The city's utilities and/or engineering dept(s) will undoubtedly want them to determine whether the distribution lines are an acceptable size/material and if they were installed according to the engineer’s specs.

I agree with a lot of your post, but in addition I think it is important to note the importance of trying not to burn too many bridges.

If you're getting feedback from several independent sources it will reduce the chances of getting burned.  

Barring this, the local engineer familiar with the subsurface conditions would be next best.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to actively practice real estate while keeping a full-time job, so this will be new to me.My questions:- Will a company be willing to hire someone with no experience in real estate, but 5 years in electrical designing and 3 years power plant engineering?

I guess he had the extra billion burning a hole in his pocket from that forced sale. 

How long and tedious is the engineering and permitting process?

I am sure there are plenty of people who are intermediate or even seasoned investors who have been burned by not having the right management in place, so you want to make sure you have at least a basic knowledge of what needs to happen to make your property run successfully. 

Engineers will design for 200 or more GPD when factoring demand. 

Sometimes the fireman will use the old houses as a controlled burn exercise for training and then you pay someone to just scrape the land.