The City Engineers Association of Minnesota held the 2023 Annual Conference, January 25-27, 2023, at the DoubleTree Hilton. The conference offered a terrific opportunity for you to stay informed on current topics of interest and to maintain continuing education.
If available, presentations from the CEAM 2023 Annual Conference are posted below.
1. Advancements in Construction Management Technology
Kyle Johnson, Bolton & Menk; Paul Kyle, WSB; Drew Weber, Bolton & Menk
Session summary: Our industry continues to see the benefits that technology can bring to the jobsite. Owners, construction managers, and contractors are using technology to solve problems and streamline workloads in new and diverse ways every day. This session will empower participants to think outside the box and bring new ideas back to their organization.
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2. Alternative Solutions to Special Assessments
Chad Millner, City of Edina; Justin Femrite, City of Elk River
Session summary: The authority to levy Special Assessments is given to Minnesota cities via Minnesota Statutes Chapter 429; they are a powerful tool used by cities to fund public improvements. As increasing project costs continue to put upward pressure on assessment amounts, some cities have found reliance on special assessments to be unsustainable. We’ll hear from cities that have reduced their reliance on special assessments, and the process they used to accomplish this change.
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3. Anoka Solution: Hwy 10/169
Ben Nelson, City of Anoka; Eric Johnson, Bolton & Menk; Scott McBride, Bolton & Menk
Session summary: Congestion and safety have been issues for decades along the Trunk Highway 10 corridor in the north metro. The corridor has been studied several times, with everything proposed from a ‘mega-project’ to small incremental improvements. Following yet another study in 2014, which included some outcomes the City of Anoka did not want, the City embarked on a fresh approach. They decided to be proactive, leading development of a solution to ensure it would achieve the City’s goals, while stilling meeting the needs of Anoka County, MnDOT, and the region. The result is a collaboration that has overwhelming support from all parties. This session will review the history of the issues, and project development from initiation through final design and the start of construction. It will provide an example of the positive results that can come from being proactive, and how a City can take the unique role as the lead agency for improvements on a trunk highway.
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4. Contracting Methods for Cities 301
Justin Femrite, City of Elk River; Marc Culver, Bolton & Menk
Session summary: This will be a graduate-level session to discuss a toolbox of options for City Engineers to bid or get work completed of your City. There are a number of other options for City Engineers besides the traditional low bid procurement standards.
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5. Cybersecurity in Municipal Control Systems
Andrew Ohrt, West Yost; Melissa Reeder, League of Minnesota Cities
Session summary: Maintaining cyber-resilient infrastructure systems is necessary in our modern world. As connectivity of our networks and physical assets increases for many good reasons, we must consider how our organizations can build and maintain cyber-resilience. Speaker Andrew Ohrt will provide an overview of cybersecurity risks to municipal control systems (SCADA, etc.) and review expected governance changes for all critical infrastructure sectors with an emphasis on the water and wastewater sector. Speaker Mel Reeder, Chief Information Officer for the League of Minnesota Cities, will provide insight on what cities across Minnesota need to do to implement and maintain cybersecurity governance including obtaining cyber-insurance for both IT and SCADA systems. Finally, a revised approach to how we engineer our systems, entitled Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE), will be proposed as a way to ensure system and organizational resilience into the future. Andrew, Resilience Practice Area Lead for West Yost Associates, has led the development of American Water Works Association projects to update Water Sector cybersecurity resources since 2019 and currently serves on the Department of Homeland Security’s Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Work Group.
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6. Demographics and Smart Decision Making
Susan Brower, State of Minnesota
Session summary: Demographic data can be used to assist policymakers, state and local governments, businesses, nonprofits, the media, and all Minnesotans to make smart decisions. This session will focus on demographic data trends following the 2020 census and how we can use it to guide decision making in our work.
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7. Economic Trends
Laura Kalambokidis, Minnesota Management and Budget
Session summary: The labor market, supply chain issues and economic pressures all impact our project planning and delivery. The current economic trends and forecasts will provide insight and awareness to impacts within our industry.
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8. Ethics Session: Were They Ethical?
David Schultz, Hamline University
Session summary: Professor Schultz has developed dozens of hours of ethics curriculum, drawing upon a basis of authentic stories. He is a national expert on election law, professional ethics, state constitutional law, eminent domain, and land use law, and teaches courses on those topics at Hamline University in Saint Paul, MN. He has authored/edited 30 books and over 100 articles, and he is a frequent contributor on television and radio coverage of government and elections. Professional ethics encompasses many aspects – trust, relationship building, collaboration and teamwork, problem solving, and decision making. Professor Schultz will be bringing forward engineering case studies, talk through what happened, how it happened and walk through the ethics involved. The content of this session will also count toward the continuing education requirement for ethics in Minnesota PE licensure.
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9. Highland Bridge: From Brown to Blue the Story of 21st Century In-Fill Development
Luis Pereira, City of St. Paul; Anthony Adams, Ryan Companies; Nathan Campeau, Barr Engineering; Dan Elenbaas, Kimley-Horn
Session summary: Hear the story of the redevelopment of the 122-acre property former Ford Plant along the Mississippi River. The site now known as Highland Bridge. This 21st Century infill development includes many unique features including a central district stormwater feature that spans the full length of the site.
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10. Keynote - The Power of Sustainovation
Nick Kittle
Session summary: Sustainovation is the technique we use to build sustainable innovation into government. Award-winning civic innovator, coach, and author Nick Kittle will explain the nature of innovation in government and how to sustain it--and more importantly, the powerful role that we play in making Sustainovation a reality for our organizations. In this inspirational keynote, Nick will explore how we can get creative, build momentum, and get others on "Team Us" as we make these wildly creative ideas real!
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11. Leveraging LRRB as a Resource for Cities
Michael Marti, SRF Consulting Group; Susan Miller, SRF Consulting Group
Session summary: For over 60 years, the Local Road Research Board (LRRB) has been an active resource for transportation-related research and solutions in Minnesota. This session will provide background on LRRB, how they operate, and will provide highlights of some recently completed projects:
- an overview of the 40 or so safety projects the LRRB has funded over the past five years.
- an online tool for Cities and Counties to help them address FAQ on Connected Autonomous Vehicles Frequently Asked Questions (CAV FAQ)
- an online tool to assist cities and counties in selecting the most appropriate pavement marking materials; and
- an overview of newly funded research with an invite become active within the research process to ensuring the outcome is implementable!
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12. MCES Siphon Project
Jeff Schwartz, MCES; Dan Nesler, TKDA
Session summary: The Lake Street Siphon, located just north of the Lake Street Bridge, was constructed in 1937 and conveys an average daily flow of 69 MGD under the Mississippi River via three 60" cast iron pipes. The last time this infrastructure was inspected was 1993. This session will review the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services' (MCES) asset management program and use the Lake Street Siphon as a case study to highlight the technologies that were used to document the conditions and the significant improvements that were required to allow for safe access to complete the condition assessment.
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13. MnDOT Legislative Priorities
Nancy Daubenberger, MnDOT
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14. Planning for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: What Cities Need to Know
Diana McKeown, Great Plains Institute; Russ Stark, City of St. Paul; Brian Hansen, City of Bloomington
Session summary: With the growing demand and use of electric vehicles comes an increase in the demand and need for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This session will begin with an overview of electric vehicle charging, where the state is headed in their planning, and identification of some funding opportunities for local agencies. From there we will hear from a panel of City representatives to explain their efforts and lessons learned at their various levels of planning for and implementation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure at the local level.
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15. Professional Licensure Update
David Martini, Bolton & Menk; Melisa Rodriguez, SET; Board Member of AELSLAGID
Session summary: For both public and private sector engineers, professional engineering (PE) licensure is often essential or required for employment. This session will examine statewide statistics and trends in licensure including recent changes to the testing portion of the PE application. Additionally, the session will examine efforts by lawmakers nationwide to reduce or eliminate licensure requirements for various fields, including engineering, and how other organizations are monitoring and advocating for professional licensing.
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16. Project Funding 101
Julie Dresel, MnDOT; Deb Heiser, City of St. Louis Park; Julie Long, City of Bloomington; Michael Thompson, City of Plymouth
Session summary: Cities fund their projects in a variety of different ways, including General Fund, Federal Aid, State Aid, Special Assessments, Tax Increment Financing and Tax Abatement, Franchise Fees, and Utility Enterprise Funds, to name a few. A panel of experts in project funding will present different ways that cities fund projects, some pros and cons to each, and when you can and cannot use particular funding sources.
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17. State Aid 101
Andjela Tomovic, MnDOT
Session summary: They carry the force of law and navigating it can feel intimidating at first, but fear not! The State Aid Rules were established to provide a consistent framework in the form of minimum standards and financial guidance for the operation, construction and maintenance of the State Aid system. This session will provide a brief overview of MnDOT and how State Aid fits in, several helpful tools and resources for navigating 8820 and examples of its application. But wait, there’s more! We’ll also learn about upcoming changes that will affect all cities that use Municipal State Aid (MSA) funding.
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18. State Aid Update
Ted Schoenecker, MnDOT
Session summary: State aid will provide an update on various items and activities that impact, affect and benefit local agencies.
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19. Stormwater 101
Greg Williams, Barr Engineering, Jake Newhall, WSB, Sarah Schweiger, City of Minnetonka
Session summary: This session will provide an overview of stormwater management from a municipal perspective for locations throughout the state. Topics will include stormwater permitting, stormwater site plan review requirements, water quantity versus water quality, drainage and utility.
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20. Stormwater, Rainwater, and Wastewater Reuse
Michelle Stockness, Barr Engineering, Forrest Kelley, Capital Region Watershed District, Kristin Seaman, City of Woodbury
Session summary: Why does the sign above the toilet say, “Recycled Water Do Not Drink”? Water reuse is happening in Minnesota and is a great tool for water management and incorporating sustainability into projects. This session will discuss current regulatory updates for rainwater, stormwater and wastewater reuse; applicability and how to be more prepared to review your projects for water reuse opportunities. A designer, Watershed District and City perspective will be provided with examples of marquee projects, lessons learned and how to overcome barriers.
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21. Try Before You Buy - Grants for Active Transportation Demonstration Projects
Dave Cowan, MnDOT Office of Transit & Active Transportation; Mitch Kiecker, MnDOT State Aid; Tim Schoonhoven, City of Alexandria; Logan Vlasaty, City of Burnsville
Session summary: Grants for active transportation demonstration projects are expanding in reach and receiving new funding infusions. Come learn about the programs in general and hear lessons learned from projects implemented in the Cities of Alexandria and Burnsville. Demonstration projects are short-term, low-cost, temporary roadway projects used to pilot long-term design solutions to improve walking/bicycling and public spaces. Projects might include, but are not limited to, bicycle lanes, crosswalk markings, curb extensions, and median safety islands. These projects allow public agencies, community partners, as well as people walking, biking, taking transit, and driving to evaluate potential infrastructure improvements before investing in permanent changes.
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22. Understanding Archaeology and Human Remains Concerns on Local Projects
Dylan Goetsch, Minnesota Indian Affairs Council; Adam Kaeding, 106 Group; Toby Muse, SEH; Mitch Hatcher, City of Minnetonka
Session summary: Dylan Goetsch from the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and Adam Kaeding with 106 Group will provide an overview of how local construction projects can interact with archaeological and burial sites. He will show what resources are available and which agencies to coordinate with to help keep your project on track and also preserve and protect historical and cultural resources. Minnetonka has had several street and utility projects in areas with Native American burial mounds. Toby Muse with SEH and Mitch Hatcher with Minnetonka will discuss how early planning and coordination helped keep their project on track through construction.
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