sign already exists, the signs are old and visibly deteriorating.
Signs, vandal-resistant hardware- Supplied by town
Posts- Buy
Concrete- buy
Gas for vehicles- reimburse drivers
Paper for any handouts, copies- personal supply
Water, etc. to keep the troops happy- personal supply/buy
Water to mix- either from running water, nearby creeks. (~1 gallon for each hole)
Drills & saws- Personal supply, workers can bring
Post hole digger- Rent or borrow from Mr. Risk
Trowels, etc. to work with concrete- workers can bring
Shovels- workers can bring
Gloves, appropriate clothing for working with concrete- workers will bring
Tool to install vandal-resistant hardware- town will provide
Wheelbarrow or other large container to mix concrete- personal supply
Cameras, coolers, clipboards, etc.- personal supply
Miscellaneous larger lumber for leverage- personal supply
Now to the end of school (June 10): Planning and approval
The Monday after that- Setup work, drilling & sawing posts at my house, 4-6 people in a morning.
2-3 weekdays in the following week- in the morning do one group of parks (North, East, or South), 9-12 each day.
East (Burlington, Community Center, maybe Cedar Falls, depending on time)- 3/5 signs
North (maybe Cedar Falls, Homestead, NFH)- 5/3 signs
South (Umstead, Hargraves, Jones)- 6 signs
Clean up- collect tools and materials; remind people of next workday, check each individual location to make sure everything is in a state where it can be left
The town will cover costs for items that need to be purchased or rented. I do not yet have exact figures because the town has not yet finalized the sign order and post dimensions, the main factors in quantities of the items I need to buy.
For the most part, the work can be done by youth. Around 6-8 people will have to come to the workdays, and 4-5 for the setup day. The primary avenues for recruitment are e-mail lists for both the troop and OA chapter, which have been used for past Eagle projects. It may also be possible to do recruitment through the school to finish off the service requirement at the last minute (If work can begin before the end of the school year) or to get an early start on it (For instance, my younger brother is in eighth grade; since service learning for high school can begin with the summer before freshman year, I will be able to find help through his friends). Messages will contain date, time, and place of workdays, and ask that those planning on coming contact me so I know who will be there.
Policies in the Guide to Safe Scouting will be followed, particularly two-deep leadership. This will come from adult leaders from the troop, most of whom have youth protection certification. On the workdays, the adults will lead groups when the work splits off into multiple areas.
For the set-up day, workers will be working at my house, with my parent's permission.
The parks themselves are property of the town and Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation, which I've been in contact with about the project. Dates for workdays will be confirmed with them.
Since the project is more spread out than some, coordination at each
site will be important. The location of the parks can be roughly
divided into three groups, roughly north, east, and west parts of town,
and each day will focus on one group. Everyone will meet at the
beginning of the workday at the largest or most accessible park in the
group, (Umstead, Cedar Falls, and the Community Center) which will
serve as a sort of "home base" for that day until the signs that need
to be set up there are finished.
Workers will be responsible for their own transportation to the worksites on each day. Non-Scouts will be informed of the Scouting regulations on driving, particularly seat belts, the restrictions for drivers under 21, and liability insurance. Adults from the troop will have vehicles ready for transportation during a workday; the troop usually has both vans for passengers and pickup trucks for equipment on outings.
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| The old entrance sign at Umstead Park. | Closeup of decay on the entrance sign. |
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| Closeup of decay on the park rules sign at Umstead. | The play area at Hargraves Park. |
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| Old entrance sign at Jones Park | Parking lot at the Community Center, planned sign location. |
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| Old entrance sign at Burlington Park | Old park rules sign at Burlington Park. |
Project plans were reviewed and approved by:
Religious institution, school, or community representative:
_________________________________ Date: ___________
Scoutmaster/Coach/Advisor:
_________________________________ Date: ___________
Unit committee member:
_________________________________ Date: ___________
Council or district advancement committee member:
_________________________________ Date: ___________
IMPORTANT NOTE: You may proceed with your leadership project only when you have …
Completed all the above mentioned planning details
Shared the project plans with the appropriate persons
Obtained approval from the appropriate person
Record the progress of your
project. Keep a record of how much time you spend planning and carrying
out the project. List who besides yourself worked on the project, the
days they worked, the number of hours they worked each day, and the
total length of time others assisted on the project.
If appropriate, list the type and
cost of any materials required to complete the project. If your
original project plan changes at any time, be sure and document what
the change was and the reason for the change.
Tuesday 6/14
I met with Mr. Webster to pick up the signs and vandal-resistant
hardware and go over the new set of locations at the parks. Because the
sign order for the parks mentioned in the original proposal had not yet
come in, I picked up a different set of 15 signs for Meadowmont and
Pritchard Parks. (I discuss this order further under "Changes")
Wednesday 6/15
I sent out e-mails for recruitment to forward to the OA chapter, troop,
and rising 9th graders and set the first workday for Saturday from 9-12.
Thursday 6/16
Bought some concrete (10 bags, which should be enough for Saturday) and
bolts for the sign installation beyond what the town provided (Which
later turned out to not fit). I decided that if I were to buy that much
concrete again (Which I didn't have to), I'd bring a helper or two, as
moving a quarter ton of concrete from the shelf to the shopping cart to
the car is rather strenuous. No positive responses to the recruitment
e-mails yet.
Friday 6/17
Got tools together for Saturday and called Yarnell-Hoffer about renting
the post hole digger. Did some follow-up calls for people in the troop,
and was 2 for 2 with the families I contacted, plus two people I'd
e-mailed said yes, which gives a decent crew complement.
Saturday 6/18- Workday 1 at Meadowmont
In short: We put in five of the six signs needed at Meadowmont.
In long: It turned out some of the people I'd expected to come actually
couldn't, but there were still enough to get the work done. We started
off picking up the post hole digger and arrived a little before the
others did at 9. That posed a slight efficiency hangup- as putting a
sign in a hole is essentially a three-step process, the first of which
is digging the hole, the fact that only adults could operate the
machine meant that everyone else had to stand around for a little bit.
I used that time to explain the procedures and plans for the day,
although at future workdays, I'd arrive with the digger before everyone
else does to get the holes started.
Some other minor hiccups when we were starting off- I didn't bring
enough shovels, so my mother drove home to get some, (This was before
our third adult left) and the post hole digger was having some problems
starting up. It would eventually do so after a few tries.
Once things got underway for the first four signs, things moved pretty
smoothly- the adults would operate the digger while the youth
would be pouring concrete and putting up a sign or two, and I would go
between the groups to make sure everything was running smoothly,
approving the positioning of the signs before the water could be added,
and pitching in for the actual work when I saw a need.
But the fourth sign was the first real issue- I had three "No Swimming"
signs, and Mr. Webster and I had only discussed the placement of two.
There was a third entrance to the pond besides the two that already had
signs, so I went with a location visible from there.
The fifth sign was more of a challenge. First off, it was on the other
side of the school, which meant driving everything to the other side of
the school parking lot and still carrying the concrete a reasonable
distance. (There was a closer road, which we drove around to to pick
things up at the end) Once we got everything we needed there and
started digging, the bit got stuck in the ground, and running the
digger wouldn't help at all. Everyone who was left was at that sign, so
we all pitched in, having either multiple shovels or multiple hands
digging the bit out. That cost us most of the third hour, but we still
had time to put the sign in the hole we dug the bit out of.
Once the last helper outside of my family left at noon, we went to
return the digger before we hit the end of the 4 hour rental, and then
came back to do a little bit of followup work (We had poured the
concrete in up to a few inches below ground level, so it was just a
matter of putting some of the soil dug out of the hole on top of it.)
on a few of the signs and to scout out the location of the sixth sign
at Meadowmont a little more. It turned out to be more complicated than
I'd thought, and I'm not sure if we could've done it even if the bit
hadn't gotten buried. It's a long walk from the school, but we drove
around to the other end of the trail to find out that it's a shorter
but much more rugged walk. The fact that a sign needs to be pulled out
there makes it more labor-intensive. That one might call for a manual
digger, because getting the large one we had used that Saturday to and
from the site would have been a mess.
Lessons learned: Bring a camera, a level, a wheelbarrow, and a garbage bag to hold the empty concrete bags.
Sunday 6/19
Did some more scoping out of the Pritchard Park locations based on the
lessons learned from yesterday, primarily regarding how to get the
posthole digger in to the various locations. Fortunately, there are
only 4 holes that need to be dug, three of which are easy enough to get
to. The fourth might need to be done manually. I also took a look at
the way the signs were installed to see how it looks on the post.
Monday 6/20
I went to Lowes to figure out just what I needed for the next phase.
For whatever reason, the galvanized bolts I had bought earlier didn't
fit the vandal-resistant fasteners from the town; instead, I bought
some of the stainless steel ones, which were more expensive but had
similar protection to the galvanized ones and would fit the fasteners.
Later, I sent out e-mails for the next workdays, Wednesday and
Thursday. I bought the lumber in the afternoon, but I'd still need more
bolts, as I got all Lowes had.
One more hangup- we found out this morning that my father's cordless
drill's battery charger died, and it's an old style battery that they
don't sell the charger for anymore. As part of calling people to follow
up on my e-mail, I called some of the adults in my troop specifically
about drills.
We did try drilling with a corded drill to understand the process
before having to use it in the field. It turned out we'd need a 1" bit.
Tuesday 6/21
Bought the last few materials (The bit, the rest of the bolts, some
more concrete) and drilled the signs that don't have posts at the parks
already to get a better feel for the process and reduce the amount of
work that has to be done out in the field. The only issue there was
that some of the signs had holes that were too small for the bolts we
had, but it was fairly simple to drill out the holes to make them large
enough.
That afternoon, I made some more phone calls, particularly to people
who might have drills; I only got two or three maybes, not from people
who have a drill. Since that isn't enough people to install the posts,
I decide late Tuesday night to make Wednesday a drilling day instead of
a concrete day, which we can do with fewer people. That meant there's
nothing to do where I told everyone to meet, but it was too late to
change things. I decided to just send people over once we assemble, and
eventually got a lead on the drill. Still, we decided to rent one as a
backup.
Wednesday 6/22- Workday 2 at Pritchard Park
In short: We put up the four signs that had posts already in place.
Yarnell-Hoffer didn't have any cordless drills to rent, so we had to
head over to Home Depot to get one. It turned out Home Depot also had
some smaller automatic augurs, which would be useful for Thursday when
we'd have to take one in on the trails. Once everyone arrived, we
headed over to the other side of the library to put the signs up. There
were two pairs of signs close together, so the adults would drill one
(And the drill was worth renting, as the one we borrowed couldn't get
through the wood) while everyone else installed the other. With a much
smaller crew, I personally did more of the work, but still could move
between groups to make sure everything ran smoothly.
The only real issue once we got started was misplacing the pencil we
were using to mark the posts somewhere between the second and third
signs. Fortunately, we had an extra. We were finished earlier than I'd
originally planned on since we didn't have any concrete work to do.
While we were out there, we found a reasonable spot to put a 15th sign
that Mr. Webster hadn't known where to put. After we got home, I called
him about it to confirm that and ask a few more questions that came up
in the morning for future work, (Like getting a key to use the faucets
outside the library) and he said that it seemed to make sense. I went
and bought the materials for the last sign and we cut and drilled it at
home. Some more phone calls in the afternoon got up closer to what I
had on Saturday for the concrete. One of the boys in the troop lives
close to where we'd be working, so I arranged a water supply from there.
Thursday 6/23- Workday 3 at Pritchard Park
In short: Put up the other five signs at Pritchard Park.
A few people who were "maybe" for working this morning cancelled near
the last minute, so number-wise I was where I was Wednesday; however,
having one more adult made operating the post hole digger work better.
We rented a smaller post hole digger from Home Depot that we could take
in on the trail a little bit, and arrived with it a little before
everyone else did to have a hole basically done by the time other
people were arriving. There was one equipment failure- it turned out
that our old wheelbarrow was so rusted that one of the handles broke,
making it unusable and the transportation of concrete more of a problem.
Things ran fairly smoothly- there were three locations with one or two
signs, so most of the adults would be one location ahead with the
digger while the youths would be pouring the concrete and transferring
everything to the next location. With a smaller crew, I did more of the
work with the concrete preparations, but also travelled between the two
groups to make sure things were running smoothly and to give guidance.
Once all the posts were in, two of us went around to do follow-up work.
(Filling in the top few inches of the hole and taking pictures)
The only significant issue was that the digger couldn't get far at all
with some of the post holes. By the time it got to that point, we would
usually have enough people free to finish digging the hole by hand.
Getting to the site earlier also made returning the digger on time for
the 4 hour rental was a little tighter, especially since Home Depot
charges if the tools aren't clean. But we avoided extra charges, and
didn't need to rent anything again.
That evening, I started calling people about the next workday, Saturday
morning (As many people had had problems with the workdays on weekdays
just because they were on weekdays), and seeing if anyone could bring a
wheelbarrow (For the last Meadowmont sign) or cordless drill (For the
Pritchard double signs). I'd basically abandoned general recruitment
e-mails, as they hadn't gotten anyone I didn't call anyway except the
Vanderburgs the previous Saturday. Still, I told everyone I'd e-mail
them with directions. (The trail entrance for Meadowmont is harder to
find.)
Friday 6/24
E-mailed directions to the people I'd talked to Thursday night, and
made some more phone calls to see if anyone else could come. Found two
people who said they could probably bring a wheelbarrow, and
(eventually) one person who couldn't come but could lend me a drill if
I picked it up. While we were on the phone confirming that, the
replacement charger for our family's drill came in, but I decided that
it'd be worth having an extra.
Saturday 6/25- Workday 4 at both Pritchard and Meadowmont
In short: We transferred one sign at Meadowmont and fixed the double-sided signs at Pritchard.
In long:
A smaller crew than we've had before, but that wasn't as big an issue,
as the tasks that needed to be done were much more focused than
anything we'd done before. We actually wound up with two wheelbarrows,
but one had a flat tire; that was still enough to transport the
concrete and everything else that needed transportation at Meadowmont.
What we needed to do there was to, at a particular trail intersection,
remove one sign, put it in a new hole, and put a new sign in the old
hole. Digging the holes was more labor-intensive, so I personally
needed to do more of the work. Still, we had enough people to work on
both holes at once, and I could keep an eye on how the other hole was
doing. Once both holes were dug, (Which took most of the time we spent
that day at Meadowmont) pouring the concrete and positioning the signs
was fairly straightforward. After burying both signs and taking
pictures, we took a water break and drove to Audobon Road.
At a trail intersection accessible from that entrance, we had one
last task. The two posts there had signs installed on each side one
below the other, which though it worked well with the methods used to
mount the signs, was fairly unseemly. Also, since the posts were fairly
short, the lower signs were only a few inches off the ground. We needed
to reinstall those signs with longer bolts so that they could both be
at the top of the post.
That task went fairly smoothly, although only having one adult who was
comfortable using the drill and only one tool that could remove or
install the fasteners made for some bottlenecks. Even so, we split the
tasks most of the time to work on both signs at once. One decision I
had to make involved the second pair of signs- the holes weren't
drilled perfectly straight, so we could put both signs on the posts and
install them, they were visibly askew relative to each other. I decided
that it was worth taking the signs off and trying to drill the holes a
little straighter, which helped tremendously.
The length of time spent should be as adequate as is necessary for you to demonstrate your leadership of two or more individuals in planning and carrying out your project.
Hours I spent …| Planning the project: | 16.5 |
| Carrying out the project : | 17 |
| Total hours I spent working on the project: | 33.5 |
| Name | Date | No. of Hours |
| James Vanderburg | 6/18 | 1.5 |
| Wayne Vanderburg | 6/18 | 1.5 |
| Philip Hock | 6/18 | 2.5 |
| Ben Hock | 6/18 | 2.5 |
| Chris Hock | 6/18 | 2.5 |
| Daniel Ripperton | 6/18 | 3 |
| 6/25 | 1.5 | |
| Cheryl Filpus | 6/18 | 3 |
| 6/21 | 1.5 | |
| 6/23 | 3 | |
| 6/25 | 3 | |
| Dave Filpus | 6/18 | 4.5 |
| 6/21 | 2 | |
| 6/22 | 3 | |
| 6/23 | 4.5 | |
| 6/25 | 3 | |
| Jay Miles | 6/22 | 1.5 |
| 6/23 | 2.25 | |
| Myles Dunder | 6/22 | 1.5 |
| Brian Waldrup | 6/22 | 1.5 |
| 6/25 | 1.5 | |
| Deborah Miles | 6/23 | 2.25 |
| Jacob Barber | 6/23 | 2.5 |
Total number of hours others worked on the project: 55.5
For a grand total, add the total number of hours you spent on the
project to the total number of hours others worked on the project: 89
| Type of Material | Cost of Material |
| Concrete- 10 50 lb. bags | $69.34 |
| 5 posts- 2 4x4x10s, 1 4x4x6 | $36.54 |
| Carriage bolts- 12 3", 4 4.5" | some provided by town, the rest $25.49 |
| Washers | some provided by town, rest $2.29 |
| Post hole digger rental (2 for 4 hours) | $93.67 |
| Cordless drill rental | $8.24 |
| Total cost | $235.57 |
List any changes made to the original project plan and explain why those changes were made.
One major change to the plan made me all but redo some parts of the planning process. The order of signs I referred to in the original plan had not yet come in, so in order to have a project that could be completed on time, we switched to a different set of signs, 15 instead of 14 but at only two parks, Meadowmont and Pritchard Parks. The change did away with some of the problems of coordinating people at totally different parks, but created its own set of problems- the signs were much more dispersed and farther from convenient places to park within the parks, some of the posts were already in, requiring us to take the drills and tools out into the field to actually install the signs, and one sign we had to put up would go best in the hole designed for a different sign, meaning spending most of a workday digging out the old sign and a new hole for the new sign.
Including photographs of your completed project (along with the "before" photographs with the project description) helps present a clearer overall understanding of your effort.
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| The double-installed signs at Pritchard Park, with one sign above the other. |
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| Installing signs at Pritchard Park |
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| More sign installation | Digging a post hole. |
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| Manually digging a post hole | Transporting materials to the next location |
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| Digging up the existing sign. | Digging out the other hole to fit, and some of the tools |
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| Adding water to the new concrete. | Putting up the double-sided signs |
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| The
intersection where we needed to move the Wildlife sign (Right) into a
new hole and put the Lancaster Drive sign (Left) into its old hole. |
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| Closeup of the Lancaster drive sign. |
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| Closeup of the Wildlife sign. |
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| Three No Swimming signs around the Meadowmont pond |
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| Two park rules signs at Meadowmont |
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| Signs put up at Pritchard Park on pre-existing posts |
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| New signs put in at Pritchard Park. |
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| Signs installed two to a post at Pritchard |
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| Side view of the double-installed signs. |