One of the many benefits I have working for my current employer is the opportunity to work with other staff members who excel in their profession. And even though they impress me on a daily basis, this week I was totally blown away by the awesome job our city planner did on his report to…
Category: Development
A Day in the Life of a Civil Engineer – Day 29
Day 29 Automatic Meter Reading Research For about a year we've been researching automatic meter read (AMR) systems. Because our neighboring communities to the north and south have also been going through this process, we decided to combine our efforts and collaborate on the research. So as a group we've met with several vendors over…
A Day in the Life of an Engineer – Day 18
Day 18 Unfortunately today I don't have much to post because I took part of the day off to take care of things at home. But this morning, before I left work, I did work again on some permits finalizing the utility permits. Also, because of some new information related to the development for which…
A Day in the Life of a Civil Engineer – Day 16
Day 16 Back to work after a weekend of working on a presentation I'm giving in September at the Illinois Association of Highway Engineers conference in Normal, Ill. I'm really looking forward to the event, and if anyone reading this is going make sure to say hi at the conference! Development Meeting So today was…
A Day in the Life of a Civil Engineer – Day 7
Day 7 Night Meeting for the Downtown Master Plan I'm late getting this post up because I attended a meeting of our Downtown Master Plan Committee. We are in the process of having a plan prepared for our downtown area which is a big deal for us because we have such an awesome downtown and…
CCDD Update – Get the Scoop on CCDD & Let IEPA Know What You Think
If you’re involved in construction in Illinois, you are probably well aware of new CCDD law passed last year and made effective immediately by our state legislators and governor. Many of us have been struggling to understand this new law because it was created with little guidance but severe penalties for noncompliance. Fortunately the Chicago…
Think We Don’t Need to Teach Local Government in School? Read This!
A few days ago, I noticed a Tweet indicating someone was extremely angry about a video on YouTube. Normally I would not click on something like this, but for some reason I followed the link and found myself watching a man who was very upset that the “government” was pulling out a basketball pole in…
U.S. Army Corps Revamps Permit Application Process
Those of you who navigate the U.S. Army Corp of Engineer's (USACE) permit application process might want to check out their new, online site designed to guide applicants through each step of filing a permit application. Visitors to the Website, located at http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Documents/avatar2/index.html, are greeted by an avatar who explains the site and offers advice for…
Illinois’ CCDD Law Update
Most people working in the construction industry in Illinois are now aware of the new Clean Construction and Demolition Debris (CCDD) law that has rocked our world. With no notice and still no mention of it in the Illinois EPA news feed, this law has shut down jobs in a time when they are most…
Public Hearings Held City Camp Style
This year, I have been involved with two initiatives in our county. One is Kane County's Transit Plan which is just ending and the other is our Downtown Master Plan which is just beginning. Each planning process is professionally managed and both have or will go through all the traditional steps of gathering public input….