Northstar Engineering marks 10 years

As the Dothan area has grown its commercial and residential sectors over the last 10 years, one of the firms growing right along with it has also been designing many of the new projects.

Northstar Engineering Services marks 10 years in business this month and founding partner Phillip Santora, P.E., P.L.S., said the firm has become the kind of engineering company he always wanted to be a part of.

“The whole idea behind Northstar Engineering Services is service,“ said Santora. “We do everything possible to meet the client’s needs.“

Santora was working as a civil engineer for another Dothan firm when he said it was time for him to realize that long-held ambition of starting his own company.

“I wrote out goals and objectives and began the company,“ he said. “I wanted a place where everybody was treated the same and where every project was of equal importance.“

Santora partnered with Larry Brookins and Lee Brown within his first year of operation, and by staying true to those founding principles, the three have built a steady and ever-growing customer base of more than 450 clients whose repeat business keeps the staff of 21 busy.

“We are proud to be able to say we still have the very first customer we ever had,“ Santora said.

Northstar Engineering was founded in a small building on West Main Street that was owned by Bryan Applefield, who previously owned a chain of Burger Kings. The firm’s first project was the design work on a Burger King in the Florida Panhandle.

Ten years later, the company still does the design, site and survey work for Burger King, even though Applefield sold out. Northstar still calls Applefield a client, and did the work on his Bojangles restaurant on Ross Clark Circle at Fortner.

Other well-known or current projects bearing Northstar Engineering’s label includes: the residential developments of Highlands South, Caravella, Pine Lakes and Greystone; commercial projects Residence Inn, Arby’s on U.S. 231 North, and the Hampton Inn; airport projects for the cities of Geneva and Lanett; and city projects including the Sunset Drive bridge replacement, East Burdeshaw Street paving, U.S. 231 South beautification, and the sidewalks on Westgate Parkway.

The engineer’s role in any project begins with the surveying - specifically, a boundary survey that shows the exact property lines - and a topographical survey which shows the lay of the land with any structures or utilities.
“This becomes our base map that we arrange buildings, the parking lot, driveways, turn lanes, detention pond facilities, landscaping and all utilities on,“ Brookins said.

This site planning phase is actually a best-use scenario. Once approved by the developer and the city, the engineering firm moves into the site design and construction phase whereby “we design every detail of the project and specify what, where and how a project is to be constructed, Brookins said.

From there the project is constructed and Northstar becomes the construction administrator, being sure the project is built according to plans and specifications.

“We work quite a bit with local architects,“ Brown said. “We’ve done numerous church additions, like the ones at Covenant Methodist and Harvest Church. And we do a lot of layout work for contractors, like the survey work on the Brannon Stand Bridge replacement for the county.“

While Northstar has experienced somewhat of a slow-down in residential developments due to a sagging economy, Brookins predicts a successful next 10 years.

“I see serious growth,“ he says. “I expect we will be dealing more with environmental issues, wetlands mitigation and delineation, flood plain studies, FEMA map revisions. All the easy land to develop is gone.“
“Now it is all about location,“ Brown added.

Northstar Engineering Services employees consist of two professional civil engineers with registrations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee; two professional land surveyors; two graduate engineer interns; an office administrator; four technical designers; two environmental scientists; six full-time surveyors and support staff.

Santora said the office has a family atmosphere, in part obtained through annual family retreats. Each year all employees, spouses and their children are treated to a three-day vacation. Past trips include Callaway Gardens and Bush Gardens. This fall the employees are going to Stone Mountain, Ga.

Services provided by Northstar, located at 2431 Hartford Highway in a 4,000-square-foot building, include professional engineering services in municipal improvements, commercial site planning and development, subdivision development, airport improvements, design of storm drainage systems and storm water management facilities, commercial building design, surveying and construction management.

Environmental services include Phase I and II investigations, perc test, wetlands delineation, wetlands mitigation, Alabama Department of Environmental Management registrations and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting.