New FasTracks West Corridor Project Manager Named/CITC Elects 2009-10 Board Members/Firms Announce LEED Accreditations

The Regional Transportation District has assigned North Metro Engineering Project Manager Jim Starling to take over as West Corridor project manager following the death of previous manager Dennis Cole.

Cole died on June 26 after suffering a stroke. He had worked at RTD for 10 years and on the West Corridor since 2001.

Starling has nearly 20 years of transportation experience and has managed several construction projects for RTD. Before being assigned as the North Metro Project Manager in 2006, Starling served as light rail engineering manager on the Transportation Expansion Project, otherwise known as T-REX.

The Construction Industry Training Council of Colorado Inc. recently inducted its 2009-10 board of directors.

2009-10 officers are: Tim L. Williams, Fransen Pittman, president; Michael McQuaig, Total Plumbing, president-elect; Brian Rogers, Rogers & Sons, treasurer; Pete LeClair, Hensel Phelps Construction Cos., immediate past president.

2009-10 directors are: Dan Adams, MTech; Pem Eberlein, A.P. Eberlein; Steve Foote, Greiner Electric; Tom Foster, Central Mechanical; Matt Johnson, M.A. Mortenson; Scott Ludvik, Ludvik Electric; Mike Muniz, Fransen Pittman General Contractors; Tom Noland, Haselden Construction; Scott McMurdo, Construction Equipment Center; Tim Van Stelle, Duro Electric; Mark Shaw, McGraw-Hill Construction; and Jim Van Zant, Calcon Constructors.

Former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens has been retained by PCL Construction as senior adviser for the company’s U.S. operations, headquartered in Denver.

Owens will advise PCL and its clients in the areas of infrastructure-related development and ways to encourage the private and public sector to work together to finance, develop and build both private- and public-sector projects.

Owens remains a principal in Denver-based JF Cos., a land and water firm with interests in Colorado, Arizona and Texas, which will complement his new advisory role with PCL. The firm has also hired the following employees to its Denver office: Cindy LaBelle, estimating assistant; Justin Sieg, field engineer assigned the Denver Federal Center project; Jake Ashley, project accountant.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar recently honored Jose “Pepe” Salas, a Colorado State University civil and environmental engineering professor, and his partners at three other universities. They were honored with the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Partners in Conservation Award for developing new operational guidelines for the Colorado River.

Chris Honey, a project superintendent for Castle Rock’s MW Golden Constructors, received his LEED AP designation from the U.S. Green Building Council on June 27. Honey has previously consulted on green building practices for MW Golden’s design-build projects and has worked to promote green building methods and practices on his assigned projects and within the industry.

Jake Hahn, outside sales, and Gordon Lundell, sales manager of Rio Grande Co., a 100-year-old construction materials supply company based in Denver, recently earned LEED accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council.

R.E. Stout, Dave Beczkalo, Rick Surbrugg and Andrew Reisbeck, all estimators with Mortenson Construction, have received LEED accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council. Company-wide, Mortenson now has 270 LEED-accredited professionals.