News

R&M Consultants, Inc. (R&M) has promoted three employees into management roles. John Daley, PE has taken the role of Group Manager of Waterfront Engineering, as former Group Manager Kim Nielsen, PE retires. Tim Grier, PE has become Vice President of Engineering, and Lance DeBernardi, PE is now Group Manager of Surface Transportation.

To read the full press release from R&M, click here.

Eli Ward, EIT recently joined R&M Consultants, INC (R&M) as Staff Engineer in the firm’s Construction Services Department. In this role, Eli will support ongoing construction administration projects throughout Alaska.

To read more about Eli’s background, and the full press release from R&M, click here.

Summer is here! Although it may not seem like the summer of our pasts (no graduation celebrations, no big events for Memorial Day), the weather is warmer and sunny (at least today it is!). I hope you’ve all been able to get out and enjoy some of the nice weather to help make things feel a bit like normal in these still trying and exhausting times.

The legislature wrapped up their Second Regular Session on May 20, 2020. But I use “wrapped up” loosely, as many things were postponed due to the difficulties of trying to meet and conduct sessions remotely, including many of the bills we were tracking. Unless these bills are specifically called to be addressed in a special session, these bills will die this year. However, we’re planning on bringing them all back to life next year and picking up where we left off with advocacy for these issues.

Before ending session, the legislature ratified the Governor’s plan for nearly $1.5B in federal coronavirus aid funds. More than $560M in municipal aid will be distributed to cities and boroughs to help offset the costs of this pandemic. But our state was having budget concerns even before the pandemic – what happens now? How do we move forward when we are now facing not only existing budget concerns but also a pandemic? How do we address education, healthcare, and infrastructure when these institutions were already in a financial crisis before the coronavirus and now face even deeper budget issues? I don’t have the answers, yet. But I do know that as an organization, APDC will continue to invest in our state, its people, and its infrastructure. Together, we’ll continue to advocate for the design community to ensure Alaska prospers. Now get out and enjoy the beauties of this wonderful state over the summer and I’ll see you all in the fall!

Erica Jensen,

APDC President

A celebration of life for William W. (Bill) Mendenhall, Jr., has been postponed because of COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings. Bill passed away Feb. 19, 2020, just shy of his 97^th birthday, surrounded by family and friends. He was delighted to meet his first great-grandchild just two weeks before his death.

Many in the APDC community remember Bill fondly as a mentor and leader. Bill began teaching at UAF in 1955 and continued to teach classes for almost 20 years after his official retirement in 1987. He also was a regular participant in the annual Alaska Surveying and Mapping Conference (ASMC), inducted into the ASMC Hall of Fame in 1996 and honored at the Hall of Fame awards ceremony again in 2014.

Mendenhall held professional registrations as a civil engineer, land surveyor, and mechanical engineer and was involved in many notable projects over his career. He received many honors for contributions to his profession and community and was the last surviving founding member of the Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation board, where he served for more than 50 years.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Bill’s name to the Greater Fairbanks Community Hospital Foundation, UAF Mendenhall Scholarship Fund, or UAF William and Nancy Mendenhall Student Travel Fund.

To read the full obituary from the Fairbanks Daily News – Miner, click here.

To donate to a scholarship, endowed in Bill Mendenhall’s name, click here.

For information regarding the travel endowment, established by Bill & Nancy Mendenhall in 2014, click here.

PDC Engineers, an infrastructure design firm focused on facilities, utilities, transportation, and land development services is pleased to announce its acquisition by REPSEC Inc. (Rapid City, SD). To learn more about REPSEC and read the full press release, click here.