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IN THIS ISSUE

** ARAND INSTALLED AS CECO PRESIDENT
** ANNUAL MEETING REPORT
** WELCOME NEW MEMBER -- EARTH TECH
** A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME.....ACEC CHANGES NAME
** 2001-02 CECO/ACEC MEETING CALENDAR
** KEATING NAMES HERSCHAL CROW SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
** NO NEW ODOT DIRECTOR
** WRAP UP OF THE 2001 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

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ARAND INSTALLED AS CECO PRESIDENT

Mike Arand, Vice President of Engineering for the Tulsa and Oklahoma City offices of Dewberry Design Group, became CECO's 47th President at the conclusion of the CECO Annual Convention in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.

Arand has been an active member of CECO for many years, serving on the Board of Directors for the past 5 years.

Arand received a Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, and a Master of Science, Environmental Engineering, from the University of Kansas. He has 30 years of experience in the planning, design and construction management of public works projects, including water treatment, storage, and distribution; wastewater collection, treatment and disposal; and transportation.

Also elected to serve on the CECO Board of Directors for the 2001-02 year were:

President Elect, Chuck Darr, Darr-Collins, Oklahoma City
Vice President - Membership, Mike Homan, Terracon, Tulsa
Treasurer, Don Vick, JGVE, Oklahoma City
Vice President - Business Practice, Jerry Farrar, Earth Tech, Tulsa
Vice President - Education/P.R., Jim Stewart, PSA Consulting Engineers, Oklahoma City

Jerry Shepherd, Terracon, Oklahoma City, will remain on the Board as Immediate Past President, and Tony Dark, FHC, Tulsa, continues as ACEC National Director serving the second year of a three year term of office.

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ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

In addition to the election of Officers for the 2001-02 year, the CECO Board of Directors took several actions during the Annual Meeting.

First, the Board, with the approval of the membership, increased the CECO annual dues by $10.00 for the 2001-02 fiscal year. The membership was informed of this proposal when the proposed Budget was sent to all member firms prior to the Annual Meeting. The dues increase is reflected on the 2001-02 Dues Statement which all member firms have received.

Second, the Board made minor adjustments to the Proposed 2001-02 CECO Budget. The Budget as proposed by the Budget Committee reflected a deficit for the 2001-02 fiscal year, even with the proposed dues increase. The Board, with the memberships approval, adjusted the budget, and the membership adopted a budget which projects a modest net gain for the new fiscal year. Any member who would like a copy of the approved 2001-02 budget can get one by calling CECO.

Lastly, after lengthy discussion, the Board and Membership approved a change in the format of the quarterly CECO meetings, beginning with the August, 2001 meeting.

As background, the cost for members to attend a quarterly meeting has been $25.00 per person for several years. Even at $25.00, it has been very difficult for CECO to cover all of the costs of the meetings due to the high cost of food and services at area hotels. In fact, for the past few years, meeting costs have far exceeded income from registrations.

Additionally, because of the relatively high cost of attending a CECO meeting, attendance has been less than desired and members have been reluctant to bring additional members of the management team who would benefit from attending the meetings.

With that, CECO is going to try an "experiment" during the 2001-02 year. Beginning with the August meeting, CECO will be not holding meetings at area hotels. Instead, we will use local restaurants where members can order and pay for their own meals at a cost of much less than the current $25.00 per person. Additionally, CECO will not be charging a registration fee for the meetings.

With this change, CECO strongly encourages not only all members to attend, but to bring other members of your management team to the meetings. By doing this, it is hoped that attendance will be much higher while at the same time cost incurred by member firms will be controlled.

If you have any questions regarding the actions by the Board and Membership at the Annual Meeting, please give CECO a call.

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WELCOME NEW MEMBER -- EARTH TECH

CECO would like to welcome a new member firm to CECO and ACEC.

Earth Tech, Inc., is an engineering, planning, environmental, program management and construction management firm providing services for transportation, water, and environmental markets.

The 5 person Oklahoma office is lead by Jerry Farrar, CECO Vice President, who recently joined Earth Tech after many years with CH2M Hill.

The Earth Tech office is located at 5432 E. 65th Place, Tulsa, 74136, (918) 494-9913, Fax - (918) 494-9916, E-mail - jerry_farrar@earthtech.com.

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A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME.....ACEC CHANGES NAME

The ACEC Board of Directors voted unanimously at its May 16 meeting in San Antonio to change ACEC's name to the American Council of Engineering Companies. The acronym remains the same (ACEC). The new name will go into effect by August 1, 2001.

"Our mission remains the same. But we are adopting a name that will allow us to more effectively communicate on behalf of our members and the industry," said ACEC Chairman Stephen G. Goddard, P.E., in an interview with an ENR reporter shortly after the momentous vote.

The name change followed more than a year of internal deliberations as well as research by outside public relations counsel. Research found that those outside the engineering industry, including legislators, the general public, and other key ACEC audiences, did not readily understand the term "consulting engineer." The then-proposed new name tested well among these groups as well as the ACEC member audience.

ACEC President David A. Raymond said, "This is an important development for ACEC, whose origins date back nearly a century and whose future as the industry's leading business association is bright. We are still consulting engineers, but our practice has grown widely and the new name better describes that we are an association of companies rather than individuals."

ACEC's name isn't the only name change. Effective May 16, the ACEC President became Chairman and the Executive Vice President became President. Vice Presidents became Vice Chairmen.

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2001-02 CECO/ACEC MEETING CALENDAR

Below are the dates for this year's CECO and ACEC meetings. Please mark your calendars now with these important dates.

CECO Board & General Meeting
August 23, 2001
(Dinner Meeting)
Tulsa, OK

ACEC Fall Conference
Disney Yacht & Beach Club Resort
Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL
September 20-22, 2001

CECO Board & General Meeting
November 15, 2001
(Lunch Meeting)
Oklahoma City, OK

CECO Board & General Meeting
January 24, 2001
(Lunch Meeting)
Tulsa, OK

ACEC Consulting Congress Day/Engineering Excellence Awards
March 12-13, 2002
Washington, DC

CECO Board & General Meeting
April 18, 2002
(Dinner Meeting)
Oklahoma City, OK

ACEC Annual Convention
May 12-15, 2002
Rio Hotel and Casino
Las Vegas, NV

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KEATING NAMES HERSCHAL CROW SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

(GIT) Governor Frank Keating named former state Senator Herschal Crow as Secretary of Transportation at a press conference on Tuesday. Crow will be replacing Neal McCaleb, who was appointed the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington D.C.

McCaleb had served as Keating's Transportation Secretary since Keating's first election 1995. "I think all of us agree that Neal will be very hard to replace," Keating said. "He is a wonderful professional, an engineer and someone who served in two administrations as the Secretary of Transportation."

Crow has served on the Transportation Commission since 1995, and has recently served at the commission's chairman. Keating stressed the importance of selecting the right person for the job because the state is in the midst of the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP), which will invest $1 billion in the state infrastructure.

"It is essential to me that the person who serves as Transportation Secretary be a person of integrity because we need this process to be completed with integrity," Keating said. "I am convinced that Herschal Crow, who now serves as chairman of the Transportation Commission can take that hat off, give it to another person and become Secretary of Transportation.

"I'm pleased that Herschal Crow is joining my cabinet," Keating continued. "He is a respected businessman and has done a great job serving as a Transportation Commission commissioner. I have complete confidence in his ability to step in for Neal McCaleb and look forward to working with him."

Crow said he enjoyed his work in transportation because of the challenge the job presents. "I don't think there are very many things I've done in my entire life that have met with the challenge and the satisfaction of the work I've done with the ODOT commission and that department of the state," Crow said.

Crow was a school teacher in Altus from 1957 to 1965. In 1968 he began his first term in the State Senate, where he served until 1982. During his time in the Legislature, Crow served as chairman of several committees including Agriculture and Appropriations. He is currently president and general manager of Lee Office Equipment in Altus.

During his time on the Transportation Commission, Crow supported the passage of CIP by holding summits around the state to rally support for the legislation. During his time as chair of the commission, rail service resumed between Oklahoma City and Ft. Worth, Texas, and realignment of the I-40 cross-town in Oklahoma City was planned and highway maintenance in Oklahoma City and Tulsa was privatized.

"I look forward to the challenge of trying to continue the leadership that Secretary McCaleb previously exhibited," Crow said.

The salary of the secretary is $70,000 a year paid through Oklahoma Transportation Authority. Crow's nomination must still be approved by the Senate. Sen. Robert Kerr, D-Altus, will carry the nomination.

Crow said his first goal as Secretary of Transportation will be to finalize the Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEE) program. The GARVEE program authorized the sale of about $800 million in highway construction bonds, allowing 10 statewide projects to be completed earlier. The bonds, adopted by the state during the 2000 session, permit the pledging of federal highway funds anticipated to be received in the future to pay the bonds off over a period of years.

"We have several goals at present. I think the most pressing is to finalize the work that needs to be done as far as the GARVEE bonds are," Crow said. "We obviously have finishing touches that need to be taken in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa communities but we feel like the production that will come out of the GARVEE bonds is extremely important to all in the state of Oklahoma.

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NO NEW ODOT DIRECTOR

For the second time in as many months, the Oklahoma Transportation Commission on July 2nd tabled action to appoint a new Director for ODOT.

Newly appointed Secretary of Transportation Herschal Crow said that he had no news for the commission on the selection of a new Director to replace Neal McCaleb.

"All I can tell you is it is something that is being pursued. We hope that we'll be in a position to have a director for this agency by or before the first of August, [but] I can't promise that will be the case," Crow said.

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WRAP UP OF THE 2001 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

The 2001 Oklahoma Legislature wrapped up work on May 24th with little or no damage being done to the consulting engineering business or engineering profession. Many "bad" bills never saw the light of day, while CECO was able to positively impact other bills which effected engineering in one form or another.

Below is a wrap-up of legislative activity for the year.

HOUSE BILLS

* HB1051 - Surveyor Statute of Limitation - An Act relating to civil procedure; amending 12 O.S. Supp. 2000, Section 95, which relates to limitation of actions; providing statute of limitations for civil against land surveyors.

This bill would provide a 6-year statute of limitation for civil claims against land surveyors.

STATUS: The bill has passed the House and Senate, but died on Conference Committee.

* HB1315 - Administrative Law Judges

An Act relating to administrative law; enacting the State Office of Administrative Hearings Act;

As in the past two sessions, this bill has again been introduced which would create a completely new state agency to handle all administrative hearings for all state agencies, boards, and commission. Current boards, like the State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, would be stripped of all administrative hearing authority.

STATUS: The bill was amended in the House Committee to exempt professional regulatory boards. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee but no further action was taken.

SENATE BILLS

* SB0181 - Update QBS/Central Services

An Act relating to public buildings and public works; amending 61 O.S. Supp. 2000, Sections 62 and 130, which relate to construction managers, design consultants, and emergencies; and declaring an emergency.

This bill provides some clean-up language to the major changes which were made last year. The Department of Central Services (DCS) provided CECO with the bill language prior to introduction since the bill does include language in the state QBS law. CECO will work closely with DCS to assure that no negative changes are made in the QBS law.

STATUS: This bill has been signed by the Governor.

* SB0354 - Construction Industries Commission

An Act relating to professions and occupations; providing short title; creating the Construction Industries Commission;

CECO was brought into this issue 6-7 years ago when the initial concept would have included the licensing functions for engineers and land surveyors as well as the trade industries, which was later dropped.

STATUS: The bill was amended to delete the provisions to create a new stand-alone agency, and instead created a new Commission within the Department of Health. However, many of the provisions desired by the Trade Groups remained which will give greater flexibility and autonomy. The bill passed both the House and Senate, and has been signed by the Governor.

* SB0465 - ODOT Consultants Selection

An Act relating to public buildings and public works; amending 61 O.S. Supp. 2000, Sections 60 and 61, which relate to state consultants

This bill, requested by ODOT, is prompted by ODOT's desire to streamline their selection process and to shorten the time it takes to select a consultant.

STATUS: CECO worked closely with ODOT on this bill. CECO and ODOT agreed to specific language. The bill was approved by both the House and Senate, and has been signed by the Governor.

* SB 748, SB 749, and SB 766 - Department of Tourism

Each of these bills deal with the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and the state lodges, golf courses, and other business operations of the Department.

CECO's concern is that Tourism is asking to be completely exempted from the State Consultants Act.

Working with Senator Herbert and staff from Tourism, CECO developed language which would have preserved QBS within Tourism by requiring use of the same process as DCS when procuring design services and the consultant list from DCS.

STATUS: Only SB 748 survived, and in a vastly amended version. Many exemptions from the Competitive Bidding Act were included which dealt with furnishings and supplies for the Lodges and marketing and promotional services. All references to the State Consultants Act were deleted. The bill passed both houses of the Legislature, and was signed by the Governor.

That's the wrap up of this year's session. If you have any questions, or would like copies of any of these bills, please give CECO a call.

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