ACEC of Delaware EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Christiana Hilton

Meeting called to order: 4 p.m.

Attendees:
Ted Williams	President	Landmark Engineering
Dave Charles	National Director	Duffield Associates
Tim Anderson	Secretary/ Kent County	Karins and Associates
Brian Carbaugh	Programs	WWES Associates
Tom deLorimier	Environmental	URS Corporation
Steve Johns	New Castle County	Vandemark & Lynch
Paul Jones	Education	Lessard Builders, Inc.
Mike Karia	Executive Director	MK Consulting
Not Present:
Ross Harris	Vice President/ Sussex County	ECI
Scott Rathfon	Treasurer/ Transportation	Century Engineering
Gregg Moore	Sussex County	Becker Morgan Group
Ted Januszka	Membership	Pennoni

Minutes

The meeting minutes from the December 15, 2004 meeting as previously distributed via email were again distributed at the meeting. The minutes were accepted subject to removal of the Transportation Committee comment regarding consulting firmsâ staffing of meetings. The meeting minutes and committee reports are planned to be posted on the ACEC Delaware web site in the near future.

Treasurerâs Report ö Scott Rathfon

A treasurerâs report consisting of a budget report, an account balances report, and an accounts receivable report was provided by Mike Karia. Third quarter bills were sent in January 2005. The accounts receivable report indicates the status of firms with outstanding invoices. A letter stating that past due invoices must be paid or legal action will be taken will be sent out by March 1 to the following firms: Davidson Associates, EA Engineering, Furlow, and MKN. Ted will assign executive committee members the task of contacting other firms with outstanding invoices.

Legislative Committee ö Ted Williams

No written report. It was previously reported that there are new legislators due to the recent election and there also will be new state government staff. These changes will be followed. The New Castle County government may be hiring new department heads. Ted will send an email regarding updates on the latest governmental issues.

Membership - Ted Januszka

No written report. As previously reported, the committee is still pursuing recruitment of four firms- MRA, Remington Vernick, River Basin Engineering, and Whitman Requardt. Representatives of these firms may be invited to attend the next program. It was suggested that national firm representatives, who are active in ACEC national, should be contacted to try to encourage better participation of their Delaware office branches in ACEC Delaware.Ê

Program Committee ö Brian Carbaugh

A program presented by Paul Jones about DAPE initiatives took place immediately following the executive committee meeting.

The March program may be a joint program between ACEC Delaware and the Delaware Institute of Planning and Design (DIPD). Brian Carbaugh has arranged with Denise Husband, president of DIPD, to further discuss this program at a meeting to be held on 2/18/05. Potential topics for the program are the increased roles of land planners in land development projects and new urbanism.

A potential May program (possibly a breakfast program in the springtime) is a forum with Miss Utility, utility company representatives, and Kent County Department of Public Works to discuss difficulties in obtaining utility information during engineering and planning. Ted Williams will contact Miss Utility about this.

A potential July program is a joint meeting with the American Public Works Association (APWA), a program in which APWA has expressed interest.

Another potential future program is a joint meeting with the Delaware Association of Surveyors (DAS).

Transportation Committee - Scott Rathfon

No written report. It was suggested that Scott should contact ACEC national regarding overhead caps for DOT work in other states as a reference for discussion with DelDOT. It was also discussed that DelDOTâs traffic study review consultant indicated their interest in meeting with Delaware traffic engineering consultants to discuss their traffic study reviews; it was suggested that Scott should contact DelDOT to facilitate such a meeting.

Environmental Committee ö Tom deLorimier

No report.Ê It was suggested that Tom contact representatives of specific divisions, sections, or programs of DNREC such as the groundwater discharges section or the sediment and stormwater program to get updates on any changes, discuss engineering issues, and possibly arrange partnering meetings.

New Castle County Committee - Steve Johns

No written report. A partnering meeting was held with the Department of Land Use on 1/10/05. The following issues were discussed at the partnering meeting: engineering certifications, record plan certifications, development monumentation, drainage code revisions, utility easements, protected forests, resubdivision plans, fees, and sewer capacity. An additional partnering meeting was held with the Department of Land Use on 1/24/05 to further discuss record plan certifications and development monumentation. The minutes of these partnering meetings will be distributed at the next executive committee meeting.Ê

Kent County CommitteeÊ - Tim Anderson

No written report. As previously reported, the committee is currently looking in to Town of Smyrna plan submissions/ review procedures, additional utility certifications required by KC, and KCDâs position on conservation design practices. These issues will be further investigated and discussed at future partnering meetings. The utility certifications issue will most likely be addressed at an ACEC Delaware program as indicated under program committee. Contacts with the Town of Smyrna and KCD have been made but partnering meetings with them have not yet been scheduled.ÊÊ

Sussex County Committee - Ross Harris & Gregg Moore

No written report. It was discussed that Ordinance 38 for sanitary sewer and water distributions systems design and construction is being revised. ACEC Delaware has expressed interest in reviewing the revisions prior to their adoption.

Education/Public Relations CommitteeÊ - Paul Jones

No written report. A letter was sent to member firms requesting their involvement in Adopt A School Mathcounts program along with instructions on how to become involved. The program is waiting for more participation from member firms.

Executive Directorâs Report ö Mike Karia

A written report was distributed. The report addressed: the treasurerâs report, third quarter billings that were sent in January, changes in membership status, use of e-mail to distribute meeting information to member firms, closure of the inactive Morgan-Stanley account, the engineering excellence awards program to be judged on 1/28/05, and continuing projects. The continuing projects include a newspaper article for engineers week, website minutes posting, the members directory, and past dues collection. It was also discussed that a gift donation be given to DelTech, with a photograph taking place of the gift exchange, for good publicity. A motion was approved to arrange for such a gift.

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National Directors Report - Dave Charles

No written report. Consulting Congress Day is coming up in April and several executive committee members expressed their interest in attending Capitol Hill visits. ASFE is offering project management courses in Wilmington and Philadelphia possibly in fall 2005.

Miscellaneous-Ted Williams

A power point presentation for the Engineering Excellence Awards will be done by Brian Carbaugh at the Engineers Week banquet. DAPE currently has the Kent County seat open and it would be good to have this seat filled by an engineering consultant. The next Executive Committee meeting will be held at 11:30 a.m. on February 23, 2005 at Landmarkâs office.