May 3, 2016 was a pretty big day for ACEC.  SB 885, the Duty to Defend legislation, was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Though there’s still a long road ahead to get to the point where we, as consultants, will not be held financially responsible to defend our clients for issues that are not our responsibility, this key hurdle has been cleared!

I was happy to personally thank Senator Wolk for her support and effort.  A huge factor in this success was the Senator’s reputation.  Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, the Committee Chair, asked probing questions and essentially got the opposition to agree that there is an issue that should be addressed.  Senator Jackson’s put it in Senator Wolk’s hands to further refine the bill to better address some concerns that should not prevent us from achieving our fundamental objective.

Our opposition was formidable.  School districts, municipalities, agencies and the building industry lined up and voiced opposition.   This parade may have been what triggered Senator Jackson to voice a concern that the bill might negatively impact infrastructure improvements.  To that we can vehemently state that ACEC would not support laws that would make infrastructure delivery more challenging.  As this bill moves forward, we should emphasize this point.

Special thanks goes to Roger Ball of Rick Engineering.  His passionate plea for justice was truly moving.  From Roger’s oration, the Committee gained the understanding that consultants were being saddled with legal costs to defend others after the courts found no fault in the consultant’s work.  Roger deserves an inbox full of grateful e-mails for the extraordinary effort he has put into this cause leading up to and including May 3rd.  Thank you, Roger!

Finally, Gene Erbin, ACEC-CA’s attorney, did a magnificent job presenting clear arguments and responding to questions.  The opposition tried to convince the committee that the issue is about insurance and consultants should simply figure out a way to get insurance.  Gene clearly explained that all potential avenues for this option had been exhausted.  He did discuss a concept of placing a reasonable limit on the consultant’s liability in response to one question.  This part of the discussion may not be over.

Also, I thank all of you from Sierra Chapter who showed up to the hearing!  The big turnout really helped.

Will Wong joined the City of Modesto in 2001 and currently manages the engineering and capital planning for all water and other utility infrastructure as the Deputy Director of Utility Planning and Projects. He oversees a department of 40 engineering and administrative professionals. Before joining the City of Modesto, Will worked on various municipal and industrial waste water projects around California as a project manager for Jones Environmental. He obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from UC Davis.

Joining us as our May meeting speaker, Will’s topic will address recent and upcoming utility infrastructure projects in the City of Modesto, including the North Valley Regional Recycled Water Project.

At the March 2016 meeting Maryn Pitt was our guest speaker. Maryn currently serves as the economic development director for the City of Turlock along with several other roles for the City. During her talk Maryn highlighted recent economic development activities in the City, including the development of industrial and agricultural processing parcels west of Highway 99. She highlighted ways in which Turlock attempts to facilitate job growth through its policies, including master planning infrastructure where practical, ensuring good coordination and communication between city departments furthering development, and holding free weekly pre-development meetings with developers and land owners.

Maryn emphasized that a key to Turlock’s recent success in economic development is viewing city government as a facilitator of projects instead of just a regulator, and focusing on support of businesses that will bring quality jobs to the City.

On Wednesday, July 13th our quest speaker will be Monica Nino from San Joaquin County. She will be talking to us about the joint effort by San Joaquin County and the City of Stockton to develop Airpark 599 right next to the Stockton Municipal Airport.

This meeting will be hosted at the Hawkins and Associates Engineering office at 436 Mitchell Road in Modesto from 11AM to 1PM. Lunch will be provided. There is no charge to attend the meetings. If you’d like to attend a meeting listed above, or would like to suggest a speaker or topic for a future meeting, please contact Landon Blake by e-mail atlblake@hawkins-eng.com.

We are also planning a workshop in April entitled “Effective Acquisition of Land Surveying Services for Public Infrastructure Projects”. If you’d like to attend or are interested in helping teach the workshop, please reach out to Landon and let him know.