What do you guys think? Almost sounds like maybe John’s expectations were too high…

 

 

 

Michael, We met with the Secretary and two other members of her staff along with a representative of the Governor’s office and the head of Transportation for the City of Baltimore.  The meeting was cordial and a good spirit in the room. She started it out by having a member of her staff brief us on everything we already knew about the project.  She also provided us with copies of the Parsons report, which we have and it is public record.  We did have a chance to talk about our firm and qualifications and with regard to our specific questions, it was polite but with no real specific insights.  She had another meeting and about 15 to 20  minutes into our meeting she was interrupted.  Seemed to be a little bit in a hurry to move to her next appointment.  Regarding the effectiveness, we believe we did benefit to some extent on a couple of fronts.  Connected with one of her staff whose father works up in NYS and was familiar with the CSXT issues and as we were leaving the building with the Baltimore person he was more candid and gave us something of importance to follow up on regarding what subs to have and how important it would be to them.  That is my take, it was good but thought we would have had more in depth discussions, which perhaps would have been difficult with the large audience.  We would be interested to hear how they perceived the meeting to go.

 

Thanks, John

 

 

 

John,

 

How did the meeting go yesterday? Please let us know if we can be of assistance in following up.

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

Michael, Our Pennsylvania Practice Leader Yassmin Gramian, PE has had something removed from her schedule. She is important to this project and she will also attend with us today. Sorry for the late notice. Her bio is as follows:

 

Over 25 years of A&E experience, started her career as a Bridge Engineer , has managed major highway and bridge reconstruction projects in PA, NJ and De. Some of the corridors she worked on  include I-95, SR 422, US 202 and PA 283. As a project manager she lead the NEPA process to preliminary engineering and final design. She has extensive experience in developing an effective public involvement strategy through integrate technology and social media as means of communications with the public. Yassmin  currently leads HNTB’s Pennsylvania Practice with offices in Philadelphia, Norristown and Harrisburg which includes Amtrak , SEPTA, DRPA, PennDOT and PTC are foundation clients.

 

  

 

 

 

Please see final list of attendees below. Have also attached biographical information on the MD State folks and directions to the meeting location.

 

Secretary Swaim-Staley (MD Department of Transportation)

Izzy Patoka (Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives)

Khalil Zaied (Director of the Baltimore City Dept of Transportation)

John Parola (Senior Vice President and NED Southern District Leader, HNTB)

Peter Denitz (Associate Vice President; Director of Planning, Northeast Division, HNTB)

Michael Inabinet (Deputy Program Manager, HNTB)

Ed Thomas (Kramer & Associates)

 

Thursday, 9/23

2:30PM

7201 Corporate Center Drive Hanover, MD 21076

 

Please let me know if you need anything else!

 

Best,

 

Mike  

 

 

 

Michael Inabinet is also attending from HNTB.

 

 

 

Good Morning Gentlemen,

 

The following individuals are confirmed for the meeting next Thursday. Please let me know asap whether Bob Kramer (or anyone else) will be joining from your end.

 

Secretary Swaim-Staley (MD Department of Transportation)

Izzy Patoka (Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives)

Khalil Zaied (Director of the Baltimore City Dept of Transportation)

John Parola (Senior Vice President and NED Southern District Leader, HNTB)

Peter Denitz (Associate Vice President; Director of Planning, Northeast Division, HNTB)

Bob Kramer (President, Kramer & Associates) - tentative

 

Thursday, 9/23

2:30PM

7201 Corporate Center Drive Hanover, MD 21076

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

Tentative Bob Kramer or a representative from Kramer Associates our outreach firm. Bob know the Secretary well. Not sewed up yet. Peter is checking. John

 

 

 

I don’t see why that would be an issue, but am checking. Can you forward me their name/title and bio if available?

 

 

 

Michael, Do you think it would be possible to add another member of our team from Kramer to the meeting?

 

 

 

John and Peter,

 

We spoke with the Governor’s office this morning and the meeting next Thursday will be expanded to include members of the Mayor’s transportation team as well as community outreach officials (in addition to State Transportation Secretary Swaim-Staley). Am awaiting on a final list of attendees and will forward on to you as soon as I receive.

 

Best,

 

Mike  

 

 

 

I take that back Michael Inabinet from Arlington May attend, he is optional. John

 

 

 

Final meeting details below. Will anyone else be attending aside from John and Peter?

 

Thursday, 9/23

2:30PM

7201 Corporate Center Drive Hanover MD 21076 (directions attached)

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

John and Peter,

 

Does Thursday, September 23rd at 2:30pm work for a meeting with MD Secretary of Transportation Swaim-Staley?

 

Please let me know and I’ll lock it in.

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

This sounds promising. I would request if at all possible that these meetings be scheduled after September 9^th if at all possible as I will be out of the state on vacation from the 25^th until the 9^th. Thanks, John

 

 

 

Apologies for the multiple emails. Just received a call from Izzy Patoka (Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives) regarding our meeting requests. He is attending the Maryland County Association Meeting on 8/18-21, along with Secretary Swaim-Staley and Chris Thomaskutty, and offered to have an initial conversation with them regarding the Tunnel Project/HNTB. He said he would follow up by scheduling a meeting with the three of them and the HNTB team - most likely last week in August / first week in September.

 

We’ll keep you updated and please send over your biographies when you can.

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

Good Afternoon,

 

The Secretary’s Office asked for bios of those who will be attending the meeting on the Tunnel. Please send at your convenience.

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

Thanks John. Attached is a copy of the version we sent to Gov. O’Malley. We’ll move ahead with scheduling the meetings we discussed:

 

-Secretary Swaim-Staley (MD Department of Transportation)

                -Izzy Patoka (Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives)

                -Chris Thomaskutty (Baltimore Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Operations)

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

 

 

Final modification included and returned. John

 

 

John,

 

Please find attached a slightly modified draft of the follow up memo to Gov. O’Malley. We tried to stress job creation/economic stimulus and changed the format to read more like a memo. Any additional details we can include on the economic impact front will be of interest to the Governor and should be included.

 

Let us know if you have any questions/concerns. I think we also discussed putting the memo on HNTB letterhead. Once we finalize the memo we can set up the meetings we discussed on our call.

 

Best,

 

Mike  

 

 

 

Michael,

Attached is a brief summary of the project funding , scope and projected future outcome. I have communicated with Amtrak regarding the information being shared in the attachment.  Amtrak will be advertising the project for design and environmental impact work later this year. I understand from talking with Amtrak that Maryland and Amtrak are working on an MOU that is expected to be in place by the fall of this year. I suggest that you may wish to seek additional information from the secretary / commissioner o f transportation as to those facts.   An additional source of information can be found on the FRA’s web site in a conceptual report prepared by another firm around this tunnel. It is a matter of public record. If you have any further questions let me know.

 

Take Care, John

 

 

Good Evening Gentlemen,

 

I wanted to follow up from our call last week and confirm that we are waiting on a brief memo from the HNTB team to share with the Governor and his staff before setting up the meetings discussed on the call.

 

Let us know if we can assist in preparing the memo and we’re ready to move forward on scheduling when appropriate.

 

Best,

 

Mike

 

 

 

Just fwd the invite to Eric

 

 

Anne Marie, HNTB has already set up a conference call line. Please confirm it was received by Eric and of so others already have it and we should use it, rather than the 2^nd one you sent out. Please provide clarification. John

 

 

For call tomorrow Tuesday, 7/20 at 3:00pm

Dial in: (202) 446-0483
Pass Code: 333188#

--
Anne Marie Person
Rosemont Seneca Partners
1010 Wisconsin Ave, NW
Suite 705
Washington, DC 20007
(202) 333-1880