Executive Administrative Assistant to Busy Principal

Looking for a sharp, talented and energetic executive administrative assistant to help me run the business.

If you are an experienced Executive Administrative Assistant working for a CEO this opportunity may be right for you. You see, I have an opening for someone to be my personal assistant. I am the Owner and CEO of the company and You will be working directly for me.

Excel Engineering Consultants, LLC. is a 20 year old company. It is a civil and environmental engineering consulting firm located in the Orlando area.

On a side note, the reason I am looking for an assistant is that my personal assistant of 12 years had some personal family matters that needed immediate attention and left this vacancy.

I am a great guy to work with. I will respect you and I will require the same treatment back. I give this company 110% of my energy during my 8 hours every day and I will expect the same from you.

Now before we continue, I must Warn You. I am not looking to transplant somebody from another State or another far away City. I am looking for someone within normal driving distance to the office (20 miles or so), that is established in Central Florida. Otherwise, you will not be considered.

Now getting back to the job description…… You will be involved in helping me with all kinds of executive level functions. More specifically, I’m looking for someone that has the following job competencies:

1. You will be involved with writing proposals and marketing which will be an on-going part of your duties. If you want hands-on business experience in running a business, then this is a great opportunity for you.

2. You need to have experience in setting up a complex electronic file system that is “user-friendly”. Meaning I have to be able to find documents quickly. Now we already have one but it can always be improved.

3. You will be proof reading and formatting technical engineering reports, letters, proposals and contracts. You will need to be meticulous and make sure that they not only look good but also don’t have any mistakes. The documents need to read and flow well. This is important since all we produce are reports and plans.

4. You will be preparing permit applications to the various governmental agencies that we work with. These forms are somewhat tedious and technical and it is important that the information is gathered from the client and the engineers and then inserted in the forms properly. Then all supporting documentation needs to be gathered and included in the permit package and coordinated with the client and the engineers before submitting to the agency.

5. Once a month you will be going through the project time sheets program (BillQuick) and running reports in order to prepare invoices (QuickBooks). You will prepare the invoices and we will sit down to go over them and I will approve them. Then you follow up with clients to make sure that we get paid.

6. You have to have to be able to follow up and follow through on everything we do so that nothing falls through the cracks. This is an ongoing process and you do it through emails and phone calls.

7. Once in a while you may even have to go down to the agency to walk a permit application through the system.

8. You will also be doing routine clerical tasks such as inventory office supplies and ordering materials.

9. Since this is a people business you need to be well mannered and have good “people skills”. Because you will be dealing with me, other engineers, attorneys, governmental agents, other professionals and clients. So being able to communicate effectively in a pleasant people friendly manner while getting your point across……is necessary.

10. You will be working with software such as MS Word, Excel, Sage ACT!, BillQuick and QuickBooks. Needless to say you really have to be good with MS Word and Excel. And have a good working knowledge of ACT! and QuickBooks.

11. You will be keeping track of my personal schedule and project schedules (calendaring) We use a simple system via the Sage ACT! Calendar which is networked through the office.

Well I hope that I explained what I am looking for clearly. Because I don’t want to waste your time or mine in this venture. This position is for a well rounded executive administrative assistant that wants to be part of running a business. You will be involved in a number of different tasks from day to day depending on the needs of the business and the challenges that I have that day.

This position is Not for a Newbie. It requires a person mature in character with prior experience

(5 years or more) working with a similar company (preferable another civil engineering company).

If you are a well organized person that has good organizational skills; if you are detailed oriented; and if you would like to help me run the business by performing the duties of an executive administrative assistant to the president of a small engineering company then this may be a good opportunity for you.

If you are interested in this position because you meet the qualifications please do the following:

1. PLEASE Do Not Call ME! I Will Call You If I’m Interested.

2. Send me a cover letter explaining the benefits that you bring to the table in light of the requirements.

3. Attach a resume which is benefit oriented. What I mean by that, is that if you explain in your prior work history not just the things you did, but the benefits that your efforts brought to the particular company. Meaning how did your efforts contribute to the goals of the company in relationship to making the business more effective, more profitable, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

4. Please contact me by responding to this letter-send your documents in MS Word format only.

5.  Send Cover Letter, Resume and References to >  Hr-one@Excelengineers.com

New water quality limits, for Stormwater Discharges from land development projects, are being proposed. Water quality limits for nitrogen and phosphorous in stormwater discharges are being considered in an attempt to replace the controversial Numeric Nutrient Criteria (federal mandate). The proposal will be considered at the December 8, 2011 Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) commission meeting.

As you may remember, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent an explosion through the land development community when it agreed to propose the Numeric Nutrient Criteria as a result of a lawsuit filed by environmental groups.

These Environmental groups alleged that Florida’s existing water quality rules were too vague and failed to protect the State’s waterways from becoming polluted. Industry groups including, Agriculture, Construction and Waste water Utilities were against these measures. These measures were unnecessary, difficult to implement and too expensive. Implementation of these measures was estimated into the billions of dollars. A coalition of business groups confronted these measures advocating that the State should address this issue with its own version. Furthermore, the Federal government should withdraw its proposed rules until such time as the State implements its rules.

How to stop local governments from implementing more impact fees to overcome their cash flow shortfalls?

A measure (House Bill (HB) 603) filed last week by Rep. Mike Weinstein (R-Jacksonville), puts the skids on impact fees. HB 603 bars Florida cities and counties from enacting transportation or school impact fees until mid-2015.

The bill prevents the charging of concurrency fees for roads and schools for projects permitted before July 1, 2015. And be completed before July 1, 2016. Rep Weinstein said the measure would help jump-start a limping construction industry and spur construction activity during these difficult economic times.

The bill would not take complete complete control of the process from Cities or Counties. The bill allows City and County officials to veto the order by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote at the local government

New Advanced Treatment Wastewater Plant

for Magnolia Village Community

Magnolia Village Community 40,000 gpd Advanced WWTF

Summary

Magnolia Village is a community located in New Smyrna Beach Florida. The community’s 30 year old steel wastewater treatment facility was in disrepair with a lot of corrosion. Although, the treatment facility was meeting FDEP effluent limitations, the physical condition of the plant was deteriorated. Excel Engineering Consultants was retained to evaluate the facility and develop a feasibility study.

Feasibility Study

The feasibility Study evaluated the condition of the facility. Subsequently, the cost to fully restore the facility versus replacement was determined. The best long-term solution was to replace the facility with a new one. The new facility would meet the FDEP requirements and would be easier to maintain. Additionally, the new plant was a concrete plant. The new facility would have a much longer lifespan than a steel plant and maintenance on the structure would be nearly none.

Design

A new concrete wastewater facility was designed. The facility provided the same capacity of the existing facility which was 40,000 gallons per day. However, the new plant would be cast in place concrete with a more compact design and better plant hydraulics. The new plant would be rectangular with a water depth of 12 feet versus 8 feet for the existing steel plant. This provided a more efficient process. The aeration in a wastewater facility increases with depth. This occurs because the air bubbles remain in contact longer with the surrounding fluid as the depth of tank increases.

State of the Art

The new facility is a state of the art facility. The configuration of the facility is more modern. Additionally, the clarifiers are gravity cone (imhoff style) clarifiers rather than the traveling bridge style of the steel plant. This new clarifier’s do not have any moving parts so there is nothing to break or maintain. Unlike, the old steel plant, traveling bridge clarifiers are a constant maintenance concern. This is especially so with equipment that is 30 years old.

Advanced Treatment

In order to stay ahead of the ever increasing environmental regulations, the new facility was designed with advance treatment including nitrogen removal. Nitrogen removal is accomplished by incorporating an anoxic tank at the head of the plant. The highly nitrified mixed liquor is then recycled through the anoxic tank. Highly nitrified mixed liquor is obtained from the aeration tank prior to the wastewater entering the clarifier. Once in the anoxic tank the facultative bacteria in the anoxic tank use the nitrogen as a food source in the absence of oxygen. This turns the nitrates into nitrogen gas which escapes into the atmosphere. This is a symbiotic and low cost method of removing nitrogen from the finished effluent.

Nitrogen Pollution

Nitrogen degrades groundwater and surface water. Nitrogen is one of the nutrients required to promote plant life. It is the essence of any fertilizer. Therefore, nitrogen released to surface waters promotes the growth of objectionable plants such as Hydrilla, algae, duck weed which tends to clog up the water ways and diminish the quality of the water body. Nitrogen in the drinking water is a source of what is termed “blue babies”. When excessive amounts of nitrogen are ingested it binds with the oxygen in the blood stream in essence causing asphyxiation.

About the Firm

Excel Engineering Consultants, LLC has expertise in wastewater collection, treatment and disposal. The firm has, literally, designed and permitted hundreds of community wastewater treatment systems in Florida. Excel Engineering works throughout the state from West Palm Beach to Florida’s panhandle. We pride ourselves in being an advocate for our clients and providing them with no-nonsense practical and cost effective solutions. Our relationship with the FDEP and the SJRWMD span all districts throughout the State of Florida. For more information, contact us at 1-800-806-1206, or www.excelengineers.com and visit our info page.

Civil engineers typically design ponds to provide for the stormwater management needs of a land development project. However, a stormwater pond typically takes up between 10 percent to 20 percent of the land area. The civil engineer determines the size of the ponds upon the soil types; all other things being equal. The land that is utilized by the pond cannot be used for parking, or the building. This article will review the exfiltration trench requirements of the City of Orlando, Orange County, Seminole County and the City of Sanford.

In order to enable a greater land yield, exfiltration trenches are utilized. Exfiltration trenches are a viable method of meeting the stormwater management requirements of land development projects where land is limited, or greater land use yields are desired. Civil engineers design exfiltration trenches underground. An exfiltration trench allows the parking lot and sometimes even a structure to be constructed above it. Therefore, the same space can accommodate two uses providing greater yield of the land and laud use efficiency.

Exfiltration trenches are constructed of perforated drainage pipes, exfiltration arches, or concrete vaults. These drainage structures are backfilled with gravel and wrapped with filter fabric. Although exfiltration trenches provide a reliable means of stormwater management some municipalities have regulations which make it difficult to provide for this means of stormwater management.

Orange County is one of the most developer friendly municipalities in Central Florida except with exfiltration trenches. Orange County allows for exfiltration trenches but with a twist that makes them difficult to implement. Section 30-281(3) of the Orange County Land Development Code states: “in the event the exfiltration system fails, the stormwater will be retained on-site for the full twenty-five-year, twenty-four-hour storm prior to any stormwater being permitted to leave the site.” This in essence requires the site to be graded as a bowl so that all 8.6 inches of rainfall over the entire site has to be retained. This may require the site to be graded into a bowl that has a storage depth of approximately 12 inches to 24 inches of water storage over the parking lot and landscape areas prior to discharge. This is a draconian measure which makes the use of this excellent method of stormwater management unworkable and therefore unlikely to be used. Furthermore, this is not evidenced in any of the adjacent municipalities.

The City of Orlando has favorable criteria for using exfiltration trenches. The City of Orlando Engineering Manual is currently being updated to include exfiltration trench design specifications. However, based on the existing non-published documentation the requirements are to design the system with a safety factor of 2 which is similar to Seminole County and the City of Sanford’s requirements. The exfiltration trench system requires clean-outs at one end, manholes at the other end and manholes at 300 foot intervals. This seems like good engineering design and would not negatively impact the use of these stormwater management systems. These systems may be designed similar to stormwater retention ponds, however underground.

Seminole County has favorable criteria for using exfiltration trenches. The Seminole County Land Development Code, Appendix B, Chapter 4.2 c. (4) states: “ Exfiltration systems shall be designed with a safety factor of 2.0 (i.e., design using one-half of the permeability rate or one-half of the time for drawdown).” This is a common criteria and one that is conservative and allows for the effective use of exfiltration trench systems without unduly burdening the use of the exfiltration trench system.

The City of Sanford has a favorable criterion for using exfiltration trenches. The City of Sanford Land Development Code, Schedule O, Section 2.4 states: ” Be designed with a safety factor of at least two… Furthermore, a sediment sump is required ahead of the exfiltration trench system in order to capture sediments that may clog the pores in the pipe and/or gravel. This requirement is similar to that of Seminole County and it is common and conservative and allows for the effective use of exfiltration trench system without excessive measures.

It should be noted that the St. Johns River Water Management District’s (SJRWMD) criteria for exfiltration trench systems is similar to Seminole County’s, the City of Orlando and the City of Sanford’s design criteria. Orange County being the only municipality that discourages the use of these systems by design of its regulations. Exfiltration trench systems are an efficient means of stormwater management and can aid the land developer in providing a cost effective solution and more effectively address expensive land costs and/ or limited land available for development. Exfiltration trench allows more effective use of the property and provides an additional 10% to 20% of developable area.

If you would like to know more about exfiltration trench systems or if one is appropriate for your site contact us at Excel Engineering Consultants, LLC ;

www.excelengineers.com; 407-260-2292, xt 102.

While treating wastewater around the world is imperative for preserving our most precious commodity, wastewater is also being directed as an excellent alternative energy source. This is important because of the fact that most forms of electricity ultimately have a negative impact on the environment and require special considerations.   The following fact is from a study called the State of Science Report: Energy and Resource Recovery from Sludge-“sewage contains 10 times the energy needed to treat it”.  In this regard, it is possible to actually recover energy from sludge.

Along with sludge, wastewater plants process biosolids, which alone have a number of benefits.  Nutrient-rich organic materials have numerous applications, such as being used as an excellent fertilizer. The purpose of effective management of wastewater is to not only treat and distribute usable water for  usable purposes (reuse), but to strategize ways of how sewage, sludge, and biosolids can be recycled for a number of purposes.

Here are some ways these technologies are being used around the world (According to a study by the Water Environment Research Foundation):

•    Thermally dried biosolids substitute for 5-10% of coal used to fuel a cement kiln in Maryland
•    Watsonville, CA uses restaurant grease to increase sludge digester gas production by over 50%.
•    In 2005 in the U.K., waste (including sewer sludge) combustion and biogas production accounted for 10.8% and 4.2% respectively of all UK renewable energy.
•    Stockholm’s energy company uses heat recover pumps to extract heat from treated sewage to provide hot water and heating to 80,000 apartments.
•    The Sewerage Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan Government turns dewatered sewage sludge into fuel charcoal for thermal power generation.

We in the United States live in a society where we nonchalantly water our lawns when it isn’t necessary, leave sinks running while we brush our teeth, and buy millions of water bottles that have lower health regulation standards than many municipalities’ tap water.  Though it’s hard to move away from a lifestyle that is so rooted in our daily activity, there is a dire need to re-evaluate the necessity of efficient wastewater management if our water consumption should find itself limited.

Excel Engineering has assisted numerous clients with sustainable wastewater regulations.  Our experience with compliance, professional design, and necessary permitting has given us the ability to work closely with state and local agencies and establish effective relationships with essential governments.  Whether it’s an existing or new facility, small or large, we support you from start to finish. Contact Excel Engineering today at 1-800-806-1206.

We discussed the negative impact stormwater has, but there are different ways to conquer its adverse effects. In fact, there are ways of even benefiting from stormwater. One of the best ways to utilize the benefits of stormwater is having the capacity to actually capture it and eventually reuse it. By capturing stormwater, wastewater treatment plants are able to tap into a new source of water to distribute to municipalities and private enterprises. Some approaches that are able to accomplish this are constructed-wetland stormwater treatment systems, small lot reuse, source reuse, and a few others.

Cities are considering stormwater more with the construction and expansion of their infrastructure. Proper runoff is going to be a core concern for any stormwater management system. The motion is moving further away from sewer collection and providing benefits and efficiency to watersheds. Diverting stormwater appropriately benefits the usage of alternative land, such as vegetation and wildlife. Different surfaces are going to have the ability to route wastewater to its desired location.

By working to mitigate runoff, water quality can be enhanced along with being able to harness the benefits of improved groundwater. Many cities around the world are working on the “best practices” for managing stormwater, and we should see exciting results in years to come.

Managing stormwater is not only important for vegetation, the efficiency of municipalities, and water treatment facilities. It is important for developing a sustainable infrastructure for assisted living facilities and apartment complexes. Land development in Orlando must be measured expertly and executed professionally.

Excel Engineering Consultants are experts in Orlando land planning and Orlando civil engineering. By using our comprehensive civil engineering services, we will ensure stormwater management and drainage at your site is optimized and efficient. Contact us today at 1-800-806-1206.

Stormwater is water that essentially comes from all forms of weather (rain, melted snow) and has an acute tendency to flow across hard surfaces that don’t soak up water. These surfaces are commonly parking lots, roof tops, sidewalks, and streets. The trouble with stormwater arises from two issues:

• If the actual volume of stormwater is too great, it can lead to flooding and other forms of water
• Stormwater is notorious for carrying contaminants quickly and over a large area.

Some of the common pollutants in stormwater are heavy metals, debris, oils, bacteria, and harsh elements. It is difficult to treat stormwater before it enters bodies of water such as streams and lakes. It also has the chance of creating problems within cities’ wastewater treatment plants.

If stormwater isn’t moderated, it also contributes many problems because of its overwhelming volume. Streams, for example, have a certain amount of water they can manage. With an excess of stormwater, natural drainage ways become eroded, banks and bottoms are worn away, and the natural habitat of wildlife is harmed.

It is important for every project to develop stormwater pollution prevention plans. These control measures will benefit the area of land development in the long run. Many times, these construction projects are required to have a Construction Stormwater General Permit, but it is also up to the individual to execute a strategy to control stormwater on their site.

Stormwater management has to be an ongoing topic of importance for land planning and development in Orlando, especially for bigger projects such as apartment complexes and assisted living facilities. These developments take far larger amounts of planning and time. It requires well-conceived execution to be able to manage stormwater, especially here in Florida.

Excel Engineering Consultants are experts in Orlando land planning and Orlando civil engineering. By using our comprehensive civil engineering services, we will ensure stormwater management and drainage at your site is optimized and efficient. Contact us today at 1-800-806-1206.

Impervious to scrutiny by much of the nation’s population, many superfund sites are sprawled throughout the nation, still as toxic and pernicious as ever. 31 of them are located in Massachusetts, which many seem like an unassuming location for most of the country. Some examples of these superfund sites and their environmental implications are as follows:

• Industri-Plex in Woburn-Contaminated groundwater mitigation still isn’t control
• Iron Horse Park in Billerica-Human exposures are not under control and EPA is currently working on its progress.
• New Bedford Site in New Bedford- Human exposures are not under control and EPA is currently working on its progress.
• Nuclear Metals, Inc. in Concord-There is insufficient data to determine migration control status
• Blackburn and Union Privileges in Walpole- Contaminated groundwater mitigation still isn’t control

Though some sites have continual observation by the Environmental Protection Agency, these superfunded sites still present problems from people living in their vicinity, such as prolonged chemical exposure. There are even many toxic sites scattered throughout Massachusetts that didn’t make the Superfund list-a number ranging between 3,000 and 5,000. The sites that make the Superfund list are the ones that pose immediate and imminent health risks.

The EPA estimates it spends more than $1 billion dollars on contaminated sites in Massachusetts every year. Six facilities on the lists are actually military compounds, and are especially troublesome to clean up. The difficulty of cleaning up Superfund sites is they require advanced, sophisticated technologies to remove heavy pollutants. Once toxins get into soil and groundwater, they are extremely hard to extract. It often times takes decades to perform this task completely.

Congress has slowly been appropriating more funds to cleaning up toxic sites after almost dissolving the fiscal contribution in 2003. It is going to take the efforts of the Federal Government and EPA to collaborate and figure out how to address these problems sooner than 50 year projections that are already being discussed. The growth of large scale pollutions will have serious repercussions in years to come.

A Superfund is a federally designated clean-up site that is usually contaminated with hazardous substances. Most of these clean-up projects take years to complete; sometimes even decades. There are hundreds all over the United States, and often times, public citizens aren’t informed about their whereabouts. This was the case recently for residents in the small town of Billerica, Massachusetts. 31 Superfunds are listed by the government in Massachusetts, and one of them was nestled perniciously in their quiet neighborhood.

The Superfund site is called Iron Horse Park, and it was formally an industrial complex built on the premises of a railroad yard some hundred years ago. What has been left behind from the site is rusting equipment and an overwhelming amount of wastewater. Residents of the town were unaware of the site for the most part, but acknowledged that the town had a sort of “chemical smell” that was nearly palpable.

More than 61,000 people in the town were within three miles of the site. The main contaminants were asbestos and lead. With the bureaucracy and red-tape that most Superfund sites are tangled with, the process of decontaminating and cleaning up the site often times takes decades. The Iron Horse Park site was listed in 1984 and isn’t planned on clearing until 2031. The cost of the clean-up is slated at four million, but an addition million dollars will expedite the process and cut 15 years out of the process.

It is imperative to plan a site efficiently and with an immense attention to detail to avoid your facilities from contributing to a potential Superfund. For professional civil engineer consulting and land planning and development, contact us at Excel Engineering. Call us today at 1-800-806-1206