September 11, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: Recently the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) partnered on a new economic report that quantifies water infrastructure investment and what happens when the nation fails to invest. The report “The Economic Benefits of Investing in Water Infrastructure: How a Failure to Act Would Affect the U.S. Economy Recovery” shows that closing the water investment gap brings enormous economic benefits and public health protections. As federal lawmakers consider how best to alleviate economic hardships caused by COVID-19 and protect public health, it is critical they understand the role water plays in keeping communities safe and healthy and our economy flowing.

Looking ahead: We all understand the immediate need for Congress and the administration to provide fiscal relief to state and local governments hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are also longer-term stressors on our nation’s infrastructure system that need to be addressed, specifically the relationship between the federal government and local governments. The ACEC Research Institute and partners have produced a series of recommendations to better align federal policies, funding options and regulations with local priorities within urban areas. The Community Serving Infrastructure: A Playbook for a New Infrastructure Partnership offers recommendations. Our local officials should read the Playbook this week.

August 21, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: This past week, I heard from a lot of people about the quality of both public and private virtual learning as the beginning of the school year kicked off. While most of the conversations ended with a reference to an alcoholic beverage, there were some definite success stories. My own daughter who never previously attended school struggled with PK3 math lessons, but found a connection over music class and story time. A teacher friend found that he was able to migrate to a completely paperless class. I know it isn’t easy, but let’s dwell on the positive for the children.

Looking ahead: This coming week will see two hurricanes simultaneously hit the gulf coast in Florida. In a typical storm response, there is a great deal of coordination between localities that share common risk. Risk prone areas have huge resources in crews, generators, pumps and everything necessary for recovery, but never quite enough to recover individually from a true disaster. For those events, it requires many localities banding together to give the resources of dozens of localities. If storms start coming in twos, threes or more, we’ll need to rethink preparedness and recovery plans. Let’s hope this is an anomaly.

August 14, 2020

Peter Moore, P.E., F.ASCE, ENV SP, LEED AP

President, Chen Moore and Associates

Last week: Last week, the nominating council for the Public Service Commission (PSC) sent four names to Gov. DeSantis for appointment of an expiring term. The list included three outgoing state legislators and one engineer. While I understand that the PSC must review a wide range of topics that aren’t all technical, three legislators jumping on the $132,000 per year part-time job is something that appears to be ready for failure. I believe that these positions should have requirements for technical competence. They sign off on all our utility rates, do we want politics in that role?

Looking ahead: The Public Service Commission (PSC) has a history of over 130 years in the State of Florida. Last week, the nominating council sent four names to Governor DeSantis. The Governor now has 30 days from then to nominate the next member. The member that currently holds the seat is the only engineer currently on the PSC. I’m not saying all 12 members should be engineers, but I’d like to think that one of 12 members of the group that regulates energy, water, sewer, gas and, to some extent telecom ought to be. Please keep at least one engineer, governor!