Join Us for the Division 4 Dinner in Naples

Our Division 4 Dinner in Naples will take place at 8:00 P.M. on Thursday, January 31, 2013.

We'll meet at: 

 Bistro 821

821 5th Avenue South

Naples, FL 34102

239-261-5821

www.bistro821.com

Bistro 821 is locally owned and is unique to Naples. The restaurant is located on the trendy, cosmopolitan 5th Avenue South in the heart of historic Olde Naples. It’s a little more than 5 miles from the Waldorf Astoria. To find out more about the 5th Avenue South district check out www.fifthavenuesouth.com.

We have a prix fixe menu for $65 (plus 6% tax and 20% gratuity). Beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are not included in the $65, but will be included in the total bill. As is customary for our Division dinners, the total bill will be divided by the number of attendees. We expect the total cost to end up around $110/person (it could be a little more depending on how heavily the wine flows that evening, so I’d advise having a couple of extra dollars in your pocket---- just in case).

Thanks to Arlan for making the arrangements.  If you can join us but have not yet confirmed, please be sure to let Arlan and me know ASAP.   I look forward to seeing you there!

Roland Nikles

Law Firm Forms Related Entity to Talk the Sustainability Talk

Allyson Pumphrys has formed a consulting partnership, Sustainable Catalyst Partners, LLC, with Indianapolis law firm Drewry Simmons Vornehm LLC to advise owners about sustainability in connection with building projects. Here is her presentation to Division 4 during our monthly call on January 22, 2013:

EJCDC Developing First Form Agreement for PPP

Gerard Cavaluzzi, Vice President and Division Counsel at ARCADIS is a member of our Division 4, and he serves as Chair of the ACEC Legal Counsel Forum and is a member of the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC). He reports on some interesting developments:


Gerard Cavaluzzi

EJCDC is working on an all-new standard contract set of documents for public-private partnership (P3). These are believed to be the first standard contracts for P3s for use in the United States. EJCDC’s model P3 documents are being developed primarily for use on mid-sized projects, in the range of approximately $10 million to $50 million.

The 2013 edition of EJCDC’s Construction Documents (“C-Series”) was approved by EJCDC in November 2012 and, after minor editing, will be available in the first quarter of 2013. This update includes significant revisions to many of EJCDC’s C-Series documents, including the flagship EJCDC® C-700, Standard General Conditions of the Construction Contract. In addition ,the C-Series has also been expanded to include the following new, first-issue documents: Suggested Advertisement for Bids, Qualifications Statement, and Construction Subcontract (stipulated price). EJCDC® C-001, Commentary on the C-Series Documents, has been significantly updated and expanded; its content has more than doubled.
In 2013 EJCDC is also updating its Engineering Contracts (“E-Series”) to coordinate with the revisions in the 2013 C-Series documents.

In February 2013 EJCDC will commence reviewing and updating its Design-Build Contract Documents (“D-Series”).

Rounding out a very busy agenda for 2013, EJCDC is commencing the development of an all-new family of documents for third-party construction management (e.g., construction manager as agent or advisor (CMa)) in partnership with CMAA.

Gerard P. Cavaluzzi | Vice President & Division Counsel | gerard.cavaluzzi@arcadis-us.com

Whither the Highway Trust Fund?

Tamara McNulty directs us to a new report (12/26/12) by Robert Kirk and Tim Mallet, transportation specialists at the Congressional Research Service:  

Federal surface transportation programs are currently funded primarily through taxes on motor fuels that are deposited in the highway trust fund.  Although there has been some modification to the tax system, the tax rates, which are fixed in terms cents per gallon, have not been increased at the federal level since 1993.  Prior to the recession that began in 2007, annual increase in driving, with concomitant increase in fuel use, were sufficient to keep revenues rising steadily.  This is no longer the case.  Future increase in fuel economy standards are expected to suppress motor fuel consumption in the years ahead even if annual increase in vehicle mileage resume.  

Congress has yet to address the surface transportation program's fundamental revenue issues, and has not given serious consideration to raising fuel taxes in recent years.  Instead, Congress has financed the federal surface transportation program by supplementing fuel tax revenues with transfers from the U.s. Treasury general fund.  The most recent reauthorization act, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21; P.L. 112-112-141), signed by President Barack Obama on July 6, 2012, authorized spending on federal highway and public transportation programs through September 30, 2014 and provided for general fund transfers to finance the programs.  MAP-21 did not address concerns about funding of surface transportation infrastructure.  Among the key points:   

• Raising motor fuel taxes could provide the highway trust fund with sufficient revenue to fully fund the program in the near term, but it may not be a viable long-term solution due to expected future declines in fuel consumption.  
• Replacing current motor fuel taxes with a fuel sales tax or a fee based on vehicle miles traveled (VMT) raise a variety of financial and administrative concerns. 
• The political difficulty of adequately financing the highway trust fund could lead Congress to consider the desirability of changes to maintain the trust fund system or eliminating it altogether.  Such changes might involve a reallocation of responsibilities and obligations among federal, state, and local governments. 
• Interest in improving transportation infrastructure with private and nontraditional funding sources, such as tolls, public-private partnerships (PPP's), and federal loan programs is increasing, but many projects may not be well suited to alternative financing.  

Tamara McNulty, LEED AP
Senior Counsel
Black & Veatch
Washington D.C.