President

The President is responsible for expanding Michael Benza & Associates, Inc. by continuing to deliver quality engineering and surveying services to Michael Benza & Associates, Inc. clients and maintaining the positive work environment for the staff that has promoted innovative, effective, and efficient deliver of services for over 30 years.

Steven Benza

Mr. Steven R. Benza joined Michael Benza & Associates, Inc. as President in 2004.  He possesses an effective combination of business and project management skills that will continue the traditions of providing personal service, emphasizing client-engineer communications, professional project scheduling and accentuating strict quality control procedures that have proven successful since 1972.

Prior to joining Michael Benza & Associates, Inc., Mr. Benza was a Principal and Project Manager for the business consulting firm Logan Consulting in Chicago , Illinois .  Mr. Benza was responsible for delivering a wide range of projects across a broad spectrum of industries.  He delivered strategic consulting services, managed major software implementations and performed cost analysis and modeling projects to clients ranging from $1M in Revenue to Fortune 10 companies.  Mr. Benza was part of the Executive Team that directed the firm through the growth from three employees to over 40 employees.

Principal

The Principal is responsible for maintaining the goals, objectives and integrity of the firm.  This includes: business development, customer satisfaction, and supervising the project managers and administration.

Michael Benza, P.E. Principal/Environmental

 

The Principal of the firm, Mr. Michael Benza, P.E. is responsible for the engineering deliverables produced by the firm.  He provides for the quality of all projects and gives direction to Project Managers and other staff members.

Mr. Benza is familiar with various governmental policies, procedures and regulations through his work on federally funded projects by such agencies as the EPA, FHWA, FmHA, HUD, EDA and the National Park Service.  He has attended the ODOT seminars on managing “Local Project Administered” projects.

Project Managers

Project Managers are responsible for coordination with the Owner and sub consultants, maintaining the project within the time schedule, keeping the project within budget, and supervising the Project Engineers.

Joe Schaller P.E.

The Engineering Manager of the firm, Mr. Joseph N. Schaller, P.E. is responsible for the periodic and final review of plans and specifications prior to their submittal to the client or approval agency.  He also provides direction to Project Managers and other staff members and is a key technical resource of the firm.

Mr. Schaller has more than 30 years of civil engineering experience and has been a city engineer for various communities for more than 20 years.  This experience across many different administrations and exposure to numerous engineering projects both as the engineer of record and as an approval authority gives Mr. Schaller a unique perspective for project delivery and plan preparation.  He utilizes this breadth and depth of experience when providing guidance or plan review comments.

Roger Newberry, P.E.

Mr.  Newberry is a professional engineer licensed in the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania .  His knowledge in computer methodology helps in site design projects as well as the preparation of construction documents and engineering reports.  He has been the engineer for numerous health care and commercial/retail developments.

MaryAnn Driscoll, P.E.

Ms. Driscoll is responsible for many of the sanitary and site design projects completed by Michael Benza & Associates, Inc.

Sewer - Ms. Driscoll has been responsible for several sanitary sewer installation, replacement, and rehabilitation projects.  She has also been responsible for the rehabilitation of several wastewater pumping stations. The scope of each project included the preparation of plans and specifications, cost estimates, preparation of assessments, and construction administration.

Wastewater Treatment - Ms. Driscoll is presently the Project Engineer for the Orwell WWTP Expansion and improvements at the Vermilion WWTP.  She successfully completed the design of the improvements to the Wintergreen WWTP in Geauga County, and the Damascus WWTP in Mahoning County.

Grant Funding  - Ms. Driscoll is skilled in the USDA review and approval process.  The process was successfully completed for the Village of Orwell.  The Village received $2.8 million in USDA Rural Development Loan/Grant funding as well as additional OPWC grant funding.  The project=s estimated construction cost is $3.4 million and was completed in December 2004.

Water Treatment - Ms. Driscoll was responsible for developing the plans and specifications for the Phase I improvements to the Vermilion Water Treatment Plant.

Site Development - Ms. Driscoll is presently the Project Engineer for the Marymount Health Systems Expansion.  She has been responsible for the design of site improvements on several private projects.  These site improvements include site grading, utility extensions and installations, storm water detention systems and parking lots.

Project Engineers are responsible for establishment of design parameters, project concept, preparation of necessary reports, preparation of the detail plans and specifications, coordination with the City representatives, and direction of the Design Engineers and technicians.

Don Phifer, P.E.

Roads

In the past, he has been responsible for roadway projects ranging from resurfacing of local streets to the design of the third lane installation for the Ohio Turnpike Commission.  Representative clients include the Ohio Department of Transportation, and the Cities of Bay Village, Cleveland, Euclid, Olmsted Falls, and Vermilion.

Traffic 

Mr. Phifer has been responsible for the design of traffic signal installations for several communities.  These range from single installations at isolated intersections to interconnected systems.  He has also prepared traffic reports and analyses for local communities.  He has attended traffic training seminars and is familiar with the design of roundabouts and other types of intersection design.

Intersections 

Mr. Phifer is presently the Project Engineer for S.R. 82 Intersection Improvements in the City of North Royalton.  This project includes detail plans and specifications for upgrading and widening at four major intersections.  The project included intersection design, turning lane analysis, storm sewer, etc according to ODOT criteria.  The project was funded by ODOT through the LPA process. 

He was the project/design engineer for the improvement of SR 45/SR 307 intersection in Ashtabula County for ODOT.  This project included signal warrants, intersection design and right of way acquisition.  He assisted with the pre‑construction meeting and all other construction services.

Water

Mr. Phifer has been responsible for several water line designs undertaken by the firm.  He has performed the hydraulic analysis of five water distribution systems for various clients utilizing current water modeling software.  These included rate setting and capital improvement programs.

Sewers 

Mr. Phifer has been responsible for several storm and sanitary sewer replacement, installation and rehabilitation projects.  He has also performed hydraulic analysis for various clients.

Site Development

Mr. Phifer has been responsible for several private and public site development projects.  These include the development of sites for restaurants, hotels, hospitals, assisted living facilities, county governmental buildings, and residential subdivisions.  Design of these projects includes site grading, utility extensions, storm water detention, and parking lot layouts, as well as assistance for the client during construction.

George Sendrey, P.E.

Mr. Sendrey is responsible for many of the water distribution and treatment projects completed by Michael Benza & Associates, Inc.  He has extensive experience with ion exchange and membrane technology and applications.  George applies this knowledge of water chemistry to conventional precipitation chemistries for the removal of metals and turbidity. 

Mr. Sendrey is currently involved in developing the plans and specifications for the Phase II improvements to the Vermilion Water Plant and the Johnnycake Road Sewer Extension for the Lake County Utilities Department.  

Paul Hawkins, P.E., P.S.

Mr. Hawkins is a Senior Civil Engineer.  His design expertise is focused on the preparation of plans and specifications for roadway, railroad and airport projects. He has extensive experience in roadway design and construction including interstate highways, toll roads, expressways, secondary roads, and urban streets.  Mr. Hawkins has designed numerous highway projects and has experience in bringing a project from the initial concept through the planning process to completed construction documents.  He has also prepared track plans for railroad relocations and maintenance of rail traffic at grade separations.  His airport experience includes design and construction of new taxiways, major rehabilitation of runways and site work for new air rescue facilities.

Design

The Design Engineers are responsible for the preparation of the technical documents and supervision of the technicians.  They prepare the necessary detail design of the project.  During construction, they are responsible for shop drawing review.

Nicholas Pietro, P.E.

Mr. Pietro has been the designer on a variety of civil engineering projects.  He is experienced in AutoCad, WaterCad and MicroStation programs.  He has assisted in the preparation of detail plans and specifications for municipal improvements and private developments.

Hugh Thomas, P.E.

Mr. Thomas has been the designer on a variety of civil engineering projects.  His responsibilities as a construction crew member and Co-op student for the City of Akron Engineering Bureau have helped to develop his engineering skills.  As a Project Engineer, he has been responsible for industrial, commercial and residential development site plan designs.  This experience includes storm management design, detention/retention basin design and storm sewer system design.  His field survey experience includes construction staking for waterline, storm and sanitary sewers.  Mr. Thomas is experienced in AutoCad Land Development, Civil & Survey Modules, Hydraflow Storm Design and Hydraflow Hydrographs computer programs.  He has assisted in the preparation of SWPPP plans, NOI and plan submittals to the Ohio EPA.

Mindy Hayes

Ms. Hayes is a project engineer with three years of experience in stormwater resources.  As part of a “Stormwater Group”, she has worked with Project Managers, Clients and Contractors and has taken on many primary responsibilities of a Project Engineer.  She has created alternative stormwater designs and has experience in changing the design or the timeline of a project caused by unforeseen site restrictions.

Ms. Hayes has worked with Project Mangers, Design Engineers and CAD Technicians on stormwater designs and floodplain analysis.  She was responsible for the correct implementation in the overall plans and for developing a maintenance schedule for the proposed stormwater structures.  Ms. Hayes also has experience in the applications for Letter of Map Changes for FEMA.

Ms. Hayes is experienced in AutoCAD, PondPac, HEC-RAS, FlowMaster, CulvertMaster, HY8 and the FEMA Website Tools computer programs.

Survey Manager

The Survey Manager is responsible for coordination with the project managers and clients.  Keeping the projects within budget and maintaining the time table schedule is very important.

Adam Treat, P.S.

Surveying will be under the direction of Mr. Adam Treat, P.S.  Mr. Treat is new to our team and brings many years of survey experience so that we can continue to deliver quality services to our clients.  In the past ten years Mr. Treat has grown from Survey Technician to Survey Manager.  He has been responsible for managing project resources and budgets for various Northern Ohio projects.  He has experience in preparing right-of-way plans for ODOT as well as preparing survey data for the Corps of Engineers; preparing, entering and adjusting traverses and bench loops; and plotting utility plan information.  As a surveyor, he was responsible for the QA/QC of calculations and basemaps.  He has prepared property boundaries, secured current deeds of records for property map preparation and gathered utility, centerline and right-of-way plan information.  As a Manager, he was responsible for weekly and monthly reviews of project budgets, invoices and status reports, preparing price estimates and quarterly projections for projects in Ohio .  He has coordinated projects with various Engineering Department Managers and Architects in the Columbus area.  

Besides being a Professional Surveyor, Mr. Treat is also an Engineer in Training in the State of Ohio .  He is also designated for ODOT R/W Plan Designer.  He is proficient in AutoCad, Land Development, Autodesk Survey, Eagle Point, Microstation, GEOPAK, Star*Net and Trimble Geomatics Office.

Surveyor Assistant

The responsibility of the Project Surveyor is for supervision of the office and field personnel, training of the survey crew and coordination with the engineers and construction superintendents for a successful project completion.

Burke Rawson

Mr. Rawson has over 16 years of experience in the supervision and direction of a survey field crew, digital mapping, and civil design.  He supervises and conducts boundary, construction, control and location surveys; establishments of CL and RW control; and securing data in the field.  He also coordinates and supervises the field crews for the Survey Department.  He calculates and downloads daily data and facilitates mapping contours.  Mr. Rawson has over 17 years of experience involving CADD operations.

 

Survey Party Chiefs

 

Urban Planner

The responsibility of the Urban Planner is to establish design parameters, project concepts, preparation of necessary reports, preparation of the detail plans and specifications, coordination with the City representatives, and direction of the design engineers and technicians.

Robert Benza

Mr. Benza is an Urban Planner with experience in park and site design.  He will assist with the overall planning for the site.

Construction Observers

Construction Observers are responsible for client contact, contractor liaison, reviewing construction methods, quantities, and material specifications.  The level of service is determined by the client.

Vanetta Ellerbrock

Ms. Ellerbrock is responsible for a variety of construction services provided by the firm.  She is responsible for site observation, review of progress payments and coordination with office staff on projects that she is assigned.

  Ms. Ellerbrock also has experience in concrete testing.  She has attended ACI Certification Training presented by OCRMA.  She has also attended Ohio Bridge Inspection School in conjunction with O.D.O.T.

Richard Rotundo

Mr. Rotundo has extensive experience in private and public sector projects including roadway rehabilitation or restoration projects.  The experience he has acquired by being involved in the construction industry since the mid 1950's is extensive.  His most recent assignments with Michael Benza & Associates, Inc. involved roadway construction projects.

As General Superintendent with Suburban Excavators, Mr. Rotundo gained a good working knowledge of conditions in and around Northeastern Ohio.

Tasks assigned to the inspector generally include contract administration and documentation of daily activities.  Mr. Rotundo is familiar with the requirements of LPA projects.