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Contact Your SC Republican House Members This Week
The SC Republican House Caucus has its meeting during the last week of August; now is the time to contact the House Republicans and tell them you want them to deal with tort reform issues in the 2010 session.
There remains work the General Assembly must complete in the tort reform arena to make South Carolina a more business friendly state for our existing companies and potential business investors.
Engineers, along with others in the business community, are seeking full and fair non economic damages. The bill would provide a reasonable limit of $350,000 award per entity, allowing for total of $1.05M to be awarded.
Also, the bill addresses punitive damages which limits awards to 3 times compensatory damages or $250,000 whichever is greater.
Near and dear to the hearts of engineers and others in the construction industry is the Statute of Repose. A loophole in the 8-year statute of repose that was passed in 2005 has to be closed. The bill has a clarifying clause to be added to Section 15-3-670 stating that a possible building code violation is not deemed gross negligence or recklessness per se. This clarification should stop plaintiffs’ attorneys from citing building code violations to circumvent the limitations of the Statute of Repose.
Other issues in the tort reform bill are the Appeal Bond Waiver which sets a cap on appeal bonds when firms wish to appeal a lower court decision. Without this waiver, appeals can be too expensive to attempt. The bill limits the surety bond to $25 Million for large corporations and to $1 Million for small businesses
Click here to find your house member and contact him or her. Ask them to make House bill 3489 – the Tort Reform bill—a priority for the House Republican Caucus. Emails are available as are phone numbers and addresses.
See talking points for this important legislation here<<
Your Republican House member is the one you should certainly call, but here are a some Republican House Members that might respond to your call even if you are not in his or her district:
Rep. Kenny Bingham, PE, KAB@schouse.org Majority Whip (notice a professional engineer)
Rep. Nelson Hardwick, PE, HardwickN@schouse.org (notice a professional engineer)
Bobby Harrell HSP@schouse.org Speaker
Rep. Bill Sandifer WES@schouse.org Chair Labor Commerce & Industry Committee
Rep. Harry Cato HFC@schouse.org Speaker Pro-Tempore
Rep. Annette Young ADY@schouse.org Ways and Means Committee
Jim Harrison HJU@schouse.org Chair Judiciary Committee
Davis & Floyd, Inc. to Open Fifth Office in South Carolina
Davis & Floyd, Inc., a leading provider of engineering, architectural, environmental, and laboratory services, is pleased to announce the opening of an engineering office in Florence, SC, at 181 East Evans Street.
This new office will provide civil and environmental engineering focusing on water, wastewater, and stormwater design services. It joins Davis & Floyd’s other strategic statewide locations in Greenwood, Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville.
According to Jerry Timmons, PE, President and Chief Operating Officer, Engineering/Architectural Division, “Davis & Floyd has, for many years, looked to expand its presence into the eastern portion of South Carolina and this provides our company a wonderful opportunity. We are extremely pleased to locate this new Davis & Floyd office in Florence.”
Clients will continue to benefit from the extensive experience of key personnel in the Florence office. Guy Slagle, Jr., PE, Vice President, will lead this division and has over 36 years of expertise in the civil engineering field. Supporting Mr. Slagle will be an experienced team of professional engineers specializing in water, wastewater, and stormwater management. The design group in the Florence office will be supported by Mike Caughman, PE, with 35 years experience, based in the Columbia office.
Established in 1954, Davis & Floyd, Inc. is a full-service, multi-disciplined firm that provides engineering, architectural, environmental, and laboratory services to local, state, and federal government agencies as well as many industrial, municipal, and private clients. Our offices are located in Greenwood, Charleston, Florence, Columbia, and Greenville, South Carolina. Regarded as a leading engineering / architectural firm in the Southeast, Davis & Floyd ranks nationally as one of the top 500 firms by Engineering News-Record. For more information, visit our website at http://www.davisfloyd.com.
ACEC-SC Treasurer to Speak at Southern Legislative Conference
Mr. Matt Silveston, P.E. was selected to speak at the Southern Legislative Conference. The conference is held in Winston-Salem August 17.
As President of South Carolina American Society of Civil Engineers, Mr. Silveston will address state legislators and legislative staff from Southern states on the deteriorating condition of our public infrastructure.
"This is an excellent opportunity to outline the condition of our roads, bridges, airports and water supplies as ASCE has done in its Infrastructure Report Card. The federal stimulus has brought a lot of attention to infrastructure, but we cannot turn away now thinking the problem has been solved. We as civil engineers can solve these problems." stated Matt Silveston.
Mr. Silveston is a Civil Engineering graduate of Georgia Tech with a Masters in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He resides in Charleston, SC.
He was elected ACEC-SC Treasurer in June, and also serves as ACEC-SC’s PAC Committee Chair.
THE LPA GROUP names Kenneth Burger, PE, a Firm Principal
Mr. Kenneth Burger, PE, has been named a principal at THE LPA GROUP INC. He has been with the firm since 1984 and is a senior transportation program manager based in the Charleston office.
Mr. Burger has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Clemson University and serves as deputy program manager of Charleston County's transportation sales tax program.
SC Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies is Taking Applications for Seat on SC State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors
Governor Mark Sanford has the opportunity to appoint a qualified engineer to the SC State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors for a term beginning January 1, 2010.
Each engineering member of the Registration Board must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of South Carolina, must be licensed in this state, must have been engaged in the practice of engineering in this state for at least 12 years, and must have been in responsible charge of important engineering work for at least five years. Responsible charge of teaching engineering may be construed as responsible charge of engineering work. The primary responsibility of board members is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public of South Carolina.
The South Carolina Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies is charged by law to make recommendations to the Governor from which he must appoint engineers and surveyors to the Registration Board.
The South Carolina Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies is accepting letters of applications from engineers who meet the state’s minimum requirements that wish to be considered for a Registration Board position.
The deadline for applications is Sept. 18, 2009.
The following information should be included in interested engineers’ letters of applications: education and collegiate achievements, engineering achievements, professional and technical society activities, civic and humanitarian activities, continuing competence, professional experience, general personal data and engineer references.
Send applications with the above information to Mr. Carl Bostic, PLS, President, South Carolina Council of Engineering and Surveying Societies, P.O. Box 263, Irmo, SC 29063.
The American Council of Engineering of South Carolina is a member of organization of the
American Council of Engineering Companies
ACEC-SC Reports is published for members firms and friends by
ACEC-SC.
Joe S. Jones
Executive Director
Ginger Booker
Account Executive
Please forward comments to:
PO Box 11937
Columbia, SC 29211
Tel 803-771-4271
Fax 803-771-4272
ginger@jma-associations.com
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"What we do is all around you."
 SC Engineering Conference
We would like to thank those that have committed to participate in the 2009 SC Engineering Conference.
Silver
Wilbur Smith Associates
Bronze
Collins Engineers, Inc.
Davis & Floyd, Inc.
City of Rock Hill
Life Cycle Engineering
New Carolina
Santee Cooper
Mid-Morning Break Sponsor
Carolina Engineering SolutionsCECS
Fluor
Parson Brinkerhoff
THE LPA GROUP INC
Trade Show Exhibitors
Advanced Drainage Systems Inc.
Aerial Cartographics of America, Inc.
Asphalt Rubber Technology Service
Deemer Dana & Froehle LLP
Duke Energy
Godwin Pumps
Harris Integrated Solutions
Hayes Instrument Co.
Hayward Baker, Inc.
Insurance Management Consultants, Inc.
Mar Mac Construction Products
Mount Valley Foundation Services
Portland Cement Association, SE Region
Ram Jack of SC
Subsurface Construction Company, LLC
Tensar International Corp.
Tidewater Environmental Services, Inc.
TNEMEC Company
Vermeer Mid Atlantic Inc.
VSICOMPLY.COM
2009-2010 Calendar
September 10
ACEC-SC Board of Directors Meeting-Columbia, 10:00 a.m.
October 1
ACEC-SC Board of Directors Meeting-Conference Call, 10:00 a.m.
October 10
Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day
October 7-10
ACEC Fall Conference LaQuinta Golf Resort, Palm Springs, CA
October 22
ACEC-SC/SCDOT Annual Meeting & Trade Show-Seawell's, Columbia
2009 Engineering Excellence Awards
We would like to congratulate our 2009 Engineering Excellence Awards winners and their clients.
Palmetto Award
WPC, Inc.
Taylor Brothers Marine Construction
Engineering Excellence Awards
WPC, Inc.
Taylor Brothers Marine Construction
BP Barber
St. John’s Water Company
BP Barber
Economic Zones World
Florence & Hutcheson
SC Department of Transportation
THE LPA GROUP INC. Darlington Raceway of South Carolina, LLC
THE LPA GROUP INC.
SC Department of Transportation
CH2M Hill
American Gypsum
GWA, Inc.
Medical University of South Carolina
S&ME, Inc.
Easley Commons Retail Associates, LLC
GEL Engineering, LLC
Briar’s Creek Sanctuary
RPM Engineers
Parkway Group, LLC
Dennis Corporation
City of Lancaster, SC
Honor Awards
HGBD/BV
Charleston Water System
Wilbur Smith Associates
Central Midlands Council of Governments
PRM Engineers, Inc.
Horry County, SC
Civil engineering Consulting Services
Town of Eloree
New Members
ACEC-SC welcomes the following new members.
Members
ACEC-SC would like to thank the following members for there continued support.
For membership information contact Ginger Booker at ginger@jma-associations.com.
About ACEC-SC
The mission of ACEC-SC is to promote and protect the business interests and professional standards of engineers in the state of South Carolina; and to improve member firms' ability to profitably provide quality services to their clients.
ACEC-SC is an Organization of more than 80 Engineering firms employing more than 4,000 individuals.
Membership Information
Officers/Directors
Committees
Articles of Incorporation
Constitution & Bylaws
www.acecsc.org
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