Board for Professional Engineers s5

MINUTES

BOARD FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

Date: April 10, 2008

Place: 3rd Floor Conference Room

500 North Calvert Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Present: Eugene C. Harvey, P.E., Chairman

H. C. Harclerode, P.E., Vice Chairman

Steven A. Arndt, P.E.

Pastor Farinas, P.E.

Sandra J. Murphy

Rosalind L. Yee

Others Present: Daniel Parr, Executive Director

Pamela J. Edwards, Assistant Executive Director

Milena Trust, Counsel to the Board

Harry Loleas, Deputy Commissioner

Dorothy Matricciani, Administrative Secretary

Janine S. McDonald, Communications Specialist

Robert Mead, Executive Director, MSPE

Tetyana D. Lopez

Absent: Sallye E. Perrin, P.E., Secretary

CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Harvey called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.

ACTION ON MINUTES

The minutes of the March 13, 2008 meeting were approved as submitted.

APPLICATIONS APPROVED FOR RECIPROCITY

Motion (I) was made by Mr. Farinas, seconded by Ms. Yee, and unanimously carried to approve 20 applications for reciprocity as follows:

Michael R. Artis 35585 George E. Murray 35592

Nathan L. Boczkowski 35363 Carl L. Osberg 35591

Kimberly L. Burgess 35586 Mark C. Perry 35590

Dhiraj M. Chanda 35583 Kenneth R. Posey 35589

Michael A. Dixon, Jr. 35584 Scott N. Rhine 35424

Board for Professional Engineers

Minutes – April 10, 2008

Page 2

APPLICATIONS APPROVED FOR RECIPROCITY (Cont’d.)

Ritchie D. Dow 35504 Diane L. Schwarzman 35364

Michael A. Frank 35593 Phillip Steers 35581

Lawrence E. Keenan 35499 Shannon D. Strotman 35575

Arthur M. Kelly 35377 Daniel J. Thornton 35587

Steven L. Manor 35546 Robert L. Zupcak 35588

EXECUTIVE SESSION I

Motion (II) was made by Mr. Arndt, seconded by Ms. Murphy, and unanimously carried to go into Executive Session at 9:08 a.m., at 500 North Calvert Street, 3rd Floor Conference

Room, Baltimore, Maryland, 21202. This session was permitted to be closed pursuant to State Government Article, Title 10-508(a)(7). Upon completion of the session, the Board reconvened its public meeting at 9:50 a.m.

COMPLAINT COMMITTEE REPORT

Mr. Harclerode reported on the status of complaints and license reinstatement issues discussed by the Complaint Committee at its meeting on April 8, 2008.

05-PE-17: Documents being reviewed by expert witness.

07-PE-07: Documents being reviewed by expert witness.

07-PE-16: Waiting for report from investigator.

07-PE-19: Waiting for report from investigator.

07-PE-22: Send warning letter to respondent.

08-PE-04: Expert witness will review case.

08-PE-05: Expert witness will review case.

08-PE-06 Investigator unsuccessful in contacting respondent. Plans requested from

county.

08-PE-07: Criminal charges filed; court date set for April 24.

08-PE-09: Case on hold pending investigator contacting 2nd party.

08-PE-14: Awaiting results of Court action.

08-PE-20: Awaiting reply to Consent Order and fine.

08-PE-21: Respondent requested 30-day extension to respond to Board.

08-PE-22: Response received from respondent under review by Complaint Committee.

08-PE-23: Waiting for response to Consent Order and fine.

08-PE-24: Send 10-day Response Letter.

08-PE-25: Send 10-day Response Letter.

Board for Professional Engineers

Minutes – April 10, 2008

Page 3

The Complaint Committee reviewed three applications for reinstatement of license. In each case the applicants did not sign and seal documents in the State of Maryland during the time their licenses were lapsed. The Committee recommends reinstatement with a warning letter for two of the applicants and requesting additional information from the third applicant.

The Complaint Committee reviewed information submitted by an applicant who had answered affirmatively to all conduct questions on his application for license renewal. Based on the information provided by the applicant, the Complaint Committee recommended that the applicant’s license be renewed.

Motion (III) was made by Mr. Farinas, seconded by Ms. Yee, and unanimously carried to accept the recommendations of the Complaint Committee.

OLD BUSINESS

· Ms. Trust reported that the Special Fund bill, with a 5-year limitation, passed both the House and the Senate. Ms. Trust will advise the Board when the bill is scheduled to be signed by the Governor if anyone is interested in attending. Mr. Loleas reiterated that Department legislation to extend the operation fund status of the “cluster” Bill, No. 415, was enacted. It was not made permanent but passed with an amendment to give it a 5-year life until 2013. Mr. Loleas advised the Board Members that they should come to the May meeting fully prepared to discuss legislation for the 2009 Session. He said that a firm decision must be received no later than June.

· Mr. Parr said that the Request for Proposals (RFP) for an examination contractor came back from the Department of Budget and Management with a few questions on the scope of work and some editing to be done. The editing was done by Ms. Trust. The RFP is now back in Contracts and Procurements and it should be able to be sent to the primary vendors this week. We are hoping to have a contract in place for the April 2009 exams. Mr. Parr will keep the Board informed on the progress of the RFP. Mr. Harvey requested that the RFP be sent to those companies that are expected to accept bids. Ms. Edwards has prepared a list of those companies.

· Mr. Parr said that regarding the request from the University of Maryland to hold the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination (FE) at the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi, the ultimate decision would be made by the administration. The costs in time and money would have to be estimated and a bid process would have to be in place. The Department is not in a position to sponsor this request at this time. Mr. Parr will contact NCEES and also respond to the University of Maryland. Mr. Arndt will contact ABET regarding its plans for review of the engineering program at the Petroleum Institute.

Board for Professional Engineers

Minutes – April 10, 2008

Page 4

· Ms. Yee reviewed the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation’s Disaster Emergency Plan and pointed out key areas to the Board. She said that she found the Plan which was dated 2004 to be well-written and very detailed, but in need of updating. Ms. Yee also questioned if many people were even aware of the plan.

Mr. Parr said that the weakest part of the Plan is the Department’s open paper and our ability to preserve it. He said that a scanner is required to accomplish this and it is on his list to purchase one. Mr. Parr said that the computer systems are backed-up daily as well as the main frame.

· Mr. Parr said that resumes have been received for the Investigator’s position and interviews will begin to be conducted next week.

· Mr. Harclerode reported that he and Mr. Farinas attended the NCEES Northeast Zone Meeting which was held on April 3-5 in Boston. He said that all committees gave progress reports on the issues to be discussed and voted on at the Annual Meeting in August. Also each State Board was given an opportunity to say what was going on in their State.

· Mr. Farinas said that the nomination made at last month’s meeting for a Distinguished Service Award from the NCEES Northeast Zone for Mr. Harclerode was not received by NCEES in time for this year and requested that it be submitted as soon as possible for next year.

NEW BUSINESS

· Mr. Farinas said that the New York State Board for Professional Engineers which was originally scheduled to host the 2011 Northeast Zone Meeting said it was unable to do so and requested that the Maryland Board host the 2011 meeting instead of the 2012 meeting it was scheduled to host.

After discussion, Motion (IV) was made by Mr. Farinas, seconded by Mr. Harclerode, and unanimously carried for the Board to host the 2011 Northeast Zone Meeting in Baltimore.

Examination Appeals

The Board reviewed appeals from Tetyana Lopez and Avijit Maji who were denied to take the April 2008 Fundamentals of Engineering Examination because their degrees did not meet the requirements of the Curriculum Checklist. Ms. Lopez met with the Board to discuss her situation and Mr. Maji appealed by letter. Both applicants provided additional information for the Board’s review.

Board for Professional Engineers

Minutes – April 10, 2008

Page 5

EXECUTIVE SESSION II

Motion (V) was made by Mr. Harclerode, seconded by Ms. Yee, and unanimously carried to go into Executive Session at 10:34 a.m., at 500 North Calvert Street, 3rd Floor Conference

After discussion and review of the additional information provided by Ms. Lopez and Mr. Maji, Motion (VI) was made by Mr. Farinas, seconded by Mr. Arndt, and unanimously carried to approve their applications for the April 2008 Fundamentals of Engineering Examination.

APPLICATIONS APPROVED ADMINISTRATIVELY FOR RECIPROCITY

The following applications, supported by NCEES Model Law Engineer files, were

administratively approved for licensure by the Assistant Executive Director of the Board.

Roger T. Alworth 35549 David R. Meredith 35564

Benjamin H. Barnette, III 35573 Jeffrey E. Mullikin 35563

Jeffrey A. Baron 35570 David L. Nemeth 35562

Joseph J. Cherichetti, Jr. 35506 Thomas M. Osborne 35547

Thomas R. Cyr 35556 David A. Parkin 35551

Peter J. Fitzgerald 35569 Joseph A. Ricker 35560

Adam S. Gallant 35568 Ronald P. Scheele, Jr. 35561

Waqar H. Gardezi 35557 Nicholas E. Steinert 35559

William R. Jennings 35567 Daniel G. Stromberg 35554

Jeffrey M. Klaiman 35606 Arek A. Torosian 35558

James N. Kosinski 35566 David C. Tootle 35572

Thomas R. Kulp 35545 Ray D. Ullrich 35605

Henry A. Magnuson 35565

APPLICATIONS DENIED FOR LICENSURE BY RECIPROCITY

Motion (VII) was made by Mr. Harclerode, seconded by Mr. Farinas, and unanimously carried to deny two applications for licensure by reciprocity because the applicants did not meet the requirements for licensure in the State of Maryland.

Board for Professional Engineers

Minutes – April 10, 2008

Page 6

ADJOURNMENT

Motion (VIII) was made by Ms. Yee, seconded by Mr. Farinas, and unanimously carried to adjourn the meeting at 11:26 a.m.

______With Corrections

____X_____ Without Corrections

Signed by: Eugene C. Harvey, P.E.

Chairman