MAY 12^th, 2021, DUBLIN, OH – GeoInsight, Inc. (www.geoinsight.com, “GeoInsight”), a New England-based environmental and engineering consulting firm has joined Hull & Associates (Hull) Duffield & Associates (Duffield), and HSW Consulting (HSW), as part of a national platform of companies focused in the industrial, real estate, energy, technology, transportation, and government sectors.

The combined platform now includes over 350 staff in 24 offices, across 12 states (Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Texas). Together, the firms offer comprehensive capabilities, including environmental site assessment and remediation, cultural resources and ecology, water resources and treatment, traditional site civil and geotechnical engineering, climate change resiliency, along with marine and coastal engineering.  With the addition of GeoInsight, the combined company now also offer clients Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) and compliance services on a national scale.

Gerry Salontai, CEO of the platform, explained, “GeoInsight brings additional leadership to the platform, a great culture fit and a complementary set of capabilities to further solidify our presence in the Eastern US, while adding a strong EHS practice to our business. This in turn will strengthen our value proposition to our clients as we continue to build a national environmental, water and civil infrastructure consulting business.”

GeoInsight will continue its commitment to offering relationship-centric consulting services to clients in New England, now with an expanded portfolio of service experience and technical depth.

As Nikki Delude Roy, Vice President of GeoInsight explains, “The combined firms of Hull, Duffield, HSW and GeoInsight share a rare set of core values centered around genuine commitment to our clients and our staff. At GeoInsight, we are excited about this partnership and the ability to bring additional resources to our existing clients, as well as the opportunity to introduce our talented and committed staff to a broader set of clients across a national footprint.”

GeoInsight President, Brian Kisiel offers, “This new venture offers GeoInsight the chance to bring what we do best to a whole new level. GeoInsight will continue to do great technical work while building and maintaining its long-term relationships with our business partners and our clients, which is the essence of who we are.  With this exciting change, we now have the opportunity to bring expanded services to existing and new clients in new geographies.”

This platform is sponsored by Round Table Capital (RTC) and is their third buy and build strategy in the AEC industry. Ashley Chang, Vice President and member of the founding team at RTC said, “We are very pleased to welcome the entire GeoInsight team to the platform. The strategic addition of such a strong organization is a win for all stakeholders; providing additional opportunities for employees, enhancing the service offering to clients and creating value for shareholders.”

Stradling, Yocca, Carlson and Rauth, P.C. acted as legal counsel, and BDO USA, LLP and CohnReznick, LLP acted as financial and tax advisors on behalf of RTC and its affiliates.

For more information on Hull, Duffield, HSW, and GeoInsight, please visit www.hullinc.com, www.duffnet.com,  www.hsweng.com, and www.geoinsight.com. For information on Round Table Capital Partners (“RTC”), the private equity investment firm focusing on capital investment and collaborative partnerships, that facilitated this collaboration, please visit www.rtcpartners.com.

Meeting Minutes for March 17, 2021

Meeting Location: Zoom Virtual Meeting
Day/Time: Wednesday (1:30 pm – 3:00 pm)

In Attendance:
Bill Oldenburg, NHDOT
Mike Long, MJ (Chair)
Ted Kitsis, NHDOT
CR Willeke, NHDOT
Jim Marshall, NHDOT
Darren Blood, GM2
Marty Kennedy, VHB
Chris Mulleavey, HTA
Alex Koutroubas, ACEC
Rob Faulkner, CHA (Scribe)

Unable to attend:
Loretta Girard Doughty, NHDOT
Michelle Marshall, FHWA

1. Meeting Minutes: The meeting minutes from the last meeting were accepted.
2. Assigned Scribe for Meeting: Rob Faulkner
3. Topics for Discussion:
   • Scope and Fee Development for Standalone Projects (Scope Development – Custom vs. Standard)
     • D. Blood reported on the following:
       • About ½ of the Part A Draft Standardized Scope has been completed and reviewed;
       • Next meeting is in April with the goal of having the complete Part A scope developed.
         The Final Design scope will be developed afterwards.
     • M. Long asked if scope could be used for standalone contracts or on-calls. It was discussed that
       it could be used for both and would be a good basis for developing the Standardized Fee Matrix.
     • B. Oldenburg noted that the standardized scope would be “all inclusive” and could be
       customized for specific projects by hiding or deleting scope items that wouldn’t apply. (for
       instance for various types of bridge projects or if a highway project, bridge scope items could be
       eliminated.
     • It was further discussed that the intent would be that the standardized scope wouldn’t need to be
       customized very much at all – similar to MassDOT’s standardized scope. R. Faulkner noted that
       the MassDOT scope refers to specific manuals or processes and that it is the expectation that
       those documents will be followed and are part of the scope.
     • D. Blood further noted that the subcommittee used a compilation of existing scopes of work to
       develop the standard scope template.
     • M. Long asked if the intent moving forward would be that the standard scope would be set as is
       and wouldn’t be significantly modified for each project, to which the general response was
       “yes”.
     • There was a further discussion regarding the number of assumptions or caveats that are added to
       certain scopes of work to further qualify or quantify the expectations or level of effort for certain
       tasks and whether or not these would still be needed
     • It was agreed that the CQI Committee should review the draft standardized scopes prior to
       further discussing the need for caveats, however, certain assumptions will always need to be
       made. M. Long mentioned that in some cases, there is a disconnect in what the consultant
       envisions for effort versus what the Department envisions. Again, it was emphasized that the
       scopes, and associated levels of effort should be more consistent to help make the process more
       efficient.
     • M. Kennedy began a discussion on the schedule for scope and fee development and questioned
       whether or not the schedule needed to be reviewed and possibly made more aggressive, as well
       as enforced, to help push the process along and expedite getting contracts executed.
     • B. Oldenburg reviewed the current schedule:
       • from the solicitation posting there is 4 weeks for LOI submissions;
       • the short list is typically developed at the following Consultant Selection
         Committee meeting;
       • Ideally, the draft scope of work should be developed by the time of shortlist.
         However, there are some exceptions for more unique work.
       • Once the scope of work / shortlist is released, consultants have 4 weeks to submit
         Technical Proposals;
       • 2 weeks after Technical Proposals are submitted is typical for selection.
     • He further noted that the process / schedule can break down during fee proposal development
       and that sometimes this is NHDOT’s fault, sometimes the consultant’s.
     • He further noted that the internal process can break down and used On-Calls as an example: the
       Department tries to execute all of the On-Call agreements at the same time – if one consultant is
       behind, it can hold up others.
     • M. Kennedy again asked if the schedules could be more aggressive. B. Oldenburg replied that
       he sets the schedules and that he already makes them aggressive.
     • There was a discussion that the consultants use the Draft Scopes of Work issued with the
       shortlist only as a guide for the Technical Proposal development because they are pretty general
       in nature and not necessarily the basis for fee development.
     • It was further discussed that the Scope of Work Checklist provides more detail to help facilitate
       final scope and fee development.
     • C. Willeke noted that if draft Scopes of Work were required from PMs when they bring the
       solicitation to the Consultant Selection Committee, it would better motivate NHDOT’s PMs to
       get that done. M. Long continued saying that consultants do not necessarily pay attention to
       Article 1 provided with solicitations and the specific details for a project are usually discussed
       with PMs one-on-one and that the scope checklist might be better. B. Oldenburg replied that the
       checklist typically doesn’t provide enough detail. The consultant group generally agreed that the
       Article 1 included with the shortlist is not really a basis for the Technical Proposals developed by
       consultants and that specific scope details are not really needed for Technical proposals.
     • M. Long referenced CTDOT’s process and the position D. Mancini holds in the Consultant
       Selection office. In that position, he shepherds projects through the solicitation process very
       effectively. Mike questioned if a position like that at NHDOT would help NHDOT move
       projects forward.
     • B. Oldenburg stated that the Department is restructuring the Contracts and Specifications Section
       after Jake’s retirement which should help with NHDOT’s internal process for solicitations. He
       further noted that he will bring forward to the Consultant Selection Committee what will be
       required for solicitations and emphasize that if PMs don’t have the necessary information needed
       for a solicitation, it may not move forward.
     • It was agreed that the Contracts Subcommittee needs to put forward the standardized scope(s) for
       the CQI’s review and that at the next meeting we would discuss the next steps after scope
       development (Fee Spreadsheet and Independent Estimate).
   • NHDOT Website Updates
     • B. Oldenburg noted that the long list of LPA qualified firms has been added to the website. He
       continued that the website had a new look but nothing changed internally – he then reviewed the
       location where the LPA qualifications for all consultants were located on the website and noted
       that all of the consultants that submitted for the prequalifications were approved and put on the
       list. This list can be referenced by municipalities looking for consultant services on LPA
       projects and that the prequalification will need to be updated by the consultants every year.
     • A. Koutroubas asked if the consultants can update their prequalification at any time. B.
       Oldenburg responded that prequalification will only happen in January. He continued that
       consultants will have the option to update the package as much or as little as they want to and
       that the packages will be used more as a “Yellow Pages” listing for municipalities.
     • C Willeke noted that the annual prequalification solicitation will likely not require a complete
       resubmission to stay on the list. If there are wholesale changes within a firm, the Department
       might require a full resubmission. It was further noted that it would lighten the Department’s
       workload if they didn’t have to do complete reviews every year.
     • B Oldenburg noted that the Project Solicitation and Short List areas have been updated to a
       certain degree but also noted that most of the projects on the Shortlist page are very outdated. He
       also stated that the Possible Action page was also outdated. He continued that the new process
       will be that once a project has been shortlisted, and the selected firm, fee and G&C approval has
       been updated, the posting will remain up on the website for 6 months.
     • C. Willeke provided an update, noting that the State Bridge Aid Enrolled Project Status section
       has been updated with firms that have been selected for projects.
4. LPA Topics:
   • C. Willeke provided the following updates:
     • The internal checklist for invoice review has been updated and may be circulated to the
       CQI for review;
     • TAP applications are coming in will be ranked;
     • Additional LPA training sessions are being scheduled and will likely be in April or early
       May
5. Status of Sub-Committees:
   • Consultant Contract Subcommittee: Previously discussed above
   • Bridge Subcommittee: No update
   • Highway Subcommittee: No update
6. Other Items:
   • May Partnering Meeting
     • It was discussed whether the Commissioner could speak at the May
       meeting instead of her doing a separate Town Hall. It was agreed by all that this made sense.
   • B. Oldenburg provided the following staffing updates:
     • Jason Ayotte – new Project Manager, filling L. Doughty’s position;
     • Don Lyford and Joe Adams are retiring;
     • The new Chief Project Manager has been selected, but yet to be announced and will be on the
       CQI committee.
7. Next Meeting – Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Meeting Minutes for February 17, 2021

Meeting Location: Zoom Virtual Meeting
Day/Time: Friday (1:30 pm – 3:00 pm)

In Attendance:
Bill Oldenburg, NHDOT
Mike Long, MJ (Chair)
Ted Kitsis, NHDOT (Scribe)
CR Willeke, NHDOT
Jim Marshall, NHDOT
Michelle Marshall, FHWA

Unable to attend:
Alex Koutroubas, ACEC
Rob Faulkner, CHA

1. Meeting Minutes: The meeting minutes from the last meeting were accepted.
2. Assigned Scribe for Meeting: Ted Kitsis
3. Topics for Discussion:
   • Escalation Rate
     • Bill Oldenburg confirmed that the 2021 escalation rate of 2% was approved via an
       internal memo by Chief Engineer Bill Cass and Director Peter Stamnas. As this
       rate only affects the budget of standalone contracts, the ACEC group will have no
       further discussion of this rate for this year. It was mentioned that all consultants
       are paid the actual pay rates at the time services are rendered.
   • Establish Core Goal(s) of this Committee for 2021
     • The CQI committee is looking to identify items or topics that can be improved
       upon to help move project along faster and more efficiently. The committee
       identified the following topics that should be considered for further discussion:
       1. Agreement development and execution procedures.
       2. Project Development continuity.
          • Try to keep same people on projects.
          • Jim Marshall noted that Highway Design tries to keep the same
            team on a project but due to staffing shortages that isn’t always
            possible. This was one of the reasons the Bureau of Highway
            Design re-organized its sections recently.
       3. Scoping fee negotiation process before execution of an Agreement.
       4. And for projects that are underway let the consultants take a greater lead
          role.
          • DOT PM’s are overwhelmed and the committee sees this as an
            area that needs to be improved.
          • The committee’s goal is to advance projects faster.
       5. There isn’t a DOT PM manual to help with the transition of new PM’s.
       6. DOT working to have more standardized agreements so all bureaus have
          access to them and can use them.
          • Looking to streamline the Agreement process/effort to be more
            efficient.
       7. Engineer of Record Policy (currently in draft form).
          • Look at steps to engage Consultants during construction.
          • ACEC would like to provide comment on draft Policy.
       8. Improved communication and marketing of all the good things that the
          project is or is going to do.
          • Make sure FHWA direction is disseminated to all staff.
       9. Processes and procedures are constantly evolving due to audits that occur
          from time to time. The DOT finds it a challenge to effectively
          communicate these changes to Communities and Consultants.
          • Example: Bid analysis after bid openings.
          • Example: FOPIS
       10. Seems that in the last couple of years we have made things more
           complicated. It’s good to document things but many question the added
           value this brings to projects.
           • Having some flexibility would help mitigate some of the changes.
           • Many of these changes are mandated to the Department, usually as
             a result of audit findings or by FHWA directives.
           • Department has been looking to have a record of past decisions for
             liability issues as well as the inevitable staffing changes (FOPIS).
       11. Highway Design sub-committee is looking at a process (live document)
           that replaces the Engineering Report. The hope is to save time in the end
           and to assist engineers filling out the FOPIS.
           • FOPIS is actually a log of decision dates/events.
       12. Due to limited and reduced resources, the Department will be providing
           less reviews and the consultants will have a greater role in project
           management, including internal coordination, in the future.
   • Identify Individual Topics for Consideration and Prioritize
     • After some discussion the committee identified the following topics for
       immediate follow-up:
       1. Improve the Agreement process. (The DOT supports this effort.)
       2. Engineer of Record collaboration.
       3. Other topics not identified at this time.
4. LPA Topics: ACEC has been getting a lot of questions regarding the recent LPA RFP’s (Oncall
   Design services and CE&I services) and is looking for an update to provide to
   its member firms.
   • CR noted that the Department is looking at this consultant selection
     process and will provide more information by the end of March or in early
     April.
   • A recent audit has found issues with the LPA G&C approval process that
     needs to be addressed before we can move forward with the On-call and
     CE&I Agreements. This will most likely require several changes to our LPA
     procedures.
   • All those consultants that submitted prequalification packages will be
     placed on a list that will be available on the NHDOT website for Towns to
     utilize in contacting forms for possible LPA assignments.
   • The RFP soliciting for On-call design consultants and CE&I consultants
     that the NHDOT will utilize for projects where the towns request that
     NHDOT preform the design or construction inspection is still under
     review
5. Status of Sub-Committees:
   • Contracts – Darren noted that the subcommittee continues to make progress on a
     standard scope of work – next meeting Feb 19th.
   • Bridge – Loretta noted that the subcommittee did not meet since our last meeting.
   • Highway – Jim noted that the sub-committee meets monthly and the group is
     developing checklists to aid in the reviews. The checklists are available on the
     NHDOT website for internal and external use (Link:https://www.nh.gov/dot/org/projectdevelopment/highwaydesign/com
     mittees/index.htm)
6. Other Items:
   • April Tech Exchange
     • The conference sub-committee has completed the agenda. This year’s
       conference will be virtual and all presentations will be pre-recorded.
     • The conference will be the entire week of April 12-16, 2021.
     • Registration fee is lower this year so we are anticipating more attendees this
       year.
     • The DOT can send all staff that want to attend due to the cost and virtual
       setting.
   • May Partnering Meeting
     • We don’t have a topic for this meeting at this time.
     • Usually The CQI committee provides a recap of what we have been talking
       about at our meetings.
     • The ACEC group thought it would be good to have an update on the budget
       and projected revenues in the highway fund.
     • Bill Oldenburg will check with the Commissioner to ask if she would consider
       doing a Town Hall meeting that was originally scheduled for this past
       January. It would be a timelier discussion if we can have the Town Hall
       meeting in late March, just before the April conference.
   • New Topics for Next Meeting
     • Consultant manual will be sent to the ACEC group for their review.
     • Design Build manual will follow shortly thereafter.
7. Next Meeting – March 17, 2021

Meeting Minutes for January 15, 2021

Meeting Location: Zoom Virtual Meeting
Day/Time: Friday (1:00 pm – 2:30 pm)

In Attendance:

Bill Oldenburg, NHDOT (Chair)
Mike Long, MJ
Ted Kitsis, NHDOT
Alex Koutroubas, ACEC
CR Willeke, NHDOT
Michelle Marshall, FHWA
Darren Blood, GM2
Marty Kennedy, VHB (Scribe)
Loretta Girard Doughty, NHDOT
Chris Mulleavey, HTA
Rob Faulkner, CHA

Unable to Attend:

Jim Marshall, NHDOT

1. Meeting Minutes: The meeting minutes from the last meeting were accepted.
2. Assigned Scribe for Meeting: Marty Kennedy
3. Topics for Discussion:
   • Escalation Rate
     • Bill reminded the committee that the NHDOT’s current calculation, which is
       based on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Data yields 2.25%, which would
       round down to a 2.0% cost escalation. He received internal Department push back
       on the suggestion of using the 2.25% plus 1% as discussed at our last meeting.
       Bill ran a sensitivity analysis using a $1.7 M project stating that the difference
       between a 2.0% and a 2.25% factor would be only $5 K and the difference
       between a 2.0% and a 3.0% factor would be only $20 K. Unless there’s another
       acceptable standardized method the consultant members can propose, the
       Department is prepared to implement the lower escalation rate. Consultants to get
       back to the Department within the next couple of weeks if there are other
       methods.
   • Brainstorming Meeting Topics
     • Marty suggested that with this being our first meeting of the year, we
       establish our top priority for 2021. It was suggested and agreed that our
       top priority would be to work together discussing and implementing
       actions aimed at efficiently advancing NHDOT projects. There will be
       other topics to discuss, but we’ll be sure to allocate sufficient time on each
       agenda to this priority.
     • The agenda will include start and end time for each agenda item.
     • Subcommittee reports should be brief (2 min each). If there’s the need for
       a longer discussion on a subcommittee matter, it should be placed on the
       agenda as a standalone discussion item.
     • As the year proceeds, we’ll monitor our progress on implementing actions
       to advance NHDOT projects.
     • Bill Oldenburg and one consultant member (Mike Long) to work together
       on preparing the agenda for each meeting.
     • Will consider changing the day and time of the meeting. Bill will check
       the schedules of others.
   • Sub-Consultant Self-Certification Form
     • Bill noted that the new form is being instituted – being pushed out
       internally first.
   • Consultant Manual by ACEC
     • Bill will be providing this committee copies of the manual for review –
       appendix to be provided on-line. We’ll get one month, then the document
       goes to FHWA. Final step is the Commissioner’s signoff.
   • Commissioner Town Hall
     • Date and time not yet set. Bill to check with Commissioner on potential
       late February date – 1 hour.
   • Consultant Notes Posting for Non-NHDOT Services
     • Bill was contacted by SRPC for eligibility list of consultants so they can
       send out an RFP for on-call services. Bill explained to the SRPC that the
       Department doesn’t maintain an eligibility list but agreed to post their RFP
       on the NHDOT’s website. Bill asked if ACEC had any concerns with
       using the list in this way. No concerns were raised.
4. Committees:
   • Contracts – Darren noted that the subcommittee continues to progress on a
     standard scope of work – next meeting Feb 19th.
   • Bridge – Loretta noted that the subcommittee did meet and are continuing to
     update the Bridge Manual – updating one chapter at a time. D-B Manual is
     complete, no more discussion needed.
   • Highway – Jim was not present today – no report.
5. LPA: CR asked consultants on the committee if there might be any potential issues
   when laying out alignment during construction when the Construction Engineer is a
   different firm from the Design Engineer. The committee members didn’t see a big issue.
   C&I contracts require a licensed surveyor. Ted noted that on NHDOT projects their
   surveyors provide layout of project control, but the Contractor is required to layout the
   project. NHDOT RE’s then are provided GPS equipment that they use to provide a sense
   that the project is being constructed correctly. It was noted that when LPA project
   documents reference the NHDOT specifications, they need to pay close attention to this
   initial layout requirement as NHDOT survey crews will not be providing this control
   layout.
6. Other Items: Ted noted that Construction School will take place virtually (Zoom Meeting) for
   January 26th through January 29th. Consultants are welcome to register. Zoom
   meeting can accommodate up to 500 attendees.
7. Next Meeting: February 19, 2021. (Subsequently changed to February 17, 2021)

Meeting Minutes for December 18, 2020

Meeting Location: NHDOT Commissioner’s Conference Room
Day/Time: Friday (1:00 pm – 2:30 pm)

In Attendance:
Bill Oldenburg, NHDOT (Chair)
Mike Long, MJ (Scribe)
Ted Kitsis, NHDOT
Alex Koutroubas, ACEC
Darren Blood, GM2
Marty Kennedy, VHB
Loretta Girard Doughty, NHDOT
Chris Mulleavey, HTA

Unable to Attend:

Jim Marshall, NHDOT
CR Willeke, NHDOT
Rob Faulkner, CHA
Michelle Marshall, FHWA

1. Meeting Minutes: The meeting minutes from the last meeting were accepted.
2. Assigned Scribe for Meeting: Mike Long
3. Topics for Discussion:
   • Escalation Rate
     • Further discussion was held regarding the establishment of an escalation rate on
       consultant salaries for next year. ACEC provided data accumulated from 27 firms
       (almost all have current contracts with NHDOT). Information was provided to
       Alex anonymously and the average salary increase from 2019 to 2020 was
       approximately 3.5%. Last year’s rate was taken from US Bureau of Labor
       Statistics Data which seems somewhat coarse and not entirely reflective of our
       industry, especially in southern New Hampshire as it is influenced by the Boston
       market. Using that data again would provide a rate of 2.25%. Bill suggested
       using that rate plus 1% and after some additional discussion it was agreed that he
       would propose that to the front office for approval.
   • Sub-Consultant Self-Certification Form
     • Bill asked if this form, which requires subconsultants to certify as to whether they
       are required to have an indirect cost rate (audited overhead rate) review based on
       the current contract value, could be moved along for possible implementation.
       ACEC’s concerns had been expressed in the previous meeting and through email concerning when a contract is actually complete for a subconsultant. With that in
       mind, Bill will move the form along for any additional internal Department
       comment and implementation.
   • Winter Conference
     • There will be no winter conference as in past years. Instead, a town hall type
       forum will be held with the Commissioner will be arranged, sometime around the
       middle of January.
   • April Technical Transfer
     • The Technical Conference will still be held in 2021, but it is being planned as a
       virtual conference due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The conference
       sub-committee is going forward with a plan to do it over a five day period with
       presentations each day. The technology on how to do this with a large audience
       has been discussed with SNHU. More to come on this in the near future.
   • Committees
     • Contracts – The committee is making progress on a standard scope of
       work and in fact, a standard for environmental assignments is very close to
       completion. Christine Perron from MJ provided McFarland Johnson’s
       “standard” and this was used as an initial template. The committee met
       and reinvigorated the process in other areas.
     • Bridge – No meetings recently, although Loretta noted that the
       Design/Build Manual has been reviewed and is almost complete and ready
       for publication.
     • Highway – Jim was not present today, but it was noted that a meeting was
       held recently and that the minutes from that and other meetings have been
       posted to the website.
     • LPA – CR was out and there was no update in this area.
4. Other Items: No other items were discussed.
5. Next Meeting – January 15, 2021

Meeting Minutes for September 18, 2020

Meeting Location: Virtual Zoom Meeting
Day/Time: Friday (2:00 pm – 3:00pm)

In Attendance:
Bill Oldenburg, NHDOT (Chair)
Mike Long, MJ
Ted Kitsis, NHDOT
Alex Koutroubas, ACEC
Michelle Marshall, FHWA
Chris Mulleavey, HTA (Scribe)
Darren Blood, GM2
Marty Kennedy, VHB
Loretta Girard Doughty, NHDOT
Jim Marshall, NHDOT
CR Willeke, NHDOT

Unable to Attend:

Rob Faulkner, CHA

1. Meeting Minutes: The meeting minutes from the last meeting were accepted.
2. Assigned Scribe for Meeting: (DOT even months/ACEC odd months) – Chris Mulleavey
3. Topics for Discussion:
   • Partnering Meeting Oct. 2, 2020 – Agenda Discussion
     • Bill O. mentioned training needs to acquire PDH’s have been difficult due
       to Covid restrictions. ACEC mentioned that there are a number of
       websites on-line that provide this service to engineers i.e. RedVector
     • Not a lot of ideas for additional agenda items other than standard updates,
       Bill O. will also mention some issues they are dealing with for electronic
       submissions in that consultants are password protecting their documents as
       file as file size limitations. ACEC suggested that they develop specific
       guidelines to be used for consultant electronic submittals.
     • Michelle M. suggested mentioning Everyday Counts Six is being rolled
       out soon by FHWA.
   • Winter Conference Jan. 15, 2021 – Agenda Discussion
     • The conference is planned to be virtual at this time
     • Bill O. will reach out to Kevin Nyhan for environmental topics, mentioned
       Permit requirement updates and MS4 as possibilities.
   • Tech Conference April 2021 – Discussion
     • Hope to have conference in person but will have backup plan for virtual
       meeting. Bill O. and Alex K. to get the committee together to start
       planning.
   • Consultant Selection Manual – Update Status
     • No change from last meeting Bill O. working out kinks for on-line version
       and then submit to Contracts sub-committee for review of updates.
4. Status of Subcommittees:
   • Consultants Contracts Subcommittee (Darren)
     • Standardized Scope of work/Fee Matrix: Darren reviewing with
       Committee.
     • Darren thanked Loretta for volunteering staff to write up sections which
       will speed up the process. Working on Part A will review at next meeting
       scheduled for Oct.1, 2020 then onto Part B.
   • Bridge Subcommittee (Loretta)
     • Design Manual Update -Held meeting Friday Sept. 11.
     • The Updated Manual is being reviewed internally.
     • Estimating Committee is developing a guidance document for estimating
       projects.
     • The Bridge Sub-Committee notes can be viewed on-line at the NHDOT’s
       website.
   • Design-Build Manual (Loretta)
     • Is complete and going through internal review process. Once complete
       will be posted on NHDOT’s website for consultant’s use.
   • Highway Subcommittee (Jim Marshall)
     • Design Manual update – Committee will be meeting in 2 weeks, working
       on design submission checklists and aligning them with standardized
       scope, design manual chapter 8 revision is with Policy and Records then
       onto FHWA.
     • “Working on Design Report to document from beginning to end”
5. LPA Topics (CR W.):
   • DOT managed on-call solicitation out also evaluating Pre-Qual list that
     Municipalities can utilize for consultant selection for LPA.
   • Working on a lot of procedural processes in the background for LPA.
   • Planning on LPA training virtually in the November/December time frame.
6. Other Items:
   • Question raised from Mike L. regarding proper invoicing around the DOT Fiscal
     year ending. Bill O. That the only fiscal year ending that needs to be adhered to is
     the DOT’s which ends June 30th. The DOT cannot pay an invoice the spans two
     Fiscal years. Ie. June 30 is the stop then new Fiscal year begins July 1.
7. Next Meeting – Thursday, October 16, 2020

Meeting Minutes for July 16, 2020

Meeting Location: NHDOT Commissioner’s Conference Room/Zoom
Day/Time: Thursday (8:00 am – 9:00am)

In attendance:

Bill Oldenburg, NHDOT (Chair)
Mike Long, MJ
Ted Kitsis, NHDOT
Alex Koutroubas, ACEC
Michelle Marshall, FHWA
Chris Mulleavey, HTA
Rob Faulkner, CHA
Darren Blood, GM2
Keith Cota, NHDOT
Marty Kennedy, VHB (Scribe)
Loretta Girard Doughty, NHDOT
Jim Marshall, NHDOT
CR Willeke, NHDOT

1. Meeting Minutes: The meeting minutes from the last meeting were accepted.
2. Assigned Scribe for Meeting: (DOT even months/ACEC odd months) – Marty Kennedy
3. Topics for Discussion:
   • COVID-19 Contract Addendum Language
     • The Department had begun distributing a Special Contract Provision for
       COVID-19 that states that any disruption, delay, or other impact associated
       with COVID-19 was foreseeable and therefore does not excuse the
       Consultant’s performance under the agreement.
     • Bill explained that language came directly from the AG’s office. This was
       primarily about contractors suppling goods to the state, but the term
       “Consultant” was inserted into the document.
     • Consultants’ concern is that although the language protects the state, it does
       not protect the consultant. The language puts the consultant in a position of
       being responsible for meeting a schedule regardless of whether the
       Governor was to invoke a workplace shutdown order.
     • Bill agreed language was one-sided and agreed to take concerns back to
       AG’s office.
     • More discussion on this to come.
   • Discuss SW Cole Question – Geotech sub that does Design and CE&I on same project
     • Regarding the Department’s policy that the same firm can not do both the
       design work and the construction inspection on the same project, SW Cole
       asked the Department if that policy pertained to subs.
     • Following some discussion, Bill felt that it was permissible for a
       subconsultant to do work on both the design and CE&I as long as they
       where overseen by someone else – the Prime.
   • CE&I Field Rate
     • Following up on a discussion from last month’s meeting on whether a field
       overhead rate must be used for construction inspection, Bill checked with
       Audit. Doesn’t appear to be a major issue. There was some discussion that
       an office rate can be used if there was no field office or if the inspector
       regularly works out of the consultant’s regular office. Most use office rate
       now.
   • Construction Services – Part C Agreement?
     • Under Part A consultant’s surveyor records existing ROW. Under Part B
       consultant’s surveyor prepares acquisition plans. How does the Department
       pay the consultant to place bounds when it can be many years later until the
       work is done?
     • Currently there is no opportunity for the designer to assist or respond to
       questions if an issue arises.
     • May consider an on-call for PE at beginning of Part C that would cover
       survey, shop drawing reviews, etc.
4. Next Meeting: Discussed changing the day of our monthly meeting because Bill has
   another regular 9:00 am meeting and our meetings always get cut short and we rarely get
   through all agenda items. Following the meeting, the date of our regular meetings was
   changed to the 3rd Friday of the month at 1:00 pm. Our next meeting is scheduled for
   Friday August 21st.