Thursday, December 10, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: December 17, 2015


Topic
Please join us at our December Branch meeting for a presentation by John Duffy with Yeh and Associates on "Living with Landslides". With the forecast of heavy winter rains caused by “El Nino” conditions, the possibility of widespread slope instabilities is a likely scenario. Under such conditions expedited recognition, assessment, and mitigation of unstable slopes will be in demand in order to keep infrastructure operational through the storm periods. John Duffy with Yeh and Associates will share experiences gained from the 1997/1998 “El Nino” event and other more recent storm events while he served as engineering geologist with the California Department of Transportation.

Location
Rooster Creek Tavern
200 E. Branch Street
Arroyo Grande, CA 93420

Date & Time
Thursday, December 17, 2015 - 12:00 pm


Click here for more information and to sign up.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: November 19, 2015

San Clemente Dam Removal and Carmel River Reroute

Known as the largest dam removal and river restoration project in California’s history, the nationally recognized San Clemente Dam Removal and Carmel River Reroute Project is setting a precedent for future dam removal and river restoration projects.

Since its construction in 1921, the 106 foot high dam had posed a significant barrier to steelhead migrations and restricted access to 25 miles of upstream spawning and rearing habitat. In recent years, the dam ceased to serve a useful purpose having lost approximately 95 percent of its storage capacity due to more than 2.5 million cubic yards of sediment that had built up behind it.

Upon being deemed seismically unsafe by the California Division of Safety of Dams, a public/private partnership formed between California American Water (SCD Owner) the California State Coastal Conservancy, and National Marine Fisheries Service to resolve the seismic issue as well as restore the natural ecosystem.  Overall, the Project is expected to improve water quality, sediment transfer, fish passage and aquatic habitat, and to restore natural character and function to the water bodies and upland habitats both within the project footprint and on a watershed level.

Water Systems Consulting, Inc. (WSC) has been managing the project for California American Water since 2009, and for the last three years has served as Construction Manager for this $83 million, multi-stakeholder project. Dylan Wade, who serves as the Resident Project Representative for the multi-year design-build project will discuss the project design, funding and multi-stakeholder process, construction considerations, restoration goals and approaches, and the projects lasting benefits. Nearing the end of the third year of construction, the Carmel River is ready to flow in its newly constructed channel.  

Location
Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Date & Time
Thursday, November 19, 2015 at noon

Click here for more information and to sign up.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: October 15, 2015

Pismo Preserve Presentation - Land Conservancy
At over 900 acres, the Pismo Preserve offers truly exceptional and diverse recreational opportunities. The project includes over 10 miles of existing ranch roads and trails that meander throughout the property offering ready-to-use routes ideal for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. These trails traverse serene oak woodlands and coastal ridgelines with stunning panoramic vistas of the Pacific Ocean stretching from the Irish Hills to Point Sal.  The Land Conservancy is currently working with the Wallace Group to design, engineer, and permit two staging areas/parking lots, restroom facilities, picnic areas, and ADA-compliant site features. Already underway are rough designs for a multi-use trail system that would add nearly a dozen miles of new trails and linkages to the existing ten miles of ranch roads currently on the Pismo Preserve. If permitting and construction can be completed under the ambitious time frame, the Pismo Preserve would be open for dawn-to-dusk community use this time next year.  Come join us for a presentation by the Land Conservancy and consultants as they discuss the planning and engineering of this landmark project!

Location
Rosa's Italian Restaurant
491 Price Street
Pismo Beach, CA 93449

Date & Time
Thursday, October 15, 2015 at noon

Click here for more information and to sign up.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: September 17, 2015

Atascadero Residential Home Geotechnical Case Study & New Officer Installation

Dennis Shallenberger, GE, Principal Engineer of Earth Systems Pacific will present a spell binding, on-the-edge-of-your-seat account of a house that was inadvertently constructed on a landslide in the hills of Atascadero.  It is a story of low budget mentality, incompetence, and catastrophic financial loss for a local family who unfortunately put their faith in some very poor geologic and geotechnical advice. Dennis will impart a lasting lesson of the importance of geotechnical engineering in the common world. A simple overlook can lead to devastating consequences.

After hearing our inspiring speaker, we will meet our new officer Board. Our newly elected officers for 2015-16 will be installed this month. This year's Board brings new faces to our local leadership, and looks forward to leading our Branch forward!

Location
Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA

Date & Time
Thursday September 17, 2015 - 12:00 pm


Click here for more information and to sign up.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

PROFILES: DENNIS SHALLENBERGER, REGISTERED CIVIL & GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER

By Rebekah Oulton, PhD, PE
September 7, 2015

Member Profile: Dennis Shallenberger

Dennis Shallenberger is a Registered Civil and Geotechnical Engineer in California, and a Registered Civil Engineer in Nevada.  Currently, he is the Chief Geotechnical Engineer for Earth Systems Pacific, and gave up teaching part-time after 22 years in the Architectural Engineering Department at Cal Poly.  He is a past president of the San Luis Obispo Branch of ASCE and served for over eight years on the Advisory Board of the Division of the State Architect (DSA).  These illustrious credentials are even more impressive when you know the path that led him to achieve them…

Dennis was raised in Southern California where he preferred to take advantage of plentiful outdoor activities such as surfing, sailing, and riding his dirt bike, rather than school.  This passion followed him to U of Montana, where he took up skydiving to supplement his education.  He made over 200 jumps, despite that fact that an early jump (his 15th ) ended in an off-balance landing that resulted in several broken bones and dislocated joints in Dennis’ left foot.  Ironically, Dennis credits this injury with ultimately saving his life, as it rendered him “unfit for service” when the Vietnam War was at its peak. Instead, he learned sewing – to repair parachutes as a Senior Parachute Rigger, and he claims he can still work a sewing machine with the best of them.

Dennis’ career from there was hardly a straightforward path to into geology. Skydiving led to flying and by the time he was 20 Dennis had his commercial pilot’s license, followed by multi-engine, flight instructor, ground instructor, glider and glider instructor ratings.  He also joined the Missoula Rural Volunteer Fire Department and applied for medic training, allowing him to secure a part-time job as an ambulance medic, ultimately running about 3,000 ambulance calls.  

Eventually, his degree in geology took him back to the sky; upon graduation he got on with Christler Airlines, a commuter and non-scheduled airline based in Thermopolis, Wyoming, shuttling skiers in the winter and smoke jumpers in the summer.  After two years as a fire suppression and spray pilot, Dennis quit Christler to find his fortune in corporate aviation, eventually becoming a corporate pilot with Sorensen and Company, a civil engineering firm with a geotechnical division in Missoula.  On days when he wasn’t flying, Dennis would go out with the geologists to work on the drill rigs.  With the end of the war flooding the aviation job market with experienced pilots, Dennis turned his sights back to earth and the idea of geotechnical engineering as a career slowly developed.  

By 1979 Dennis and his wife-to-be, Diane, quite sensibly decided that that the winters in Montana were too severe to endure any longer, and they relocated to California, where Dennis pursued his Master of Science Civil Engineering (with a geotechnical specialty) at CSU Long Beach.  After completing his degree, Dennis worked  briefly for the Los Angeles Section of the Army Corps of Engineers, as a civil and geotechnical engineer, before he got call from former colleague Mike Sims, offering him a position with Central Coast Labs in San Luis Obispo.  

Since then, the company has moved, burned to the ground, changed names, re-incorporated, merged and re-incorporated two more times, but Dennis has managed to hang on, and he is now approaching his 32nd anniversary working for Earth Systems companies.  After Mike’s retirement, Dennis was promoted to CEO of Earth Systems Pacific, a position he agreed to maintain for five years.  In 2013, he turned the reins of ESP over to Fred Potthast, and Dennis became Chairman of the Board, a position he retains today.  He is now semi-retired, working only four days per week, but with his eye on cutting that to three days per week come January 2016.

Dennis lives in the Edna Valley with his better half, Kim, also a registered civil engineer.  He has one son, David who became an attorney in California and then for some yet-to-be-explained reason moved with his wife to Dallas, Texas.  In his spare time, Dennis enjoys surfing, motorcycles, hiking, bicycling and ocean kayaking. He has given up piloting, but still enjoys travel, his favorite destination being Alaska.

When asked to provide a teaser for his talk, Dennis said “…my talk is about a landslide; a tale of sorrow and woe, poor judgment, bad professional advice, and low budget mentality, all resulting in huge personal loss.”  I can’t wait to hear more!  See you at the meeting!

Thursday, September 3, 2015

SPECIAL BPELSG SEMINAR: September 29, 2015

California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists

Please join us for a presentation by Ric Moore, Executive Officer, California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, who will provide an overview of the role and services provided by the Board, licensing procedures, complaints and enforcement procedures and case studies on Board actions.  This is certain to be an extremely informative presentation, and a topic key to all professionals practicing in our disciplines.  Bring your thoughts, questions and issues to have Mr. Moore address first-hand! The $50 registration fee will cover the costs of this presentation plus contribute to our local ASCE SLO Branch Engineering Scholarship Fund!  SCE students are encouraged to attend at the student half-price fee of $25!   Please go to the ASCE SLO branch website, www.asceslo.org, to sign up.  You may contact Steve Tanaka, Wallace Group, at 805-597-7161, or stevent@wallacegroup.us, for further information.

Location
Embassy Suites
333 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Date & Time
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
12:00pm - 2:00pm

Click here for more information and to sign up.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: August 20, 2015

US 101 Corridor Mobility Master Plan

SLOCOG led the development of the US 101 Corridor Mobility Master Plan with strong participation by member agency representatives and included a significant public participation effort. Consultant members of this team were led by Kittelson Associates as a whole with key team members Wallace Group locally and Flint Strategies as outreach consultant. This study was approved by the SLOCOG Board in December of 2014 and served as a significant resource in setting priorities for our Regional Transportation Plan. Initially the US 101 Corridor Mobility Master Plan reviewed traffic operations along the entire 70 mile length of the US 101 corridor in San Luis Obispo County and, based upon 12 priority parameters agreed upon by agency stakeholders and approved by the Board, further analyzed 4 "Focused Study Segments". Stakeholders provided varied perspectives on how to address identified needs along the corridor. As a “compass” for facilitating project direction, the development of a unified vision for the corridor was developed and the following vision statement was developed by the US 101 Corridor Mobility Master Plan Task Force to encapsulate the core purpose of this study and to guide decisions throughout:
  
“Connecting communities within and across the region to improve travel time reliability, safety and modal choices for the efficient movement of people and goods.”
Based on the technical analysis and public input, the following 4 Focused Study Segments were selected for further analysis:

Segment 1 - 8.7 miles of US 101 between the Traffic Way Interchange (IC) in Arroyo Grande and the Avila Beach Road IC through the Five-Cities area

Segment 2 - 4.5 miles of US 101 between the Los Osos Valley Road IC and the Monterey Street IC through the City of San Luis Obispo

Segment 3 - 8.8 miles of US 101 between the Santa Barbara Road IC and the Vineyard Drive IC through the City of Atascadero

Segment 4 - 4.4 miles of US 101 between the southern and northern Spring Street exits in the City of Paso Robles.

A Cost/Benefit analysis was applied to potential projects or services that would address needs along the corridor and the study yielded funding recommendations for the Short Term (5 yrs), Short-Medium Term (5-10 yrs), Medium-Long Term (10-20 yrs) and Long Term (20+ yrs) improvements for the US 101 corridor in our county. Come hear more about future US 101 improvements currently being evaluated in our area!

Location
Rosa's Italian Restaurant
491 Price Street
Pismo Beach, CA 93449

Date & Time
Thursday, August 20, 2015 at noon

Click here for more information and to sign up

Friday, July 10, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: July 16, 2015

Annual SLO Branch Awards Ceremony

Please join us next Thursday, July 16th to celebrate the selection of SLO Branch award winners for 2015.  A number of categories were nominated and selected by our past-president judging panel and we have some excellent projects and people to honor. The winners will receive a plaque at the ceremony for their accomplishments, and each award will be submitted to the Los Angeles Section for the upcoming Section Awards competition. 

We hope you will attend and support ASCE SLO Branch for these two important presentations.


Thank You
Anthony J. Severy, P.E.
2014-15 Branch President


Location

Pavilion on the Lake - City of Atascadero
9315 Pismo Avenue
Atascadero, CA 93422


Date & Time

Thursday, July 16, 2015 - 12:00 pm

Click here for more information and to sign up.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: June 18, 2015

PASO ROBLES WATER DISTRICT

John Diodati is San Luis Obispo County's project manager for the formation of the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Water District. The project entails implementing special legislation for the potential formation of a water district with a hybrid board of directors. The project must be navigated through the public process which includes both Board of Supervisor and LAFCO hearings, and culminates in a property owner formation vote, property owner/registered voter Board of Director election, and Prop 218 funding decision.

John has an Ag Science degree and MBA, both from Cal Poly. He has worked on numerous water resource projects throughout the Central Coast, most recently as a team member on the Los Osos Wastewater Project. His presentation will be about the special legislation, the Paso Basin and how the formation process works.

Related Links:
Paso Basin (Dept. of Public Works, SLO County)
San Luis Obispo LAFCO: Paso Robles Basin

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Location: 
Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Date & Time: 
Thursday June 18, 2015 at noon

For additional details and sign-up, please click here.

Monday, May 18, 2015

TRIBUTE TO FRED SCHOTT

Fred H. Schott, June 19th 1935 - May 13th 2015
ASCE Life Member


Just over fourteen years ago I was packing my car for spring break when I got the phone call.  It was Fred Schott calling to offer me an interview for a summer internship.  I had just finished my third year finals for the Architectural Engineering program at Cal Poly and little did I know my hardest test of the week was yet to come.  I spent the afternoon sitting across from the man who would become my mentor as he quizzed me about everything I had learned in my years at school, and then told I didn't know anything yet.  There may have even been a few Berkeley/Cal Poly comparisons mixed in there. However, I  must have passed because I have worked for Fred every day since!

Just about everyone you talk to in the engineering/construction industry on the central coast has a "Fred Schott" story and his reputation extends even greater distances.  His years pitching softballs and running one of the biggest engineering firms in the area are just a couple of the many stories I have heard.  I was a personal witness to a somewhat calmer version of that man. When I joined his company, he had dramatically reduced the size of his firm so he could step away from the roll of "business man" and get back to the engineering he loved.  Just five short years ago you could still find him climbing the sides of concrete trucks to check the quality of the mud.  He did not just love his job, he lived it.  His mind was constantly working, numerous mornings I would arrive at the office and before I could even set down my bag he would be at my desk with an idea that had come to him in his sleep.

I still cannot fathom how he knew all that he knew.  This was a man who could do moment distribution in his head.  He was an expert in concrete mix design, designed steel plate shear walls before they were allowed, and pushed the limits of Structural Engineering at every turn.  He had a love-hate relationship with computers; he loved getting rid of the pencil lead, eraser shavings and vellum, but hated when "new" engineers would rely on them without knowing how to do the calculation by hand first.  He had to put some of that aside with our recent time-history damper analysis work, but he could still spot a modeling error within minutes of looking at our computer results.







He would accept any engineering challenge given him.  He saved miles of our coastline with seawalls, designed huge antenna foundations and a 90 foot tall rolling scaffold for the military, pulled an earthquake damaged house back into place with a holdown bracket, threaded rod and a wrench and repaired an entire building of HVAC damaged shear walls with, you guessed it, steel plate shear walls.  Fred was truly the "MacGyver" of structural engineering.

Fred spent almost 80 years on this earth with his mind still as sharp as a tack, and I am beyond thankful for the years I was able to spend learning from him.  He truly was the greatest engineer I will ever know and he was right, I didn't know anything.  I will spend the rest of my career trying to remember everything he taught me. 

Written by Jillian van Enckevort, SE
Fred Schott & Associates 

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: May 21, 2015

Annual Combined Branch\SCE Meeting

Have you ever seen concrete float? Have you ever witnessed the Steel Bridge, Concrete Canoe or GeoWall competitions? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to understand what innovative techniques and designs were used to create award winning products? Well look no further. Attend this month’s Branch meeting and hear about designing “outside of the box” from our Cal Poly SCE students.

Our local Student Chapter continues to make waves with their excellence and dedication to ASCE and to the Civil Engineering industry. In fact, the chapter was once again awarded the Robert Ridgway Award Finalist award, recognizing them as one of the most outstanding student chapters in ASCE. This month we are very proud to highlight some of the students’ recent accomplishments and projects. Fresh off their 1st place victory at the Pacific Southwest conference, their project teams are getting ready for national competitions in June 2015. We have the great honor of hearing from the students’ Concrete Canoe, Steel Bridge and GeoWall teams at this month’s Branch meeting.

This is a great opportunity to show our support for the students and be amazed by their accomplishments. This month some of our participating SCE student members will be sharing their experiences on the project teams.

We will also take time to highlight our Annual SCE Student Scholarship recipient! We look forward to seeing you there.

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Location: 
Pappy McGregor's
1865 Monterey Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Date & Time:
Thursday May 21, 2015 - 12:00 pm (noon)

For additional details and sign-up, please click here.


Wednesday, April 8, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: April 16, 2015

Nipomo CSD - Southland Wastewater Treatment Facility

In 2014, the Nipomo CSD completed a replacement of the Southland WWTF, in order to meet limitations set by the Regional Water Quality Control Board.  The upgrades included new primary solids removal by shaftless screw screen and grit classifier, and extended aeration treatment (Parkson Biolac system) and secondary clarification as well as sludge thickening and drying facilities.  Peter Sevcik, PE, District Engineer,and Michael LeBrun, General Manager, will present this topic and provide a brief tour of the new facilities.

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Location: 
Southland Wastewater Treatment Facility
509 Southland Street
Nipomo, CA 93444

NOTE: Your navigation system may direct you east of Highway 101 while the site is actually on the west side. To get to there, exit at Tefft Street and proceed/turn south on South Frontage Road which ends at Southland Street.


Date & Time: 
Thursday April 16, 2015 at noon

For additional details and sign-up, please click here.


Monday, March 30, 2015

APWA GOLF TOURNAMENT (Monarch Dunes)

2015 "SCRAMBLE FOR SCHOLARSHIPS" GOLF TOURNAMENT

DATE:  Friday, June 12, 2015
LOCATION:  Monarch Dunes, Nipomo, CA
TIME:   11:00 AM Check-in, 12:00 PM Shotgun Start
FORMAT:  18-Hole Scramble

ENTRY DEADLINE:  Wednesday, June 3, 2015.

TOURNAMENT FEE:  $90/player (includes range balls, green fee, cart, dinner and awards)
Non-golfers are invited to attend the awards dinner for $35.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFO:
Please refer to flyer below.

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Friday, March 13, 2015

PROFILES: ANDY ROWE, CIVIL ENGINEER

By Rebekah Oulton, PhD, PE

At this month’s meeting, Project Manager Andy Rowe of Cannon will tell us all about the storm water management efforts incorporated into Paso Robles’ 21st Street “Green Street” Project.  I sat down with Andy yesterday to get to know him a little better…

Andy grew up near Seattle, Washington (where he had LOTS of experience with storm water!), before relocating to SLO to attend Cal Poly.  After graduating in 2004, he returned to Washington (Spokane, this time) and started working while his future wife attended law school.  Together, they returned to snow-free SLO to settle down and start their family. 

Andy started at Cannon in 2007, where he has worked on a variety of projects including commercial and residential development, public infrastructure, streets, and oil fields.  He is a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED AP), an ISI Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP), and a Qualified SWPPP Developer (QSD).  That’s 14 letters after his name – plus the PE, of course! (Way to go, Andy!)  Clearly, he has excellent qualifications to lead the 21st Street Green Street Improvements, as well as his next project: Paso Robles’ 12th Street Green Street Improvements. 

When he’s not working or building his credentials, Andy enjoys tennis, local hikes, and spending time with his wife and three-month old daughter.  Baby Willa is demanding most of his free time these days, so we are fortunate to have this opportunity to hear from him about the innovative sustainability improvements in the Green Streets Project.  See you there…

Thursday, March 12, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: March 19, 2015

21st Street Complete/Green Street Improvement Project

21st Street in Paso Robles was built on land that once served as a branch of the nearby Salinas River. Historic runoff along with urban development resulted in frequent flooding, poor pavement, and inadequate facilities for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. With an Urban Greening Grant, the resolved to develop the first green/complete street project on the Central Coast. Project accomplishments included reducing the frequency and severity of street flooding, increasing groundwater recharge, improving the quality of stormwater runoff reaching the Salinas River, implementing traffic calming measures, shading the street with trees, promoting infill and redevelopment, providing Class II bike lanes, and improving pedestrian accessibility.
                                    
The presentation will be lead by Andy Rowe, a registered Professional Civil Engineer with Cannon, served as Project Manager and Lead Designer for the project. The presentation will focus on design and construction of the unique project stormwater features such as stormwater bio-retention areas and a daylighted creek channel within the right-of-way, along with highlighting lessons learned and how they can be applied to future projects.

A site tour will be led by Matt Thompson of the City of Paso Robles. Those interested in attending the tour should meet at the northwest corner of Spring Street and 21st Street at 11:30 am.

Location
Paso Robles Inn
1103 Spring Street
Paso Robles, CA 93446

Date & Time
Thursday March 19, 2015 at noon

Click here for more information and to sign up.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: February 19, 2015

Cambria CSD Emergency Water Supply Project

The Cambria CSD recently began operation its emergency water supply plant, just shy of one year after initiating the Project.   The Plant is a brackish water treatment facility processing groundwater through microfiltration, reverse osmosis, UV sterilization and advanced oxidation. The Plant can treat up to 1.3 acre-feet/day, and the product water is injected into the San Simeon Creek Aquifer to recharge the community's potable water supply wells.

Presented by
Bob Gresens, PE, Cambria CSD's District Engineer, will provide an overview of this critical water supply project.

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Location: 
Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

Date & Time: 
Thursday, February 19, 2015 at noon

For additional details and sign-up, please click here.

Thursday, February 5, 2015

CAREER OPPORTUNITY (Monterey, CA)

General Manager position with the Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency (MRWPCA). The position is available due to the impending retirement of long-time General Manager Keith Israel.

Recruitment brochure:
http://www.cpshr.us/documents/ExecSearch/GM_MRWPCA.pdf 


For more information, please contact
Pam Derby, Executive Recruiter
pderby@cpshr.us
(t) 916.471.3126

Thursday, January 8, 2015

BRANCH MEETING: January15, 2015

Grover Beach Measure K-14 - Road Improvement Bond
Grover Beach Measure K-14 - Road Improvement Bond Grover Beach’s residential and major streets are pitted with potholes and cracks.  The City’s street system includes 45 centerline miles – over 10,000,000 square feet of asphalt – constructed decades ago on a sand base.  Independent experts rated the PCI of the entire system at 42 on a 100 point scale.  The Grover Beach City Council authorized placement of a $48M Bond Measure on the 2014 Ballot and it passed with 68.2% support from the community.  Now comes the challenging part…how to design and reconstruct the road system as quickly and effectively as possible.

In 2012, Jeff Lee, a registered professional engineer, was elected to the Grover Beach City Council with a stated goal of improving the City’s road system.   He will be sharing some of the ‘next steps’, how engineering professionals can get involved, and other project details during our next meeting.

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Location: 
Rosa's Italian Restaurant
491 Price Street
Pismo Beach, CA 93449

Date & Time: 
Thursday, January 15, 2015 at noon

For additional details and sign-up, please click here.

Monday, January 5, 2015

PROFILES: JEFF LEE, CIVIL ENGINEER

By Rebekah Oulton, PhD, PE

I first met Jeff Lee when we were both volunteering for a show at the San Luis Obispo Little theater. Neither of us knew the other was an engineer until several months or perhaps even years into our friendship.  That’s community theater – someone’s “real life” doesn’t necessarily come up very often.

But engineering has actually been a central part of Jeff Lee’s life since 1989, when he graduated from Merrimack College in Massachusetts with a degree in Civil Engineering.  After college, Jeff relocated to Calaveras County in California, where he both entered the preliminary rounds of the celebrated frog jumping contest and earned his PE license.  In Calaveras, he worked with a number of Cal Poly grads who turned him on to the idea of living in the San Luis Obispo area.  He relocated here in 1994, just after the Highway 41 fire.

In SLO, Jeff first worked for Greg Luke & Associates, then moved over to EDA in 1997.  (During this period, Jeff’s involvement with theater became more important as well – in 1997, he met and married his lovely wife Mary during a production of the Mikado at the PAC.  )  At EDA, he developed a focus on design and build of gas stations.  Gas station design/build became Jeff’s primary area of specialty when he opened his own firm LHB in 2006.  His clients included gas stations and grocery stores from La Jolla to Redding, including the Oak Hill Shopping Center in Nacimiento.

In 2012, Jeff accepted his current position with SLO County Utilities Division as the Capital Projects Manager, ironically (as he points out) in charge of flooding projects and drought projects.  He worked on the Arroyo Grande Creek Water Management Program (flood control) and the CSA 23 intertie project between Santa Margarita and Atascadero Mutual Water Company (drought relief).  In 2012, Jeff also was elected to a 4-year term on the Grover Beach City Council.

Jeff still does theater, now and then.  He can occasionally be found performing with Murder in Mind Productions or other local theaters, where he has performed as everything from a murderer to an idiotic pirate to a – well, you name it (that’s theater too).  But his responsibilities for the County of SLO and the Grover Beach City Council keep him pretty busy these days.

Jeff is going to share some details of his City Council responsibilities with us at the January 15 lunch meeting.  His topic: Measure K – a $48 million bond for much needed road repair in Grover Beach. Come to the meeting and learn all about it.  And ask Jeff to do his pirate impression...