Government Affairs, Public Involvement & Permitting Services
Our Government Affairs Team works on behalf of our clients to navigate the world of legislation and regulation is an authority on the ins and outs of local, county and state policies affecting municipal agencies. The team specializes in intergovernmental coordination, code review and development, policy decision-making participation and testimony, and meeting participation and reporting. Additionally, we are experienced in interagency negotiation and the development of intergovernmental agreements.
Roth Hill also assists in obtaining funding for projects. Our staff members attend workshops during the year to stay abreast of changes in the grant funding programs available to our clients. We have extensive experience with administrative details and assist at the level desired by our clients, from filling out application forms to guidance and gathering support data.
Roth Hill has written PWTF applications and successfully obtained over $10 million for clients in just the past six years, at 1% interest. Roth Hill staff has assisted with FEMA Grants, HUD Block Grants, TIB Funding Administration, and Rural Development Grants in addition to others such as the Centennial Clean Water Fund.
Our Public Involvement and Information Team helps with everything from construction communications to council presentations to community meetings to design studies. Roth Hill recognized a growing need for public information and involvement services and invested in the development of a dedicated team to deliver high-quality communications services to our clients. Specializing in public works projects, the team has successfully designed and implemented numerous strategic communications programs for sewer, water, stormwater, pedestrian, and roadway improvements for clients throughout the region.
Our Permitting Team obtains permits for everything from typical watermain developer extensions to large, complex sewer and water projects such as water systems, main replacements, reservoirs, and pump stations. This group commonly obtains permits for construction in sensitive areas such as wetlands, streams and steep slopes. Our staff routinely prepares SEPA Environmental Checklists for a wide variety of projects and planning documents, thoroughly analyzing potential impacts and providing mitigation measures for unavoidable impacts.
Permit Preparation and Acquisition. The permitting team researches relevant Local, State, and Federal guidelines and submittal requirements. Correspondence is initiated with the respective agency to clarify any requirements and establish a working rapport with the agency personnel if they are not someone we already know. A complete permit application package including permit forms, design plans, environmental studies, etc., is submitted to the permitting authority. Our specialist then remains in contact with the reviewing agency to provide any necessary project clarification and submit additional information as necessary to keep the project on schedule.
Permit Compliance. From the view of permitting agencies, permits are just the beginning of a project. Our staff follows projects through the construction phase to document the contractor’s compliance with permit requirements. This can include everything from occasional site visits to detailed analysis of the turbidity of receiving waters affected by construction activities. The permitting staff reports any construction permit issues to the project manager for appropriate action. In addition to project permitting, our staff works at a comprehensive planning level to ensure that future projects are in compliance with current levels of government regulation ranging from the Clean Water Act to Shoreline Management to ESA regulations.
Successful permit preparation, planning and acquisition requires detailed knowledge of regulatory and submittal requirements. We routinely obtain a wide variety of permits for our clients from Local, State, and Federal agencies, including:
Easement Acquisition. Roth Hill completes deed research, writes or revises legal descriptions, and prepares or revises easements. We work with cities to calculate and negotiate easement fees and acquisition. Scott Goss, our easement specialist, has obtained several hundred easements over the last six years, including over 45 easements for the City of Carnation Sewer System project and 19 easements for Soos Creek Water & Sewer District’s Southwest Service Area Trunk Sewer project.
Annexations. Roth Hill has been assisting Special Purpose Districts with the annexation of land for over 30 years. We are quite familiar with the annexation requirements of the Washington State Boundary Review Board, having completed over 120 annexations for our clients. We prepare and certify petitions, write legal descriptions, prepare and publish the Notice of Intent to Annex, prepare the Boundary Review Board application package, and then testify before the County on behalf of our client.