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GPID leader faces probe Complaint says he's no engineer By BETH QUINN A complaint that Grants Pass Irrigation District Chairman Dennis Becklin is practicing engineering without a license has prompted a state investigation. GPID members Laird Funk and Herbert E. Neeland lodged a complaint with the Oregon Board of Examiners for Engineering & Land Surveying last month. They charge that Becklin violated state law by designing fish screens installed last spring on the south side of Savage Rapids Dam and north side screens that GPID hopes to install by spring 1999. As evidence, their complaint includes minutes of an Oct. 13 GPID board meeting discussion of the north side screens that read, "Mr. Becklin responded that he is the engineer in charge." "By law to do this work, you have to be an engineer registered by the state of Oregon," said Funk. "Mr. Becklin's position was, `That's silly. You don't have to be an engineer to do that."' The state engineering examiner's board has asked Becklin for a response and probably won't take up the matter until its March meeting, said R. Charles Pearson, Law Enforcement Coordinator and board member. Civil penalties of up to $1,000 can be imposed for each infraction. Becklin said he expects the state investigation will vindicate his actions. Although he is not a registered professional engineer, he believes a statutory exception exempts him and other GPID officers and staff from the current licensing rules for engineers. "The statutes provide for entities and individuals in cases like this to do work for themselves," he said. "The purpose of the law is to protect the public from people who are offering engineering services who are not qualified." GPID's plans to improve fish passage with north side screens, which are to be paid for by a $450,000 legislative Emergency Board appropriation, are on hold, awaiting approval from the National Marine Fisheries Board. In September, NMFS suggested instead a temporary $100,000 retrofit of the existing screens, saying dam removal remains the best way to ensure the health of the endangered coho salmon runs on the Rogue River. If chinook salmon are added to the endangered species list next year, pressure to remove the 77-year-old dam could grow. GPID has already lost one-third of its water for failing to follow through with a 1994 plan to remove the dam. Oregon law requires prospective engineers with four-year college degrees to spend four years working under a licensed engineer and complete a 16-hour exam. Prospective engineers without a degree can take the exam after completing eight years of work supervised by a licensed engineer. The requirement will be stiffened next year to require 12 years' work experience. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA