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April Meeting


MINUTES OF THE WEDNESDAY April 30, 2025 MEETING:
Meeting held at Cocina del Charro, 1020 West San Marcos Blvd, San Marcos, CA
The meeting was called to order by President Tory Walker at 7:15 PM
Our guest speaker for the evening was Colm Kenney, Senior Civil Engineer at Universal Engineering Sciences (UES) in their
Escondido office. He was joined by Debbie Brock, their Business Development Manager. He was introduced by David Caron, our
Vice-President.
The following items were discussed:

  1. Colm’s discussion was centered around Geotechnical issues.
  2. He talked about the need to do a good site reconnaissance and then implement adequate soil testing/investigation to know what
    you are dealing with.
  3. In today’s world Storm Water management has become a big deal with onsite treatment/detention basins. The basins are
    typically ending up on the compacted pads which reduces the infiltration which in turn reduces the detention times.
  4. You can only do so much. It is also very important to place the detention basins away from the structures on site and away
    from the top of fill slopes.
  5. Good drainage facilities are critical.
  6. During the course of the presentation Colm answered multiple questions from the audience
    OTHER NEWS
  7. The April Board of Director’s meeting was held at Broken Yolk Restaurant on Las Posas Road in San Marcos on April 3,
    2025.
  8. The County of San Diego Development Services approached us regarding our support for their projected increase in
    processing fees. They want full cost recovery which we will not support without accountability. The President wrote a
    letter on our behalf expressing our dissatisfaction with response and plan check times and explaining the reasons for not
    supporting their proposal.
  9. Dennis Howe in the County’s Land Development Section indicated to a couple of our Board Members that people are
    filling in their Bio Basins. These bio basins in new construction are required and are meant to promote water infiltration,
    water detention and enhanced water quality discharge. It’s a real problem for the County to see these basins destroyed
  10. Our next meeting will be held on May 28,2025 and our speaker will be McNamara Pump.
    ATTENDANCE/MEALS USED: 24-people attended our meeting representing 12 member firms. The following firms have used
    all of their free meals, Civil Engineering Consulting Services, Civil Landworks, Marc Boogay, Rancho Coastal Engineering, PLSA,
    San Dieguito Engineering, S.R. Clarke Landscape Arch., The Sea Bright Co., Tory R. Walker Engineering, Value Engineering, U.C.
    Iacuaniello II, Will Rogers Landscape Arch., and Wynn Engineering. Please note that if you haven’t used all of your free meals,
    there are only 3 meetings left to use them, (June is our Social and July we are dark).
    The meeting adjourned at 9:05 PM.
    Bob Sukup, Secretary

March Meeting

MINUTES OF THE WEDNESDAY March 26, 2025 MEETING:
Meeting held at Cocina del Charro, 1020 West San Marcos Blvd, San Marcos, CA
The meeting was called to order by Vice President David Caron at 7:12 PM
Our guest speakers for the evening were Joe Napier and Justin J. Lofredo of the Valley Center Fire Protection District. He was
introduced by Gary Wynn, our Past-President.
The following items were discussed:

  1. Fire Chief Joe Napier let us know they were more that higher up paper pushers. The night before they were both called out to
    a fire at 2:00 A.M. that needed their attention.
  2. Growth in the region is here and their job is to make sure that it is Safe Growth. They spend a lot of time reviewing the Fire
    Code and interpreting it.
  3. In the Big Picture they not only are looking out for the safety of the neighborhoods, but also the safety of their Fire Fighters.
    Justin Lofredo is the Fire Marshal and he reviewed requirements for Senate Bill (SB63) a new bill, dealing with Fire Hazard
    Severity Zones. The bill has some very specific requirements such as:
    A. The first 5’ around a new structure has to be concrete or a non-flammable material (Zone “0”).
    B. The 5’ to 30’ area around a house has to have low combustible plants and be irrigated.
    C. Attic vents need to be ember resistant.
    D. They are looking for 100’ defensible area around the house with a checkered planting pattern from 30’ to 100’.
    These apply only to certain designated fire risk areas.
  4. They are reviewing all of the existing access roads for steep grades, sharp turns that may impede their equipment to navigate,
    and secondary access and exits which is crucial for all. In some cases, they are looking to see if they can possibly get two
    secondary outlets.
  5. They are currently reviewing the 2025 Code which will go into effect on January 1, 2026. They urged us to review the new
    code and get any concerns to them so that they can possibly be modified.
  6. Both Joe and Justin were both professional and passionate in what they do.
  7. Joe forwarded us a link on the Fire Hazard Severity Zones:
    https://fire-hazard-severity-zones-rollout-calfire-forestry.hub.arcgis.com/pages/about-fhsz-in-lra
    that includes a power point discussion of the Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
    OTHER NEWS
  8. The March Board of Director’s meeting was held at Broken Yolk Restaurant on Las Posas Road in San Marcos on March 6,
    2025.
  9. Our next meeting will be held on April 30,2025 and our speaker will be Colm Kenny of UES who will be speaking on
    Geotechnical issues.

January Meeting

MINUTES OF THE WEDNESDAY January 29, 2025 MEETING:

Meeting held at Cocina del Charro, 1020 West San Marcos Blvd, San Marcos, CA
The meeting was called to order by President Tory Walker at 7:20 PM
Our guest speaker for the evening was Jacob Armstrong Chief of Planning and Developmental Services at the County of San Diego. Attending with Jacob was Greg Anderson in the Surveying Section and Taylor Ryan who spoke about SB9 projects and Stormwater requirements. He was introduced by Tory Walker, our President.
The following items were discussed:

  1. The State of California has passed several laws pushing for more housing and is requiring very aggressive approval time
    frames. One of these, is SB9, which concerns allowing new ADU’s on existing residential lots, as well as facilitating new lot
    creations.
  2. SB450 now strengthens SB9 requiring the approving authority to approve or deny the application within 60 days.
  3. For properties on septic systems, the Department of Environmental Health must approve the layout before submission of the
    application. This prevents the “clock” starting until the application is actually complete.
  4. Greg Anderson, pointed out that any required mapping must also be included in the initial application submittal.
  5. Taylor then led a discussion on private Green Street criteria for PDP Exemption. It was recommended that an applicant meet
    with the appropriate agency at the beginning of the process to determine if they would allow Green Streets and what the
    requirements would be.
    OTHER NEWS
  6. The February Board of Director’s meeting was held at Broken Yolk Restaurant on Las Posas Road in San Marcos on January
    31, 2025.
  7. Our next meeting will be held on February 26,2025 and our speaker will be John Conley, Vista’s City Manager.
    ATTENDANCE/MEALS USED: 26-people attended our meeting representing 13 member firms with 2 guests. The following
    firms have used all of their free meals, Civil Landworks, The Sea Bright Co., Tory R. Walker Engineering, Value Engineering, and
    Wynn Engineering.
    The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.
    Bob Sukup, Secretary



MINUTES OF THE WEDNESDAY December 4, 2024 MEETING:

Our guest speaker for the evening was Erica Ryan from the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. She was introduced by Tory Walker, our President.The meeting was called to order by President Tory Walker at 7:20 PM.

The following items were discussed:

  1. The processing of the new MS4 permit will begin February of 2025.  Check their website for changes in the MS4 permit.
  2. Erica announced that the new Storm Water Management Unit Supervisor is Ben Neill and he will oversee the renewal of the MS4 permit.  The staff leader is Jessica Taylor with only four people working on the permit, there have been delays.  Jessica is the point of contact for questions on the permit.
  3. Between the County and the various cities there are specific nuances on how each handles their Storm Water requirements.  One size does not fit all!
  4. Agriculture is under a separate storm water permit, but green houses and other impervious areas still require that increases in runoff be managed.
  5. Large solar fields are similar to agriculture in the need to manage increases in runoff.
  6. Proprietary BMPs are not prohibited under the MS4 permit, but must be explicitly allowed by the Co-Permittee through their BMP Design Manual.  Currently, Encinitas and San Diego are cities that allow proprietary BMPs.
  7. Provision E-5 requires a valid Waste Discharge Identification number (WDID) be obtained prior to issuance of a grading permit.  A conditional grading permit could be issued prior to construction.

OTHER NEWS

  1. The December Board of Director’s meeting was held at Broken Yolk Restaurant on Las Posas Road in San Marcos on December 12, 2024.
  2. Our next meeting will be held on January 29,2025 and our speaker will be Jacob Armstrong, Chief of the Planning and Developmental Services Department for the County of San Diego.

ATTENDANCE/MEALS USED:  25-people attended our meeting representing 8 member firms with 11 guests. 

The meeting adjourned at 9:15 PM.

Bob Sukup, Secretary


MINUTES OF THE WEDNESDAY September 25, 2024 ANNUAL MEETING:

Meeting held at Cocina del Charro, 1020 West San Marcos Blvd, San Marcos, CA   The meeting was called to order by President Gary Wynn at 7:15 PM Our guest speaker for the evening was Raymond L. Mathe, PLS, Assistant Deputy Director and City Surveyor Engineering & Capital Projects, City of San Diego Construction Branch and former County Surveyor.  Accompanying Ray, was Fred LePage on his staff.  He was introduced by President Gary Wynn. The following items were discussed:

  1. Formerly the County of San Diego Surveyor for many years but he is now the City Surveyor and Deputy Director of Engineering and Capital Improvements for the City of San Diego. He has 71 people that he oversees. He covered a lot of topics. Ray also brought Fred La Page along who works for the Transportation Department. Fred oversees the sidewalk R&R. Monuments in the sidewalks have been lost. Contractors have tied monuments out when doing R&R of sidewalks but often times when they replace the sidewalks panels, they replace more than was anticipated when monuments were tied off.  This causes a problem in replacing monuments and it is important to file Corner Record Sheets showing ties to monuments, so that they can be replaced.
  2. The City’s Capital Improvement Budget is 1 BILLION dollars.
  3. La Jolla, which is part of the City of San Diego had a lot of survey monuments destroyed over the years. It is a big problem. The City of San Diego is in the process of resetting monuments where ever possible.
  4. The City of San Diego has many well monuments whereas the County only has a few by comparison. The City has reset 250 well monuments. They have also lost quite a few benchmarks over the years and they are trying to add more where possible.
  5. Ray told our surveyors to check the City’s tie sheets when surveying in San Diego. They are very helpful.
  6. San Diego is trying to get their monuments into GIS, but it is a long process.
  7. Fred has 4 people working for him. They assign street addresses and oversee the SB9 permits. He indicated if you go to Information Bulletin #11 it leads you where to go for different permits.

OTHER NEWS

  1. The September Board of Director’s meeting was held at Broken Yolk Restaurant on Las Posas Road in San Marcos on August 29, 2024.
  2. The President reported, that the Secretary having received fourteen (14) ballots by the start of the meeting, and a quorum being present, declared the election official.  The officers elected were President, Tory Walker, PE of Tory R. Walker Engineering, Inc., Vice-President, David Caron, PE of Civil Landworks, Secretary Robert Sukup, RCE of The Sea Bright Co., Treasurer, U.C. Iacuaniello II, RCE of U.C. Iacuaniello II, Consulting Engineer and Past President, Gary Wynn, PE of Wynn Engineering, Inc.
  3. Dues invoices have gone out, so check your email.   

ATTENDANCE/MEALS USED:  19-people attended our meeting representing 9 member firms.    The meeting adjourned at 9:00 PM.  

Bob Sukup, Secretary

OTHER NEWS

  1. The June Board of Director’s meeting was held at Broken Yolk Restaurant on Las Posas Road in San Marcos on May 30, 2024.
  2. June’s meeting will be our annual Social meeting, bring your significant other and enjoy the comradery and fun at Draft Republic, 255 Redel Road, San Marcos. 

ATTENDANCE/MEALS USED:  19-people attended our meeting representing 11 member firms.  The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM.  

Bob Sukup, Secretary

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