 | | Governor Snyder signs SB77 surrounded by members and leadership of ACEC, AIA, MSPE and MSPS. Bill sponsor Senator Tonya Shuitmaker holds the document. |
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Governor signs SB 77, design professionals once again protected from stale claims
In February 2006, a Michigan Supreme Court decision (Ostroth v. Warren Regency) overruled existing case law and lengthened all limitation periods for claims against Architects, Engineers, and Contractors. Based on an ACEC National survey, Michigan's statute of limitations for design professionals became the longest in the country.
The A/E industry first introduced legislation in September 2006 to correct the decision. Throughout two legislative sessions (2007-2008 and 2009-2010) bills passed the Senate but died each session on the floor of the House of Representatives. In January 2011, design professionals recruited Senator Tonya Schuitmaker to introduce Senate Bill 77. In February, the bill was voted out of the Senate 35-1 and on September 20 the bill was voted out of the House 87-21. The bill was signed by the Governor October 4, 2011 and will take effect on January 1, 2012.
SB 77 solves the problems created by Ostroth by restoring the applicable limitation periods to their previous durations and restores the long-established rules that govern them. The legislation will bar stale claims and require plaintiffs to be diligent in bringing claims forward in a timely manner. It puts Michigan's statute back in line with the other states across the country and makes Michigan a more friendly place to do business for Professional Engineers, Architects and Surveyors.
Although it took over 5 years, the correcting of this decision was of great importance to A/E firms and contractors and will reduce the costs of litigation and risk for years to come. Limitation periods have long been part of Michigan's public policy and encourage prompt recovery of damages while the information is fresh and those invovled are still available. | |
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ASCE Michigan Section Elects 2011-2012 Officers
ASCE Michigan Section is pleased to announce leadership for the coming year (terms begin October 1st):
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ASCE MI Section President Mike Guter, PE |
President: Mike Guter, PE, MASCE
President Elect: Daniel Lewis, PE, MASCE
Vice President: Ronald Goldie, PE, MASCE
Treasurer: Carey Suhan, PE, MASCE
Secretary: Therese Kline, PE, MASCE
Mike Guter, PE received his BSE from Calvin College in 1993. He is a licensed professional engineer in Michigan. He has worked in the transportation business since leaving college. He is currently Manager for Construction Services for URS Corporation within Michigan. In this role, he manages transportation projects that use design-build and other innovative delivery methods, manages construction engineering services for transportation projects, and provides intermittent engineering assistance on larger transportation projects within the Midwest.
Mr. Guter has served as an officer within the ASCE West Michigan Branch and ASCE Michigan Section for several years, beginning in 2001. He enjoys a family that includes his wife Carrie, eight year old Gabriel, and eleven year old Madeline.
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ACEC 25th Annual Scholarship Golf Outing a Success |
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ACEC President-Elect, Keith Swaffar, addresses the crowd after a day on the links. |
Nearly 90 golfers participated in the ACEC Scholarship Golf Outing held September 16 at Timber Ridge in East Lansing. Although the day started off a bit brisk at the 9:00 a.m. shotgun start, it turned out to be a beautiful day.
Approximately $5000 was raised for the ACEC Scholarship Program during the outing through golf hole sponsorships and a 50-50 raffle drawing. In the end, the team of Jason Rickard, Ryan Lefere, Matt Davis (all from Great Lakes Engineering Group), and John Stevenson (NTH) took first place with a score of 59 over 18 holes. The team of Thompson (Sullivan, Ward, Asher & Patton), Fearheiley (PB), Koivisto (PB) and Walkowicz (Walkowicz Consulting Engineers) took second place with a 61.
Each year ACEC awards over $10,000 in scholarships to engineering/surveying students pursing degrees in ABET accredited college engineering programs.
A special thanks goes out to those members who participated in the outing and provided sponsorships that support the scholarship program. The scholarship committee will be holding a silent auction fundraiser during the 2012 Engineering & Surveying Excellence Gala on February 25. Please consider donating an item for the February silent auction to support the scholarship program. |
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Engineers await Governor's message on infrastructure, Water Pollution Control Advisory Committee releases report
The engineering community is anxiously awaiting the Governor's address on transportation and infrastructure this month. As our transportation system continues to worsen, Michigan engineers are eager to "get back to work" and begin designing fixes to our bridges, roads and other infrastructure which continues to crumble.
The State Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund Advisory Committee also released their report to the legislature with recommendation on increasing the level of investment in water/sewer infrastructure. The Committee was created by Public Act 231 of 2010 and was put in place to provide direction on spending the remaining bond funds authorized by Proposal 2 of 2002. Voters approved selling $1 billion in bonds to be used to improve the quality of the waters in Michigan by financing sewage treatment works projects, storm water projects and water pollution projects. Approximately $654 million in bonds still remain.
The report recommends spending a portion of the remaining bond dollars over the next 5 years on the design, development and implementation of asset management plans or capital improvement programs for sanitary or storm sewer infrastructure. It also recommends providing additional loans to communities for water/sewer projects using a simpler process administered through the State Water Quality Iinitiatives Fund (SWQIF). Many recommendations were provided to improve the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program that would reduce costly burdens to applicants and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
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Michigan Engineering Conference-SAVE THE DATE! | |
On May 10th and 11th, 2012, ACEC, ASCE and MSPE will again join to offer a comprehensive, educational engineering conference at the Ann Arbor Marriott/Eagle Crest Resort and Conference Center in Ypsilanti.
 | | Eagle Crest Resort |
After reviewing survey results, the conference schedule has been changed to better accommodate attendees and exhibitors. Day 1 will consist of a golf outing, reception and awards dinner. Exhibitors will have the opportunity to set up that evening and have all day access to attendees on Day 2. Concurrent sessions, offering continuing education PDHs, will be given throughout the second day.... and we'd like your input regarding these sessions.
What topics would you like to learn about or discuss? Email cschmitz@acecmi.org or moorek@michiganspe.org with your thoughts. We want to provide you with an annual conference specifically tailored to the needs of our members/industry and the best way to do that is to ask you!
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| | Engineering Center | Questions about engineering?
Please contact:
Ron Brenke, PE, ACEC & ASCE Executive Director
517-332-2066
Kim Moore
MSPE Exec. Director
517-487-9388 |
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