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I regret having to post this but........

I noticed something about myself the other day and when it hit I was struck with a sense of disdain.  Here is what happened.  There I was in the hinterlands miles from cellular service on an ATV with my GPS and running wild.  At a particular time of day up here all of the satellites gather together in a tight cluster and chat or something.  Anyway when this happens the GPS goes south and you have to wait it out. So there I am in the wide open waiting for the GPS to settle down so I can gather a shot.

That's when it hit me; If I was traversing with an instrument I would have done and gone.  Sometimes I wonder if all of these little gizmo's and tech-toys are actually making us work harder.  I started thinking about traversing and GPS.  When I was traversing I'd carry a few nails and a range pole with a prism.  GPS, I carry spare batteries, nails, a tape, a bipod, and ax just to guarantee a shot.  Now if your thinking why  the hell are packing all that crap along.  Well as soon as I leave the truck get to my search area; if I left any one of those things behind, that's the one I need.  So the superstitious side of me says better to pack it and not need it than need it and not have it.  By the way for those who are saying just go back to truck; well some days that commute is 1/2 mile horizontally and vertically so for me not an option.  

We used to survey differently also; traversing was along the line your were surveying because that was the shortest route; Toady we hit each end and hardly "walk the line"; be honest.  Also then we didn't limit our abilities based upon the equipment.  Today we do.  Then we cut through brush and traverse into a monument.  Today we get creative to try to use GPS.  Like the other day I saw a guy with a GPS unit on top of a 25' fiberglass leveling rod taking a shot on a property corner to get over the trees.  the base of rod was on the rebar.  The gps head was somewhere over the street.

Sometimes I get nostalgic and wish for the old days of traversing.  Then when I resurvey a section in hours instead of days; I wake up.  I guess my boredom is my own worst enemy.......  

ERATA......

First I want to discuss the Witness Corner Post.  I know what the manual says and for the government boys on government land that is fine.  HOWEVER, the manual does not stricly apply to lands in private ownership so I reserve the right to disagree about not re-establishing a witness corner and then re-establishing the true point. (see previous post).  I did not specify private versus government land; but since land surveyors under state authority have no jurisdiction on wholly government land I assumed it was inferred.

Let me explain the my stance on witness corners....

First - the original surveyor set a witness corner because the true point could not be set for whatever reason. So the true point NEVER existed in FACT.  it was merely a calculated position.
Second - to properly follow the footsteps of the original surveyor you would have to determine the position of the witness corner and then determine to true point.  Why?  because that is what the original survey did and that is what the land owners would have had to do.
Third - this is especially true if the line(s) have "heavy" bearings (or diverge from cardinal by a significant sum) then the proportioning with out the WC will vary drastically from the proportioning with the WC.

Therefore I would not completely disregard the WC if it was missing unless I had a good reason to do so.


Moving on.....

Out on a job the other day I had the opportunity to find an original corner tree.  it had been cut down but the blazes had been pitched over and preserved in the sand.  The tree was established in 1875.  It was witnessed by a dependent resurvey in 1937 and had bearing trees created in 1972.  There is a lot going on here.  It was a neat find and I have been dying to talk about it.



Anyway back to work...

And for the boys in the south...... VIVA LA SALSA.

What Would You Do???

Here is a real life scenario in the world of PLSS.  Here are the facts:

1. You are retracing the line between Sections 18 and 13.
2. The original survey from 1888 shows lotting but it is for the shortage in departure.
3. The original notes say either side of the section, north and south, ready 40's and 80's
4.  There is a W.C. at the corner of Sections 13,18,19 and 24.  It is 5 chains south of the section corner (on line) because of a wash
5.  Your retracement doesn't find the WC. you find the section corner south and the next section corner north.

QUESTION:

How do you re-establish the corner of Sections 13,18,19, and 24?


Hint - only deal with the knowns given.  Don't bog yourself down with questions not mentioned above.....

I am hoping we can talk about this..

The Point of Commencement - When to Ignore it...

Every metes and bounds legal description has either a point of commencement or a point of beginning.  In my little part of the world the point of commencement is usually a section corner, 1/4 corner, sixteenth corner.  I am sure most of readers of this blog have seen them.

Well the other day I was working on survey here in the metro Springerville area and it was a good survey day.  GPS was working fine.  My preliminary research was panning out.  It was a good field day.  Typically I gather field data and process it in CAD.  Then I will run in the legal description based upon the control and start to evaluate the record versus the gathered data.  In so doing I have noticed a curious oddity.

On this particular survey the occupation seem the fit the description really well.  All of the occupation appeared harmonious and my contact with the adjoining land owners did not reveal any concerns.  All was well in the neighborhood.  Plus it looked good on paper also.  So I began to enter the deed based on my observed control; in this case a section corner.  The pedigree on this section goes back to the GLO 1875 survey so there is no doubt as to it's location.  Anyway, the deed commences at the section corner and runs west along the section to a point then north to the POB.  Then it runs around the property with only bearing and distance; no descriptive calls at all.  Then it closes back and the math works.

Then it happens.... As I am looking at the boundary by occupation compared to the deed boundary there is a 27 foot ambiguity in departure.  So first I look for fat-finger busts - nope.  Then transposed deed calls - nope the deeds calls generally work with the adjoining deeds.  So then I grip the deed boundary (in CAD) and slide it to the observed boundary and it fit; except for the call to the section corner.  So rather that stake the deed and create havoc.  I ignored the call to the section corner and followed the rest of the deed.

Moral of the story.... Sometimes it is necessary to ignore parts of the legal description to protect the intent of the deed.  My 2 cents anyway.

And to my compadres in the south VIVA LA SALSA!!!

The Mayor has Left the Building

It is official.  I am now the former Mayor of Springerville Arizona.  24 months in city government and never been elected.....or on a ballot.

Here's what happened.  I had been working working with the town's community development coordinator on several issues.  One day she asks me if I would be willing to fill a vacancy on the planning and zoning commission.  At first I thought; NO.  Then I thought about it and decided that an informed opinion may be what the commission needed.  P&Z was fun.  6 months in, find out that a city council member is resigning so he can run for Mayor.  The current Mayor asks me if I would be willing to fill the vacancy on the city council.  So I go from Commissioner Muth to Councilman Muth.  So after a month the newly elected Mayor asks me if I would be his Vice Mayor.  So I accept.  Then after 3 months the Mayor resigns and ta da; I am the Mayor.

Some Highlights during my political career -
June 2010 - Plane crashes into the High School Killing all on board
June 2011 - The Wallow fire
August 2011 - The flooding caused by the fire.
Personally met with: Govenor Brewer, Senator Kyle, Senator McCain; Representative Flake, Representative Gosar - Because of the fire.

Between town stuff and surveying I am a tired boy......


Be safe this Memorial Day. And to my Compadres in the South - Viva La SALSA....

How Do We......

Here is a fundamental question that I have been going back and forth with in my head.  How do we improve the profession of Surveying without undo regulation?  It has been my observation that most of the surveyors I know are working at a pretty high standard that they have set for themselves.  This self imposed regulation is above the state required minimum; and the public benefits.  Yet there exists amongst us a group of practitioners that exist to get by with the minimum allowable.  We know who they are; we know where they are; we know what they do; we know they get away with it.  How do we fix it? or Do we fix it?

I am an advocate of MANDATORY continuing education.  That is no secret.  I personally believe that education is the key to raising the level of practice.  It isn't about APLS having a monoploy on seminars or the like.  The internet killed that idea.  Education is the key.  I honestly believe that most of the substandard practitioners out there do so because that is how they were trained.  I have seen examples of these ill-trained technicians get licensed and start to educate themselves and turn out to be good surveyors. I believe that once a person learns what they should be doing they quickly adjust what they are doing.  As far as the mandatory part.  Well quite simply some people have to be told they have to before they will.  Anyone that has children or had children knows exactly what I am talking about.

So now we face a question in Arizona...Do we change the minimum standards?  To be honest I am perched firmly on the fence.  On the one hand hand I agree that the current standards need to clarify some grey areas.  On the other hand I don't want the standards to micro-manage my practice.  There needs to be flexibility to make professional judgement.  If we kill professional judgement by over standardizing then we are a trade and not a profession.  I have loosely been apart of reviewing the draft of the new standards and can live with most of what is in there.  However I do not like the fact that the reason this is even coming up is because of people gaming the system.  Then again this isn't about what I like or dislike; it's about improving the profession.  So my internal boxing match shall continue.

Let me go back to professional judgement.  I think professional judgement is, at the end of the day, the final word.  Standards can be written but judgement is the key. Judgement is the why we do what we do.  Standards dictate how.  Standards cannot regulate judgement.  Nor can they fix faulty judgement.  Education is the key to bringing a positive change to faulty judgement.  In my ever so humble opinion.

Where does APLS fit in?  Well friends and neighbors I am here to tell you.  First and foremost; there is no reason that anyone should be excluded from APLS.  If you feel the dues are to high then let's address it.  If the Board of Directors needs fixed; let's address it.  If APLS has problems then the members need to fix it.  If the Board of Directors is made up of representatives from each chapter then there should be no disconnect between the chapters and the Board of Directors.  UNLESS of course directors tell one story at the chapter meeting and then tell a different story at the Board of Directors meeting.  We need a clear and honest picture of who we are; where we are going; and how we are going to get there.

So here is my vision:
1.  Mandatory Continuing Education will/can raise the level of professional judgement through education.
2.  The Minimum Standards do need to be updated at some level.
3.  The requirements for licensure in Arizona are no longer sufficient to define minimum competency.
4.  More interaction with the Board of Technical Registration to address violations and enforcement.

And to my Compadres' in the south.... Viva La SALSA!!!!!!      

At the Conference

Well I did just as I said I would.  I did not camp out in the Boundary portion of the seminars.  I branched out and attended mostly GIS stuff.  I will confess it was eye opening to see what is available.  Jack Avis opened my eyes the most and for that I am thankful.  I remember Jack from the early days of APLS before he went to Texas.  He was the most beneficial.

The Bylaws of APLS have changed and the Board of Directors is now mandated to become smaller.  This in my opinion is a good thing.  I never really understood why we sent 2 people from every chapter to the Director's meeting anyway.  My father was the President APLS when the senatorial system went into effect.  The bylaws also NOW allow electronic meetings.  Now this was forward thinking 10 years ago.  Old dogs die slow.  The rest is pretty much the same.

This next part is targeted specifically at the surveying community in the Metro Phoenix area.  Why is there only one chapter of APLS down there?  Up here it is understandable a few surveyors in a large area means travel to the meetings.  However down there; most of the in-state RLS's reside in the metro area.  So why hasn't the East Valley formed up, West Valley, North Valley or the like.  I would venture to guess that the surveyors in Payson and Globe would rather drive to Mesa than Show Low.

And where are the guys from Yuma?  why do we never see them.  Is it because of California being on the other side of the river?

Finally why is APLS turning people off?  I understand that not everyone will be like minded.  If it is stagnation at the chapter level then we need to get new chapters started that clear the baffles.  APLS should be bringing people in not turning them away.

Also heard rumblings about the licensing fee should be raised.  I agree with this.  What I pay for 3 years in Arizona isn't 1/3 of the annual fee I pay in Texas.  "That which we obtain to cheaply, We esteem to lightly..."  If Arizona BTR does raise the fees then APLS needs to drop theirs.  Just saying...

To the esteemed gentlemen I spent most of my free time cussing and discussing with (and you know who you are) I truly enjoyed the discussions.  I especially like it when the conversations get real.  I had fun and wish I could see you guys more often.  Viva La SALSA..........