President's Message

Lou Campanile, Jr. is the 2022 FSMS President.

May 2022

lou campanile headshot

Greetings from Frankfurt, Germany. I'm on a river cruise traveling down the Rhine river and this is our port of call today (May 3).

As most of you probably know, FDEP issued an RFP for what they call the Florida Seafloor Mapping Initiative, a potential $110M contract to map seabed along the entire Florida coastline, from the MHW line to a depth of 200 meters. Unfortunately, the RFP did not include the requirement for PSM involvement despite the fact that the services requested in the RFP are specifically included in the definition of surveying and mapping in Ch. 472, Florida Statutes.

The RFP also requested a fee proposal and therefore did not comply with CCNA. Legal Committee Chair Jack Breed protested the RFP, along with many other allied associations (NSPS, NCEES, and others) and other PSM firms. FDEP revised their RFP so that it now includes the requirement that PSMs are to be responsible for data gathering. We are still analyzing this revised RFP as there are some nuances to the revised RFP that still are questionable.

We are now about 2½ months away from this year's Annual Meeting in West Palm Beach (July 20-23). Registration for this convention is in this issue of The Florida Surveyor and also online at www.fsms.org. I am looking forward to seeing my fellow surveyors from around the state for a few days of society business, professional seminars, and all-around good times networking and socializing. This year's event also includes a FSMS Annual Meeting first: a Clay Shoot, and I do look forward to throwing some lead at quite a few hapless clay targets.