Permitting

There’s nothing worse than a project stalled by delayed approvals. MES has the experience and knowledge you need to navigate the complex world of federal, state, and municipal rules and regulations. We manage approvals and obtain all necessary permits early to ensure our projects always move ahead as planned.

MES has in-house expertise in obtaining various types of permits required for construction projects.

MES will undertake a detailed literature review to determine whether archaeological, architectural, tribal, or other cultural background records exist for the project site (including a one-mile buffer around the area). To do this, we consult the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) in Lansing, MI and use public databases and records, including treaty records, historic trails and markers, National Register records, and military records.

We compile all relevant information in a Cultural Resource Summary, including Esri and Google Earth maps, with conclusions and avoidance recommendations.

MES will review the Michigan Natural Inventory (MNFI) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) for data on threatened and endangered species known to occur in or near the project area. We provide our clients with a Threatened and Endangered Species Assessment on the laws, policies, and guidance that may affect the project, along with maps showing habitat surrounding the project area.

Our team will gather all project-related wetland, floodplain, and/or stream impact drawings, cross-sections, and details required by Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and submit the joint permit application through MIWaters. Once the application has been submitted, our team will review and respond to any Application Correction Requests (ACR), track the application through the Public Notice (PN) period, and attend the EGLE on-site field inspection. MES can also coordinate wetland mitigation and banking efforts, if required.

MES routinely applies for various other permits, such as:

• Municipal permits
• Railroad permits
• County Permits
• Drain Permits

MES is Helping to Keep the Lights On

MES has worked on the installation of more than 40,000 streetlights in the City of Detroit and 20,000 streetlights in the underground environment of Detroit. Overall, MES has surveyed, mapped, and created Esri databases for over 100,000 streetlights.

MES tackles every streetlight design project end-to-end from preparing engineering drawings and documentation to the issuance of engineering purchase orders. Each purchase order includes:

• Complete functional and operational streetlight design
• Marked-up revisions to design (as-built) drawings and new drawings with as-built corrections
• Esri ArcMap data (updated if necessary at the end of the project)

In all activities, we follow industry best practices (National Electric Code, National Electrical Safety Code, and Public Lighting Authority design standards) in the design of streetlight circuits to produce low-cost, low-maintenance, high-reliability, and safe designs with a minimum 30-year design life.