Cordell Parvin has practiced law for 35 years. During his entire career, Cordell has specialized in legal issues affecting the highway construction industry. He has conducted a wide variety of programs for contractor associations throughout the United States, including the FTBA. Since 1984, Cordell has written a monthly column in Roads & Bridges magazine titled: "Law: The Contractor's Side."

Session Title:
Using Contracts for Risk Management - Tim Woodward will discuss how contractors, subcontractors, owners and engineers can, and should, use contracts as risk management tools. Mr. Woodward will briefly discuss a variety of "key" contract provisions that should be carefully considered by all those in the construction industry. Whether you hope to use these provisions for your own protection or just want to learn what the other guy might try to sneak past you, this seminar is designed to help you better manage your business' contractual risks.

Tim Woodward is a Partner in the Tampa office of the law firm Forizs & Dogali, P.L. where he focuses the huge majority of his practice on handling construction law and litigation issues.   Mr. Woodward has handled disputes for general contractors, architects, engineers, subcontractors, owners and material suppliers regarding a myriad of disputes, including claims regarding delays, construction defects, professional malpractice, liens, bonds, injuries, deaths, fraud and construction industry licensing.  Many of these claims have stemmed from significant projects such as theme parks, airports, highways, bridges, underground utilities, retirement communities, shopping malls, historical preservation sites and condominiums.  He also serves as an Adjunct-Professor at the University of South Florida where he instructs "Construction Law" at the College of Engineering.

Session Title:
ITS/LESS 
Topic: New Post Standards for Single Column Ground Mounted Signs
Speaker Chester Henson
Bio. Chester has more than 35 years of transportation experience in the areas of planning, design, construction, and management of highway, bridge, and general civil engineering projects. Most of his experience has been as a consultant project manager or senior designer producing highway, bridge plans for State, Municipal, and County agencies. Chester presently coordinates and develops updates and improvements to the Design Standards, Plans Preparation Manual and Specifications in the areas of signing & pavement marking, signalization and highway lighting. He also teaches the Interactive Intersection Design Class and represents the Department on various industry committees.

Session Title:
Immigration Law
Speaker: Phillip B. Russell, Esq. of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC (FTBA Affiliate Member)
Bio: Mr. Russell is a labor and employment lawyer exclusively for businesses. Since 1995, he has represented employers in all labor and employment matters. He not only defends employers before government agencies and courts and in union-organizing campaigns, he proactively advises businesses on how to best comply with the extensive and constantly changing labor and employment laws, rules, and regulations. Mr. Russell's counseling and advice services to businesses also includes interactive training sessions for executives, managers, supervisors, and human resources departments. He helps employers develop labor and employment law compliance programs by reviewing and revising employment polices and practices. Mr. Russell aggressively represents his clients before government agencies, including the U.S. EEOC, state and local EEO agencies, OSHA, Wage and Hour Division, and the National Labor Relations Board. He has tried bench and jury trials for discrimination, harassment, and related claims filed in state and federal courts and he has tried cases before the NLRB. Mr. Russell is a frequent speaker at industry and human resources trade associations and he regularly submits articles to various publications and newsletters regarding hot labor and employment topics and trends for businesses, particularly those in the construction industry.

Immigration reform will be one of the hottest issues for employers in 2007. Whatever the final form, employers will bear the burden of compliance like never before. Prudent employers will pay close attention to the proposed changes, to the federal government's recent high-profile enforcement actions, and to the receipt of any Social Security " mismatch" letters and any other evidence that shows the employer knew (or should have known) it was employing unauthorized aliens. This workshop will address how to stay out of trouble with prudent hiring and documentation procedures.

Session Title:
Compensation Law for Contractors
Speaker: Phillip B. Russell, Esq. of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC (FTBA Affiliate Member)
Bio: Mr. Russell is a labor and employment lawyer exclusively for businesses. Since 1995, he has represented employers in all labor and employment matters. He not only defends employers before government agencies and courts and in union-organizing campaigns, he proactively advises businesses on how to best comply with the extensive and constantly changing labor and employment laws, rules, and regulations. Mr. Russell's counseling and advice services to businesses also includes interactive training sessions for executives, managers, supervisors, and human resources departments. He helps employers develop labor and employment law compliance programs by reviewing and revising employment polices and practices. Mr. Russell aggressively represents his clients before government agencies, including the U.S. EEOC, state and local EEO agencies, OSHA, Wage and Hour Division, and the National Labor Relations Board. He has tried bench and jury trials for discrimination, harassment, and related claims filed in state and federal courts and he has tried cases before the NLRB. Mr. Russell is a frequent speaker at industry and human resources trade associations and he regularly submits articles to various publications and newsletters regarding hot labor and employment topics and trends for businesses, particularly those in the construction industry.

Construction industry employers are facing increasing scrutiny from government agencies, such as OFCCP and the DOL's Wage and Hour Division, regarding their pay practices. Are you sure your overtime exemptions are proper? Are you certain you are paying employees for all hours worked, including travel time to and from jobs? Are you familiar with OFCCP's new interpretive guidelines for analyzing systemic pay discrimination issues? This workshop will address these compensation issues and others as well as the tremendous liability for mistakes regardless of intent.

Session Title:
CEI/Contractor Panel
Panel Members - Tim Noles, Jonathon Addison, Don Hambidge, Jim Phillips, Gene Balter,
Rusty Birchall, Greg Reilly, Jim Lynch, Carrie Stanbridge, Ankur Talwar, Mark Croft,
Bryan Wilson, Sherman Johnson, D. Dwayne Kile, Peter Nissen, Shannon Snyder,
Ignacio Halley.

Biographies for Panel Members

1. Tim Noles, P.E.
   1. Tim Noles is a graduate of the University Of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.  Tim has been a structural engineer in the design, and inspection of fixed and movable bridges with Hardesty & Hanover since 1984.  Promoted to Associate with Hardesty & Hanover in 1995, and has been a Partner with H&H since 2004. Tim is in charge of the H&H's Southeast Operations including Florida.  Recent current projects include the 5th Street Bascule Bridge in Miami Florida, Sanibel Island Bridge in Lee County Florida, and the 14th Street Bascule Bridge Design/Build Rehabilitation in Pompano Beach Florida.

2. Jonathon Addison, P.E.
   1. Jonathon is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Civil Engineering, and has twenty two years of civil engineering design, heavy civil construction, and construction engineering and inspection experience.  Mr. Addison has worked in the field of engineering design, construction, and construction engineering and inspection in Texas, Washington, Costa Rica and Florida, and is currently the Director of Construction Services for E.C. Driver and Associates in Tampa Florida.  Major projects include U.S. 19 overpasses at Countryside Blvd, and S.R. 580, Clearwater, FL; Hillsborough Avenue Bridges over the Hillsborough River, Tampa, FL; and the Treasure Island Bridge Replacement, Treasure Island, FL.

3. Don Hambidge, P.E.
   1. Mr. Hambidge is the Director of Public Works for the City of Treasure Island, Florida, has a BSCE degree from the University of Massachusetts, a MSCE degree from Tufts University, and is a registered professional engineer in New Hampshire and Florida. He is a member of APWA and the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation.  Mr. Hambidge has 38 years experience in private engineering consulting, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and public works in New Hampshire and Florida.  He is currently overseeing the construction of the $67M Treasure Island Causeway Bridges Replacement Project, Treasure Island, FL., a FDOT LAP project.

4. Jim Phillips, P.E.
   1. Jim Phillips is a Vice President with E.C. Driver and Associates, Inc. in Tampa, Florida. His experience includes twenty four years of bridge inspection, design, and construction engineering with an emphasis on major bridges and in particular movable bridges. Mr. Phillips has participated, as project engineer and/or project manager, in the design of dozens of major bridges located throughout the United States. Notable projects for which he was the Engineer of Record include the award winning SE 17th Street Causeway Bridge in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and the Royal Park Bridge in Palm Beach County, Florida. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida, College of Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in 12 states, plus the District of Columbia.

5. Gene Balter, P.E.  
   1. Eugene “Gene” Balter received a BS degree in Civil Engineering from the University of South Florida and a MS degree in Construction Management from the University of Central Florida.  Mr. Balter is the National Director for Transportation Construction Services for HDR and the Chief Operating Officer of HDR Construction Control Corporation.  Recently, Mr. Balter served as the Project Manager for the T.Y. Lin/HDR Joint Venture on the $640 million design-build Cooper River Bridge construction project in Charleston, SC.  Mr. Balter is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Highway Engineers, and the Florida Engineering Society.  Mr. Balter is a licensed Professional Engineer in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, Connecticut and New York.

6. Rusty Birchall
   1. Rusty Birchall is a Civil Engineering graduate of Georgia Tech.   He has 16 years experience in road and bridge construction in Florida, and has been employed by Cone & Graham for 14 of those years.   Major project experience includes I-4, Segment 2 in Hillsborough County, the US-19/Drew Street Interchange in Pinellas County, the Lakeland In-Town Bypass and the Suncoast Parkway , Section 2.

7. Greg Reilly

Mr. Reilly has worked in the heavy highway industry for almost fourteen years, ten of which were as a CCEI consultant inspector, senior inspector and office engineer.  During the past four years as a contractor he has worked for Ranger Construction Industries, Inc. (RCI) in Ft. Pierce, FL as a Project Manager. 

Mr. Reilly has worked for with individuals from both sides of the construction industry (CCEI/FDOT & Contractors) representing numerous agencies and companies.  While working as a CCEI he participated on numerous FDOT projects including urban roadway reconstruction, resurfacing and bridge projects.  As a Construction Project Manager for RCI he has managed multi-million dollar site improvements and roadway projects for state, county and city municipalities along the central east coast of Florida. 

8. Jim Lynch

Jim Lynch has a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from Florida International University.  He started his construction career as a Rodman on survey crews in Delaware when he was 12 years old and has been working in the construction industry ever since.  Jim worked for 11 years with the Florida Department of Transportation, and was the Resident Construction Engineer in Fort Pierce. Currently Jim is a Vice President with LBFH, Inc. in charge of their Construction Services Division.  Jim is also very active with the Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers (FICE) and is currently the Chairman of the FICE CEI Subcommittee where he works directly with the FDOT on many of the issues facing the CEI/Construction industry today.

9.  Carrie Stanbridge

Carrie graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from University of Florida (1993) and is a Registered P.E. in the State of Florida  Carrie has been employed with FDOT for over twelve years and completed the P.E. Trainee program in District 2.  Carrie has worked in the FDOT District 2 Jacksonville Construction Office serving as a Project Engineer, Construction Project Manager and the district CCEI administrator, and she is currently serving as Resident Engineer in Jacksonville Construction and the District 2 CCEI Engineer.

10. Ankur Talwar

Ankur is a Manager for Special Projects with PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. and has been with PCL his entire 14 year construction career.  He graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary in 1992 and received his MBA from Florida Atlantic University in 2001.  He oversees transportation rehabilitation projects, bascule bridge construction, lock structure upgrades and water treatment plant modifications, working with the majority of the FDOT Districts.  In addition to bid build projects, he has been involved in several FDOT design-build projects including the 14th Street Bascule Restoration and the Eller Drive Ramp Modification.  His current active FDOT projects include Mathews Bridge Rehabilitation, District 2, PGA Bascule Reconstruction, District 4 and the Hollywood Bascule Restoration, District 4.  He is a husband and father to two young children Anika and Arun.    

11. Mark Croft

Mark obtained his Civil Engineering Degree from The University of Florida in 1984, and has worked for the Department of Transportation for 22 years in various positions within the Construction Departments of Districts 4 and 6.  The last 7 years Mark has worked as the District Construction Engineer for District 6.

12. Bryan Wilson

Bryan Wilson has been a registered professional engineer in the state of Florida for 16 years.  He graduated from Auburn University in 1986 with a bachelor of Civil Engineering degree.  He joined the Florida Department of Transportation as a P.E. Trainee in District 4.   In 1995, he left the Department and joined the consulting firm of Morales and Shumer Engineers as a Senior Project Manager and became the Office Manager of the Fort Lauderdale Office in 1998.  Mr. Wilson joined Keith and Schnars, P.A. in 2000 as Assistant Director of Highway Engineering is currently the Director of Highway Engineering for Keith and Schnars, P.A. 

13. Sherman Johnson

Sherman began his construction career spending 5 years in the United States Naval Seabees as an engineering aid.  He graduated from Florida Southern College with a B.S. in Natural Science. Mr. Johnson began his construction engineering career in Florida with a Construction Materials Testing Laboratory, and for the last 18 years has worked at Greiner/ URS Corporation. Major projects include the U.S. 19 over Countryside/S.R. 580 in Clearwater, FL; the Hillsborough Avenue Bridge over the Hillsborough River, Tampa, FL; I-275 Big Island Gap Project.  Sherman is currently the Bridge Project Administrator for the $205M Tampa Airport Interchange Project in Tampa, FL. Sherman is married to his high school sweetheart and has two teenage boys and one 10 year old daughter.

14. D. Dwayne Kile

Mr. Kile has been the District Seven Design Engineer for the past 9 years.  He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Missouri-Rolla with a bachelor’s of science degree in civil engineering in 1975.  He has been registered in five states including Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and Florida.  Mr. Kile’s project experience ranges from civil design of coal fired power stations to downtown redevelopment projects to his current role overseeing the transportation design for the five county area of Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Hernando and Citrus for FDOT District 7.  Outside activities include the Tampa Bay area Future Cities Competition Judging, Hillsborough County Science Fair Judging and public speaking.

15. Peter (Pete) Nissen

Mr. Nissen graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1988 with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering and began work with the FDOT as a PE Trainee in District 4.  He spent 10 years in the Structures Design Office and became the Assistant Structures Design Engineer.  In 2000, he joined District 4 Construction Office as Project Manager and was later promoted to Area Engineer.  He was the Assistant to the Fort Lauderdale Operations Engineer before becoming the District Maintenance Engineer in 2005, and has been the District Construction Engineer in District 4 since 2006.

16. Shannon Snyder

Shannon graduated with a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Miami and has more than 17 years of CEI experience on major bridge and roadway projects in South Florida.  Shannon is a Senior Project Engineer with The Corradino Group and has successfully administered many projects under conventional CEI contracts as well as Design/Build projects serving as both the Oversight CEI and the Contractor CEI for District 4, District 6, Turnpike Enterprise and MDX.  Her most recent projects include the New River Bridge Design/Build Project for D4, the Thomas B. Manuel Design/Build Project for the Turnpike Enterprise, and the WB 836 Connector to SB HEFT Design/Build Project for the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.

17. Ignacio Halley, PE

Ignacio is currently the executive vice president of Community Asphalt Corporation in charge of operations in southeast Florida.  He is a graduate of Villanova University where he received a degree in Civil Engineering and is a registered professional engineer. He serves on the Executive Boards of both the Asphalt Contractors (ACAF) and the Florida Transportation Builders Association ( FTBA),  and is the current Chairman for the Board of Directors of FTBA.

Session Title:
Public/Private Partnerships in Florida
Speaker: Lowell Clary, Assistant Secretary for Finance and Administration
Bio:  Lowell R. Clary (Lowell) serves as the Assistant Secretary for Finance and Administration for the Florida Department of Transportation.  In this role Mr. Clary serves as the chief administrative officer for the Department and manages statewide functions such as financial planning, programming, finance and accounting, information technology, procurement, human resources, and support services.  He also recommends and implements Department policies related to finance and administration.

Mr. Clary also served as the Florida Department of Transportation Chief Financial Planner, Inspector General and Deputy Comptroller.  He has been extensively involved in transportation programs and finance for over 17 years.

Mr. Clary serves on the Transportation Research Board Finance and Taxation Committee, AASHTO Finance and Administration Committee, and on various other panels and committees associated with transportation finance and administration.

Mr. Clary served as the Deputy Secretary for Administration and Acting Inspector General for the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services during a three-year leave of absence from transportation.

Lowell R. Clary
605 Suwannee St. MS 57
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0450
Phone:  850-414-5215
Email:   lowell.clary@dot.state.fl.us

Session Title:
Maintenance of Traffic
Speaker:  Cheryl Adams
Topic:  New Work Zone Sign Support Standards (effective July 1, 2007)
Bio:  Cheryl Adams –Florida Department of Transportation,
                                 605 Suwannee Street, Roadway Design Office MS 32,
                                 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0450
                                 (850)414-4327; Cheryl.adams@dot.state.fl.us
Cheryl has been with the Florida Department of Transportation for 29 years with the majority of her experience in Roadway Design. She is currently responsible for developing and maintaining statewide procedures, criteria and guidelines related to Maintenance of Traffic and Traffic Control Plans. This includes developing, updating and coordination of Maintenance of Traffic Standard Index Drawings, Specifications and the Plans Preparation Manual in the area related to Maintenance of Traffic and Traffic Control Plans. She served as Maintenance of Traffic Committee Chairperson from 1999 to 2006. She also teaches the Advanced Maintenance of Traffic Course and represents the Department on various industry committees.

Session Title:
Value Engineering Change Proposals
The Value Engineering Change Proposal (VECP) Program offers contractors an opportunity to demonstrate their ingenuity and innovation. The contractor can be rewarded for this ingenuity and innovation, by submitting proposals that contribute to the cost effectiveness of a project.  Any project savings generated from an approved VECP is shared between the contractor and the Department.  This presentation will review the process of submitting a VECP and the Department’s process of reviewing a VECP.  Case Studies of previous VECP’s will be presented.

Speakers:
Kurt Lieblong
Mr. Lieblong has served as the State Value Engineer since joining the Department in 1999.  Kurt has served on the AASHTO Value Engineering Technical Committee for the past six years.  He was the Conference Chairman for the 2003 AASHTO VE Conference and is the current Chairman of the AASHTO VE technical committee.  His other duties include the development of the Electronic Review Comments System, coordination of the Consultant Performance Evaluation Process and the Highways for Life Program.  He has a bachelor degree from Auburn University and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Florida.

Rocco DePrimo
Mr. DePrimo is the District Utilities/Value Engineering Administrator for the Florida Department of Transportation. His responsibilities encompass Utility Coordination/Negotiations, Project Management, and Value Engineering.  He began his career in 1967 with the Florida Department of Transportation in construction.  In 1977 he moved to Dade County as Manager of Utilities and Railroads.  In 1986 he was Director of Design for the Miami Dade Transit Authority.  He served 6 years as a private consultant before returning to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in 1991.  Mr. DePrimo has a B.S. degree in Construction Management and has completed graduate work in Public Administration.  He is a registered Real Estate Broker and holds the Certified Public Manager (CPM) designation.

Session Title:
Concrete Pavement Session
The session includes three speakers addressing many aspects of concrete pavement construction. Main topics of discussion include best construction practices based on national experience to ensure long life concrete pavements; sharing experiences of a CEI on a major concrete paving project in Florida; and a contractor’s perspective on issues such as constructability, MOT, access to businesses in urban projects, construction quality, and advances in paving machines.

Moderator -  Roger Schmitt – FDOT, District 5 Materials Engineer

 1. “Quality Construction for Long Life Concrete Pavements,”
            Shiraz Tayabji, Ph.D., P.E. CTL Group

 2. "Paving the Final Stretch - Completing I-4 Through Tampa,”
            William Jeffries, Parsons Brinkerhoff 

 3. “Long Life Concrete Pavements – Contractor’s Perspective”
            Ronnie Ashmore, APAC-Ballenger Paving Division

 SPEAKERS’ BIOS
Dr. Shiraz Tayabji, Regional Manager, CTL Group, Columbia, Maryland, has over 30 years experience developing, improving, and implementing technologies for highway and airfield concrete pavements. He serves as the Project Manager for a multi-year, multi-team project sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration, which involves concrete pavement technology implementation and technology transfer activities. He obtained his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of East Africa and M.S. and Ph. D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois. He is an Emeritus Member of TRB, Fellow of ACI, and Past President of the International Society for Concrete Pavements.

 William Jeffries is Senior Structures Inspector for Parsons Brinkerhoff. He has more than 23 years of experience in construction. For more than 15 years, he worked on several industrial projects, and numerous FDOT projects which included Toll plazas, Interstate rest areas and bridge construction. The last 8 ½ years he has been working with CEI firms on FDOT projects. These projects included new bridge construction, existing bridge rehab, all phases of roadway construction including concrete paving in districts 5,7 and 8, and the rehab of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

 Ronald (Ronnie) Ashmore is the president of APAC - Ballenger paving Division in Greenville, South Carolina. He graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1975, and has been with Ballenger for over 34 years. He has been involved in concrete paving projects throughout the southeast states and in many other states. Mr. Ashmore has served on various technical committees over the years, was Chairman of SCAN 2003, and served as Chairman of ACPA-SE chapter in 2004.  He currently serves on the ACPA-SE chapter board of directors and ACPA National board of directors. He has made numerous presentations at workshops and conferences.

Session Title:
Asphalt
Speaker: Jim Warren
The Asphalt Session this year will focus on improving practical knowledge on pavement smoothness and demonstration of best practices. This program includes speakers from the State Materials Office and Industry discussing the Laser Profiler; how it works, understanding how to achieve ride using the automatic controls on the milling machine, and common misunderstandings relative to slope, thickness, yield, and cross-slope. The program will conclude with a presentation on the top paving project in 2006.