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Upcoming Meetings Upcoming General Membership Meetings Please join us for our upcoming General Membership meetings scheduled for May 2nd and June 6th. Our May 2nd meeting will be a “make-up” meeting for the February meeting that was postponed due to the ice storm. The May 2nd program will feature a presentation from Dave Kuhn, Director of Local Aid for the NJDOT who will provide a status update on the program, and will be joined by several of his district engineers. The second portion of our program will feature a discussion on alternative dispute resolution. The topics will cover questions like: What are the options available for Public Contracting? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each? You can find the registration form for the May meeting by clicking on the link attached here: On June 6th, we will invite members of the NJ Building Officials to join us for a joint-meeting to discuss a variety of topics that overlap with the purview of the municipal engineer. We hope that you will be able to join us!
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MOMURP Subcommittee Continues its Efforts The NJSME’s “MOMURP” (Markout /Markup/ Record Plan) subcommittee has been hard at work in pushing forward with the Society’s goal to revise the current One-Call statutes to require utilities/underground facility owners to provide a field markout (MO), plan markup (MU) or record plan (RP) for any design drawing proposing excavation not only prior to construction, but also prior to bid. We believe that such a statute would increase the safety and efficacy of locating underground facilities, to the benefit of all parties to the construction/excavation project. The current New Jersey One-Call Statute has been effective, but it is limited to construction or excavation calls only. It is the desire of NJSME to standardize the “MOMURP” requirement for underground facilities location, make the response to the location requests less time consuming, more accurate, and cost effective. Now that our draft proposal is complete, we have begun discussions with the NJ Utilities Association to try to work out as many of the details as possible, prior to introducing legislation. We understand that the NJUA will continue to meet with representatives from our Society in effort to work out a mutually beneficial agreement going forward. The MOMURP subcommittee will continue to report progress to the general membership as we move forward on this initiative. We are optimistic that our efforts with the NJUA and our involvement in the Common Ground Alliance will be fruitful, and ultimately, allow for a much smoother process of underground facility location.
By: Pete Ten Kate
2006 was a good year for NJSME. The Executive Board felt a renewed sense of enthusiasm and participation in the activities and the direction of NJSME by you the membership and we are energized by this. My year as president of NJSME has drawn to a close and I want to thank you and the Executive Committee for the confidence and support you have shown me this year. This strength of NJSME is the result of your commitment and energy as around the state we carry out our mission of “Improving the Quality of Life of New Jersey Communities through Municipal Engineering”. Our General Membership meetings were well attended as we continue to provide professional services that assist our membership in the performance of their role as municipal engineering with further information on NJDEP Stormwater Rules enforcement and Public Contracts Law. NJSME participated with NJDOT in rewriting the Local Aid regulations for the reauthorization of the rules. We participated in an Alliance for Action (AFA) planning session with the AFA member affiliates and participated in an AFA meeting with NJDOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri as well as the AFA construction forecast seminar. We participated in discussions with NJSPE and the NJ Land Surveyor Association in discussing the rules regarding the surveying responsibilities between land surveyors and professional engineers. Members of our Executive Committee continue to meet with NJDEP to promote NJSME member review of regulated permits. The Executive and Legislative Committees continue to review and discuss legislation that moves through the legislature that affects municipal engineering. We participated in legislative committee meetings reviewing the new Traffic Director Law that recently was enacted, as well as numerous other proposed bills that affect our members. This year under the leadership of Art Vitale, P.E. and Bob Vogel, P.E., our Ad-Hoc Committee on “Design Markout, Markup or Record Plan” drafted proposed legislation to require utilities to either mark out utilities or respond to requests for utility locations for designs. We have met with representatives of the utility companies. We anticipate a difficult road ahead but we will continue to press on as this is important legislation to municipal engineers. Our New Jersey Municipal Engineer’s Institute continues to successfully manage the Certified Municipal Engineer’s Course and Municipal Inspector’s Course. The CME classes again have a waiting list and we anticipate the municipal inspectors course to be well attended in January. I want to wish my successor Carl Peters, P.E. all the best as he steps into the office. I also want to thank Matt Halpin our Executive Director, for his work on the Society’s behalf. Although I cannot name them all, I extend a special thank you to the Executive, Advisory and standing committee members who have been a significant help to me and NJSME through your advice and constant efforts to carry out your responsibilities to advance the mission of NJSME. I encourage all members to take advantage of any opportunity to get involved in the leadership of NJSME or our committees. You can make a difference in “Improving the Quality of Life of New Jersey’s Communities!”
NJ Society of Municipal Engineers 2006 Awards
Legislative Wrap-Up The NJSME Legislative committee has been hard at work reviewing legislation that could affect the practice of Municipal Engineering. Among the many bills considered, here are a few with a brief statement of our position:
The NJSME is monitoring this bill to determine if those firms doing municipal engineering work for more than one municipality would be subject to these rules.
The NJSME is watching this closely to determine whether or not this could include the position of municipal engineer.
The NJSME has endorsed the position of the State Board of PE’s and LS’s in that we support the provisions allowing for P.E.’s to sit for the exam after a defined additional educational requirement and relevant experience; however the sections reducing requirements for non- P.E’s should be amended out of the legislation.
As with other new DEP licensing efforts, the NJSME does not feel that a licensed P.E. should be subject to new requirements.
As with other new DEP licensing efforts, the NJSME does not feel that a licensed P.E. should be subject to new requirements.
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ME Quarterly Newsletter Layout/Graphics The opinions expressed in
bylined articles are those of the authors and do not represent the opinions
of NJSME. The authors are solely responsible for the information contained
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