​The Community Involvement Committee takes on one or two projects per year to assist a local non-profit by providing labor and/or materials for a project that will enhance their program or benefit those served. This year, the Committee is working with Safe In Austin, a judgment-free space for children and animals that come from abuse or have special needs.

​The live auction brought the usual frenzied bidding on the chainsaw donated by Capital Excavation. The biggest surprise of the evening was the hotly contested bidding for the UT and A&M football tickets donated by Bleyl Engineering. Techline Pipe donated tickets to a Dallas Cowboys game which also generated a bidding war. Finally, the side of beef donated by Goode Faith Engineering, was the most novel addition to the auction.

The July luncheon started off with Garrett Shepperd handing the gavel over to Dustin Goss, incoming ACEA board president for 2024-2025. Dustin presented Garrett with an award in recognition of his contributions and leadership.

​Speaker Casey Moore, The Productivity Coach, presented tips for mental fitness exercises to boost effectiveness and ways to relieve stress. Casey gave away one of her books to Varsha Gudla of Bleyl Engineering. 
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Sponsor Jonathan Mohler of Contech Engineered Solutions presented the door prize to Scott Swiderski of Gray Engineering.

In September, speakers Sam Roberts, PE of BCRUA, and Aaron Archer, PE of Walker Partners, presented a timely update on the BCRUA Phase 2 Raw Water Delivery System. Rain for Rent sponsored the luncheon and Derrick Salinas presented a door prize to James Lesko of AGH2O Holdings.

If you would like to attend our next luncheon, join us on second Thursdays at Norris Conference Center.

​Following a week of temperatures in the 80s, ACEA members showed up at Star Ranch Golf Club on July 29th for the Summer Classic Golf Tournament. This began a week of increasingly hot weather, but our golfers teams would not be distracted from reaching the top of the leaderboard.

Dustin’s Backstory

Dustin is an experienced leader and is currently the VP of Land Development at Pape-Dawson Engineers. With over 13 years at the award-winning engineering firm, his land development project experience includes master planned subdivisions, private site development, and utility projects throughout the greater Austin region. 
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His career started in 1998 with a civil engineering degree from Texas Tech, and he encountered various challenges throughout his journey.

“I changed companies and joined Pape-Dawson back in 2006, soon after P-D acquired a local Austin firm, Huffcut and Associates. I was already a professional engineer, but relatively new to the land development world. I was looking for an organization to get involved with, and tried out some other civil industry organizations. My boss at the time, Jim Huffcut, was involved with ACEA, and he encouraged me to get involved. It sounded like a good organization to check out. It also helped that the luncheons were held at The County Line BBQ.

When I started actively participating in ACEA, it was 2008. As most people remember, it was a very down period in the civil land development industry. It was a difficult time to change career focus into land development, but things soon turned around. I have, for the most part, been extremely busy ever since. Austin and Central Texas have been lucky to have not been hit as hard as other parts of the country during the various downturns.”

​Making an Impact with ACEA

Once Dustin became an active ACEA member, he began exploring the personal and professional benefits of the association. He began getting involved, making connections, and building community.
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“Being part of ACEA has connected me with so many other engineers, contractors, and associated industry professionals throughout the years. This has led to countless opportunities to collaborate on projects, ask questions, and share information.

I heard about a project that ACEA participated in by helping construct a fishing pier for Travis County, and about the scholarship program supported by ACEA. I thought it would be good for me to join the committee to lend a hand in these types of projects. 

As a committee, we worked on projects that supported Dream of Hopes Ranch, Candlelight Ranch, Austin Dog Alliance, Mainspring School, MLF Community First Village, The Refuge, the Cub Scouts, and others. I eventually helped update the scholarship criteria, and joined the scholarship committee to select recipients entering college for civil engineering and construction. 

I’ve always been drawn to service and charitable opportunities, whether through church, schools, or service organizations, so joining the Community Involvement Committee (CIC) seemed like it would be a good fit for me. I joined the committee in 2012, and became co-chair the following year, and then lead chair for a few years.

One of the newer initiatives of the CIC has been the Construction Expo, which is geared towards high school students interested in the construction industry. This event took a little while to get off the ground, but has become a great outreach event where students get hands-on experience in the civil construction industry. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s very rewarding being a part of the growth of that program.”

In addition to serving on committees, Dustin eventually joined the Board of Directors and has been helping shape ACEA for the past four years.
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“I was elected to the board in 2020, became Treasurer in 2022, President-Elect in 2023, and President in 2024. Joining the board seemed like the next logical step after being involved in ACEA for years. Being part of the board has been a great experience. Being involved in the leadership of an effective organization, that represents our engineering and construction industry, is very rewarding. It is also a good way to make strong relationships with other board members, which helps with collaboration both in and out of ACEA.”

​One Habit That Guarantees Enhanced Performance
By Casey Moore, The Productivity Coach

Do you want to accomplish more in less time? I do. Since sixth grade, “better, faster, smarter” has been my motto. I have studied, practiced and developed ways to improve personal performance. More than 20 years ago, I turned my fascination into a career and since then I’ve helped hundreds of people function more effectively at work. Still, I keep looking for ways to work with greater ease. 

Mindfulness has been getting a lot of attention lately in the media and it’s no wonder. It’s free, ever-available and has many proven health and wellness benefits. I’ve been using it with clients for more than a dozen years now and I see the positive results. Although I have trained colleagues in the productivity and coaching worlds about the research and practice of mindfulness, I won’t go into those details here. Instead, I’ll share with you in general how mindfulness boosts productivity and let you judge for yourself.

​WHAT IS MINDFULNESS?
Mindfulness means paying attention in the present moment without expectations or preferences. It’s noticing what’s happening in our minds and bodies without thinking it should be a certain way. The aim is awareness, not relaxation or to get a clear mind, although for some people at some times mindfulness might generate those results.

BUILDING MENTAL FITNESS
Practicing mindfulness helps us build mental fitness. Physical fitness means having strong muscles, a well-functioning cardio-vascular system, and the flexibility to move with ease. By doing strength-training exercises, exerting ourselves so that our heart rate rises and our lungs deliver more oxygen, and by stretching our muscles, we become physically fit. It keeps us to be strong, healthy and energized.

​Mental fitness is quite similar. By practicing mindfulness, we develop the “muscles” of concentration and control over our own attention. Mindfulness challenges our minds the way cardio challenges our hearts. It enables us to learn about ourselves and our thinking patterns so we have a sense of perspective about them. We realize we are not our thoughts and that we have the power to discard beliefs that no longer suit. Finally, mindfulness allows us to respond to life with flexibility…to maintain a sense of equanimity, emotional stability and mental agility regardless of the situation. 

The new application submittal process is similar to the current email submittal process. Once the SER submittal package has been uploaded, an administrative completeness review will be conducted by Austin Water staff. When the submittal package is deemed administratively complete, payment can then be made through the AB+C Portal. SER staff will be notified of the successful payment, so you will no longer need to send an additional email confirming payment of the application fee.
A “how-to” guidance document can be found on the SER website, under the Forms section. Please send a message to SER@austintexas.gov if you run into any issues with the new SER application process.

Onsite Sewage Facilities (OSSF) Applications
Austin Water has begun accepting OSSF application and fee payments via the AB+C Portal. Please reach out to OSSF@austintexas.gov if you have any questions related to this process.

Austin Water Records GIS Access
Planning layers have been added to Austin Water’s online GIS viewer, the Records Access Application (RAA). The SER tab within the map has been updated to include Austin Water’s Long Range Plan (LRP) layers and Capital Improvements Program (CIP) projects layers.
The LRP layers provide insight into our big picture vision for expansion of the utility system. In most cases, infrastructure identified in our LRP is not part of a planned CIP project and does not have funding approved for it. Most LRP infrastructure is driven by development and Austin Water may seek opportunities to partner with development projects to construct these mains and/or facilities.  
The CIP layers show projects that are anticipated in Austin Water’s 10-year planning horizon and can be an indicator of known capacity constraints and aging/low performing infrastructure. The CIP layers are a planning tool and are subject to change. Projects flagged in this category are not guaranteed to be administered but reflect where Austin Water’s focus is at the time the annual budget is set. Some projects may move in and out of the 10-year CIP plan, depending on the annual assessment of utility needs and priorities.
To access the Austin Water GIS records information, an account needs to be created. A request to create an account can be submitted using the form on the GIS Access Request (austintexas.gov) webpage. Once the request is processed and approved, account information is emailed to the applicant. Copies of Austin Water record drawings, as-builts and approved Service Extension Requests can be downloaded from Austin Water’s Records Access Application, via the online GIS viewer.
 
 
MORE INFORMATION
The Utility Development Services (UDS) Division consists of several programs that assist developers and landowners in obtaining water and wastewater service for existing and future development.
Programs include:

• Service Extension Request Program (i.e. extension of City water and wastewater infrastructure to provide utility service to a property)
• Land Use Review Program (i.e. preliminary plan and plat reviews)
• On-Site Sewage Facilities Program (e.g. onsite wastewater/septic systems serving single lots)
• Site Plan Private Plumbing Program (i.e. review of private plumbing infrastructure construction plans)
• Pipeline Plan Review (i.e. review of commercial sites, subdivision plans, and City Capital Improvement Projects)
• Tap Plans Engineering Programs (i.e review of plans for the installation of water/wastewater services at residential and commercial sites that qualify for a site plan exemption.)
• Review of Water Meter Upgrade Applications (i.e. reviews of applications to upgrade or modify existing or proposed water meter installations)
• Onsite Reuse Program (i.e. decentralized wastewater applications on commercial developments)

For more information, visit us online https://www.austintexas.gov/department/utility-development-services

​ACEA members cast their vote in the election for the open seats on the board for 2024 – 2025. The ACEA Board of Directors consists of five contractor members, five engineer members, and two associate members. Board members serve a two-year term and meet once a month or on an as needed basis. The term begins July 1. Terms are staggered to provide continuity and consistency in planning and implementation. The role of president-elect and immediate past president was implemented in 2022 allowing for further consistency and future-planning. Officers were elected by the members of the board for one-year terms at their annual meeting on June 28.

ACEA's Regulatory Committee monitors and comments on governmental policy changes. Check out the latest Regulatory Updates for Travis Count, City of Austin, and City of Georgetown.

The Regulatory Committee meets on the third Wednesday of every month. Learn more here or email us at  info@aceatx.com to receive notifications about upcoming meetings.

​ACEA has been awarding scholarships to graduating high school seniors since 2004. Students pursuing a career in civil engineering or construction are eligible for a $2,000 scholarship with the potential of an additional $2,000 for each subsequent college year if they maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA. 

ACEA is excited to start sharing membership news and community updates right here on our website!

We'll be sharing Critical Path articles, highlighting featured members, and sharing exclusive updates about events.

Check back here every month to stay in the loop with the Austin Contractors & Engineers Association!