Or perhaps not. Time will tell.?ÿ A couple of weeks ago I chose to go for a short bike ride along the trail that my office conveniently sits on.?ÿ I keep my bike here just for those types of sunny days in March when traffic on the trail is not unbearable.?ÿ I also wanted to check up on the highway construction from another vantage point.?ÿ To my horror I noticed stumps and pending grading for a retaining wall where I believed a meander corner was. I contacted the engineer of record for the city asking for copies of monument destruction approvals (I checked with DNR, there wasn't any) and attached images of my survey where I tied it in 2014 last and another even older survey that also showed its location. In addition I attached a link to WAC 332-120 and the monument destruction application form. To her credit I received a quick response that "they were looking into it".?ÿ The response a couple of days later was that I needed to provide more information because the Inspector and Contractor couldn't find it. Of course they couldn't. And I blasted them for that effort and that I needed to know who the project surveyor was and that I wanted to have a complete set of alignment plans for the project.?ÿ They sent me one sheet, no name.?ÿ I wrote back that if the surveyor would call me directly I could give them detailed field notes so that they could find it and process the necessary permits.?ÿ In the mean time, I risking life and limb loaded a lath, shovel, rag tape and my field notes in my car and drove to the site. Where I recovered the nail I used in 2014 only 34 feet away. Since there was a six-foot cyclone fence between the monument and me I did some fancy subtraction and addition so that when I walked to the end of the fence, around it and back that I could stretch the tape in a horizontal fashion to a spot likely to be where the monument was.?ÿ Keep in?ÿ mind that I didn't have a metal detector because that and all my more fancy surveying equipment is safely quarantined in my partners van some 15 miles north of me. I dug through the fill which happened since the week before and found original grade a foot or so down. Clearing a larger spot wishing for some flagging or other jetsam to appear. Nothing.?ÿ I stood there thinking if I only had a better measurement from that GD mag nail I could isolate the search area even better. So I waited for a bicyclist to go by: nope too fast. How about a walker: nope social distancing. I even tried to get a grandma pushing a stroller to do it but no luck. In a state of frustration I ascended the slope one more time and grabbed the lath and plunged it into the ground simply to signify where someone else with a better back could search.?ÿ Chunk. The lath hit something unyielding.?ÿ No, it couldn't be. But I had my trusty shovel.?ÿ One stab with it and chunk.?ÿ Hmm, a smile came across my face. Shovel, shovel, blue flagging, orange flagging, BRASS MONUMENT!?ÿ This old dog can still hunt.?ÿ?ÿ
I've reported the find to the engineer who has sent a survey crew to tie it and pledged to send me the properly completed application. He even asked if I wanted to review the rest of the plans and let him know if there may be other survey points I can tell them about. I declined.?ÿ I explained that there was no excuse by his surveyor for not knowing about this, not recovering it and not showing it on the plans and that they should be doing better research in advance of their surveys. I know who they are now and there are several engineers on this project have learned a thing or two about my tools. You see these monuments (I don't need to tell you guys this) are our tools. Trouble is we have to leave them laying around. That doesn't mean that they can be taken, disturbed or destroyed. There are laws to protect them. And I will make you understand that whenever I can.?ÿ
By the way, the value of the residences closest to this meander corner who's boundaries might rely on its location average about $1.2 million. And there are several of them.
?ÿStay safe my friends.?ÿ
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A few trillion attaboys are hereby awarded.?ÿ Print up your own certificate, frame it and hang it on the wall for all to see.
You are correct, damm it, that the rest of the world has no comprehension as to the value of monuments.
Why is there a meander corner set where there doesn't appear to be a water body nearby? It's early yet, but I can't think if there's another situation where a meander corner is used.
@allen-wrench Meander corner for the Sammamish River, which is a tributary to Lake Washington that was lowered about 8' in 1916. The current channel is now in a channel a couple hundred feet away. The brass monument is the result of a retracement by the the WPA and King County which is an everlasting reminder of the tremendous work that was done during that time.
@holy-cow Lets not jump the gun. Perhaps when I have a copy of the approved permit in hand... Actually. When If I have an approved permit in hand, I should get several copies framed and send them to the engineers and surveyor's on the job.
Meander Corners, in Washington, were set more for convenience. Original surveyors were told; you're only getting paid 2 dollars a mile, that determines the accuracy of the survey and they got paid extra when they surveyed meander lines.
It is an error in the law, IMHO, to leave the responsibility to the Engineer alone. Each project should require an engineer to get a surveyor to sign off on the plan to preserve monuments.
BTW, the people of cities like Bellevue have no idea how much value they get out of their survey department, essentially, Bellevue has eliminated lost monuments, they may be obliterated, but not lost (at least the PLSS, but also a surprising amount of the centerline monuments). Same with Seattle and a few others (none are as slick as Bellevue, however).
I agree! I tried pushing for an addition to the call before you dig law; to include a statement from a surveyor saying that no monuments will be disturbed. But that went over like a ...
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We have placed these next to recovered/rehabilitated section and quarter corners.
Occasionally, we will get a call about nearby activity - usually tree felling and the like.?ÿ We will check ties and update as needed.
Today, I received an email from the project engineer with an approved monument destruction permit attached. I really don't care if it gets replaced. Its current position will not work for several reasons but the fact that the process was employed and a document is on file with ties to local points and SPC, is good enough for me.
Saga update.?ÿ A month or so ago the project engineer sent me the approved monument destruction permit prepared by the consultants surveyor.?ÿ I thanked him for doing this and asked if I could have the monument when it was removed.?ÿ Yesterday, I got a call from a project inspector who was in possession of it and he asked me if I could visit him at his field office. We had a nice conversation regarding what the monument signified, how I found it, and most importantly how he could be more proactive searching for these things in the future. It turns out that the monument I saw was on top of another one which was left in place.?ÿ?ÿI loaded the monument in the back of my rig and someday soon it will be officially retired in my garden.?ÿ Happy ending me thinks.?ÿ?ÿ
@warren-smith Who is it that levies the $1000 fine and do they have to be caught in person, picture, film or other proof is necessary?
@a-harris It seems to act more of a deterrent. The locals appreciate the more or less permanent guide to the actual corner, including timber cruisers.
@warren-smith I ask because Federal Monuments have fines of various amounts stamped or cast on them and utility companies go out of their way to destroy monuments in rural roads and along right of ways everywhere and I've never heard of anyone having to pay for replacing any of them.
When law enforcement is contacted it is always one word against another word and without filmed evidence they won't act.
Currently, I don't know of any agency that actually fines a person about disturbing a monument.
Mess up anybody's utility in error and boom, you may go to jail if you can't pay the hefty fines.
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