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Meridian team members share thought leadership and some fun at the Utah Council of Land Surveyors 2021 Conference.

By Events

 

This year’s annual UCLS Conference, was held February 17-19, 2021 at the Dixie Convention Center in St. George, Utah with over 270 attendees, including several employees from Meridian Engineering. The conference is organized for Utah based professionals to stay current with best practices, latest laws and review the newest technology for the industry. Meridian’s ROW and survey team were happy to be involved throughout the conference, comprising of break-out sessions of key industry topics like State and Territorial Road Laws, GIS for Surveyors, and panel discussions on Ethics, Professional Consequences of Poor Decisions, and even a mock arbitration panel.

Our lead surveyor, Michael Nadeau, was a panelist for the Mock Arbitration session based on an arbitration that transpired in early 2020 where Michael was a panel member in the real arbitration proceedings authorized by the Property Rights Ombudsman’s Office. The arbitration involved a roadway in Weber County. The question posed to the arbitration panelists was, “Where is the location of the County Road” and involved land granted to the State of Utah in 1896 as a school section with settlers settling the area in 1859. The discussion and final arbitration award evolved into protecting the landowner’s bona fide property rights that had transpired prior to statehood. This knowledge is powerful when solving property boundary issues during the analysis stage of any given project related to 150 year old boundaries. As a Past Chairman of the Council, Michael also assisted with the Oath of Office for the new Executive Committee for 2021.

The conference can be a fun getaway as it is usually held in warmer climates, like the joint conference planned in Las Vegas next year. Two members of our team, Rob Hickman and Tyler Baron were able to participate in the skeet shoot competition with long-time Meridian colleague, Bryan Westover of HDR. It’s always a good time when Meridian employees can network with fellow associates and peers on this level.

At the end of the day, our team looks forward to the annual event for receiving professional development credits, networking with like-minded surveyors and just to recharge.

 

Michael Nadeau was honored with receiving “Surveyor of the Year” award at the at the Utah Council of Land Surveyors annual Conference on Thursday, February 18, 2021

By Events

 

Meridian’s Survey Division Manager, Michael Nadeau has worked for the firm for over 18 years, serving as a Project Manager and Survey Coordinator with some of Utah’s largest entities including UDOT, DFCM, Salt Lake City, PacifiCorp and the LDS Church. Michael brings confidence to his clients with his professional style of management, design support, surveying, mapping, right of way design, and construction oversight.

All who know him would agree his accolades are well deserved. Michael’s dedication to the profession spans multiple facets and has impacted many other Surveyors in the community with his leadership and contributions, including: Adjunct Instructor at Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley University, Chairman of the Surveying Program Advisory Committee at SLCC, Chairman of the Western Federation of Professional Surveyors (WFPS), WFPS Director for the Utah Council of Land Surveyors (UCLS), Past Chairman of the UCLS and Active Member of the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS), and the International Right-Of-Way Association (IRWA).

Employees and field crews at Meridian will vouch that Michael is an enthusiastic manager to work with because of his zeal and go-getter attitude. “He always inspires us to do our best work every day”. As a life-long learner, Michael is an advocate for other employee’s individual strengths and encourages each of us with continuing education and professional development by building talent and skills, attending conferences, attaining licenses, or joining affiliations.

Michael’s wife, Sheri has been supportive of his committed work ethic and required life balancing. In her words, “Mike is a hard worker, loves his profession and is dedicated to success.”  Darryl Fenn, President of Meridian Engineering adds, “Mike has truly grown and matured to become one of the best surveyors this generation has known. Mike has applied himself to learn his profession in all aspects of surveying for the benefit of our clients. He is self-driven and forward thinking. He models what a surveyor should be to his students, co-workers and peers. We, at Meridian are proud of Mike and his accomplishments.”

Meridian is thankful to have such a key member of the intermountain based Survey community as an employee for the last 2 decades. We will be having a celebration luncheon in his honor at our corporate office on March 3, 2021.

 

The wonderous Lodge at Blue Sky

By Completed Project
Lodge at Blue Sky, Wanship, Utah

Meridian Engineering has recently completed the civil design for the award-winning Lodge and High West Distillery at Blue Sky near Wanship, Utah.

This 3550-acre ranch development includes a connected network of multiple guest and recreation facilities, including a conference center, a main guest lodge, formal and casual restaurants-like Yuta, a bakery, individual guest quarters, a fitness-wellness center and spa sanctuary, and meditation movement studio. A reception hall with restaurant and state-of-the-art distillery opened by High West is also part of the development.

Sited between the Wasatch back and Unita Mountains, Blue Sky has its reputation in mountain hospitality and luxury while surrounded by its natural ecology for adventure. As part of the design team working with ajc architects as the lead, our preparatory work included a utility master plan, design and construction for the new culinary water well system, well house, 400,000-gallon reservoir, design support for a small waste water treatment facility, access roadways and utility corridors, construction haul routes, rock shoring wall system, and numerous utility infrastructure improvements as required to support the new lodging facilities, new distillery, and various support buildings. The facility has since proved itself in several hospitality publications as a top pristine resort to soak in serenity.

The Lodge at Blue Sky: The Top 15 Resort Hotels in the Continental U.S.

2017 Esri User Conference Report

By Conference, Events, News and Updates

Jeff Searle and Adrian Welsh had the opportunity to attend the annual Esri User Conference (UC) held in San Diego, California in July. The conference is held to learn about best practices in the GIS industry and get a jump start on the latest geospatial technology.

This was Esri’s biggest conference ever with nearly 18,000 registered attendees. The main theme of “The Science of Where” resonated throughout the technical workshops and training sessions. The theme allowed attendees to  solve problems in real-time, using location and geography to integrate, analyze, and understand all types of data.

Due to Adrian’s presence in the GIS community and winning an MVP award for his diligence and assistance, he was asked to give a presentation at the Esri UC to discuss why the GIS community is important and what made him a success story. Adrian was honored to write a blog post for each day of the Esri conference. (a link to this blog post will be at the end of this write-up).

Instead of writing about the key take-away points from Jeff and Adrian of this conference, let’s take a look at a story map! Click on the link or image below to launch the story map presentation.

https://arcg.is/bWfH

Esri UC Convention Center

 

Thanks for reading! Please add a comment if you were able to attend the conference. Also, here is a link to Adrian’s blog written on Esri’s website: https://geonet.esri.com/blogs/AdrianWelsh/2017/07/17/2017-esri-user-conference-quick-thoughts

Introducing Brad Mortensen, PE, PLS as Meridian’s new QC/QA Manager

By News and Updates

Brad Mortensen 002

Brad T. Mortensen, PE, PLS recently joined Meridian Engineering as our QC/QA Manager. Brad has experience with all aspects of Transportation and Infrastructure design ranging from geodetic control, mapping, roadway design and construction of freeways and state routes, as well as state, municipal, utility and commercial/retail capital improvements. Additionally, Brad is experienced with Right-of-Way and Boundary analysis and design. Brad has worked with private entities, municipalities, and state DOTs to complete many projects throughout the western United States.  He has demonstrated in these projects, that he understands our clients’ needs and will proactively work to find solutions. Recent Projects: US-189, State Park to Rock Cut Passing Lanes, Heber Co., Utah; SR-132, Salt Creek Canyon, MP36.5-37.7, Juab Co., Utah; SR-68 Redwood Road, 400 South to Stillwater Drive, Saratoga Springs, Utah; US-89, 300 South, 200 W – 700 E, Provo, Utah.

We welcome Brad to Meridian as another well-qualified professional ready to serve your needs!