As the virus responsible for COVID-19 spreads throughout Northern Virginia (as well as the rest of the United States), ESI has made changes to business operations and services in an effort to continue supporting our members and partners while adhering to CDC Safety Guidelines.

 

We encourage you to visit the websites of our partnered jurisdictions for information on their operating status during this time:

In addition to their operating status, each jurisdiction provides information on services provided to residents, guidance on ways to stay safe and healthy through this pandemic, and updates on how the jurisdictions are responding to updates from the CDC, State and Federal Government.  We hope you take the time to browse these resources and keep yourself updated on what’s happening in your local area.

 

ESI Chantilly Office Operational Hours – It is our intent to maintain normal business office hours (8:00am – 4:30pm, Mon-Fri) in our central office in Chantilly in order to best serve you.  Due to impacts of the current virus and illnesses, we are operating with reduced staff presence in the office with the rest of staff teleworking. While we are striving to conduct our services via electronic means as best as possible, we want to assure you that we will be present in the event that you need to drop something off or call with questions or concerns.  Please feel free to contact us at (703) 263-2232 or via e-mail.

 

ESI Plan Review Procedures – It is our commitment to continue working with you diligently on your plan submissions and we invite you to contact our ESI Senior Staff Engineers directly to coordinate plan submissions, meetings, peer reviews and any other plan-related need that you have.  For information on changes made to plan submission, please view our current Plan Submission Directions or contact the engineer working with the jurisdiction you plan to submit to:

If possible, we ask that Alexandria plans be submitted electronically.  If you must submit a paper copy, the plan can be dropped off or mailed to our Chantilly office.  Please coordinate plan submissions for Alexandria through Bill Missell. 

All Fairfax plans must be submitted eletronically via ProjectDox.  Please coordinate plan submissions for Fairfax through Sohaila Shekib.

The ESI Loudoun office closed on January 1, 2021.  If possible, we ask that plans be submitted electronically.  If you must submit a paper copy, the plan can be dropped off or mailed to our Chantilly office.  Please coordinate plan submissions for Loudoun or Leesburg through Sue Wolford.

 

ESI Classes – From the latter half of 2020 through the first half of 2022, ESI changed most classes to a virtual format and facilitated those classes through Zoom. The roll-out of vaccines has us hopeful to return to in-person classes, and we have worked out ways to provide hybrid in-person and online-learning classes for the convenience of our students.

Please rest assured we are closely monitoring ongoing COVID circumstances and will pivot as necessary to maintain a safe learning environment. 

For updates on class schedules, or if you have any questions about classes, please visit our Education page or contact Bill Sharpe at (703) 263-2232 or at wsharpe@esinova.org. For assistance with ESI’s Learning Management System (LMS), such as password resets or difficulties registering for a class, please contact Leila Alimova at lalimova@esinova.org.

 

ESI Plan-Related Meetings (e.g. Peer Review, Facilitation, and Pre-Submission Meetings) – All of ESI’s Partner jurisdictions have indicated a directive to minimize face-to-face contact.  So that our public and private sector members can continue to meet and discuss plans via online “virtual” meetings, ESI has procured services through Microsoft Teams, GoToMeeting and Zoom for instances when ESI needs to facilitate a virtual meeting.  ESI staff can also use whatever platform members or jurisdictional staff prefer for meeting virtually.

 

ESI Committee Meetings (e.g. Fairfax Committee, Loudoun Committee, Leesburg Committee, Alexandria Committee, and other leadership committees) – ESI recognizes the continuing need to conduct these meetings as best as possible while avoiding personal contact and maintaining proper social distancing. Consequently, ESI has been utilizing virtual conferencing to conduct meetings.  If there is a pressing need to convey information, email communications, conference calls or similar methods are also effective tools.

 

We at ESI thank you for your continued support, patience and understanding as we follow suit with our many business partners to continue our valuable services while keeping everyone safe and healthy.