Engineers probed for not reporting Meeker concerns regarding peer

By Dennis Webb
Friday, February 10, 2012

Three engineers who sounded the alarm about structural problems at Meeker Elementary School are being investigated for failing to alert a state board about concerns regarding the work of one of their peers.

The state board that licenses engineers has initiated complaints against Luke Studer of Steamboat Springs and Frank Bumgarner and Wayne Muir, who work in Denver.

Studer raised concerns with the Meeker School District about the structural integrity of its new elementary school, and Bumgarner and Muir, both of Structural Consultants, Inc., did the same in a report to the district. Those concerns surrounded the work of engineer Gary Howell, then with Neenan Company, which designed and built the school.

The school is now closed and awaiting repairs to reinforce its lateral stability because of its susceptibility to high winds and earthquakes.

Howell has voluntarily agreed to temporarily stop practicing engineering in lieu of having his license suspended while the State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors investigates him.

Angie Kinnaird Linn, program director for the board, said the concern with the other three is that an engineer is required to alert the board about any peer who violates engineering practices.

“They had pretty serious reservations about the integrity of the Meeker Elementary School and therefore, on the basis of that, did they not have concerns about Mr. Howell’s standard of practice?” she said.

Muir and Bumgarner couldn’t be reached for comment late this afternoon.

Studer said of the board, “They’re just doing their job. I don’t want to say any more than that.”