AASHTO Highway Subcommittee on Right of Way and Utilities
Activity Report
August 2004
The Right of Way and Utilities Subcommittee Executive Board met January 13-15, 2004 in Washington, DC and the Subcommittee Annual Meeting was held in conjunction with FHWA on May 9-13, 2004 in Seattle, WA. Executive Board changes since our last report submitted in Spring 2004 include: our new Chairman Leonard Hill of ID replaced Kenneth Towcimak of FL, our new Vice Chairman, John Williamson of NC replaced Stuart Waymack of VA, our new Region 1 Member Christian Larson of MD replaced Ann Hollands of RI, and our new Region 4 Member Gerry Gallinger of WA replaced Leonard Hill of ID. At the Annual Meeting, FHWA staff took individual photos of ROW and Utility Directors from all States, many of whom are relatively new to their position, to include in the '05 Subcommittee directory to help members build peer to peer relationships.
The Subcommittee's 2004 Annual Meeting covered key issues, as well as best practices, in Right of Way Acquisition, Relocation, Training, Uniform Act, Appraisal, Billboard valuation methods, Pilot projects/Research, Cost Estimating and Utilities. A special plenary session was held to review the comments to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act and to offer suggestions for legislative updates to the Act.
Additionally, we continued to broaden our coordination with other AASHTO entities as John Conrad, Chairman of the Highway Subcommittee on Advanced Transportation Systems, spoke during the opening session of our '04 Annual Meeting. Attendance was 402, which was a significant increase from previous years and 37 Member States participated. Also 35 consultant companies participated and there were 10 exhibitors, including FHWA. Other highlights of the meeting included:
The Keynote address by Steve Lockwood emphasized the challenges we face to meet transportation needs while we are loosing experienced personnel and operating on reduced budgets.
FHWA Deputy Administrator Rick Capka delivered remarks about the important roles of the Right of Way and Utilities professionals for accomplishing successful on-time, on-budget projects. He also presented FHWA's Excellence in Right of Way Awards to 5 award recipients - AL, IL, WA, NJ, OH - and 7 honorable mention recipients. In addition, he recognized and thanked outgoing Chairman Ken Towcimak of Florida and outgoing Vice-Chairman Stuart Waymack of Virginia for their outstanding leadership of the Subcommittee.
To follow-up on practices learned during the European Right of Way and Utilities Scan in 2000, the Implementation Task Force held an oversight meeting in conjunction with the Subcommittee meeting.
The Subcommittee unanimously approved its Right of Way and Utility Guidelines and Best Practices Report (SCOH Strategic Plan, Strategy 4-4). Currently AASHTO is balloting this report to be published.
The Subcommittee established its website,
Joe Bissett, of MD, moderated the Annual Meeting of the Utilities Directors on May 12 and Roger McClellan, FHWA, announced that Jon Obenberger is the new team leader in the Office of program Administration, Pre-construction Group. He also noted that there are no new provisions expected in reauthorization for Utilities. Joe Bissett, proposed to establish an on-line chat room for seeking utility information, emerging utilities issues facing the states, innovative practices-success stories, and training initiatives.
The Subcommittee began the operations of its 11 Technical Councils: 1) Right of Way and Utilities Mapping & Scoping 2) Right of Way Appraisal/Appraisal Review 3) Right of Way Consultant Management 4) Right of Way Relocation 5) Right of Way Acquisition 6) Right of Way Property Management 7) Right of Way/Eminent Domain Coordination Management 8) Right of Way Program Management 9) Utility Coordination/Relocation/Subsurface Engineering 10) Utility Accommodation 11) Utility Safety. These councils focus on specific business areas of the Subcommittee's responsibility, identifying technical developments, trends, initiatives, innovations and potential issues. They met during the Annual Meeting and they work informally, as needed, by email or teleconference as they provide advice and recommendations to the Chairman and Executive Board.
The Subcommittee prepared "The AASHTO Right of Way and Utility Subcommittee Operating Document" (formerly titled By-laws) in accords with the By-laws of AASHTO and the Operating Documents of SCOH. The Subcommittee will complete its email voting process to adopt this document no latter than September 8, 2004.
John Campbell of Texas is leading the first ROW pooled fund research project, Electronic Appraisal and Appraisal-Related Documents Transmission and Storage. Thirteen States are participating and work is beginning this year.
The Executive Board will meet on January 18-20, 2005 in Austin, Texas at the site of the Subcommittee's '05 Annual Meeting scheduled for May 16-19, 2005. The '06 Annual Meeting will be held in Orlando, Florida in May, 2006.
Internet E-Mail Network of Subcommittee Members: The Subcommittee has established a national Internet E-mail network for communication with Subcommittee members on right of way and utility issues. This network includes all Right of Way and Utilities Directors for all States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Further information about the Right of Way network can be secured from:
Further information about the Utilities network can be secured from: