Hi all,
Monday I start a new job as the county surveyor.
I have pretty had pretty strong opinions of county surveyors over the years, some good, some bad.
Here is your chance to voice what you would want out of your public dollars, when it comes to public surveying needs.
I am all ears.
What state are you in?
I'd want a second set of eyes to catch my blunders.
I'd want notification if there was some potential conflict I'd overlooked.
In fact, if you saw anything that you thought I'd overlooked.
Every state has set forth the Duties of County Surveyor as directed by State Law.
In Texas the office of County Surveyor was once the primary connection between local interests and the General Land Office of Texas where the County Survey had been granted duties that are beyond the scope of Registered Professional Land Surveyor as laid out by the State of Texas.
In modern times the office has been abolished in many counties across the state that have little or no reason of any purpose to continue an office that is merely honorary at best.
In some areas, the office is quite active and has been give purpose in normal County Governmental affairs and duties.
Check your state's website for County Surveyor info.
Information. Not opinions. Information.
Ideally, the County Surveyor's Office should contain as much information as possible that directly ties to performing a survey anywhere in that county. Information that goes back as far as the Government survey in a PLSS state at a minimum. Definitely as far back as the creation of the current county boundaries. Highway and bridge plans for all roads from township to city to county to state to federal. Widths of all county roads at creation and any later widenings with the dates those occurred. Railroad strip maps for every railroad that ever existed in the county. All known surveys, whether public or private, should be accessible either in hard copy or digitally. In PLSSia, every possible source of information on section corner monuments and conflicting monuments for the same corner. Information on local oddities such as specific locations where local magnetism may have altered reported results. The office should have nearly a duplicate set of information to that which has been recorded for perpetuity in the Register of Deeds (or similar office) Office so that the Surveyor's Office is practically a "one-stop does it all shop" with the exception of the title records maintained by the Register of Deeds (or similar office) Office. All plats of the cities and towns plus plats of their additions over time. Combination city plats showing the original plat and all additions thereto for quick reference. Cemetery plats, also. Every kind of vertical information and benchmark data imaginable, plus access to the latest FEMA flood maps and Flood Information Studies. You need to be able to guide your visitors through the steps to find the online information easily. A few will already be as knowledgeable as you, but most will be lacking in some of those skills.
Once you are certain you have every possible data source available through your office then you need to acquaint yourself with all of it. It would be wonderful if you were already that person who has more knowledge of the county in their brain than any other living surveyor who might visit the office. Odds are that you aren't that person today. Make yourself that person.
In rural counties, bits of special advice may come in very handy for the newby surveyor who is entering your county for the first time. For example, if you are pretty sure ol' Hank Berge has a moonshine operation in place very close to where the newby will be working it might be good to instruct the newby to be on the lookout for large, angry men with guns suddenly appearing from nowhere. More likely is the case where you can provide far better directions to the site than GPS in the vehicle will ever be able to do. In our case, warnings might be issued concerning the frailty of the so-called Government Field Notes and the recommendation that "fence line" research is more likely to lead to the discovery of the true corners as a general rule. Again, as an expert on all things local, you may want to mention known historical sites that should be left intact. Most of those are not obvious to the newby until it is too late. It is also appropriate to keep a handy resource list of contact information for other somewhat local surveyors who have extensive experience in the county and who will be more than happy to provide assistance in many ways.
If you have been put in the role of being a reviewer of all surveys submitted to the county, then you need to provide specific guidance on what is expected and why. Don't put the surveyor in a position of needing to send you four different submissions before you'll sign off.
And, most important of all, do not be a $#@&^*%$.
Around here the county surveyor is little more than a self bestowed title that is only used to make everyone think you're a superior surveyor to everyone else, when in actuality, you have no idea what you're doing.
Get ready for a fun ride! A few thoughts...
If you want an example of objective review, check out the Ada County Idaho plat review page. It is an excellent example of objective and code based review. Prepare yourself to toss 'preference' and learn a lot of new tricks.
I would hope the County Surveyor in any State would be able to work at monument preservation.
This can launch you forward or make you the most hated Surveyor in the County. It will all come down to attitude. If you approach the job the way you do this site you'll be fine...
Good luck, Tom
Nate
I am in Washington state. I agree, plat review is part of the job.
Harris,
Washington state has no requirement of counties to have a county surveyor. As such, there is no specific law regarding duties and obligations. Other counties in Washington just poach them from other states. In fact pry of the hiring process was asking my opinion of what the county surveyor's role was.
Cow
Thankfully, Washington has been a recording state since 1974. But you are correct, and actually I haven't thought of compiling and indexing all the county records prior to that.
And I completely agree about signing off on a plat. I have been on your end many times, with the reviewer instructing me on style items, or requesting things shown that have NOTHING to do with the division of lands.
And I solemnly promise not to be an a$$, unless absolutely necessary.
The director picked me (a private guy) rather than guys established in government. I believe that to be a good thing.
Get ready for a fun ride! A few thoughts...
If you want an example of objective review, check out the Ada County Idaho plat review page. It is an excellent example of objective and code based review. Prepare yourself to toss 'preference' and learn a lot of new tricks.
I would hope the County Surveyor in any State would be able to work at monument preservation.
This can launch you forward or make you the most hated Surveyor in the County. It will all come down to attitude. If you approach the job the way you do this site you'll be fine...
Good luck, Tom
Holy Cow has it just about right. The office is a repository of all survey data and indexed on a website, hopefully.
Monument preservation is a major duty, ensuring that public and private projects maintain property corners.
Regular attendance at surveyors' association meetings (wearing that flame proof suit) helps keep in touch with local concerns. Being a member of the professional practices committee, and working with City Surveyors and staff.
Staying up to date with pending a new legislation impacting survey practice and subdivision mapping. Publishing guidelines for mapping, particularly dedication statements.
The main function is to be an asset for the surveying community, providing research and advice to ensure proper establishment of boundaries. Meeting with other County Surveyors to share resources and strategies is useful.
Providing and/or maintaining a network of elevation benchmarks is very helpful. As others have said, an index and repository of all survey and plat records, preferably on-line, is a great service to both the public and the profession. The DNR site leaves a lot to be desired.
My friend Paul Galli, a regular contributor to this board, recently took over as Cowlitz County Surveyor after a career in private business. I know that he is devoting significant effort to cataloging the "unrecorded" surveys in his department's possession. You might try giving him a call.
Mark, that is excellent to hear that Paul is the Cowlitz CS. We went to school together at OIT, Jeesh, between him and Mike Springer, our class is doing pretty well on NW CS positions.
Holy Cow, aka: "The Divine Bovine" covered the gambit. Unfortunately the County surveyors I have had to deal with do absouletely nothing except direct you to someone else. :-S
The ability to professionally make what you believe is the right decision even when it is not the popular decision and stick by it.
My recommendation would be to adopt a "not on my watch" attitude toward monument preservation. That would include staying on top of all private and public road/cable/drainage projects, overlays, and WSDOT maintenance and the such. We loose to many for no reason except that the advocates are looking elsewhere for things to do. Figure out a way to gain a budget for restoration and enlist those who use your office t participate.
Good luck with this, I envy you for being able to take this on.
One very important thing is to be able to admit when you don't know something. Offer to do some searching so you can be of help both now and in the future.
Try and stay above the politics.
He we have a bad problem with multiple sections corners. Help everyone pick one. Do sectional breakdowns and make it Easily available to everyone.
Daniel Ralph, post: 370272, member: 8817 wrote: My recommendation would be to adopt a "not on my watch" attitude toward monument preservation. That would include staying on top of all private and public road/cable/drainage projects, overlays, and WSDOT maintenance and the such. We loose to many for no reason except that the advocates are looking elsewhere for things to do. Figure out a way to gain a budget for restoration and enlist those who use your office t participate.
Good luck with this, I envy you for being able to take this on.
Good News Everyone!
I'm on a committee to do exactly what Dan is proposing. There are many, many, many; elements to this and many, many, many; opinions on how to handle them; but we are getting close to a consensus. I will keep all you all posted.
As to the OP: Take a look at what Ken Paul is doing in Clark County. I only learned, recently, that Clark County is the only county in Washington; where the County Surveyor is the repository for all records related to survey. So I don't know all the ins and outs of this, but it looks awesome! In the county's where I do most of my work; the Auditor or Recorder is the place to go for all survey information; it can be a headache. There are good people in these offices and they know how to index documents of all things important, but they're not surveyors.
I surveyed for 15 years in Nebraska before moving to Washington (State). I never realized what a pleasure research was in Nebraska; until I went to a County in Washington. Narrow corridors between file cabinets; with several people trying to squeeze in and out with 18" x 24" binders; held together with 2" clasp rings; so you could take them apart and make a copy on big Xerox machine......
Now I know the population of Nebraska was a lot less; so I wasn't in line with a half dozen other people for hours. But you walked in to the surveyor's office and a surveyor or one of his assistant's came over and asked how he or she could help you. They walked you over to a file cabinet with microfiche
pulled any records that would help; made the copies for you; told you to tell Mary on the way out that you owed the county $2.75 and have a great day. It usually took less than 15 minutes.
The other county and city surveyors I know in Washington are also doing a great job, but they have very little control over most of the recently recorded information. I don't know; it might be just me; but I do not think this is a good thing.
good luck to you [USER=8874]@summerprophet[/USER]; I hope you have a great day, I know I will.
summerprophet, post: 370135, member: 8874 wrote: Hi all,
Monday I start a new job as the county surveyor. I have pretty had pretty strong opinions of county surveyors over the years, some good, some bad.
Here is your chance to voice what you would want out of your public dollars, when it comes to public surveying needs.
I am all ears.
I don't know what your duties are in your state and county. If you are responsible to review survey plats, I highly recommend you only check them for what is required by law, and other advice as advisory. And that you are respectful to the "submitters". No one likes a "holier than thou" county surveyor who got there by election or appointment but not (necessarily) by their mad survey skills. If you see something you think might be wrong with someone's plat, ask them if they are sure that is right, and point out what you think the conflict is with their decision. Remember the surveyor is certifying their plat, not you. You're a public servant not the boss of all surveyors.
I've found that if I find something I think is totally screwy with another surveyor's work, and I call him/her up and ask them about it, I might find out that it wasn't screwy at all. If I still don't buy it I might suggest what my difference is in case they hadn't thought of it. (just speaking in general, I'm not a county surveyor).
Of course you might not have that charge at all, in which case I am only suggesting you are humble about your job, and you try to do efforts that supports the survey community in your County, and not try to be "the master of all you survey". I'm guessing that is how you are approaching the matter, since you made this post.
