I'm glad I don't live and work in Georgia!
Why would they want colored paper plats and digital files in tiff format? 200dpi is very poor resolution, if you ask me. The reproductions will be very poor if legible at all.
When you zoom in on a tiff file, it becomes pixelated and illegible. PDF format would have been my choice. It mimicks vector drawings and does not pixelate and takes up less space, in regards to file size. Some counties in NC are accepting electronic files (plats) in pdf format and I generally use 600dpi resolution.
Where is the security in a tiff file. Plats can be altered with the simple "Paint" program.
PDF files can be secured with embedded electronic signatures . Any attempt to alter a secured pdf file will void the electronic signatures.
I can see attorneys will be busy in Georgia.
I do agree with the signature being a distinctive color. I usually sign my originals in blue or purple, to make it easier to spot a copy as opposed to an original. But, 200dpi seems a little low.
Before we all get upset about this...
Is this just for Hall county, GA?
Statewide?
200dpi is piss poor no doubt.
My old hand-held scanner from the mid-80s could do that.
Sounds statewide to me.
"...applicable to land plats and maps filed in Superior Court Clerks' offices in Georgia.
Act 599 enacted by legislators this year makes the following changes:"
Did any of you guys in GA have any input on this new law?
Georgia is in trouble
There are counties in GA that just got computers last year.... This change is for counties with money.
There will be less plats getting recorded, thus making surveying in GA more difficult. Sucks for us, sucks for the public.
Georgia is in trouble
Sounds like your State Surveyors Association need to get more involved.
Georgia is in trouble
Actually, SAMSOG (Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia) was involved from very near the beginning. This was not our piece of legislation, we did not introduce it. It was the Clerk's legislation, and the portion of the law that affects Surveyors is really a very small part of the overall bill, only two or three pages out of 35 or so. We had meetings with the Clerks Association and the County Administrators Association to let them know what our concerns were. The digital copy aspect of this bill was their idea, not ours, and they were not going to budge. I can see their side of the issue, they want to move away from storing paper or mylar plats in hangers. They want to move to a digital database to make it easier for them and easier for us. We can now submit plats up to 24"X36", which is bigger than the previous 17"X22" plats. We must give them a minimum of 2 paper plats with original signatures in contrasting color ink, and a tiff file on CD. I think as time goes on, the more advanced counties will probably start accepting emailed files. As far as the scanning resolution and file type, that was their call, not ours. The GSCCCA web site (Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative Association) requires that files be submitted in a 200dpi tiff format. They need to be mindful of data storage issues, so they have determined that 200dpi tiff works best for them. Again, their call, not ours. As to the font size, technical standards, etc. that are in the Plat Act, they have not changed. What has happened is that the items in the Plat Act have been taken out of Law, and put into Board Rules, thus making them MUCH easier to revise as technology changes. Now, if we want to change some of the Technical Standards, we don't have to pass a law to do so. We just have to get the Board to change them.
We had a meeting with some of the Clerks in June where we talked about how all this was to be implemented. They were very understanding of our point of view, and we learned a great deal about what thier concerns were. They said that it will take some time for all the 159 County Clerks to get comfortable with the new law, as I'm sure it will take some time for all us Georgia Surveyors to get comfortable with it. SAMSOG hopes to start having some educational seminars or sessions with members and non-members to explain what we know of the Law. It's the law now, and like it or not we need to follow it.
Dale Yawn
Vice President
Surveying and Mapping Society of Georgia
drobinson,
Only the ink on the signature is to be a contrasting color on the original paper copies, not the whole plat.
200 dpi tiff files were the Clerks idea, not ours. (see my post below). Most of the more modern plats on the Clerks website are pretty legible. There are admittedly some of the older plats that are smudged. A lot of the Georgia Counties now outsource the scanning of plats, and some do a good job, others do not. One good thing is that plats that do not have to have signatures from others (Planning & Zoning, Commissioners, etc.) can come straight out of your computer, and not suffer much distortion at all. It's true that some plats will have to be scanned at the local Staples or wherever, but it's the law, and we have to follow it.
Dale Yawn
Savannah, Ga.
Big E,
Statewide. It's the law now.
Dale Yawn
Savannah, Ga.
drobinson,
Yes,
See my post below. We had some input as to the plat size and moving the Plat Act items out of Law and into Board rules, but the scanning was out of our hands.
Dale Yawn
Savannah, Ga.
I know I'm not in Georgia, but
in Virginia some (if not many) of the counties and cities that let you look up deeds on line use TIFF format. So the Clerks in Georgia may be using the same system and want TIFF files so they don't have to convert. And the TIFF formats work quite nicely.
As to the 200 dpi resolution, that should indeed be plenty with any plat done in monochrome to plat standards that make things readable in their full size. The average human eye can only discern 70 - 100 dpi so 200 dpi should give good reproducability at full size - or even at double size.
The editor of the article in the OP is among many including the Ga clerks that don't understand the law. The law did not "limit" the size of a plat it increased it or in most cases took the ability of the individual clerk to determine the max size. There are other statements in the article that are not exactly correct.
Also unless I am reading the law wrong the "contrasting" color only applies to "copies of originals" which I interpret as "blue-line copies etc". I may be wrong here both my sons say I am but doesn't matter I sign all my plats in Blue ink. I am not sure if the digital copy is to be on color or not, why the colored sig. if not. I'll let others debate the 200dbi thingy.
The CD required also is required to be a scan of the original to be recorded. This must include all applicable signatures, The surveyor, zoning, fire dept, code inforcement and whoever else may be required by the county. This will cause a trip back to the office after all approvals and signatures. The clerk "will edit or cause to be edited" the TIFF file to show the recording information. Also the law leaves the media up to the clerk, the CD is something put out by the clerks organization.
If the plat is larger than 11x17 a scanner this size cost about $5k+, a purchase I am not gonna make at this time, all my plats will be on 11x17 or smaller and I'll just have to buy a $200-$300 scanner.
SAMSOG is useless
If they didn't kill this bill they are useless... Bill passed.
Game, set, match
SAMSOG is FAR from useless
> If they didn't kill this bill they are useless... Bill passed.
>
> Game, set, match
Couldn't disagree more. Ginger and the Officers of SAMSOG do a terrific job for the profession in Georgia.
Could SAMSOG have waived a magic wand and killed the bill? No. For several reasons surveyors in Georgia (not just Georgia) lack the political clout needed for that kind of power. The simple fact is there are far too few surveyors compared to the total number of citizens of GA. Compound the small numbers problem with the fact that not all surveyors choose to get involved to make things better and you pretty soon start to see why it is easy to downplay our voice.
Having said that, if SAMSOG had not done everything they did do, the bill would have been much worse than what got passed. Is it perfect? Of course not. But as passed it is much better than what was proposed. That fact is largely due to tons of hard work by Ginger and the leaders of SAMSOG.
Larry P
PS: Disclosure time. I have worked with Ginger as a speaker at a couple of SAMSOG events in the past. I have met and count as friends several of the current and former officers of SAMSOG. Neither of those facts influenced my opinion in this matter.
SAMSOG is useless
> If they didn't kill this bill they are useless... Bill passed.
>
> Game, set, match
Well, the use of the word "they" tells you all you need to know.
It should be "we"...... until surveyors start thinking of their state associations as "we" instead of "they" or "them", the profession will always struggle when it comes to issues such as this one.
SAMSOG is useless
:good:
Good point. "They": oh you mean the three guys that actually try to get things done? Not you.
I will be circulating a petition soon to remove this "law" from the books, I hope to get at least 2/3 of GA reg. surveyors to sign, please help out. SAMSOG let us down, the court clerks are implying that the GA surveyors pushed for this inanely, stupid law.(WRONG!) If the clerks want digital files then the clerks need to buy a scanner, what a logistical nightmare, ALL approving stamps and signatures and then BACK to the surveyor for a scan to a TIFF file on a DISC (will not accept an email!), to be then delivered BACK to clerk of court for recording. We'll probably end up having to pay the court clerk fee for disc storage/disposal! Present a plat to client 100+ miles away in a county with a lot hoops to jump thru and see how it goes, or have lawyers calling you for digitals for plats you completed 6 mos. ago....GOOD GRIEF what PITA.