President’s Message

Another month has gone by and it’s time for the March Newsletter. As I write this newsletter I can see a bright orb in the deep blue sky with nearly no clouds or rain drops visible. What a wonderful sight! Yesterday the forecast for the next 10 days had little to no rain in the forecast, but this morning’s review of the upcoming forecast shows more rain drops. At least I’m not planning a vacation in the immediate future.

I would like to thank all of the Past Presidents who attended the February dinner. The final count of Past Presidents for the evening was 16 including Jane Rozga who is a past State President. Thank you all. I think it was a wonderful evening with a speaker whose subject matter fit the current events that were occurring within California, Shane Motley a meteorologist with HDR. (See Marco’s meeting recap for details)

We had two recipients of this year’s Tim Fleming Scholarship award, Micaela Robertson of University of Pacific and Morgan Wilson of UC Davis were in attendance and received some disserved cash to assist with their school costs.

I attended the San Joaquin Engineering Council dinner in late February to present a scholarship from the Chapter. The recipient of the Sierra Chapter Scholarship was Isabella Corbarruvias. Yes, I managed to miss pronoun her name, however it was easy while I was at the table with her nearby. She is a senior at Oakdale High School with aspirations of attending UOP or UC San Diego. She has been accepted to a number of schools but hasn’t made a final decision as of the evening of the dinner. I’m encouraged with the quality of high school seniors who were presented with scholarships on the evening. It gives me hope for our future that there are young men and women who want to be involved in the STEM field, especially women. Most of the scholarship recipients were female and minority, so there is hope for the future of the country.

The National ACEC/PAC is currently running their Spring Sweepstakes until the Annual Convention in late April to raise new funds for future contributions to election candidates. A majority, percentage wise, of the money that is raised for the National PAC is distributed to members of Congress or Senate based on their past history of being friendly to ACEC interests. This might have something to do with California’s large population. Members of Congress within the Sierra Chapter jurisdiction have received more than the Chapter has contributed. If each of the Member Firms purchased one (1) of the tickets during the Spring Sweepstakes the Chapter would reach their goal for the entire year. All of the State Board of Directors have purchased at least one ticket, so I would like to see each of the Member Firms purchase at least one as well, who knows you might win one of the four prizes. See attached order form.

Our next Chapter meeting will be our annual joint lunch meeting with Calmentor on March 15, 2017 at City Hall in Sacramento. The featured speaker will be a panel discussion that will be focused on Active/Alternative Transportation and Related Business Opportunities.

Next ACEC State event will be the ACEC Legislative visit day on May 2, 2017 in Sacramento. I hope to see everybody in March at the ACEC/Calmentor meeting.

Cheers!

Joint Luncheon Meeting—ACEC-CA-Sierra Chapter & Calmentor North Region.

Panel Discussion on Active/Alternative Local Transportation—March 15, 2017

The featured speaker will be a panel discussion that will be focused on Active/Alternative Local Transportation Projects and Related Business Opportunities. Panel members from Caltrans, SACOG and Cities of Sacramento, Roseville and Folsom will discuss funding cycles, active/alternative transportation priorities and upcoming projects. The panel will also respond to audience questions.  It is anticipated that the panel will consist of the following:

  • James Day, Caltrans District 3 Local Assistance, Active Transportation and Highway Safety Improvement Programs.
  • Jim Konopka, Senior Park and Trails Planner, City of Folsom.
  • Judy Matsui-Drury, Engineer, City of Sacramento.
  • Martin Villanueva, Local Assistance Engineer, Caltrans District 3.
  • Mike Dour, Active Transportation Manager, City of Roseville Public Works Department.
  • Victoria S. Cacciatore, Active Transportation Analyst, SACOG.

The location of the March Joint Calmentor/ACEC lunch meeting will be at Sacramento City Hall, 915 I Street, Conference Room 119, Sacramento Ca.