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The Muscle Shoals chapter of the Alabama Society of Professional Engineers (ASPE) will participate in the 2nd Annual ASPE Spring Seminar starting at 1 p.m. Friday 4-27-12. We will meet in the Board Conference Room of TVA’s Environmental Research Center at Complex E on the Muscle Shoals TVA Reservation. The room will be open at noon for those who wish to arrive early. TVA facilities are secured, but those not employed by TVA may ring the doorbell at the building’s North-side entrance (near the Board Room) to gain entry.

The seminar will focus on management-skills development. The topics and speakers are:

“Planning for Catastrophic Business Loss”—Bob Barnett PE, Barnett Jones Wilson LLC

“Cyber Security”—Special Agent Jim Hlavin, FBI Business Security, Mobile Office

“Building Information Modeling”—Preston Hite, Hoar LLC

The seminar will last until 5 p.m., and is intended to offer four (4) professional development hours (PDH) credit, as each engineer deems appropriate. The chapter will provide light refreshments and soft drinks. The registration form is posted on the ASPE website homepage.

Registration costs will be $10 for ASPE members and $50 for non-members. ASPE is offering this seminar as a service to its members and to introduce the benefits of the society to prospective members. We will retroactively reimburse the member discount for any non-member who joins our society by June 2012. An NSPE membership application may be accessed on-line at:

http://www.nspe.org/

Those planning to attend the Muscle Shoals session are asked to return the registration form to Don Lokey (with checks payable to ASPE) postmarked by Monday 4-23-12. Muscle Shoals attendees may email/fax this form to me by Thursday 4-26-12 (fax #: 256-386-2499) and pay at the door. On-site registration will also be available, but to expedite planning please call or e-mail me (jdlokey@tva.gov) by 5 p.m. Thursday 4-26-12.

We look forward to seeing you at the seminar!

Don Lokey PE
256-386-2035

04.11.11 Update on HB132> On the 12^th legislative day, a substitute for  House Bill 132 was passed, which reduces the statute of repose period from thirteen years to seven (7) years (national average).

We need to thank the House Bill Sponsor, Rep. Greg Canfield, for getting HB132 in the House’s hopper, and voting on it so quickly.

The Senate companion bill (SB59) will be up for debate and should be addressed when the Senate meets again for the 13^th legislative day on Tuesday, April 12^th, at 3:00 pm.

On another note, the Certificate of Merit bill (SB297) has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Slade Blackwell (SB297) and assigned to the Judiciary Committee.

03.28.11 HB132*Statute of Repose Bill* After days of negotiation between the Industry Partners Coalition and the Alabama Association for Justice (aka, Trail Lawyers), a compromise was struck, which will change the statute of repose/limitations from the current time of 13 years/2 years to 7 years/2 years.   This change is very important in that it brings Alabama’s limitations in line with the average timeframe of other states.  The Senate companion bill is SB59.

HB132 is due on the House floor at any time, so please contact your Representative today and tell him/her to vote in FAVOR of this bill!

Can’t remember who your Legislator is?  CLICK HERE then enter your zip code in the appropriate field in the lefthand toolbar.

SB52 passed the Alabama Senate (30-0), and will likely be considered soon in the House. This bill prohibits no-bid contracts, and apparently would supersede requirements to use the qualification-based-selection (QBS) process to procure professional services. Now, phone calls, faxes and emails to your legislator may make a difference in his/her vote.

Use this link below to find your representative’s contact information:

http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/zipsearch.html

The ALISON (AL Legislative Information System Online) link below allows one to research a proposed bill and its history. Under the “Regular Session 2010” column on the left of the home page, click on “Bills” on the “Session” tab to view a drop-down menu, then click on “Status” to search for a bill. Type in the bill number (e.g., “SB52”) in the box, click on “Get Status,” then when the Bill Status page appears, click on the box listing the bill number under the “Instrument” column to activate the various tabs at the top of the page for that bill (e.g., clicking on “View” tab brings up an engrossed copy of Bill SB52 as passed by the Senate on 2-4-10; clicking on “History” tab gives details on its legislative history to date). Here is the link:

http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/acaslogin.asp

Here is what was said about SB52’s passage in the Senate (read the comments too):

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/02/alabama_senate_passes_ban_on_m.html