2007 Awards Luncheon

NJSME Reaches Agreement with NJUA

Municipal Engineering Construction Inspection Course

NJSME Opposes Cost Escalator Legislation

NJDOT FY2008 Municipal Aid

DUES RENEWALS:

The 2008 NJSME dues
renewals have been mailed to members.  If you have not renewed, please do so at your earliest convenience
by contacting Kelly Biddle, Member Services at 609-393-0102 ext.1109 or via email at:

   kbiddle@publicstrategiesimpact.com

NJSME Opposes Cost
      Escalator Legislation in
      Lame Duck Session

By:  Carl Peters

In early December the NJSME engaged in an intense opposition of Assembly Bill No. 4384. This bill proposed the inclusion mandatory cost escalation provisions in all local government contracts. The proposal required that municipalities allow for cost escalation provisions for all materials valued at 5% or more of the project cost.

    The Society’s opposition and testimony was not based upon the notion that escalation clauses are always bad for municipal contracts – we work with asphalt and fuel escalation indexes on NJDOT funded projects already. It’s fair for the risks of material cost increases to be shared between owners and contractors. This bill, however, would have created an uneven and unmanageable process that would have been extremely difficult for Municipal Engineers to administer.

    We were successful in our opposition - the 2007 Legislature did not enact this proposal. We do not, however, anticipate that the issue of material cost adjustments will go away. We have agreed to meet with the proponents of this legislation in 2008 to see if we can successfully negotiate a modified proposal – one where the regulations pertaining to cost escalations are propagated by a state agency such as NJDCA or NJDOT, not individual design professionals. NJSME plans to monitor any future proposals to protect the interests of our membership.

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NJ Society of Municipal Engineers 2007 Awards Luncheon

On Wednesday, November 14th the NJSME held their Annual Awards Luncheon at the Atlantic City Convention Center in conjunction with the NJ League of Municipalities Conference.  Once again the event was a huge success, as the room was filled with members of the Society and distinguished guests including members of the State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, members of the State Legislature, and representatives from the Department of Transportation. 

Our keynote speaker this year was Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney.  Senator Sweeney discussed how our state has come to a crossroad financially, and that we need to restore adequate funding for the TTF and address overall fiscal management at all levels of government.

Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney addresses over 250 NJSME Awards Luncheon attendees

The Annual Awards for 2007 were presented to the following winners:

Category:
Municipal Construction Projects (Full Time Engineer)

1st. Place – John Dupont, Borough of Carteret

Municipal Construction Projects (Consultant) under 20,000

1st. Place – Richard A. Alaimo P.E., Borough of Medford Lakes

Honor Place – Gerald J. Perricone, P.E., Town of Secaucus

Municipal Construction Projects – “C”

1st. Place – James A. Mott, P.E., Township of Egg Harbor

Honor Place – David J. Samuel, P.E., Township of Parlin

Municipal Parks/Recreation Projects

1st. Place – Kevin Boswell, P.E. City of Garfield

Honor Place – Gregory B. Fusco P.E., Borough of Gibbsboro

Municipal Management Projects

1st. Place - David J. Samuel, P.E., Borough of Sayreville

Municipal Construction Management Projects

1st. Place – Brian Grant P.E., City of Asbury Park

Honor Place – Gail Smith P.E., Township of Montgomery

Municipal Projects Involving Intergovernmental Cooperation

1st Place – Richard O’Connor P.E., Township of Clark

Honor Place – Frederick J. Turek P.E., Township of Bordentown

Elected Officials are encouraged to discuss submitting outstanding projects in their towns to the NJSME for consideration with their Municipal Engineers.  All Municipalities’ receive an invitation to do so on an annual basis, typically during the month of June. 

President Carl Peters awarded a President’s Distinguished Service award to longtime member, and Past President John Ziemian – Engineer for the City of Linden.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Officers of NJSME were sworn in for 2008 as part of the Annual Business meeting of the Society.  Pictured below are:

Caption: left to right:  VP Tim Kernan, Pres. Rick Roseberry, Treas. Bob Vogel, and Sec. Frank Seney

NEW JERSEY SOCIETY OF MUNICIPAL ENGINEERS REACHES UTILITIES INFORMATION AGREEMENT WITH NJUA

 Investor Utilities to Provide Utilities Information
        upon Request of Engineers

                                                                By Arthur J. Vitale, P.E., L.S.,
                                                NJSME Past President and
                                                                Chairman, NJSME Utilities
                             
                                                                      Design Information Committee

Obtaining information prior to project construction, regarding the location of underground utilities, has often been a problem for municipalities and municipal engineers. The New Jersey “One Call” statute requires utilities to locate their underground facilities only when excavation is ready to proceed. The New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers (NJSME) and the New Jersey Utilities Association (NJUA) have reached an agreement requiring the NJUA membership to provide utilities location information, upon request, at the time a project is in design.

 Lack of existing utilities location information has often delayed projects for roads, drainage, and other improvements. Contractors, ready to excavate, have found that the “one-call” mark-out showed that underground utilities were in the way of the work.

 Such conflicts cause construction delays, extra costs to the contracts and to the utilities, safety problems, traffic delays, and the resultant aggravation to the public.

In 2006, the NJSME organized a Committee to prepare a plan to address this problem. The Committee members were Arthur Vitale, P.E., L.S., Committee Chairman;  Robert Vogel, P.E.;  Peter Ten Kate, P.E.;  Carl Peters, P.E., L.S.;  Richard Moralle, P.E., L.S.; Frank Seney, P.E.; and Matt Halpin, Executive Director, NJSME.

The Committee decided to model a proposal similar to a system already in effect in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania system requires the utilities, at project design time, to provide either an on-site utilities mark-out (“M-o”), or a mark-up (“M-u”) of the Design Engineer’s plans, or a copy of the utility’s record plan (“R-p)”). The proposal then became known as the “MoMuRp” program.

The New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers MoMuRp Committee had several meetings with the NJUA and executives of the NJUA membership. The NJUA represents 16 New Jersey investor utilities.

Arthur Vitale, P.E., L.S., Past President of the New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers and Chairman of the MoMuRp Committee, said “A great amount of information was exchanged at those meetings. The NJSME ‘MoMuRp’ Committee members explained the advantages to the executives of the utilities. The executives carefully considered the discussions, and September 10, 2007 an agreement was signed by NJSME and NJUA for a ‘MoMuRp’ pilot program”.

The basic steps in the NJSME-NJUA agreement are:

1. A request is sent directly to the primary contact of the investor utility (all 16 investor utilities have identified primary contacts)
2. A record of the request is maintained by the person submitting the request.
3. Wait the amount of time specified in the “MoMuRp” agreement.
4. If no response within this time, NJSME headquarters should be contacted, and NJSME headquarters will then request NJUA to resolve the problem.

The NJUA investor utilities members are:

1. AT&T
2. Aqua New Jersey
3. Atlantic City Electric
4. Elizabethtown Gas
5. EMBARQ
6. Gordon’s Corner Water Company
7. Jersey Central Power and Light
8. Middlesex Water Company
9. New Jersey American Water
10. New Jersey Natural Gas
11. PSE&G
12. Rockland Electric Company
13. Shorelands Water Company
14. South Jersey Gas Company
15. United Water New Jersey
16. Verizon New Jersey

NJSME Headquarters has mailed a copy of the “MoMuRp” agreement and information request forms to all NJSME members.

Further information regarding the MoMuRp pilot program can be obtained by contacting NJSME Headquarters at momurp@njsme.org

Left To Right: Robert Vogel, P.E., NJSME Secretary; Matt Halpin, NJSME Executive Director; Karen Alexander, NJUA President and Chief Executive Officer; Carl Peters, President, NJSME; Arthur Vitale, P.E., L.S., NJSME Past President and Chairman, NJSME Utilities Design Information Committee;  Frank Seney, P.E., NJSME Executive Committee; and Daniel Benson, Manager of Government and Public Affairs  

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NJ Society of Municipal Engineers
2008 Meeting Schedule

Note: All meetings are held at the Victorian Manor

Municipal Engineering Construction Inspection Course – 2nd Session this Year

The NJSME Construction Inspection Course will have a second session this year. There are a few openings still available for the second session; the dates are: March 5, 12, 19, 26, and April 2 and 9, 2008.
The Municipal Engineering Construction Inspection Course is presented by the N.J.S.M.E. Municipal Engineering Institute with the cooperation and assistance of Rutgers University.

This course is designed for the municipal engineering inspector who desires to gain an overall background in the proper inspection of public and private construction movements in the State of New Jersey. Personnel in related fields may find this course informative and enlightening as well.

Part I content includes a review of construction contracts, technical provisions, the role and legal responsibilities of the municipal instructor, examination of conduit system, the fundamentals of soil compaction, the preparation of concrete construction, and the proper installation of asphaltic concrete.

Part II presents an overview of the regulatory agencies, development administration, New Jersey laws and ethics, the functions of the local government, public relations, record keeping, and resources that are available to those involved in a municipal engineering inspection.

A letter of completion from Rutgers University will be mailed upon completion of each course (Part I and/or Part II). Those who successfully complete both Parts I and Part II will receive a certificate from Rutgers University and the New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers. Failure to remit payment will put a hold on certificates. Certificate will include appropriate CPWM CEU credit information.
Rutgers University has obtained approval for the following CPWM Continuing Education Unit Credits:

Part I:
4 technical, 3 management, 1 government

Part II:
3 technical, 2 management, 1 government,
1 information & technology CPWM Contact Hours

The Registration Fee of $375.00 per Part includes continental breakfast, lunch, and certificate of completion.
For registration information, contact Janet Leli of Rutgers University at 732-445-5236 or click here to

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NJDOT FY 2008 Municipal Aid

The FY 2008 Municipal Aid Grants were recently announced by the NJDOT and the NJDOT Bicycle Grants notification will follow shortly. Select members of the New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers conducted a screening session with the NJDOT regarding the FY 2008 Municipal Aid Grants on November 28, 2007. The NJSME members reviewed the breakdown of applications per district including the funding allotments and overall ranking to ensure consistency with the grant program for our Municipalities.

The NJDOT also reported to us that beginning in 2008 with the FY 2009 applications that they will only be accepted electronically. More details of the electronic application will be provided once the NJDOT puts the necessary means to accomplish this feat.

Additional discussion focused on the newly Released 2007 Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction. Although sections of this new specification can be utilized the NJDOT will not require its use on Municipal Aid Projects until they compile a Local Aid Supplement to this new Standard Specification which is anticipated to be sometime in April of 2008.

The Society is planning to bring the NJDOT to our Quarterly Meeting in the spring to discuss these and any other issues regarding the Municipal Aid Program. We encourage Municipal Engineers to attend this meeting and get updated on the new requirements.

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ME Quarterly

Newsletter Layout/Graphics

Dean Tantum &
Kristin Tencza

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 in those articles.

For advertising information, contact Kelly Biddle at 609.393.0102

The ME Quarterly is published quarterly by the NJSME. All correspondence, address changes, etc., should be sent directly to these offices.