Our Team

Tom Basham, PE, LS

Tom is the Owner and Founder of Nokesville Design. He has a degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Land Surveying from Virginia Tech and is licensed in the state of Virginia as a Professional Engineer and Land Surveyor. He has over 35 years of experience practicing in Northern Virginia. Tom has specialized in Alternative Drainfield Design for over 25 years and prepared over 4,000 alternative on-site septic system designs.


Dianne Cernoch

Dianne is our Senior Designer and Office Manager, handling most of the septic designs with a little administration work thrown in just to keep things interesting. Dianne has worked for Nokesville Design since it first started in 2004 and has been in the septic design industry since 2002.


Kevin Cernoch

Kevin joined our design team in 2014, with 25 years of experience in the heavy construction industry detailing concrete formwork and structural steel fabrication and erection plans. Kevin came to Nokesville Design knowing nothing of the civil engineering design process for lot grading or septic system plans. He now produces 90% of the lot grading designs and 100% of the septic installation inspection services, with an occasional septic system design thrown in.


Michelle Hackett

Michelle started off as a filing and print assistant for Nokesville Design when she was in high school and has worked for the company in various administrative capacities on and off throughout the years in temporary positions. She graduated from Bridgewater College with a degree in Communication Studies and has over four years of office administration in the highway infrastructure industry and two years of office administration and marketing in the restoration construction industry. She re-joined the Nokesville Design team at the beginning of 2021 as a part-time administrative and marketing assistant. Michelle took on the duties of Accounts Payable and Receivable in 2022 and in 2023 she started her training as a Septic Designer.