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Transcript of APRIL 2010 TSS for WEBSITE - MARLSmarls.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2010-April-TSS.pdf · APRIL...
APRIL 2010 3
4 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
APRIL 2010 5
VOLUME XXXIX APRIL 2010 ISSUE II
The Treasure State Surveyor (USPS 018-913) is published quarterly by Kay McDonald, 101 Jensen Road, Columbia Falls, MT 59912. Subscription to The Treasure State Surveyor is $5 per issue (included in annual membership fee). POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MARLS, Kay McDonald, 101 Jensen Road, Columbia Falls, MT 59912. The Treasure State Surveyor is not copyrighted and articles may be reprinted with due credit. The Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors assumes no responsibility for statements made or opinions expressed in this publication. Editor: M. Andrew Stensrud Technical Assistance: Kay McDonald MARLS (The Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors) is a statewide organization of professional land surveyors licensed to execute land surveys in the state of Montana and dedicated to improving the quality of professional land surveying and land records in the state of Montana. Our motto is:
“WE MEASURE UP”
Advertising Information: Enclosed for your consideration are the rates for advertising space in the Treasure State Surveyor. Sustaining members of MARLS receive a discount on their advertising. A sustaining member is an individual or institution that desires to assist financially in the work of the Association. Sustaining Member Non-Member Per Issue Per Issue Full Page Ad ............ $170 .......... $195 ½ page ....................... 130 ............ 145 ¼ page ......................... 80 ............ 105 Business Card .............. 70 .............. 95 Back Cover ................ 210 ............ 270 Reserved inside front cover ............ 200 ............ 245 Reserved inside back cover ............ 200 ............ 245
Ads should be submitted to: MARLS
Attn: Kay McDonald 101 Jensen Road, Columbia Falls, MT 59912
Phone: 406-892-4579 [email protected]
Advertisers Aero-Graphics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
Aero-Metric ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11
Berntsen International Inc ------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana ------------------------------------------------------- 20
Eagle Teleconferencing Services----------------------------------------------------------- 11
Frontier Precision Inc ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10
Lewis and Lewis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
MARLS Marketplace ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 40
MT LiDAR------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 17
Missoula Blueprint Company -------------------------------------------------------------- 36
Selby’s Essco --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44
Spencer B. Gross of Nevada ---------------------------------------------------------------- 16
Trimble ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 43
Table of Contents MARLS Board of Directors and Committee Chairs ---------------------------------------------------- 4 President’s Message------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 MARLS Mission Statement --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Support Sustaining Members -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Height Mod 2009 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 MARLS Life Membership Information ------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 Continuing Education Evaluation ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Get to Know Your BOD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 Development in Montana Title Law, Volume IX, Issue 4 -------------------------------------------- 14 Boundaries & Estoppel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 MSU Award for Excellence -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 For Sale: Breakfast on the Bighorn prints & Random Point print ----------------------------------- 21 2010 MARLS Conference pictures ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 MARLS Conference Highlights of BOD & GM Meeting Minutes --------------------------------- 24 Grid lock: On a limestone hill southwest of Three Forks, the Initial Point divides, defines all MT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33 MARLS Historical report ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 Some Perspectives on the Western Federation of Professional Surveyors, January, 2010 ------ 36 MARLS South Central Chapter Gallatin County Courthouse display ------------------------------ 37 “A Snowy Day” by Curt Sumner, PLS ------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 MSF Scholarship for 1st & 2nd Year Students Announcement-------------------------------------- 38 MARLS Membership Application ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 39 MARLS & NDSPLS Joint Seminar (BLM Manual 2009) Registration Form ------------ 41 & 42
6 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
MARLS OFFICERS
PRESIDENT Peter Olson
PO Box 729 Culbertson, MT 59218 Phone: 406-787-5215 Fax: 406-787-5215
PRESIDENT-ELECT Dan Stahly
7585 Shedhorn Drive, Bozeman, MT 59718 Phone: 406-522-9526 Fax: 406-522-9528
VICE-PRESIDENT Randy W. Thomas
3142 S. 66th Street W., Billings, MT 59106 Phone: 406-896-5134 Fax: 406-896-5295
SECRETARY-TREASURER Joe Kauffman
393 Valley View Drive, Kalispell, MT 59901 Phone: 406-755-9233 Fax: 406-755-9235
PAST PRESIDENT Kurt Luebke
3203 Russell Street, Missoula, MT 59801 Phone: 406-721-4320 Fax: 406-549-6371
MARLS CHAPTER PRESIDENTS NORTHWEST CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Jamie Reed 2 Village Loop, Kalispell MT 59901
Phone: 406-755-6481 Fax: 406-755-6488 [email protected]
WESTERN CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Kirk F. Adkins PO Box 16027, Missoula, MT 59808
Phone: 406-728-4611 Fax: 406-728-2476 [email protected]
SO. CENTRAL CHAPTER PRESIDENT
John R. Pugh 375 Comfort Lane, Bozeman, MT 59718
Phone: 406-582-0221 [email protected]
CENTRAL CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Jonathan Ries PO Box 2201, East Helena, MT 59635
Phone: 406-227-8844 [email protected]
SOUTHEAST CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Robert Rux 1028 N 22nd, Billings, MT 59101
Phone: 406-656-6399 Fax: 406-656-6398 [email protected]
NO. CENTRAL CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Matt Morris P.O. Box 513, Choteau, MT 59422
Phone: 406-595-4054 [email protected]
SOUTHWEST CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Carl Russell Kluesner PO Box 162, Lima, MT 59739
Phone: 406-276-3486 [email protected]
NORTHEAST CHAPTER PRESIDENT
Charles (Mike) Madler 218 Little Street, Glendive, MT 59330
Phone: 406-480-0734 [email protected]
MARLS OTHER BOARD OF DIRECTORS
NSPS GOVERNOR Debra C. Anderson
414 North Weaver St., Belgrade, MT 59714 Phone: 406-587-4545 Fax: 406-587-7676
WESTERN FEDERATION DELEGATES Linda Smith
1050 Jensen Road, Columbia Falls, MT 59912 Phone: 406-758-5369 Fax: 406-758-5379
Samuel R. (Dick) Smith PO Box 7323, Kalispell, MT 59904
Phone: 406-257-4323 Fax: 406-756-8002 [email protected]
MARLS 2010 - 2011 Board of Directors
BOARD OF REGISTRATION Tom Stark
PO Box 5653, Helena, MT 59604 Phone: 406-447-5000 Fax: 406-4447-5036
CST PROGRAM Carl Russell Kluesner
PO Box 162, Lima, MT 59739 Phone: 406-276-3486
CPC EVALUATION Robert Rux
1028 N 22nd, Billings, MT 59101 Phone: 406-656-6399 Fax: 406-656-6398
GEOMATICS ADVISORY COUNCIL Warren Latvala
PO Box 197, Clyde Park, MT 59018 Phone: 406-686-4759
HEALTH INSURANCE John Cicon
PO Box 541, Chester, MT 59522 Phone: 406-292-3531 Fax: 406-292-3531
HEIGHT MODERNIZATION
Steve Niday 1409 Cooper St., Missoula, MT 59802
Phone: 406-258-3878 Fax: 406-258-3978 [email protected]
HISTORICAL & SCHOLARSHIP
Bill Weikel 207 Takima Dr., Missoula, MT 59803
Phone: 406-880-2183 [email protected]
LEGISLATION
Robert R. (Rick) Gustine 271 Lower Rainbow Rd., Bozeman, MT 59718
Phone: 406-587-5407 Fax: 406-587-5408 [email protected]
MONTANA LAND INFORMATION
ADVISORY COUNCIL Rudy Cicon
PO Box 541, Chester, MT 59522 Phone: 406-292-3531 Fax: 406-292-3531
CONTINUING ED GEOMATICS ADVISORY COUNCIL
Samuel R. (Dick) Smith PO Box 7323, Kalispell, MT 59904
Phone: 406-257-4323 Fax: 406-756-8002 [email protected]
STANDARDS OF PRACTICE - BYLAWS
Shannon Marinko 376 Milestone, Bozeman, MT 59714
Phone: 406-580-1078 [email protected]
TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
TRIG-STAR
Randy W. Thomas 3142 S. 66th Street W., Billings, MT 59106 Phone: 406-896-5134 Fax: 406-896-5295
ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY MEMBERSHIP & CONFERENCE
Kay M. McDonald P.O. Box 359, Columbia Falls, MT 59912 Phone: 406-892-4579 Fax: 406-897-2519
[email protected] www.marls.com
MARLS Committee Chairs
APRIL 2010 7
Dear MARLS Membership,
We are transitioning from winter into the spring and I am guardedly optimistic about the coming year. Hopefully this coming year will provide increased opportunity to those struggling to maintain their businesses.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Central Chapter and Jonathan Ries for all their efforts in putting together an excellent annual conference. It was encouraging to see the response from the members considering the economic condition and the limited growth in our profession.
We can thank Kay McDonald for her diligent efforts and take pride in the fact that MARLS was the first state organization to receive the current and newest edition of the Manual of Surveying Instruction 2009. On that thought, I would like to remind the membership of the seminar to be held in Medora, North Dakota June 18th, which will be an eight hour session, to go over the current Manual. We will be honored to have as the primary instruction/facilitator, Robert “Bob” Dahl. Bob was one of the prime movers in the getting the current Manual assembled and published. Please put this date on your calendar. The spring Board of Directors will be held on June 19th in Medora, ND. Here’s an opportunity for you to attend a BOD’s meeting and experience your representatives at work.
For those Chapters and firms who are supporting the Trig-Star program, a hearty WELL DONE. The results need to be submitted to Randy Thomas by May 10th. So, for those who are considering participating in this program, please make this a priority. Our profession needs younger people to become interested in surveying.
I would like to encourage our entire membership to affiliate with the National Society of Professional Surveyors, NSPS. NSPS is our national organization and they need our support and we need theirs. By working together we have strength and leverage to prevent the deterioration of our profession.
National Surveyors Week, March 21-27, has passed and I hope each of you availed yourselves to make the surveying presents known within your communities.
Chapter involvement is essential to our organizational health and growth. Chapter meeting are an excellent tools to discuss pressing issues in the surveying community at the local, state and national level. The meetings also allow members to share experiences and strategize on how to best serve their clients and communities.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I will strive to do my best for you and MARLS.
Sincerely,
Peter A. Olson President
About the cover... Artwork by
James A. Flansburg, PLS
Jim’s art is for sale. He specializes in bronzes,
ink sketches and watercolors.
James A. Flansburg 3495 Cathy Court, Missoula, MT 59803
Phone: 406-543-6835 The artist reserves all rights on the cover.
8 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
MONTANA ASSOCIATION OF REGISTERED LAND SURVEYORS MISSION STATEMENT
PREAMBLE: The true merit of a profession is determined by the value of its services to society. Therefore, the Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors does dedicate itself to the promotion and the betterment of the profession of land surveying as a social and economic element vital to the welfare of society.
The objectives of the association are: ♦ To promote the common good and welfare of its members and the public in the profession of land
surveying. ♦ To advance the study of land surveying and the education of land surveyors. ♦ To promote public knowledge, faith, and reliance in licensed professional land surveyors and their
work.
♦ To foster and maintain high standards of professional ethics in the practice of land surveying. ♦ To foster and support legislation generally beneficial to the profession and to the citizens of the state of
Montana. ♦ To promote closer relations, understanding, and cooperation within the profession. ♦ To establish better relations between the land surveyor and other professions interested in land
surveying.
♦ To aid and encourage the interest of associate and student members of the association.
♦AERO-METRIC 12652 Interurban Ave. So., Seattle, WA 98168
♦ASSURANCE RISK MANAGERS 2851 S. Parker Road, Suite 760, Aurora, CO 80014
♦BERNTSEN INTERNATIONAL, INC. PO Box 8670, Madison, WI 53708
♦BLEND'S COPY SHOP 509 First Ave. North, Great Falls, MT 59401
♦BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MONTANA Roger Olson - PO Box 190, Chester, MT 59522
Robert Benson, 510 W. California St., Kalispell, MT 59101
♦FRONTIER PRECISION, INC. 2020 Frontier Drive, Bismark, ND 58504
♦FUGRO HORIZONS, INC. 3600 Jet Drive, Rapid City, SD 57703
♦INLAND GPS Glenn Borkenhagen
P. O. 1525, Cody, WY 82414
♦MISSOULA BLUEPRINT CO. 1613 South Ave. West, Missoula, MT 59803
♦MT LiDAR 2 Village Loop, Kalispell, MT 59901
♦SELBY'S ESSCO P. O. Box 1875, Billings, MT 59103
♦SPENCER B. GROSS, INC. 5301-A Longley Lane #11, Reno, NV 89511
♦SURV-KAP Box 27367, Tucson, AZ 85726
APRIL 2010 9
Well, it’s 3:56 on Thursday afternoon, October 15, 2009; Greg Thurston just came in along with Dan Brien and confirmed that all the information is “in the bag”. Greg said it’s been three years in the making, and he’s “glad it’s over”.
Greg agreed to ramrod the Height Mod committee in 2006, and has attended many, many meetings in the past 3 years with the DOT and other MARLS members in trying to up-date / up-grade the vertical and horizontal control in Northwest Montana. Well, it looks like the third year has been the charm. He, along with at least 26 other professional land surveyors and a total of about 36 surveyor volunteers here in the Flathead spent the last 3 days collecting GPS data on 9 new “A Order” monuments and at least 16 other existing “GPS occupyable” NGS monuments. We did 3 separate sessions over a three day period, 5 ½ hours each, and alternated the times of the day for the collection of all the data. Greg held several meetings last summer to get things started, and convinced us that this was a worthwhile project for the Northwest Chapter of MARLS. We’ve been getting by here in the Flathead for many years with only one A order monument at Glacier Park International Airport, having lost our other one several years ago due to the reconstruction of Montana 35 east of town. Imagine that. Ryan Mitchell and Jason Smith volunteered their expertise in setting the monuments with stainless steel rods to NGS/FBN specs, and Linda Smith got permission from the Forest Service to set a monument at the Swan Lake Ranger Station at Bigfork. We got a bunch of equipment together and met down there to see how it was done. We dug a hole down about 5 feet deep through the gravel and rocks, and Jason fired up Peccia’s old Cobra pounder, which I commented must have been purchased after it was retired from working on Mount Rushmore. He didn’t think that was funny. It worked well though, (ingeniously using a Makita cordless drill as a starter), and they drove down
length after length of rod to attempt to drive it to “refusal”. Now there’s a term that needs a definition for you. Ryan wanted to keep pounding because it was still going down, (although very slowly), and all of a sudden the rod started spinning. All the pounding broke one of the threaded nipples that hold the sections of rods together. We pulled out 12 feet of rod and inspected the damage. (So much for the last 2 hours of pounding) We started all over and got down about 16 feet, and it quit going down. Ryan said “refusal”. I’m not sure if it was that the rod was at refusal or if Ryan was just refusing to pound on it any more.
We finished up the monument, and Ryan showed us his mason skills with cement, and stamped the top of the box with Jason’s old football number: (JMS53). It looks really professional, and will be easy to find and use. One down.
I then ordered up a bunch of supplies from Berntsen, so we could finish setting the remaining 6 monuments, and we went out to scout out the other prospective sites. Jane Eby and Mike Drenth found a good site just across Farm to Market Road from their house, (RAY KUHNS 2009) and they drove one in there, with the help of Kim Wunderlich and his pounder.
(Continued on page 10)
HEIGHT MOD 2009
By: Tom Sands, PLS & Jamie Reed, PLS
10 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
The crew at Sands Surveying borrowed Dick Smith’s cobra pounder and set another 5 new monuments at Columbia Heights: (COLUMBIA HEIGHTS 2009), Whitefish Airport: (STUMP TOWN 2009), Kila: (SMITH LAKE 2009), Somers Park and Ride: (R D ALTENBURG 2009), and at the Intersection of Highway 35 and MT 206: (A H SMALL 2009). This one was set near where the old HARN station had existed prior to being wiped out.
Mark Roedel and his crew from the Highway Department set a monument at their MDOT shop north of Kalispell: (HEIDI), and another one at the intersection of Hwy 93 and Church Drive: (STV 192). It’s on the new cloverleaf that was just constructed last year. Nine new monuments are in the ground. Most of the monuments were relatively easy to get in, going down 30 to 80 feet to “refusal”. The ones at Somers and MT 206, however were a different story. They were in the valley floor in the old Lake Missoula bed. Nothing but silt and sand as far as you can drill. Josh Nelson, Jarod Enger, and Dan Brien drove them “like through butter” down to 150 feet or so. We decided to let them set for a few days and see if they would “set up” but no luck. We went out and drove them down another 40 feet and waited a couple of more days. When they
got down to 208 feet each, I “refused” to drive them any further. They did set up well though, and should make great monuments. We had over $1250 into each one of those two monuments in materials alone.
Curt Smith advised us to let the monuments set for at least 30 days prior to occupation of them with the GPS, so Dan and Greg came up with a schedule, and with Jamie Reed’s help, rounded up volunteers and equipment from local firms to complete the project. Selby’s donated the use of 2 of their units, (Thanks Jeff). Along with those, Sands had 4, City of Kalispell 1, F&H 2, Glacier 2, Eby 1, Peccia 2, Jackola 1, FVCC 1, Morrison and Maierle 1, Breckenridge 2, Flathead Geomatics 2, and MDOT 4.
With all these units dedicated to the project, we decided it might be a good idea to insure that they all were calibrated correctly and would give us good results. Curt suggested a concurrent occupation of all 25 units on known points, but the logistics didn’t work out. Dick came up with the idea that we all go out and occupy the monument at the airport (A507) for 15 minutes, and send our data to OPUS for a Rapid Static Solution and compare the results to the actual published data
(Continued from page 9)
(Continued on page 11)
APRIL 2010 11
for the monument. We all went out at separate times, and occupied the monument with all the units, and Andy Belski compiled the results. A couple of the units were up to 0.12’ off, and after adjusting the tribrachs and a few additional tweaks, new occupations came up with acceptable accuracies (results) for all the units. We were glad we did this prior to spending 3 days collecting data for the project.
A final meeting was held at Peccia’s office to get everyone up to speed, finalize the schedule, and assign the 25 survey crews to their designated monuments for occupation. Cell phone numbers were passed out, and Greg and Dan oversaw the coordination of the project through the 3 days of occupation. The weather turned pretty good on October 13, but it was cold. Josh Hilling and Tim Yudyski drew the short straw and were assigned the monument at the Canyon east of Columbia Falls. The wind was blowing about 40 per up there, and Kim helped them anchor their tripod down to the huge rock they were set up on with pitons. Josh and Tim are FVCC surveying graduates, and will make some survey firm great employees. (There were 30 FVCC alumni among the 36 volunteers working on the project)
After three days of collecting all the data, Dan and Greg and all those who occupied the monuments spent a couple more weeks compiling all the info; put it all together, and then Greg delivered it all to Curt Smith at NGS. Curt is processing the information this winter, and he said he should have all the results and have it all published “blue booked” by spring.
Curt Smith processed the data from the 25 simultaneously observing GPS units along with data from 3 surrounding CORS, using the NGS post-processing software, Pages (the same processor used by OPUS). A least squares adjustment was then performed on the processed vectors using the NGS software, Adjust. Initial review indicated that station H 115 (PID# ST0462), located in the Swan Valley and badly obstructed, would not be acceptable as an A Order station due to very high residuals which supported the poor processing results and was dropped from this survey. All other stations processed and fit the adjustment extremely well. Geoid09 was used in the adjustment to generate GPS-derived orthometric heights and analysis compared to the published elevations at the observed 12 existing bench marks revealed 1 to 3 cm agreement at all but one station, E 499 (PID# TN0416) which did not agree to 9 cm. Curt said, “all in all, this was one of the best surveys I’ve ever worked on; the processing and adjustment were very “clean” and free of observer error especially in HI measurements.” This survey “proves” the integrity of the observed bench marks, with the exception of one, provides A Order horizontal control throughout the valley and 2 cm GPS-derived orthometric heights at the 9 new stations, and will enhance development of future geoid models as they affect the Flathead Valley. Thanks to all who volunteered their time and equipment to this worthwhile surveying project. Without the cooperation of all the surveyors and volunteers involved, it could never have been completed. We now have an excellent network of A ORDER Monuments here in the Flathead Valley, and I am proud that so many surveyors from so many firms all came together like this to work toward a common goal and get it “in the bag”.
vvv
(Continued from page 10)
12 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
To the State of Montana Land Surveyors Community Subject: Trimble Navigation Representation For many years, Glenn Borkenhagen of Inland GPS Inc. has represented Trimble Navigation in the State of Montana and we thank Glenn for his many years of highly valued efforts.
In February Inland GPS Inc. ceased its activities as a Trimble survey distributor.
Effective immediately, Frontier Precision has been appointed as the authorized Trimble Survey distributor in Montana. They were present at the recent conference in Helena and are well begun in the process of introducing themselves to the full membership of the land survey fraternity throughout the state.
Currently evaluations are being made about the site of a new store front and you may expect an announcement concerning that soon. In the meantime you may contact Frontier at your convenience for help with support, rental, purchase of survey grade instruments and software.
The interim contacts are:
Field Sales Representative: Nathan Kupfer, [email protected], Cell: 701-471-3988
Regional Sales Manager: Steve Richter, [email protected], Office: 320-654-6511
Frontier Support Line: 888.797.4774
Trimble Sales Account Manager: Ken Slaugenhoupt, PLS, [email protected], Cell: 716-514-3120
Berntsen ad 1/2 page PICKUP
APRIL 2010 13
Are You a MARLS Life Member?
MARLS LIFE MEMBERSHIP QUALIFICATION
MARLS Life Member 1. Any person who has reached the age of sixty
(60) years and who has been an Active Member in good standing for at least fifteen (15) years shall be a Life Member.
2. Any person who is or who has been a Licensed Professional Land Surveyor in the State of Montana for a minimum of twenty-five (25) years and who has been an Active Member of the Association, in good standing, for at least fifteen (15) years may apply for Life membership. Approval of such application must be given by a majority of the Board of Directors.
PLEASE CONTACT KAY MCDONALD
MARLS ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARY IF YOU QUALIFY FOR A MARLS LIFE
MEMBERSHIP
Have your seminar, workshop or video taped presentation evaluated and pre-approved by the MARLS CPC Committee. Land Surveyors will need
30 PDH’s for each two year licensing cycle. Recording of PDH’s on your continuing education transcript at FVCC is available.
For further information ~ or to request a form contact: MARLS, Kay McDonald, Adm. Secretary PO Box 359, Columbia Falls, MT 59912 Phone: 406-892-4579 Fax: 406-897-2519 Email: [email protected] Available on web at www.marls.com
Please note: $30.00 processing fee required
EAGLE TELECONFERENCING
SERVICES For more information:
Tel. 212-758-3283 E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: 212-758-3453 60 East 56th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022
Aero metric pickup
It's Winter In Montana And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At twenty-five below.
Oh, how I love Montana
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose holes both freeze shut.
Yes, the weather is delightful So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Montana
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!
Author unknown
14 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
In an effort to help you, the MARLS general membership, become better acquainted with the leaders of your organization, the Treasure State Surveyor will feature this informative profile each year. While the Association becomes very visible every winter during the annual conference, remember that these individuals volunteer their time year-round to give us all a strong presence in the state. Please continue to support them by attending your chapter meetings, and offer constructive criticism when asked. Until then, I hope you enjoy this chance to GET TO KNOW YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS! Name: Kirk Adkins Board position: Western Chapter President For how long have you been surveying, and when did you become a Land Surveyor? I started as a field technician in 1985, and have been studying surveying in college or working in surveying ever since. So I have been in surveying for about 25 years. For what company do you work, and in which city? I work for WGM Group, Inc. in Missoula. Do you concentrate in a particular specialty of the profession? I find the most interest in boundary issues, easements and encumbrances, and public road issues. I have a good background in GPS measurement analysis, GPS static networks, and network adjustments in general also. Have you lived anywhere else before Montana? I grew up in West Virginia and I have surveyed in Ohio, Texas, Oregon, and Wyoming before making Montana my home. What other jobs, if any, have you worked before becoming a Land Surveyor? I worked for a summer in a glass shop cutting glass, mirrors and plexiglass. Who or what inspired you towards a profession in Land Surveying? My interest in maps and a love of the outdoors took me into surveying. Who or what has been the biggest motivation along the way? I would say it was George Schweitzer, a land surveyor that I apprenticed with in Ohio. He had great enthusiasm for getting a job done right, understood how to thoroughly research jobs, and never gave up on recovering monuments. I spent many an hour in a busy road digging through pavement to recover and identify an intersection monument or section corner. What do you think are the greatest immediate and future threats to the land surveying profession? From my perspective it is from entities that have a say or strong
influence in land use regulation issues yet don’t have much fundamental knowledge of real property law, title transfer, and encumbrances. This includes planning agencies, GIS groups, and the like. From where can support for the profession be gained, now and in the future? The engineering side should always be looked to as an ally, especially when they understand the unique and necessary perspectives and toolkit that land surveyors bring to land related projects. Landowners, especially of large tracts and commercial landowners, along with state legislators, can aide in supporting land surveyors. It is our services, guided by state law, that define and shape the resource and usage. What do you feel MARLS can and should do to aid this support and suppress these threats? MARLS should aim towards education of these groups, as well as continuing to work with the legislature opposing misguided laws and moving well thought-out real property related legislation forward. Would you tell us a little about your family? I am very close to my two sons, Dylan (age 5) and River (age 4). I also have a stepdaughter Sharon (age 12). How do you enjoy spending free time? I like to fly fish, camp, hike, travel when I can, and of course spend time with the kids. What else would you like the members of MARLS to know about you? I am pretty pragmatic and dynamic with surveying - I look for solutions and ways to move forward. I think the world is not static and neither is our profession or work arena, so we will need to be there as land information systems develop and evolve. Surveyors need to be a large part of the process and bring our perspective, with important parts of it based in history and land law into the mix as the modern digital cadastre develops. Lastly, but certainly not least, Go Cats or Go Griz? Go Griz! I do live in Missoula…. Name: John R. Pugh Board position: South Central Chapter President For how long have you been surveying, and when did you become a Land Surveyor? Started Surveying with Jorgenson Engineering/Surveying in Jackson Wyoming in 1987. Became registered in Montana in 2004. For what company do you work, and in which city? Allied Engineering Services Inc., Bozeman, Montana Do you concentrate in a particular specialty of the profession? No, I will do about anything to satisfy my clients needs.
(Continued on page 15)
Get to Know Your MARLS Board of Directors
APRIL 2010 15
Have you lived anywhere else before Montana? Yes, I grew up in Virginia, graduated in 1982 with a BS in Forestry from West Virginia University, move to Jackson, Wyoming in 1986 then moved to Bozeman, Montana in 2000. What other jobs, if any, have you worked before becoming a Land Surveyor? Self Employed Tree cutting/trimming business. Consulting Forester for Mid-Atlantic Forestry Services in Charlottesville, Virginia. River Guide and Shuttle Driver for Barker Ewing Float Trips in Jackson, Wyoming. WINTER: I worked on Trail Crew and Lift Operations at Jackson Hole Ski Resort in Jackson, Wyoming. SUMMER: I worked for Jorgensen Engineering/Surveying as a party chief. Party Chief/Chief Surveyor for Jorgensen Engineering/Surveying. PART TIME work with TDH and ARROWHEAD as a Land Surveyor surveying out of Bozeman, Montana while I built our family home. Party Chief for MORRISON-MAIERLE INC. surveying out of Bozeman, Montana. 2002-Present Party Chief and Project Manager for ALLIED ENGINEERING SERVICES INC. out of Bozeman, Montana. Who or what inspired you towards a profession in Land Surveying? I think that my BS in Forestry had a lot to do with my interest in the land and its resources and this went hand in hand with Land Surveying and being in the outdoors. I just happened to be told about a part time land surveying job in the fall of 1987 when I was working on the Snake River and have never looked back. Who or what has been the biggest motivation along the way? I would say that my biggest motivator for wanting to become a land surveyor was John Warren in Jackson, Wyoming. He was a SOB but knew his stuff when it came to Land Surveying. He taught me a lot about the profession and about how to deal with people of his character. My biggest motivator to get licensed in Montana has to go to Tom Henesh, when he told me I wasn’t qualified enough with 15 years of experience over a recent MSU graduate with a CET degree. What do you think are the greatest immediate and future threats to the land surveying profession? ♦ Individuals surveying without a license such as REALTORS using handheld GPS units to locate property lines. ♦ Future threats will be concerning the legal atmosphere in our courts concerning Survey Law. ♦ Another threat I see concerns the individual INTERPRETATIONS of State Statute laws in different counties. From where can support for the profession be gained, now and in the future?
I think we as surveyors need to work more closely with the engineers, planners, title lawyers and government officials in working out boundary issues and supporting each other. This will bring more respect and cooperation between our professions. What do you feel MARLS can and should do to aid this support and suppress these threats? I think we could be more forthright in looking into the claims by individual surveyors of unlicensed surveyors practicing out there instead of having these issues drag out as long as they do. If I have to wait 2 years to be heard why would I bother in bringing it up? I think we should do a better job in bringing consistency to our state statue laws at the county levels. As an organization I would like to see us work more closely with the Clerk and Recorders association and the County planners so every county doesn’t have their own interpretations of survey laws. It is really confusing when one county will let a COS be filed without a review and others will not. The family transfer exemption is another issue.
Would you tell us a little about your family. I have been married to my wife Denise for 20 years and have two daughters who are 15 and 17. Denise is a Lab Tech at the Bozeman Deaconess hospital and my daughters attend Bozeman High School. How do you enjoy spending free time? Lately, when I have free time, I usually spend it traveling with my daughters soccer team being the team referee. I also hunt, fish, ski or anything else that looks fun and will get me an adrenaline rush. Looks like since I got elected the SCC president, I’ll be spending a little more time attending meetings and writing these types of reports on my spare time. I look forward to the challenge. What else would you like the members of MARLS to know about you? As a lot of the members know, I will speak what’s on my mind and sometime get a little over-passionate about a topic. I will work on the listening thing with my new position and look forward to working with the board of directors. If any MARLS member would like to talk with me on any issues they would like to take in front of the board, my door is always open. Lastly, but certainly not least, Go Cats or Go Griz? GO WVU MOUNTAINEERS, but on a local note, since most of my In-Laws went to MSU, I’d have to pick Go Cats.
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Dear Fellow Member of the Montana Land Title and Survey Industries: In this Issue, we look at the homestead exemption (twice), the establishment of a prescriptive easement by recreational use, and the measure of abuse of an easement by its holder. 1. In re Duncan, 406 B. R. 904 (decided May, 2009). This is an Opinion fromour local Bankruptcy Court. The Chapter 7 debtors owned $8,000,000 worth of real property encumbered in full with bank liens and Federal and State tax liens. The debtors asserted their $250,000 homestead exemption against the $2,000,000 Federal tax lien and the $230,000 State tax lien, but to no avail. The State homestead laws do not protect a debtor from the imposition of a Federal or State tax lien on the debtor’s ownership interest. “Under 11 U.S.C. § 522(c)(1), Federal and State exempt property statutes generally provide no shield in bankruptcy against claims to satisfy nondischargeable prepetition priority tax and family support claims.” 406 B. R. at 910. 2. Schmid v. Pastor, 2009 MT 280 (decided August, 2009). A short little easement opinion with a lot of punch. Envision Lots 11 through 16, all in a row, with a rough road running through all and terminating on 16. Schmid owns Lots 11 through 13 and Pastor/Thurlow/Holst (“PTH”) own 14, 15, and a portion of 16. PTH began developing their Lots and Schmid sued to quiet title over the rough road as it traversed his Lots. PTH counterclaimed, alleging a prescriptive easement. All Lots, by the way, enjoy separate legal, but difficult, access to East Lakeshore Drive (the Lots sit on Whitefish Lake). The Lots were platted in 1938. One Mary Jane Street purchased Lots 14 through 16 in 1945, built the rough road, and moved a cabin onto Lot 14, where it still sits. Lots 15 and 16 were used, historically, only for parking, camping, fishing, and partying. From 1997 through 2003, Ms. Street lived in the cabin for most of the year. The cabin has not been occupied since Ms. Street sold her Lots in 2003. Schmid purchased in 2004 and plowed snow to a berm at the end of Lot 13, blocking any traffic beyond that point. The District Court determined that, based on prescription, a year-round easement existed for Lots 14, 15, and 16 for residential and recreational use. On appeal, Schmid argued that Lot 14 had not been used continuously for residential purposes but, rather, only part-time for same. Ms. Street’s testimony about her historic residential use was vague (to be generous), but the Supreme Court affirmed the District Court’s finding that it was sufficient to evidence full-time residential use for the requisite 5-year period. This is dubious, since the standard for establishment of
a prescriptive easement is “clear and convincing” evidence, not just a preponderance of same. Schmid more successfully appealed the District Court’s conclusion that Lots 15 and 16, which were empty, also enjoyed a prescriptive easement for year-round residential use. Schmid contended that Lots 15 and 16 were used only seasonally, and for recreation only, and that recreational use cannot be prescriptive use. Schmid argued that even if all three Lots were viewed as a single unit, the residential use would be limited to one family for all three Lots. PTH responded with the Clark v. Dwyer opinion (remember Clark? See Vol. VIII, Iss. 1, of this Newsletter). In Clark, the Montana Supreme Court affirmed the judicial declaration of a prescriptive road easement for residential access to three subdivided tracts and a separate parcel even though only one of those parcels harbored a residence. Clark was another dubious opinion. The Supreme Court now had to distinguish Clark by noting that, in Clark, the public used, and local government maintained, the road and that “all owners had been put on notice that the road was intended to serve residences, noting the many years of service provided by the road for residential purposes to multiple properties and multiple owners, as enhanced by the recording of [a subdivision plat].” ¶ 19. Here, the evidence was different and any intended use of the rough road to serve residences on Lots 15 and 16 exceeded historical use. The subject road was single-lane and 11 feet wide, as compared to the 30 and 60 foot roads in Clark. Also, there was no history of multiple owners and multiple residential uses, as in Clark. Accordingly, the District Court had erred by granting PTH a prescriptive easement for residential use and any such prescriptive easement had to be limited to recreational use. But Schmid objected that, as a matter of law, recreational use cannot suffice to create a prescriptive easement. The Supreme Court sidestepped that argument: “While that may be the result in a different case, here the recreational use of Lots 15 and 16 occurred in conjunction with the residential use of co-owned Lot 14, providing a heightened notice of the use of Lots 15 and 16. Yet this recreational use occurred on separately divided parcels, creating a clearly discrete historical use of those particular lots apart from the use of Lot 14 and establishing a separate, and narrower, prescriptive easement.” ¶ 21. So, we guess, recreational use can create a prescriptive easement for recreational use, which runs contrary to all previous case law. 3. Heart v. Craig, 2009 MT 283 (decided August, 2009). In case you were wondering, sandstone, like that used for landscaping and rip-wrap, is not included in a deed’s general mineral reservation.
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Developments in Montana Title Law Volume IX, Issue 4
APRIL 2010 17
4. McCone County Federal Credit Union v. Gribble, 2009 MT 290 (decided August, 2009). This case also addresses the homestead exemption, here in the context of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, §§ 31-2-327 through 342, MCA. In 2003, Gribble entered into four loan agreements with the Credit Union, pledging farm equipment but no real estate, and subsequently defaulted. The Credit Union sued to foreclose on its collateral. A few days after the suit, Gribble transferred his real property to Wratislaw by quitclaim deed. The Credit Union amended its Complaint to allege that the transfer to Wratislaw was fraudulent under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (the “Act”). Wratislaw argued that the former Gribble real property was not an asset subject to the Act because the Act excludes “property to the extent it is generally exempt under nonbankruptcy law.” § 31-2-328(2), MCA. Wratislaw asserted that the Gribble real property had been Gribble’s residence and so was exempt under nonbankruptcy law, specifically, under the homestead statutes, §§ 70-32-101 through 303, MCA. The Credit Union argued that the Gribble real property had not been Gribble’s residence and that Gribble could not claim the homestead exemption because he had failed to file the declaration of same. The District Court ruled that the former Gribble property had been Gribble’s residence because he kept his personal property and business records there and returned there on weekends and when not working. Gribble used other addresses only because he held a traveling job. Also, the District Court ruled that the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act did not require the filing of a declaration of homestead but only required that the property be generally exempt under nonbankruptcy law. The Credit Union appealed. The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the District Court’s ruling that the Gribble real property had been Gribble’s residence: “Gribble presented evidence of the requisite act and intent as required by § 1-1-215, MCA. The fact that Gribble traveled for business and provided his mother’s address or a post office box address does not defeat his claimed residency . . . . Because the Gribble place was Gribble’s residence, it qualified as his homestead.” ¶ 16. The Court also affirmed that the Gribble real property, as Gribble’s homestead, was not an asset subject to the Act because the property was generally exempt as a homestead. The Court declared that a homestead declaration need not have been filed to protect the property from a claim under the Act because Gribble could have claimed the property as his homestead and the Credit Union had not yet obtained judgment against Gribble at the time Gribble sold the property. ¶ 13. The Credit Union argued that, to enjoy homestead protection in Montana, whether against a claim in bankruptcy, or under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, or against a judgment, the debtor must first have filed the declaration required by § 70-32-105, MCA. The Credit Union thus urged the Court to decide the issue exclusively on the language of the homestead statutes rather than on the language of the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. But the language of the Act,
excluding from its definition of “assets” subject to the Act property that is “generally exempt under non-bankruptcy law,” does not, by its terms, require the filing of the declaration. “The requirement of formal declaration, however, while presumably necessary to defeat certain claims against the homeowner/debtor, is not contained in the UFTA.” ¶ 20. Previous case law creates the right to claim a homestead exemption, in certain circumstances, even after the property has been sold and the claimant has vacated. The Court noted the internal inconsistency of the homestead statutes: § 70-32-216(1) provides protection for traceable proceeds if the property “could have been claimed as an exempt homestead” at the time of the disposal, while § 70-32-106 mandates that a homestead declaration be filed. The doctrine of liberally construing exemption laws in favor of the debtor means that the conflict must be resolved in favor of the debtor. ¶ 22. In short, “the holding in Snyder clearly undercuts the Credit Union’s contention that a prior formal filing of a homestead declaration is a sine qua non for a debtor to obtain any protection against execution.” ¶ 22. 5. Mattson v. Montana Power Company, 2009 MT 286 (decided August, 2009). A wordy Opinion, with peculiar facts, addressing one basic idea: abuse of an easement by its holder. The easements at issue are flowage, or flooding, easements held by the old Montana Power Company and acquired for the construction of Kerr Dam in the 1930s and the consequent enlargement of Flathead Lake. The Plaintiff landowners claimed that the manner in which MPC and its successor, PPL, have operated the Dam has resulted in continuous erosion, loss of shoreline, and property damage, more specifically caused by the operator’s practice of maintaining the Lake’s water level at full pool into the Fall. In response, PPL pointed out that Plaintiffs’ properties are subject to easements obtained in the 1930s through the 1950s which allow the Dam operator to flood, subirrigate, drain, or otherwise affect the shoreline properties. The Plaintiffs replied that MPC and PPL have acted outside the scope of the easements. The Supreme Court concluded that the easements “include an incidental right to cause reasonably necessary erosion to the Landowners’ properties. However, we hold that the dam’s operator is not entitled to cause unreasonable damage to those properties or interfere unreasonably with the enjoyment of those properties.” ¶ 6. The facts are relatively simple but unique. Prior to the construction of the Dam, the Lake’s water levels rose an average of eight feet each year from mid-April to early June during runoff. The average peak elevation was 2,890 feet above sea level. The water level then dropped steadily during the Summer to a base level where it remained until the following Spring. After the Dam, however, the Lake rises to an elevation some 3-4 feet above the average pre-Dam peak and is maintained at this level into October. It is thereafter lowered gradually over the Winter. The Plaintiff landowners contended that the maintenance of the Lake at full pool into October substantially damaged their properties by erosion, resulting in an ever-widening footprint of the Lake. The issue was, simply, whether the flowage easements allowed MPC and PPL to so
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maintain the Lake level without liability to the shoreline owners. The Plaintiff landowners first argued that the flowage easements did not allow any erosion. PPL countered that erosion is a consequence of flooding, subirrigating, and drainage and is, therefore, within the scope of the easements, and the Supreme Court agreed. “As PPLM contends, and we agree, the right to erode is incident to the right to flood, subirrigate, and drain. This Court long ago recognized ‘the maxim of the law, that when the use of a thing is granted, everything is granted by which the grantee may reasonably enjoy such use, that is, rights that are incident to something else granted.’” ¶ 37. Such incidental rights are in the nature of a “secondary easement,” i.e., “an easement that is appurtenant to the primary or actual easement; the right to do things that are necessary to fully enjoy the easement itself.” Idem. However, nothing passes by implication as incidental to its easement except that which is reasonably necessary to its fair enjoyment. Id. The real issue was, despite the language of the flowage easements, whether the Dam’s operator was required not to cause unreasonable damage to, or interfere unreasonably
with the enjoyment of, the Plaintiff landowners’ properties. This is one of those questions that answers itself as phrased. The landowners cited (and the Montana Supreme Court adopted) the Restatement (Third) of Property: Servitudes, § 4.10 (2000). Section 4.10 states that unless limited by the terms of the servitude, the holder of an easement “is entitled to use the servient estate in a manner that is reasonably necessary for the convenient enjoyment of the servitude.” Section 4.10 also states, however, that unless authorized by the terms of the servitude, the easement holder “is not entitled to cause unreasonable damage to the servient estate or interfere unreasonably with its enjoyment.” “What constitutes unreasonable damage and unreasonable interference depends on the circumstances, such as the character of the servient estate, the purpose for which the servitude was created, and the use of the servient estate made or reasonably contemplated at the time the easement was created.” Section 4.10, comments g and h; ¶ 44. How to apply this treatise to the Lake situation? The Court noted that the Restatement articulates a number of “default” rules which are to be used by courts to “supplement” the terms of a servitude as necessary to determine the rights and obligations of the parties or their successors. ¶ 50. They may be used to supplement specific terms even in the case of expressly created easements. Thus, the Court rejected PPL’s contention that the Restatement rules did not apply because the flowage easements are specific. “Rather, we presume that the parties intended a fair balance of their interests and, to that end, intended the easement to be used in such a manner that unreasonable damage to or interference with the servient estate would not occur.” ¶ 52. In conclusion, the Court held that “the requirement not to cause unreasonable damage to the servient estate or interfere unreasonably with its enjoyment (unless clearly authorized by the terms of the servitude) is an independent requirement on an easement holder’s use of the easement. In other words, this requirement can be breached even if the easement holder is operating within the easement’s technical parameters.” ¶ 55. We will continue to keep you informed of all developments of interest to the Montana title and survey industries. Sincerely, LAW OFFICES OF GREGORY SCHULTZ, P.C. /s/ Gregory G. Schultz GGS/rh LAW OFFICES OF GREGORY SCHULTZ, P.C. 210 EAST PINE STREET, SUITE 200 MISSOULA, MONTANA 59802 [email protected] (406) 543-7259 FAX: (406) 543-0181
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LiDAR PICKUP
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Surveyors should be familiar with the doctrine of estoppel. The doctrine of estoppel may locate the ownership boundary in a location that differs from the record boundary. Estoppel is a doctrine that puts into practice the ancient equity: “One who seeks equity must come with clean hands.” Put in other words, a person cannot expect favorable relief in the courtroom when they have caused their own problem. Estoppel arises when one individual misleads another individual; causing reasonable and foreseeable reliance by the misled individual; so the misled individual makes expenditures or takes action contrary to what a reasonable person would do, would the truth be known; and the misled individual will be injured or damaged to their detriment if the court acted in favor of the person who misled the other. The misleading actions may occur by declarations, acts, omissions, words, actions, conduct, or admissions. Estoppel has a wide reach in all civil litigation including the litigation of boundaries. A scenario where estoppel could fix the location of a boundary in a location that differs from the record boundary would be the following:
Sally plans to build a beautiful wood fence on her common boundary with Fred. (Fred is a friendly neighbor but too inquisitive.) When the fence material is delivered, Fred, the neighbor, ever curious about neighborhood activities, comes over to find out from Sally what she is going to build. Sally explains she is going to build a fence on their common boundary but has to wait to begin construction until she can hire a surveyor to locate the boundary. After hearing the reason for the delay, Fred announces there is no need for a surveyor, he can show Sally exactly where their common boundary is located. Fred assures Sally that he asked the realtor about the boundaries before buying his property and the realtor showed Fred the boundary location when he purchased his property. In the front of the property at the road, Fred shows Sally a utility pole and says this pole marks their front corner. In the rear of their lots, Fred shows Sally a post with old wire fence hanging on it. Fred assures Sally that these objects mark the corners to their common boundary. Furthermore, he even got a copy of the tax map one day and checked the distances between these objects and other corners. He compared the distances on the tax map and his pedometer and they matched. Sally is very grateful to Fred and builds the fence on a straight line between the objects Fred has shown Sally.
Three years later, Fred becomes embroiled in a boundary dispute with his other neighbor, Craig. Fred obtains a survey. The surveyor informs Fred that Craig is correct in his assertion. The surveyor also informs Fred that Sally’s fence resides four feet on his property. Fred demands that Sally move the fence to the correct boundary location.
As seen from the previous scenario, Fred misled Sally by his assertions to Sally regarding the common corner locations. Sally reacted to Fred’s assertions in a manner that was both expected and reasonable given Sally’s discussion with Fred and Fred’s positive assertions. Sally spent considerable money putting the fence where Fred had indicated the common boundary was located. She would not have done so had she known the true location. Now Sally faces the prospect of considerable expense if Fred could force her to move the fence to the correct boundary location. Sally has a good claim that the fence should now be recognized as the common ownership boundary based on the doctrine of estoppel. (In this scenario, the court could also demand that Fred pay for the relocation of the fence if he does not want to lose the use of his property cut off by the fence.) A surveyor who is not familiar with the doctrine of estoppel may have advised the client that since the fence had only existed for three years, the removal of the fence could be required by the court. (The surveyor assumed a more lengthy time period is necessary to meet the requirements of adverse possession in order to fix a boundary in a different location than the location fixed by the records.) Familiarity with the doctrine of estoppel should cause a surveyor to be timid when making pronouncements regarding the effect of an encroachment on the boundary location even if the improvement has only a short history. As the scenario reveals, elements of estoppel are often proven with information
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Boundaries & Estoppel
By: Knud E. Hermansen & Robert Liimakka
APRIL 2010 21
that is not ordinarily gathered by surveyors or even available to surveyors during the course of providing surveying services. The surveyor would be wise to focus on locating the record boundary and recognize that occupation boundaries may often become the ownership boundary under certain doctrines. Surveyors that opt to extend their services to not only locate the record boundary but decide where the ownership boundary (extent of title) is located must also extend their services to gather information and make decisions that surveyors are not ordinarily trained to handle. Comments regarding this article can be sent to [email protected] Knud is a surveyor, engineer, and attorney. He teaches surveying at the University of Maine and operates a consulting firm providing services in title, land development, boundaries, and easements. Rob is a professor in the Surveying Engineering Program at Michigan Technological University. He is a professional surveyor and holds a MS in Spatial Information Science and Engineering from the University of Maine, Orono and is currently working on a doctorate in civil engineering.
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(Continued from page 20) MSU 2010 Award for Excellence
Congratulations to Machi Block, son of MARLS member Bryan Block, PLS, and recipient of the MARLS Family Scholarship! The Montana State University Alumni Association and the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce are proud to announce that Machi Block has been selected as a recipient of a 2010 Award for Excellence. As one of only forty seniors selected, this is one of the highest honors awarded at Montana State University. He was nominated and chosen by faculty, Deans and staff from academic colleges and individual departments, for his academic achievements along with his university and community involvement, which distinguishes him from other students on campus. For this, we are most proud to celebrate your excellence. Machi’s accomplishments have required a great deal of work and personal effort and was recognized at the annual Awards for Excellence celebration on Tuesday, February 16th in the SUB Ballrooms; this day also coincides with MSUs founding date! This is one of the highest honors a senior student can receive at Montana State – to be named in the top forty of all seniors is a spectacular achievement!
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APRIL 2010 23
“Random Point” Prints may be ordered by mail from:
Bill Weikel, Western Chapter PO Box 7847, Missoula, MT 59807
Make checks payable to MARLS Western Chapter
“Breakfast On The Big Horns”
This limited edition numbered color print is available for purchase from MARLS.
Greetings MARLS Members, The MARLS Scholarship Foundation would like to offer you this holiday season numbered prints of the “Breakfast on the Bighorn”.
This limited edition number color print is available for purchase from MARLS Scholarship Foundation. This 250 copy limited edition print has been created from the original painting by Montana artist “Shorty” Shope depicting a Roy Bandy 1912 GLO survey camp. This colorful reflection of surveying in the early 1900’s has previously been seen in the “Tiny” Tillotson survey book.
Copies of the print will be available from MARLS Scholarship Foundation in the following form:
15” X 20 ½ “ print paper for $95.00 plus $13 S&H.
Prints 1 through 15 are reserved for MSF Scholarship auction and special presentations.
All proceeds from sales will go to the MSF “Roy Bandy Scholarship Fund”.
Make checks payable to: MARLS Scholarship Foundation, Inc.
To mail orders: MARLS Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Attn: Kay McDonald PO Box 359 Columbia Falls, MT 59912 PHONE order to: 406-892-4579 with credit card
FAX order to: 406-897-2519 with credit card with expiration date
Email: [email protected] with credit card with expiration date We accept Visa, Mastercard, AE and Discover cards
Certified Corner Recordation Forms
Download on the MARLS website: www.marls.com
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MARLS 2010 - 2011 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
APRIL 2010 25
MARLS CONFERENCE 2010
THANK YOU!
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Complete minutes with all chapter and committee reports may be found at www.marls.com
General Membership Meeting Chapter Reports
Northwest Chapter – Jamie Reed Our Chapter held five meetings last year with an average of twelve
members attending each meeting. Our chapter also participated in several seminars and a significant height mod project.
MT Lidar hosted an all day seminar to surveyors in January. It was a full day seminar discussing what LiDAR is, how it works and how surveyors can use the data. The course was approved by MARLS for PDH’s.
Peter Dayton, an attorney from Missoula, held a seminar at FVCC for the surveying students in February. Our chapter was invited to attend. He covered Public Road Law topics and the new Blazer v. Wall Supreme Court Ruling. This seminar had been previously approved by MARLS for PDH’s. After the seminar, a motion was made at our chapter meeting to request the BOD to look into legislation to address the Blazer v. Wall easement issue.
We set a final point monument for James T. Shaw on May 5, 2009. We had a good turnout from the chapter. Two of Jim’s sons also joined us for the ceremony. We set the monument overlooking the Stillwater River on FVCC’s campus. Richard Heieren, a PLS in Alaska and former FVCC student and employee of Jim Shaw, donated the monument for us to set.
Our chapter participated in Trig-Star, proctoring the test at four schools in the county; Bigfork High School, Columbia Falls High School, Glacier High School and Whitefish High School. The chapter winner was Sam Kuhlin from Glacier High School scoring 95 in 27:42, placing him 4th in the state. Our chapter awarded $50 to each school winner on top of the amount MARLS donated and the calculator Selby’s donated to the chapter winner.
We held a FVCC Surveying Program Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the current surveying program at FVCC. Dave Dorsett gave us an update on the current status of the program. The chapter is pleased with the curriculum Dave Dorsett provides the students and the quality of students that graduate from the program. A motion was made and carried to drop the GIS project class, require laptops to enter the surveying program to give the students access to the newest versions of surveying software which cannot currently be purchased with the school budget, and explore adding Microsoft Office 2007 curriculum requirements.
We invited Curt Smith from NGS to give a Digital Leveling Seminar on August 6 & 7 at FVCC. Eighteen people attended the two-day seminar. We had a combination of classroom discussion and hands-on application of the material. Our annual golf scramble was held the following day at West Glacier Golf Course with Curt as our guest. It was a fun event with ten members giving their best swing.
Our Chapter delved into a Height Mod Project to densify the number of A-order horizontal control monuments we have in the valley. Greg Thurston worked with Curt Smith to provide us with all the information and directions we had to follow to create high-quality control monuments. Greg Thurston and Dan Brien organized the three-day occupation undertaking. Thirty-six chapter volunteers manned 24 GPS units running simultaneous 5 ½ hour sessions over three consecutive days. The volunteers compiled the required reports and Greg delivered the information to Curt Smith who is currently
processing all the data. There were three existing control points we had to use that were questionable for GPS occupations, and luckily two out of the three provided usable data.
Several members of our chapter were active participants in the issues brought up by the MT Board of PELS. Letters were written and meetings were attended for the proposed ARM rules change from the GAC committee, the proposed rules change for continuing education and the proposed rules change for final subdivision plats.
Thank you Northwest Chapter for your support and input. It was a great year. Western Chapter – Craig Schaeffer
Discussed future Chapter-sponsored seminars. Other potential topics discussed in past meetings that are not currently scheduled as upcoming seminars:
FEMA floodplain issues, elevation certs, etc. Revised FIRM panels for City of Missoula? Google Earth -- discussion about possibly having a presentation or
forum focused on data management in Google Earth. Many members have some Google Earth experience, but only a few appear to be using the full extent of it.
GPS/Trimble TGO processing seminar Western Chapter GPS users group Search and Rescue Operations in Vietnam presentation Montana Control Point Database (MCPDB) Height Modernization Update? Federal funding is no longer coming. The committee is being told
that the only way to rejuvenate funding is to get funds earmarked through local congressmen, and will be making contacts to work on getting future funds.
National Surveyor’s Week 2010 – March 21-27, 2010 - Discussions of the meaning of the Week, and actions that our chapter could take to participate.
Trig Star – coming up, with a few schools participating. Discussion was held regarding how to include more schools. The contacts are generally personal, and require some early notice so that the teachers have time to prepare the students adequately.
Proposed ARM Changes Those who had reviewed the proposal indicated that the rule
modifications were much more acceptable than previous versions. Instead of requiring all of the information on the face of the plat, many of the additional requirements were allowed as separate submittals. Again, the general stance of members in the discussion is that the intent of the plat is to depict the legal boundaries and information related to those boundaries. While there is a need for prospective owners to have certain information (ie floodplain, covenants, etc), this information can be as effectively presented through supplemental submittals.
MARLS Bylaw change to define Committee members as voting members of the BOD.
General agreement that WestFed and NSPS committee chairs should be voting members of the BOD. There may be some ambiguity in the term “professional affiliate organizations” presented in the proposed amendment.
Blazer v. Wall Legislation – Northwest Chapter (Jamie Reed) is working with Rick Gustine regarding future clarification of this case.
Chapter Elections & Discussion of Officer responsibility: Vice President – in recent past, the position of Vice President has held no items of responsibility or activity. It was suggested that, in order to assist the Chapter Presidents’, that the Vice President could be responsible for scheduling the bi-annual highway cleanup, and in doing so, would assist and motivate the President to schedule upcoming chapter meetings. It was also noted that in the further past, assuming the role of Vice President meant that that person would be serving as President in the following term. No official motions were made or voted on.
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MARLS Board of Directors & General Membership
Conference Minutes Highlights February 25 & 26, 2010
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Proposed Nominations President – Kirk Adkins Vice President – Steve Niday Secretary/Treasurer – Scott Slotsve Nominees accepted nominations, and with no opposition, positions
proclaimed by acclamation. Western Chapter Auction Items for the MARLS Conference Three auction items were identified for donation.
South Central Chapter – Dan Stahly Old Business:
1. Public Land Survey System Monument Protection: The SCC has been working with Gallatin County since the spring of 2006 to amend the Gallatin County Road Standards and Subdivision Regulations to include Public Land Survey System Monument Protection. The planning department has stated that these amendments will be included in comprehensive amendments but will not commit to a date. SCC decided at its last meeting to write a letter to the Gallatin County Commissioners in a “resolution” format so as to make it easy for the Commission to incorporate into a public meeting agenda item. There have been a few things happen:
At December’s County Planning process lunch, Gallatin County Planner Randy Johnson stated that this was “at top of their list” with regard to the comprehensive amendments. Although this is encouraging to hear, there will be two proposed subdivision regulation amendments presented to the commission prior to the comprehensive amendments, and no date commitment or time-line has been set by the Planning Department.
Dan spoke with George Durkin with the Gallatin County Road Department who is still in full favor of the amendments and will offer support in whatever way we need him too. The road department does not currently practice the monument preservation guidelines, but expects conditions to improve if they are adopted into the County Road Standards and Subdivision Regulations.
After our latest letter was sent to the Commission, the subject was put on their “Weekly Office Worksession” on January 19th. There has been no word yet on the result of that work session. 2. Dave Bowman’s Records Library: Tom Henesh spoke with Madison County Clerk and Recorder (Peggy) about scanning and preserving these records. She is open to it and would like to take a look at them; Tom is planning to get them from Warren Latvala and show them to Peggy. 3. MSU Proposed Minor in Land Surveying and Non-Degree Certificate for Land Surveying Intern Exam Only. No update since our last meeting. Doug Smith has given Dan draft copies of the proposed programs/course requirements - if anyone would like to take a look at them contact Dan or Doug. 4. National Surveyor’s Week 2010 (March 21-27): The planning committee is going to start scheduling things soon. We’d like to announce it in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and on the radio and have a display booth set up at the Gallatin County Courthouse. 5. 2010 MARLS Conference Auction items: SCC will donate a belt buckle and two passes to Bridger Bowl for one day of skiing. New Business: 1. Trig Star 2010: George Bornemann has once again stepped up to the plate on heading this up for the Chapter. This is an important program in which we can introduce our profession with “the next generation” and we’re very grateful to George for making it a priority year after year. So far we have George and Craig Kamps covering Gardner and Park High, John Pugh for Bozeman High and Kyle Thompson will work on Belgrade High. Remaining schools that need volunteers to work on: Ennis, Harrison, Manhattan, Shields Valley, Three Forks, and West Yellowstone. Please contact George if you have questions or can help in any way. 2. SCC MARLS Officer Elections: Discussion was held on who is willing to serve as officers. Dan was asked if he would serve another
term and he said he would be willing to, however, he has also been asked to accept a nomination for the State President-Elect rather than VP as previously nominated at our last meeting. John Pugh offered that he would be willing to serve as SCC Vice-President and move into the position of President should it become vacated. Discussion was held on how to replace the SCC office of VP if Dan gets elected as state President-Elect. Article 5, Section 2 of SCC Bylaws reads “In the event the office of the President shall become vacated or the President is unable to serve, the Vice-President shall assume the office of President, and the office of Vice-President shall be declared vacant, and another qualified person from the existing membership shall be elected by the membership to fill the unexpired term of the Vice-President”. Elections were held with the following results: President-Dan Stahly, Vice President-John Pugh, and Secretary-Treasurer-Kyle Thompson. 3. MARLS Officer Nominations: SCC withdrew its previous nomination of Dan Stahly for Vice President and voted to nominate him for the office of President-Elect. 4. A.R.M. Proposed Rule Changes: Shannon Marinko and Steve Anderson met with the working group in Helena and have submitted modifications/edits to the Rules. Shannon passed out the proposed changes and we discussed some specific sections. It was decided that we could be more effective and organized if we submitted our comments to the working group and BEPLS as a Chapter rather than individually. Therefore, there will be a Chapter meeting on February 18th at 5:45 in the Belgrade MacKenzie River Conference Room to go over the proposed rule changes and draft comments on them to be submitted by the SCC. MARLS Central Chapter – Jonathan Ries
The majority of all of the meeting in 2009 were focused on preparation for the 2010 conference.
The 1st MARLS Central Chapter meeting was held on Thursday, June 4, 2009.
Old business was discussion on easement requirement differences for state and private lands.
New business was the June 20th Seminar – Helena on Current Decisions and Laws. Conference Committees - Jonathan requested volunteers to lead committees. Gunnar volunteered to get donations for door prizes and auction items. Erik volunteered to find a guide for the spouses program. Conference Speakers The following people were suggestions for speakers at the conference: Jeff Lucas, Ray Kojetin (Great Falls), Virginia Mueller, Jim Claflin (New BLM manual changes) and Roger Green (CFEDS). Other chapters have submitted speaker suggestions for the conference and the board will decide on the speakers.
After the meeting was adjourned there was some discussion about Monument Certificates being filed in Lewis and Clark County. Gunnar thought they were a good idea but that they were not legal and the clerk and recorder should not be recording them. Jonathan said he was part of a meeting with Paul Stahl’s legal assistant and they decided the Monument Certificate was okay to file. Gunnar thought that surveyors should just use the corner recordation forms and only put one corner per form.
The 2nd MARLS Central Chapter meeting was held on Thursday, October 15, 2009.
2010 MARLS Conference. Jonathan announced that all 2010 MARLS conference speakers have been decided and confirmed. The Great Northern is the primary conference center and the Holiday Inn will accommodate overflow guests. Both Hotels have agreed to a group rate of $99/night.
The 3rd MARLS Central Chapter meeting was held on Thursday, November 19, 2009.
NEW BUSINESS - Dennis Lay submitted a letter to Jonathan. Dennis requested that the Central Chapter endorse the letter addressed to the Lewis and Clark Commissioners. The letter requested that the
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commissioners appoint some money and personnel to organizing the road records in the Clerk and Recorders office. All approved the motion to send the letter.
Meeting Minutes from the October 15th meeting were unanimously approved.
OLD BUSINESS - 2010 MARLS Conference The 4th MARLS Central Chapter meeting was held on Thursday,
December 10, 2009. Kay called in and discussed the 2010 conference with the chapter. Kay has gotten 80 requests for the new BLM manual at the
discount price. The 5th MARLS Central Chapter meeting was held on Thursday,
January 28, 2009 NEW BUSINESS - Jonathan requested members to help with Trig
-Star at the local high schools. Dan Dengal volunteered to contact Helena High. Jonathan volunteered to contact Capital High and call Stewart Nash to ask him to contact Townsend High. Erik volunteered to help Jonathan at Capital High if they agreed to let us present Trig-Star. North Central Chapter – Stephen Babb
Some of the chapter members volunteered to plat and monument a new section of the veterans’ cemetery in Great Falls. 2012 Conference will be hosted by the North Central Chapter. Southwest Chapter – Russell Kluesner
An informal discussion was held concerning the state of the economy as it applies to our profession, as well as continued input on options to police our own concerning professional conduct, and other issues brought to the table.
A more serious discussion was then held after a presentation by Dave Elias on the current situations, and climate at the BEPLS. It has been suggested that we, as a state organization play a much more active role in the affairs of the board. Currently there are three key issues that require our input.
1) Continuing Education; the board has considered doing away with the CE requirements due to the difficulty with auditing, and maintaining training records. We (MARLS) need to take a more pro-active approach to helping the board with these tasks whenever we can.
2) Licensure by Comity, or Reciprocity; the issue of mobility, and local body of knowledge needs to be addressed on all non-resident applicants due to the rising number of individuals applying for Montana Licensure. The local body of knowledge seems to be the larger issue with other states requiring this before licensure is granted.
3) The long standing issue of “responsible charge” is again on the table with varied opinions on local tenancy requirements. “Opinions vary and range from requiring an LS in every office, to requiring an LS on every field crew.
The main concern from the BEPLS seems to be getting the members of our own associations to get involved in these issues, “it is part of what we are supposed to do”.
The MARLS discussion board on our website is a great place to make your thoughts and ideas heard, try to find time to use it every so often. Northeast Chapter – Charles Madler
President Mike Madler, at the M & M Cafe, called the meeting to order. Introductions and Roll Call: Members Present: Lee Hurst, Mike Madler, Aaron Hummert, Pete Olson, Dean Graves, and Jim Lehman. The minutes from the prior meeting were approved as presented.
Secretary’s Report Discussion of the amendment to the Chapter by-laws so that the
fiscal year begins on July 1st and ends on June 30th of the following year.
Discussion regarding the Tax ID number for the chapter. The number will be given to us after the conference.
Old Business Member Dues-Members present had paid. There are remaining
members that have not. This will be continued until all members attend and pay their dues.
Remainder Discussion - Further discussion of the local counties subdivision regulations was brought up. Mike Madler, Pete Olson, and Jim Lehman contributed to the dialogue. This will be an ongoing discussion at chapter meetings throughout the upcoming year.
New Business Future Meeting Dates-The members present generally agreed that
Thursday was a good day to have chapter meetings. MARLS Annual Conference-Lee Hurst said that Troy Jensen was
planning to attend the MARLS conference and that he could possibly go as the chapter’s proxy for the board of directors meeting.
Meet Your Planner-Member’s discussed the possibility of having the county planners attend a chapter meeting. Pete Olson stated that it would be best to have a set outline for discussion with the planner.
Trig Star-Pete Olson said that he was planning on coordinating a Trig Star test for Culbertson High School. He also asked the availability of the members to help with Sidney and other local towns. Aaron Hummert agreed to help with Sidney’s test.
Items not on the Agenda-Aaron Hummert discussed the possibility of scanning in obscure, local records (irrigation laterals, etc.). It was decided that ideas should be considered and brought before the chapter at our next meeting. Membership - Kay McDonald
As of February 17, 2010 MARLS has 253 active voting members, 6 fellow voting members, and 55 life voting members for a total of 314 voting members of MARLS. We had no change in the number of voting members of MARLS from last year. MARLS has 165 voting members signed up for this conference as of 2/17/10.
MARLS has 117 associate, 27 non-resident land surveyors, 7 honorary, 6 affiliate, 15 sustaining and 11 sustaining-health members as of February 17th for a total of 173 non-voting members.
MARLS total membership to date is 487 down from 503 last year’s total membership. I have enclosed a spreadsheet showing MARLS membership since 1988. Dues income as of 2/17/10 is $53190. $54025 was 2008 – 2009 dues income which is a difference of $835. I want to let all of the members of MARLS know how much they have supported our association throughout these past few years of economy downturn and every one of you should be complimented on your support of MARLS. It shows the professional involvement and dedication by each and every member of MARLS. Thank you for your continued support of our association. You are appreciated!
MARLS BOD MEETING OLD BUSINESS
President Kurt Luebke presiding.
Correspondence: 2009 Manual of Surveying Books shipped to the conference and
arriving hopefully today.
William Bernasek, PLS, member of the Central Chapter passed away, MARLS sent card & memorial. Thank you card received to read at BOD from his wife.
Jim Flansburg surgery progress – MARLS sent flowers & a get well card from “the MARLS Gang”
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APRIL 2010 29
Announcement of Bryan Block’s son Machi is the recipient of the MSU Award for Excellence. He is a senior at MSU Bozeman and was a recipient of one of the MARLS Family member scholarships.
Nominations for fellow or honorary members from BOD for 2010 MARLS conference - Dan McGee will be nominated at the General Membership meeting by the MARLS BOD from the September BOD meeting nomination for fellow member. MT Board of PEPLS Continuing Education Rule Changes proposal – Bob Rux
Bob Rux received the following just before the February 26, 2010 BOD meeting and updated the BOD regarding information from the following from the MT Board of PE & LS:
The Board did not amend ARM 24.183.2105 which would have changed our continuing education & carry-over requirements. They received too many negative comments regarding their proposed amendments on this issue.
Highlights of letter from Board below: The Board amended ARM 24.183.2401 as proposed which
increases the board screening panel from 1 engineer to 3 engineers. The Board amended ARM 24.183.408, 24.183.502, 24.183.509 as
proposed. These amendments change the certificate of authorization for applicants applying to take the licensing exam; what must be submitted with the application for the licensing exam; and examination procedures.
If you are not receiving any of these notices from the Board of PELS and would like to, send an email to the board administrator, Brooke Jasmin at [email protected] asking her to be added to the interested parties list for the Board of PELS House Bill 404 – Tom Stark - Rick Gustine discussed with the MARLS BOD House Bill 404 and question arose if the MT Board of PE&LS has taken any action regarding House Bill 404 which went into effect October 1, 2009. Tom Stark said he would ask at their next BOR Board meeting. Shannon Marinko attended the BOR meeting and felt ultimately all want the same thing – amendment to supplementary and a step in the right direction. The Clerk & Recorders will be discussing this at their conference. Steve Anderson, PLS, also attended this meeting. Can be changed via ARM regulations. MARLS NSPS and West Fed representatives on MARLS Board of Directors Proposed Bylaws amendment – Linda Smith & Dick Smith
The MARLS BOD reviewed the By-laws (below in gray) and discussed with Linda Smith and Dick Smith the request of changing the by-laws to add the MARLS NSPS and West Fed representatives to the MARLS Board of Director.
At the last West Fed meeting there was a poll of 17 out of 26 West Fed members and a majority of West Fed members are voting members on their respective states’ Board of Directors.
This would be a by-laws change under Article 14; Section 1 of the MARLS Bylaws under representatives. The procedure would fall under MARLS Bylaws; Article 13 (amendments)/ Section 2; (2) See Section 13 below:
Following the December meeting Linda Smith and Dick Smith submitted the requested MARLS Bylaws change to Kay. They proceeded getting the ten signatures (submitted at this BOD meeting) published the following request in the January edition of the Treasure State Surveyor (qualifying mailing to all members of MARLS) and posted online at www.marls.com in December. This request is on the GM agenda for the annual MARLS General Membership meeting on February 25, 2009.
Dick and Linda expressed how many hours and time away from work and representation of MARLS is given by those MARLS representatives of NSPS (governor) and West Fed (representatives) at the national level. They felt there was more continuity with these representatives being part of the Board of Directors.
The BOD discussed the proposed bylaws change at the February 24, 2010 BOD meeting and suggested a few changes to the wording
for Dick and Linda to work with before presenting their motion to the General Membership at the GM meeting on February 25, 2010. June 18 & 19, 2010 BOD meeting & joint seminar with MARLS – NDSPLS at Medora, ND update – Peter Olson
June 18, 2010 MARLS and NDSPLS will host an 8 hour seminar “2009 BLM Manual Introduction & overview Workshop” presented by Robert Dahl at the Medora Convention Center in the Rough Rider Hotel. 130 hotel rooms have been blocked and Kay has a flyer with your registration packets regarding this seminar. MARLS BOD will hold their BOD meeting in Medora on June 19th. The Seminar will be “The 2009 Edition of the Manual of Surveying Instruction (Manual) and the Practice of Land Surveying in Montana and North Dakota” by BLM presenters Robert Dahl and James Claflin.
We are hoping that if we hold this on a Friday that most would bring their families and make a weekend stay giving Medora facilities three nights lodging for most attendees.
The MARLS Board of Directors meeting would be held Saturday. www.medora.com is the website to refer to for all information on Medora and what they will offer next summer for those attending our seminar and extending their stay in Medora. A flyer has been prepared by Kay that you have received in your conference packet for the seminar announcement. 2010 – 2011 MARLS Officers nominations – Nominating Committee is Chapter Presidents
Nominating Committee is made up of the Chapter Presidents. President Luebke asked the Chapter Presidents to ask their chapters for nominations for 2010 – 2011 MARLS officers to bring before the General Membership at the 2010 MARLS Conference. Nominations are needed for MARLS 2010 – 2011 President-elect, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer. The term for MARLS officers is one year. Chapter Presidents please report at the December MARLS BOD meeting your Chapter’s results. If your chapter has a current officer that would like to run for office again, please report this also as your nomination for the offices of 2010 – 2011.The following were nominated by the nominating committee for the MARLS officer positions for the 2010 – 2011 term to be presented at the General Membership meeting on February 26th :
South Central Chapter nominated Dan Stahly for Vice-President – at their chapter meeting in January they withdrew this nomination. At this BOD meeting from SCC chapter report - South Central Chapter nominated Dan Stahly for President-elect.
Southeast Chapter nominated Randy Thomas for Vice-President Northwest Chapter nominated Joseph Kauffman for Secretary
Treasurer MARLS BOD MEETING
NEW BUSINESS
President Peter Olson presiding. Announced 2010 – 2011 MARLS BOD and Committee chairs – President Olson announced the 2010 – 2011 MARLS 2010 – 2011 MARLS BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS: President Peter Olson President Elect Dan Stahly Vice President Randy Thomas Past President Kurt Luebke Secretary – Treasurer Joe Kauffman CHAPTER PRESIDENTS: Central Chapter President Jonathan Ries North Central Chapter President Stephen Babb Northeast Chapter President Mike Madler Northwest Chapter President Jamie Reed South Central Chapter President John Pugh Southeast Chapter President Bob Rux
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Southwest Chapter President Russ Kluesner Western Chapter President Kirk Adkins MARLS REPRESENTATIVES: NSPS Representative – Debra Anderson West Fed Representative – Dick Smith West Fed Representative – Linda Smith Committee Chairs are listed on page 4 of the Treasure State Surveyor. 2010-2011 BOD meeting dates set - President Olson June 19, 2010 BOD meeting – Medora, ND (8AM – Noon) September 11, 2010 – Fairmont Hot Springs Resort (10AM – 3PM) December 8, 2010 - Teleconference (6PM) February 23 & 25, 2011 – MARLS Conference, Billings Holiday Inn Grand GOOD OF THE ORDER Announce any new complimentary TSS requests: Linda Smith asked that it be the pleasure of the MARLS Board to add back in complimentary Treasure State Surveyors mailed to the West Fed representatives of the 13 states that make up West Fed. There are two representatives per state. The BOD approved this and Kay will update her mailing list of recipients of the TSS. Update on MARLS Brochures & MARLS door knockers – Kurt & Kay – Kurt is working with Kay on these and will have the samples for BOD review at the June BOD meeting. Announce new life members – Tom Sands request for Life Membership by the approval of the BOD – Dick Smith moved; seconded by Bob Rux to accept Tom Sands as a life member of MARLS; QCMC. Bill Reichhoff request for Life Membership by the approval of the BOD – Dick Smith moved; seconded by Bob Rux to accept Bill Reichhoff as a life member of MARLS; QCMC. Dan Smiley – issued Life Membership on 1.6.2010 Reminder to BOD to submit bio’s for TSS – The following are needed to submit to Kay - Bob Rux, Stephen Babb, Randy Thomas, Kirk Adkins, Dick Smith, Linda Smith, Kirk Adkins, John Pugh & Mike Madler. Chapter 990-N filings change to MARLS Exempt Organization IRS status with Chapters as subsidiaries – Kay informed the BOD that she will be working on the MARLS Exempt organization form that will allow the eight chapters to be under the MARLS Organization so that they may file a 990N each year. Until this form is completed the MARLS eight chapters are unable to process the 990N form annually. Amendment of Subdivision Regulations regarding Monument Preservation Act The South Central Chapter has been working with Gallatin County to amend their county road standards & subdivision regulations to include the new monument preservation legislation. The road department is in favor of the amendment. Some surveyors have taken the new rule to contractor’s association meetings and received a “so what” response. One comment to possibly fix that problem is to have the engineers on projects add the rule to their job specifications manuals. See below Dan Stahly’s letter to the Gallatin County Commission. The chapter will continue to work on this process and keep MARLS informed of the process. MT Boundary in Constitution A woman from Stevensville wrote an article for the Missoulian stating she is putting together a request to have the legal description for MT state boundaries to be added to the MT Constitution. Bill Weikel & Kurt Luebke are going to research this and write a response. They believe the legal description is already incorporated into the constitution by reference. Bill and Kurt hope to send an article to the Missoulian to incorporate this with “National Surveyors’ Week”. Family Assistance/Crisis Fund It was brought to the BOD attention regarding reinstating a MARLS crisis fund (disaster relief fund) for surveyors who find
themselves in a catastrophic event such as a house fire, medical, etc. The BOD discussed the possibility of having a silent auction at the conference or a raffle that would go toward that fund. NSPS and other state surveying organizations have a similar fund. We should be able to setup this separate fund in the MARLS Scholarship Foundation Inc. Wayne Harrison reported to Kay after the conference regarding the NSPS Foundation the following: He talked to the Vice Chairman of the NSPS Foundation. He told Wayne they set up the foundation as a 501 C 3 Foundation for educational, charitable, religious, or scientific purposes and they have several different accounts under the single 501 C 3 filing. Each account is for an individual fund (Trig Star Scholarship, Bonnie S. Atwell Memorial Fund, NSPS Disaster Relief Fund, etc). He stated that as long as you declare your Foundation for similar purposes you should have no trouble having separate accounts such as a Emergency Relief Fund or such as well as your scholarship account. MARLS Banquet highlights: Introductions – President Kurt Luebke Guests: ISPLS Past President – John Russell NDSPLS President – Robert Procive NSPS President Elect - Wayne Harrison West Fed Chairman Elect - Harold Baldwin President Luebke introduced speakers and exhibitors attending the MARLS banquet Thank you and acknowledge – President Luebke: Central Chapter hosting this year’s conference, Exhibitors, Guests, Attendees, Hotel staff, Speakers, Heather Lay – Spouse Program. Certificates of Appreciation were presented along with a handmade chocolate survey corner marker by President Luebke to the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs of MARLS. Awards presentation – On behalf of the MARLS membership President Luebke presented Daniel McGee with a plaque for his MARLS Fellow Membership Award. Awards presentation – On behalf of the MARLS membership President Luebke presented Kay McDonald with a beautiful clock plaque for her dedicated 20 years of service to MARLS as executive secretary. I was very honored and want to let everyone know that I appreciate every one of our MARLS members and I thank you from my heart so very much for putting up with me for the past 20 years and hopefully another five or so years! I enjoy so much working with our association and members. Meeting adjourned.
Respectively submitted, Kay McDonald Administrative Secretary
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES - HIGHLIGHTS
Introduction of Guests – President Kurt Luebke
ISPLS Past President - John Russell NDSPLS President - Robert Procive NSPS President Elect - Wayne Harrison
2009 Conference General Membership meeting minutes – Approval by General Membership as printed on the MARLS website. Bob Rux moved to approve the 2009 General Membership minutes; seconded by Toby Dumont; QCMC.
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Secretary/Treasurer Report – Joe Kauffman MARLS Fiscal Year End June 30, 2009 Glacier Bank checking acct: $6323.15 WCU – Savings acct: $10039.79 WCU – Reserve acct: $25000.00 MARLS Scholarship Foundation Fiscal Year End June 30, 2009 Glacier Bank checking acct: $300.02 DA Davidson: $32324.21 WCU MSF Scholarship Acct: $20129.25 WCU MSF – Jim Shaw acct: $5209.67
OLD BUSINESS
Correspondence and Announcements – President Kurt Luebke Honor 2009 Scholarship Recipients Honor MARLS Past Presidents Honor Life & Fellow Members of MARLS Honor newly licencesed LS and LSI Outstanding Surveyor Award – none submitted to BOD Honorary Members nominated by the BOD for General Membership – none submitted to BOD The MARLS banquet and MSF auction is complimentary to all registrants and their spouses tonight beginning at 5PM with exhibitor reception followed by the 6 PM banquet, awards ceremony and MSF auction. MARLS Past Presidents’ breakfast in the Oriental Room Friday at 6:45AM Fellow Member Recommendation of Daniel McGee to General Membership by the MARLS Board of Directors – President Luebke On behalf of the MARLS Board of Directors President Luebke recommended Daniel McGee to be accepted as a MARLS Fellow member by the general membership. Tom Henesh moved to accept Daniel McGee as MARLS Fellow member; Ray Center seconded; QCMC. Dan was presented a fellow member plaque at the MARLS Awards Ceremony following the Thursday night banquet. Wayne Harrison, NSPS President report to membership Government Relief Coalition – NSPS by way of ACSM JGAC is working with other National Associations and Business Groups to try and get section 511 of the Tax Increase Prevention and Tax Reconciliation Act of 2005. This law would impose a 3% withholding tax on any business that provides services, supplies, materials etc. to any local, county, state or federal government agency whose overall governmental budget for all departments is over 100 million dollars per year. The 3% will be assessed on the total value of the contract or fee. ( Give example – let’s say you perform a survey for the county and your fee was to be $10,000 and you expected to make a 10 % profit-$1000- the withholding tax takes its percentage off the top -$300- so now your profit ,if you were able to complete the job for your projected cost, becomes 7%) This coalition has only been able to have the implementation of this section delayed. It is due to take effect in 2011. The coalition is continuing to work hard to have this section repealed.
The Boy Scout Merit Badge and Jamboree-This is 100th Anniversary Of the Boy Scouts and the Surveying Merit Badge was introduced in 1911 and is one of eleven original merit badges still being awarded. NSPS through its Youth Outreach Committee has been putting together group of approximately 22 volunteers made of NSPS members and students from college surveying programs to work at the jamboree in Virginia this summer. Their goal will be to get as many scouts as is possible, that want to earn the surveying merit badge,
through the various steps necessary to qualify. To this end through money appropriated from the NSPS budget and donations from various state (Montana donated) and chapter surveying societies, this group will be operating out of a 20’ by 80’ enclosure. NSPS started working with the Boy Scouts as of the 1993 Jamboree.
COFPAES, the Council on Federal Procurement of Architectural and Engineering Services (works to make sure Federal Contracts for A/E services are procured through the Brooks Act (QBS Process) NSPS Past President Joseph “Joe” Dolan was just elected as Chairman Elect at the DECEMBER meeting.
ELOMA for flood certification companies As per a recent notice, FEMA will allow representatives of National Flood Determination Association member companies to access the web-based eLOMA application.This authorization comes in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding between FEMA and NFDA after nearly three years of discussions and negotiations. ACSM is in discussions with FEMA, ASFPM, and NFDA regarding a plan to achieve the goals of CFS through the eLOMA process, given that FEMA opposes the expansion of CFS beyond North Carolina. The plan would include a training program leading to a NSPS-based certification targeted toward the submittal of applications using eLOMA. Funding will be sought to support research on the need, desire, and impact for developing a training program which would augment FEMA eLOMA efforts and make it possible to accept all submittal types included in CFS.
Learned Professional exemption under FLS We learned about a surveyor in Maine who was audited by the Dept. of Labor and was denied an exemption for overtime pay under the “learned professional” exemption pursuant to the FLSA. The surveyor was told by the DOL auditor that land surveyors do not qualify for the professional exemption, but may qualify under other exemptions, such as management. We are looking into the issue, and have contacted the Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division for their review. We received information back from our contact at the DOL stating that the appointment of the person who would make the formal decision on this issue is not yet confirmed. However, upon review of the facts stated, “unofficially” it appeared that the exemption requested may not be warranted. Our contact did indicate that the DOL would never disavow that surveying is a professional activity, and that appeals would be considered on a case-by-case basis rather than as a blanket issue. Our position is that Licensed Professional
Surveyors qualify for a Learned Professional exemption under Title 29 C.F.R. because they meet the criteria set forth in Section 541.301 as illustrated in DOL Fact Sheet #17D. Section 541.301 (a) lists the three elements of the primary duty test as: (1) the employee must perform work requiring advanced knowledge; (2) the advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; (3) the advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction. We are continuing to work through this issue with the Dept. of Labor.
Flair ACT H.R. 1520 The FLAIR Act directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop a multipurpose cadaster of federal real property (an inventory of realproperty of the federal government) to assist with federal land management, resource conservation, environmental protection, and use of real property. It authorizes the Secretary to enter into cost-sharing agreements with states to include any non-federal lands in the cadastre. It limits the federal share to 50 percent of the total cost to a state for the development of a cadaster of non-federal lands in a given state. It also requires the Secretary to submit a report on existing real property inventories or any components of any cadastre; consolidation of inventories and components; the use of existing inventories and
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components of any cadastre; the cost savings that will be achieved; and recommendations for legislation.
Funding for Federal Land Management Just like the Nation’s floodmaps, federal land maps are old, outdated, and in desperate need of updating. Federal funding would help address that need. ACSM will work to include land survey modernization at the federal level in the upcoming cycle of negotiations on appropriations levels.
Roger Olson Insurance - MARLS Group Health Plan – Roger informed the membership regarding the MARLS Group Health Plan and the availability of the plan to all members of MARLS. He was available throughout the conference to visit with individuals and answer their questions.
NEW BUSINESS Next Legislative Session – Proposed New Legislation – Kurt Luebke Blazer v. Wall Legislation – Jamie Reed
The Northwest Chapter discussed the Blazer v. Wall Supreme Court Case and easement legislation. The Northwest Chapter would like to urge MARLS to press for clarification of the case in a Legislative Bill. The BOD discussed this request and asked that Jamie work on this with Rick Gustine and Jonathan Ries also said he would help. They suggested getting the Title Companies and Realtors involved also. Jamie reported she will complete this process to present this at the general membership meeting at conference. She will be working with Rick Gustine and Jonathan Ries to put a draft together for proposed legislation. She has contacted the Montana Association of Realtors and MT Land Title Association to see if they are also interested in moving forward to come up with a proposed bill. Each chapter president is to take this to their meetings to get viewpoints back from the chapters to help move this forward. Gregory Schultz, P.C. may also be of help on this and Kay will forward the April TSS article to Kurt Luebke so he can contact Gregory and see if he will also help on making this legislation. If you have any wording or suggestions to include, let her know.
Proposed Changes to Administrative Rule 24.183.1104 Uniform Standards for Certificates of Survey – Kurt Luebke These proposed changes were sent to all members that have email. The BOD asked each chapter president to discuss these changes with chapter members to submit to the committee who will prepare a response by MARLS to submit to the BPELS. At the Board of Directors’ meeting Shannon Marinko asked that all comments be sent to him by April 1st as he and Steven Anderson are on a committee that will be meeting with the BOR regarding these proposed changes. Non-PLSS Corner Records – Jamie Reed
CTAP (Community Technical Assistance Program) will be presenting a seminar at the MARLS 2010 conference on PLSS Corner Record Abuse.
BOD meeting members discussed the pros and cons, time frames in different counties to submit and wait period for results. Most go through errors and omissions. BOD discussed the variance of differences of recording and non-recording of each county (non PLSS v. PLSS) and abuse of corner record form and the need for the counties and surveyors to be educated. Northwest Chapter has samples of incorrect ones in non PLSS and should be PLSS and counties are not following the actual form in some counties. We will keep this on the agenda for the next meeting and questioned if there is a current manual of instruction on how this is done at the county level throughout the state. This will be a seminar at the 2010 MARLS conference.
Jamie Reed, Northwest Chapter brought this issue to the BOD last year at the request of their chapter regarding the misuse of non-PLSS corner records. The SCC Chapter set up a panel discussion as one of the seminars at the conference regarding this issue. There was a lot of discussion among the surveyors in the seminar. Here are some of the comments that were expressed: We are the experts in our field, we should be professional enough to choose the right form and say why we set the monument in the place we did. It is ultimately up to the surveyor to decide whether to accept a corner or not based on the available evidence and how a corner was reset. If there is not enough information on a corner record, it would be the surveyor’s discretion to accept it or not. Both surveyors and the public are harmed by sloppy work. Multiple corners get set and the public becomes leery of surveyors. Do we somehow police ourselves within our chapters, or look to MARLS to police it? Some counties don’t file COS’s as required by law so it’s no surprise SRI’s aren’t filed properly. Many counties have not filed a non-PLSS corner record and have indicated they wouldn’t even know how to file them. We should not have to tell the CC&R’s how they’re supposed to do things. Individual chapters should go to their CC&R’s and help them index them. Although there was a lot of discussion, there were no suggestions on how to solve the problem. At our BOD meeting the evening after this panel, one solution was brought to the table for discussion. Attached is the outline of Proposal to Digitize Corner Recordation for Montana submitted by Rj Zimmer, PLS. Dick Smith will ask if any of the West Fed States have this software.
Proposal to Digitize Corner Recordation for Montana Outline
Problem statement: Montana corner records vary in content, some corner records fail to contain the required content, indexing varies in our 56 counties, researching corner records is time consuming and research requires physically visiting the county courthouse in the majority of cases. Proposed solution: Montana could develop an online corner record submittal application for surveyors to create and submit corner records through a web based form. This could provide the following benefits.
Software can enforce consistency of form and content across the state. Software and implement checks to make sure that required content is filled in before submittal. Data can be collected uniformly. All corner records could be available online at a single location, so research could be done from anywhere, anytime and copies of records printed at will. Corner records could be integrated with the Montana Control Point Database. Searching and lookups could be done on a number of indices (TRS, by county, by city, etc.) A review step could be implemented to ensure the forms are reviewed prior to publication. A map interface could be implemented to facilitate geographical searches. If desired, a fee could be collected to pay for a reviewer, and application support.
Issues & Considerations Institutional
Who is responsible for the data? Where should the database and application be housed? How will program and database technology support be done?
Technological
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APRIL 2010 33
Database design. Application requirements. Base technologies to use.
Legal Rule changes. Statutes changes.
Other MARLS Proposed/Supported legislation for the next legislative session – none were suggested at the meeting.
Continuing Education Proposed Rule Changes – Bob Rux Bob informed the general membership of the following updated information from the MT Board of PE & LS: 1. On September 10, 2009, the Board of Professional Engineers (board) published MAR Notice No. 24-183-35 regarding the public hearing on the proposed amendment of the above-stated rules, at page 1554 of the 2009 Montana Administrative Register, issue no. 17. 2. On October 1, 2009, a public hearing was held on the proposed amendment of the above-stated rules in Helena. Numerous comments were received by the October 9, 2009, comment deadline. 3. The board has thoroughly considered the comments received. A summary of the comments received and the board's responses are as follows: COMMENT 1: Several comments were made in support of the proposed amendments to ARM 24.183.408, 24.183.502, 24.183.509, and 24.183.2401. RESPONSE 1: The board appreciates all comments made during the rulemaking process and is amending these rules exactly as proposed. COMMENT 2: One commenter suggested the board add one professional engineer and one professional land surveyor to the board's screening panel instead of adding two professional engineers. RESPONSE 2: The board notes that in terms of total Montana licensees, the ratio of professional engineers to professional land surveyors is 11 to 1. The increase in screening panel members helps assure the presence of a quorum and better reflects this ratio. The board is amending ARM 24.183.2401 exactly as proposed. COMMENT 3: The board received numerous comments in opposition to most of the proposed amendments to ARM 24.183.2105. Commenters stated the changes are unnecessary, too sweeping, and that Montana's continuing education (CE) standards should remain consistent with those of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) and nearby states. Other commenters expressed concern and possible confusion as to the administrative rulemaking process and a perceived inadequate publication of the rulemaking notice. RESPONSE 3: Following discussion, the board decided to not proceed with any amendments to ARM 24.183.2105 at this time. COMMENT 4: One commenter supported the proposed reduction in the number of allowable CE carryover hours in ARM 24.183.2105. RESPONSE 4: Because the board decided not to amend the CE rule at this time, the entire rule will remain in its current form. COMMENT 5: Several commenters supported amending ARM 24.183.2105 to extend the CE recordkeeping requirement to two full renewal cycles. RESPONSE 5: The board appreciates all comments made during the rulemaking process and will consider making this amendment in the future. 4. The board has amended ARM 24.183.408, 24.183.502, 24.183.509, and 24.183.2401 exactly as proposed. 5. The board did not amend ARM 24.183.2105 as proposed. Addition of a 3rd LS to theMT Board of PE & LS Board process – Bob Rux Currently there are only two LS members of the BPELS, but the Board has not ruled out the option for MARLS to request a 3rd LS to be on the board. No action has been taken by the Board yet because of the 11 to 1 ratio of engineers to surveyors. (Think about who would commit to 6 year term as well as who the governor would appoint since MARLS last recommendation was rejected and governor picked someone else) The Board amended ARM 24.183.2401 as proposed which increases the board screening panel from 1 engineer to 3 engineers. From BOR in above letter: COMMENT 2: One commenter suggested the board add one professional engineer and one professional land surveyor to the board's screening panel instead of adding two professional engineers. RESPONSE 2: The board notes that in terms of total Montana licensees, the ratio of professional engineers to professional land surveyors is 11 to 1. The increase in screening panel members helps assure the presence of a quorum and better reflects this ratio. The board is amending ARM 24.183.2401 exactly as
proposed. Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors Bylaws Amendment proposal to clarify voting status of National and Regional Representatives – Linda Smith & Dick Smith The following Proposed MARLS Bylaws Amendment with 10 signatures of MARLS members was presented to the geneneral membership for vote: Section 1. That the corporate power of this corporation shall be vested in a Board of Directors who shall be Active, Fellow or Life members in good standing, comprised of the President of each chapter, with the exception of the President of Student Chapters, , and a President, President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer and Representatives to be elected at the annual business meeting. All such elections shall be conducted by ballot in conformity with the provisions of the laws of the state of Montana in relation thereto and as further provided in these by-laws. Immediately following a President's term, as such, he/she shall remain as a Board member for one additional year and may not fill another office for that year.
ARTICLE 14 Miscellaneous
Section 1. Representatives. The Board of Directors may allocate funds for representatives to attend meetings of such professional affiliate organizations as may be appropriate.
At the MARLS conference general membership meeting on February 25, 2010 the above by-laws amendment was brought to the floor requesting our NSPS Governor and two WestFed Representatives to be voting members of the MARLS Board of Directors. There was discussion over the proposed wording of the amendment and clarification changes were made as follows:
Brought forward to the GM the above bylaws amendment proposal at the GM meeting. Motion: Tom Sands moved to amend the bylaws as submitted by Linda Smith and Dick Smith as stated above; seconded by Bryan Block. Discussion; These proposed Board of Directors positions are beneficial to MARLS, bringing continuity and past experience to our MARLS BOD, Rick Breckenridge asked for a definition of “Representatives” to be added as specific representatives and asked Tom Sands to amend his motion to read “strike Representatives and add 2 MARLS West Fed Delegates and one MARLS NSPS Governor; Tom Sands moved; Seconded by Dan Brien; discussion; Dan Brien mentioned the great work these people do on behalf of MARLS at the national and state level and Tom stated the trust members have in them at the board and chapter level; call for question; QCMC. A majority of the membership (not just a 2/3 majority of the quorum) approved the MARLS By Laws amendment on 2-26-10 as follows: MARLS BYLAWS AMENDMENT READS: Section 1. That the corporate power of this corporation shall be vested in a Board of Directors who shall be Active, Fellow or Life members in good standing, comprised of the President of each chapter, with the exception of the President of Student Chapters, , and a President, President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer, NSPS Governor and two West Fed Delegates to be elected at the annual business meeting. All such elections shall be conducted by ballot in conformity with the provisions of the laws of the state of Montana in relation thereto and as further provided in these by-laws. Immediately following a President's term, as such, he/she shall remain as a Board member for one additional year and may not fill another office for that year.
ARTICLE 14 Miscellaneous
Section 1. Representatives.
(Continued from page 32)
(Continued on page 34)
34 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
The Board of Directors may allocate funds for the NSPS Governer and two West Fed delegates to attend meetings of such professional affiliate organizations as may be appropriate.
MARLS 2010 ELECTION OF OFFICERS
& INSTALLATION OF MARLS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Report of the President – President Luebke It’s hard for me to believe that my one-year term has come to an end and how quickly it went by. A fellow surveyor and friend of mine recently asked me what I accomplished during my term. It took me aback and made me really think. This position was never an aspiration of mine but was something requested of me by a few of my fellow surveyors and after a little thought, one that I embraced. My original goals were to stay involved with the day-to-day business taking place with MARLS, strive for greater participation among all chapters, educate and enlighten the public about our profession, represent our organization through involvement and professional image, represent and protect the public and all surveyors through involvement in the legislative process. Coming in I never had the opinion that I could meet all of these goals or was the best person for this position . . . and I still do not. With that said, I accepted the position and was determined to give it my full attention and do the best job possible. In doing so, I needed the help of many people to carry out those duties. After many years of going down in defeat, MARLS was able to finally guide a Monument Preservation Bill through the legislative process into statute with the guidance Rick Gustine, Dan McGee, Joe Roberts and many others. For many years MARLS has worked to clarify the standards of what can be shown on a Subdivision Plat. And, a statute was finally enacted which allows us to work with the Board of Registration, planners and MACO to have input into these standards. A number of individuals have worked on this over the years and those of us whom these standards affect now have an avenue and opportunity for input. During my term I represented our organization at meetings and conferences in Washington, Idaho and Washington D.C., as well as through letters, emails and phone calls with other state and national organizations. I responded to phone calls, emails and letters from our membership. When I didn’t have the answers you wanted or needed to hear, I directed your questions to people who hopefully were more knowledgeable than myself. I don’t believe that the presidential position is about having all the answers or doing all of the work, but is more about being a leader and orchestrator who will find the answers or direct the questions and make sure the daily business gets handled. So, to answer the question “what did I accomplish this year – I didn’t accomplish much of anything.” But I do believe with my leadership MARLS accomplished quite a bit which really happened due to the MARLS membership. Even if you did not sit on the Board of Directors, work in a committee, attend a chapter meeting, address the legislation or even come to conference; you are still and integral cog in the MARLS engine. Everything we do affects all of the surveyors in our state and without our members we would no longer have the revenue to be an organized presence in this state. I want to thank everyone who is a member of our organization and continues to support it through their membership dues. We have a significant number of surveyors who have lost their jobs, had hours curtailed, wages cut or had their businesses closed over the last year and yet many of these have chosen to remain members of our organization and attend our conference. I want to especially thank those individuals – they obviously believe this organization is worthy of membership. I especially and personally have to thank Kay McDonald for everything she does. Until you perform in the presidential position you do not realize how much she goes above and beyond her contractual duties. She is always looking for cost-savings when it comes to printing our newsletter, purchasing conference handouts, scheduling venues, and banquets. She performs her duties as both an
employee AND a member of our organization. My thanks also to all of the Board of Directors and Committees who make this organization great and this position an easy role. I feel very confident handing the gavel over to Peter Olson. I know he will perform his duties with the highest degree of skill and honor and the leadership of our organization is in the best of hands. Election of MARLS 2009 -2010 Officers MARLS President Elect: South Central Chapter President John Pugh nominated Dan Stahly for 2010 – 2011 MARLS President Elect; Nominations from the floor: none; Accepted by general membership by acclamation. MARLS Vice President: Southeast Chapter President Bob Rux nominated Randy Thomas for 2010 – 2011 MARLS Vice President; Nominations from the floor: none; Accepted by the general membership by acclamation. MARLS Secretary/Treasurer: Northwest Chapter President Jamie Reed nominated Joseph Kauffman for 2010 – 2011 MARLS Secretary/Treasurer; Nominations from the floor: none; Accepted by the general membership by acclamation. MARLS NSPS Governor: Peter Olson nominated Debra Anderson for 2010 – 2011 MARLS NSPS Governor; seconded by Bob Rux; by acclamation. MARLS West Fed Delegates: Peter Olson nominated Dick Smith for 2010 - 2011 MARLS West Fed Delegate position one; seconded by Russ Kluesner; by acclamation. Peter Olson nominated Linda Smith for 2010 - 2011 MARLS West Fed Delegate position two; seconded by Russ Kluesner; by acclamation. INSTALLATION OF MARLS 2010 - 2011 BOARD OF DIRECTORS – Wayne Harrison, NSPS President-Elect officiating: MARLS OFFICERS: President Peter Olson President Elect Dan Stahly Vice President Randy Thomas Past President Kurt Luebke Secretary – Treasurer Joe Kauffman MARLS CHAPTER PRESIDENTS: Central Chapter President Jonathan Ries North Central Chapter President Stephen Babb Northeast Chapter President Mike Madler Northwest Chapter President Jamie Reed South Central Chapter President John Pugh Southeast Chapter President Bob Rux Southwest Chapter President Russ Kluesner Western Chapter President Kirk Adkins MARLS NSPS GOVERNOR: Debra Anderson MARLS WEST FED DELEGATES: Dick Smith Linda Smith Good of the Order Dick Smith and Linda Smith thanked the MARLS membership for their vote of confidence appreciated all members for taking an active vote of confidence for their representation of MARLS at the national and state level. The Thursday evening MARLS Scholarship Auction netted about $9000.
Meeting adjourned. Respectively submitted, Kay McDonald Administrative Secretary
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APRIL 2010 35
Written by KIM BRIGGEMAN / Photographed by TOM BAUER of the Missoulian Posted: Sunday, March 21, 2010
WILLOW CREEK - It's a good thing LeRoy Miller has good shocks.
Two recently retired surveyors and a couple of newspapermen took up the 74-year-old rancher on his generous offer to haul them up a historic hill in the back of his pickup in the middle of his busy work day last week.
They careened up a steep, boulder-infested pitch for the last quarter of a mile to the final destination: the Initial Point.
A faint X scribed in one of the flatter rocks on top, and a brass cap placed in later years, marked the spot where the rectangular surveying system in Montana began in 1867.
It was the pinnacle of a pilgrimage for Bill Weikel and Ron Milam, Missoula men who spent careers interpreting the mysteries of chains and sextants and sections that serpentine in systematic fashion through townships six miles square across Montana.
The two men comprise one-third of the Montana Surveying Reenactors Corps that sets up shop during Bannack Days each third week of July.
Weikel is immersed in a national society that preserves and researches surveying history, and both belong to the Montana Registered Land Surveyors Association. MARLS encourages this kind of junket in conjunction with National Surveyors Week, a Congress-proclaimed commemoration that starts Sunday.
It was a picture-perfect spring day, with nary a hint of the wind that can make this ridge above the lower Jefferson River a good place to be elsewhere.
"It'll blow the hay out of the horse," is how Miller described it.
Past fallow fields and pasture land, Montana's distances shimmered - northeast to the towns of Willow Creek and Three Forks and to the wide Missouri River, east toward the vast Gallatin Valley, and south and west toward what in 1867 were still-burgeoning mining camps that birthed the territory.
Weikel assembled an antique transit, pre-1876, on a rock shelf. The solar attachment was mounted to the top.
"I don't know how to use it yet," he allowed to Miller. "I missed that class."
The Initial Point was created with a solar compass, which predated the transit, explained Weikel, who keeps an extensive collection of equipment at home. He once bid $12,000 for a solar compass online - and didn't get it.
Still, his transit lent a suitable air of antiquity, especially alongside the Global Positioning System device that Milam held in his palm. Milam had dialed in the coordinates earlier.
"Missed it by 10 feet," he said when he got to the top.
From here, it would have been fairly easy tromping in each cardinal direction for surveyors commissioned by the General Land Office in Washington, D.C., to map out Montana in identifiable, transferable, taxable grids.
(Continued on page 36)
Grid lock: On a limestone hill southwest of Three Forks,
the Initial Point divides, defines all Montana
Weikel holds a surveying chain from the 1700s. Different shaped markers at set intervals helped surveyors keep track of the counting.
Bill Weikel, right, and Ron Milam, both surveyors from Missoula and members of the Montana Surveying Reenactors Corps,
demonstrate what early surveying might have looked like from Initial Point near Willow Creek last week. The site was chosen for its uninterrupted views to lay out the first meridian and base lines
in Montana.
36 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
Here too you could almost see Solomon Meredith, Montana Territory's first surveyor general; Benjamin Marsh, chief engineer of several railroad constructions; and Walter W. deLacy, the man who knew both surveying and Montana.
They stood on this hill and took noon readings on an August day in 1867, after coming to the conclusion that the government's preferred Initial Point, Beaverhead Rock 55 miles to the southeast, wouldn't suffice. It was just too hemmed in by some of Montana's most rugged mountain ranges.
The surveyors' view to the north probably included the site where young Lemhi Shoshoni girls were captured in 1800 by a Hidatsa war party from far to the east. One of the captives would become known to history as Sacajawea. Somewhere, too, in these parts John Colter made his legendary run, bare naked, to escape Blackfeet warriors bent on mayhem in 1809.
When most people talk early Montana history, Weikel said, they talk about the miners, the cattlemen, the Indians and Indian fighters. Surveyors, who've been around since private property began, are the forgotten ones, tromping through these hills and dales in every kind of weather, among the outlaws, varmints and landowners who don't cotton to the notion of government men coming in to divvy up their holdings.
They called Meredith "Long Sol" in the Union Army. He stood 6-foot-7, and his detractors said the Indiana man rose to brigadier general of the Iron Brigade with a good line of bull and a nodding acquaintance with Abraham Lincoln. A more forgiving biographer called Meredith "a commanding presence, and a ready speaker."
Long Sol lost two sons in the Civil War but survived himself. He was sidelined from battle during the opening salvos at Gettysburg in 1863. A fragment of shrapnel knocked him unconscious and his dead horse fell on top of him.
In March 1867, Congress created the Office of Surveyor General in three-year-old Montana Territory and President Andrew Johnson appointed Meredith the first. Long Sol probably didn't know a whit about surveying, but he brought along Marsh, who did.
In his 1996 book, "Initial Points of the Rectangular Survey System," C. Albert White detailed the explicit instructions Joseph S. Wilson, commissioner of the General Land Office, gave Meredith. There were 29 bullet items.
No. 3 read: "Your first duty will be to determine the Initial Point of Surveys, or the point for the intersection of a Principal Base with the Principal Meridian line to govern all the public surveys in Montana."
Meredith, Marsh and Meredith's son Henry arrived in Helena on a June day. They soon met deLacy, and Meredith, knowing a good thing when he found it, enlisted him to help establish the Initial Point.
The territory's best-known civil engineer, deLacy arrived in Montana in 1859 with Lt. John Mullan's Military Wagon Road expedition. Among other accomplishments, he laid out the townsites of Fort Benton and Deer Lodge. He possessed a thorough knowledge of Montana's physical ups and downs.
DeLacy took a look in July and concurred with Meredith's dismissal of Beaverhead Rock as a suitable Initial Point. Within weeks, the party had pinpointed the hill above Miller's ranch on Willow Creek, across the Tobacco Root Range from the Beaverhead.
DeLacy proclaimed the rocky ridge "eminently satisfactory," and in a report to Meredith concluded, "I can conscientiously say that there is no other part of the Territory where the same uninterrupted length of the Meridian & Base Line could have been secured."
He then stepped away from the project. DeLacy died in Helena in 1892 after serving his last several years as chief clerk in another Surveyor General's office. "Long Sol" Meredith had long since quit the country, moving back to his Indiana farm to raise longhorn cattle in 1869. He died in 1875.
Marsh carried on the initial surveys, extending the meridians in all four directions over dozens of miles before winter shut him down, then resuming work in the spring of '68. Like deLacy, Marsh remained in Montana the rest of his life, dying in Helena in 1903 after serving as Deputy U.S. Mineral Surveyor and county surveyor in Helena.
Crews slowly expanded the government survey, mapping east into the Gallatin Valley and north to Helena. By 1870, Missoula was laid out and work continued up the developing Bitterroot Valley.
"Because it was an imperfect system and because there was a lot of it to be done, they were trying to get to the land that was being settled first," Weikel said.
In theory, a township is comprised of 36 sections on a perfect grid 6 square miles by 6 square miles. By the time the land surveyors crept back over the Divide to the east side, things inevitably failed to match.
"There were huge gaps and overlaps," Weikel said. "They may have missed by miles, just because of blunders. But there were ways you handled that."
(Continued from page 35)
(Continued on page 37)
While a brass cap from 1922 marks Initial Point, the original lines scribed into the rock in 1867, visible at upper right, mark the spot
from which all of Montana’s rectangular surveying began.
APRIL 2010 37
Today, an entire west tier of square-mile sections may be missing from some townships in the area.
LeRoy Miller has been aware of the Initial Point on the family ranch "for pridnear as long as I can remember," he said.
His father worked for the Trident Concrete plant north of Three Forks before buying the ranch in 1936, at about the time LeRoy was born. LeRoy has lived here ever since.
"Now I'm gettin' to be one of the old-timers," Miller chuckled.
Through the years, sporadic attention has been paid to the hill across Old Yellowstone Trail from the Miller place. LeRoy has hauled to the ridgetop groups from the Montana Historical Society and the Montana Ghost Town Preservation Society. A roadside sign on the fence up the road points it out, courtesy of local civic and historical groups.
More than 140 years later, most but not all of Montana's 147,000-plus square miles - roughly 4,100 townships - have been mapped out by the GLO and its successor, the Bureau of Land Management. It took time. Lost Trail Pass, for instance,
was surveyed in 1935, the Yaak in 1961.
If you live in Missoula, Weikel said, you live in Township 13 North, Range 19 West.
"That means you're approximately 13 times 6 miles (78) north and 19 times 6 miles (114) west of that Initial Point," he said.
Not every state has an Initial Point. The original Thirteen Colonies and at least five of their offspring, states where land was allocated before 1785, use the English system of metes and bounds.
Understand them or not, legal descriptions are integral to our lives, whether we're buying land or selling it, subdividing it, or paying our property taxes.
"The rectangular surveying system is the basis of everything we do as surveyors," Milam said. "And the Initial Point is the basis for that system in Montana."
Kim Briggeman can be reached at (406) 523-5266 or at [email protected]. Reach Tom Bauer at (406) 523-5270 or at [email protected].
(Continued from page 36)
The Principal Base line, visible by the farm roads that follow it, heads straight east from Initial Point toward the Bridger
Mountains.
MARLS Historical Report By: Bill Weikel
I, along with some others, have been involved in many historical events during the past year. Ron Milam, Kurt Lue-bke, and I set up a display and demonstration at The Histori-cal Museum at Fort Missoula on the 4th of July. Ron, Kurt, and I set up a display and demonstration at Bannack Mon-tana for Bannack Days in July. I gave a presentation to a group of senior men about the equipment and methods of Lewis and Clark. Kurt gave a presentation to the same group about the boundary line between Montana and Idaho.
In September, I attended the annual Surveyors Historical Society in Cowen, West Virginia. The conference dealt with an early division line of Virginia and surveying with the “CCC Boys”. Although not related to surveying history, one of the highlights of my trip was the opportunity to see a cov-ered bridge that my grandfather (18 years old) and his brother (16 years old) built in 1898. The bridge is one of 17 covered bridges remaining in West Virginia. I also saw the house that my grandmother was living in when she and my grandfather met.
I have found that one of the best ways to teach people about surveying is in a historical context. If any of the mem-bership finds an opportunity to become involved in a histori-cal event where they can pass on the history of surveying, I recommend that they take it. If someone wants to be in-volved in an event, I can provide historic equipment from either the MARLS collection, the Montana Surveying Reen-actors Corps collection, or my own collection.
If you have any old equipment that you are intending to trash, please feel free to contact me to see if it would round out the MARLS, MSRC, or my own collection. Although since I am storing all of these items and my storage space is becoming scarce, I feel it is important to hold on to some of this equipment.
I can be contacted at Bill Weikel, 207 Takima Dr., Mis-soula, MT 59803-1603. Cell: 406-880-2183
38 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
As some M.A.R.L.S. members may not be familiar with The Western Federation of Professional Surveyors or WESTFED, I thought an article about the organization would be appropriate. WESTFED is a regional non-profit organization composed of Land Surveyor associations representing the 13 Western States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Formed in 1979, WESTFED is dedicated to education, fostering common goals within the western states and providing a regional voice at the National Level. WESTFED acts as a clearinghouse for interstate communications and sponsors a bi-ennial conference for surveyors. Although incorporated in Montana, the Central Office for WESTFED is in Santa Rosa, California. The Executive Director is Ms. Dorothy Calegari. The federation works as a collective voice for the Surveying Associations in the Western United States. The American Congress on Surveying & Mapping (ACSM) is the primary group at the national level that has represented surveyors since 1941. ACSM has undergone a variety of changes in organization, focus and directions. One of these adjustments was as a result of associations such as WESTFED voicing concern that the national voice of surveying was being
misdirected and that there was too much control of a national organization by a select group of individuals. WESTFED today, is primarily involved in maintaining a direct communication link for its member state organizations. Montana is represented by two MARLS members. These individuals (Dick Smith and myself) are further organized as members or officers within the WESTFED Board of Directors. In September, 2009, Dick finished serving a 2 year term as Chairman of WESTFED. The charter for WESTFED is to cooperate with the member organizations on policy, initiatives, responses and legislation issues that affect surveying. WFPS works directly with ACSM and the Executive Director of ACSM (currently Curt Sumner) is a non-voting member of the association. National issues are continuously filtered through the WFPS channels either by individual members, many who are also associated with other organizations such NSPS. WFPS also supports education programs by an awareness of curricula of institutions that offer degrees in surveying. WFPS has been involved with review of programs that offer credit for surveying, including some that appeared to be in conflict with the better interest of the profession. WFPS works closely with state registration boards (i.e. Montana Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors) and in situations that warrant actions, WFPS will make direct contact with a state society or Board of Registration either in support or as a concern regarding legislation, directives or policy statements. All of these actions are based on comment, suggesting or requested by a member of the WFPS board. WFPS also sponsors conferences, by collaborating with member state(s) or with the national organization such as ACSM. In 2009, WESTFED, M.A.R.L.S., ACSM and Utah Council of Land Surveyors co-sponsored the National convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. These conventions/conferences are the primary source of association funds from which operations, scholarships and other costs are managed. The WESTFED Board meets quarterly and each member state may host these meetings normally once every two years. The main ingredient of the member states is the PLSS system that is common in the western states. Hawaii is of course the exception, but their geographic location is in fact west. What does WESTFED do for the ordinary surveyor? This is a common question. There are many issues that affect, reflect or otherwise have an impact on the profession, either regionally, in a particular state or sometimes on a national level. Some of you may remember a recent issue regarding a marketing effort by a “national” chain offering questionable professional services. WESTFED in collaboration with ACSM was able to act on this and the service was discontinued. WESTFED also acted in financial support of several college programs that needed fiscal and curriculum support. These issues are brought to the attention of the WESTFED Board by individual members of the board. So the immediate affect for the ordinary surveyor may not be so evident, but NAFTA, FIG and other attempts to re-direct surveying either through the examination process or as a by product of some trade agreement are areas that WFPS has been directly involved. Most recently one of the Idaho delegates reported that several Land Surveyors were interviewed by producers of “ Dirty Jobs” and thankfully Land Surveying is not a dirty enough job to qualify for a show.
♦ Photographic Reproductions (enlargements or reductions)
♦ Architectural and Engineering Supplies / Furniture
♦ Diazo Printing
♦ USGS & Special Topographic and Planimetric Maps
♦ Digital Topographic Mapping
♦ Plotting and Digitizing Service
1613 South Ave. West Missoula, Montana 59801
(406) 549-0250
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Some Perspectives on the Western Federation of
Professional Surveyors January, 2010
APRIL 2010 39
MARLS Message Board You can access the Message Board on the
MARLS home page www.marls.com
or directly at www.marls.com/marlsdisc/index.php
SIGN UP TODAY!
MARLS Historical - Upcoming Events May 21-22 Mullan Days, Fort Benton, MT. This
year marks the 150 year anniversary of the construction of the Mullan Road.
July 4, Fort Missoula, MT. Several Western Chapter representatives will be attending and will
set up a display and demonstrations.
July 17-18, Bannack Days, Bannack, MT. MARLS members will be attending and setting up a camp
with demonstrations.
September 16-17, Surveyors Historical Society Annual Rendezvous, Chattanooga, TN.
www.surveyorshistoricalsociety.com/events for more information.
MARLS South Central Chapter display at the Gallatin County Courthouse. People in this picture are left to right: Charlotte Mills, Gallatin County Clerk and Recorder (she sponsored the display so it would be allowed in the Courthouse), Eric Semerad, Recording Supervisor and Dan Stahly, MARLS President Elect.
A Snowy Day © Written by Curt Sumner (January 2006)
There’s nothing like a snowy day To quickly take my cares away
The things that often make me sad
Suddenly, don’t seem so bad
Through the light that shines, at our front door I gaze up, and into the heavens soar
I feel as if I’m riding high
On an elevator, into the sky
I’m lost among a million flakes Each one, a different pattern makes
As daylight comes, I go outside
With spirits lifted, to abide
With others who are just like me Who for today, are feeling free
No work, nor school, nor traffic jams
No “May I sirs?”, nor “Thank you, ma’ams”
Today is just for having fun We’ll glide on sleds, down slippery runs
We’ll build a snowman, fat and tall
We’ll press wet snow into a ball
We’ll frolic all across the fields Until darkness comes, and we must yield
To go inside, and take a break Then of our dinner, to partake
We’ll warm our feet beside the fire
And hang to dry, our wet attire
We’ll pray, as we lay down to sleep By morning’s light, it’ll still be deep
We’ll hope that there has been enough Of all that white and wondrous stuff
That if homework wasn’t done last night
There’ll still be time to get it right
That plows will not have pushed the drifts And finally, for this one last gift
That no matter what might be our age
We’ll still find joy, in a snowy day
40 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
Scholarships for 1st and 2nd Year Surveying Students The Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors (MARLS) Scholarship Foundation has scholarship funds available for students who have graduated or are anticipating graduating from a Montana High School and are interested in pursuing an education in surveying at a Montana institution; and for students entering the 2nd year of a 2 year surveying curriculum or the 3rd year of a 4 year curriculum with a surveying emphasis.
1st Year Students: A number of scholarships of up to $1,000 will be awarded for the 2009-2010 school year to students entering a curriculum which is recognized by the Montana Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors as meeting the requirements for a person to eventually become a Licensed Professional Land Surveyor. The currently recognized programs are those at Flathead Valley Community College and Montana State University - Bozeman.
1st Year Students: A number of scholarships of up to $700 may be awarded for the 2009-2010 school year to students entering a curriculum which will provide a surveying technician level of education. A number of Montana community colleges and branches of State of Montana Universities offer surveying programs.
2nd Year Students: A number of scholarships of up to $2,000 will be awarded for the 2009-2010 school year to students entering the 2nd year of a 2 year surveying curriculum or the 3rd year of a 4 year surveying focused curriculum approved by the Board of Directors (BOD) of MARLS. At the time of applying for scholarship funds, the applicant must be at a minimum in the 2nd semester of a 2 year surveying program or the 4th semester of a four year program.
Application: Scholarship awards will be determined based on a combination of academic achievement, financial need, work history, course of study, and a submitted essay. To apply for scholarship funds please supply the following information in a neat and orderly format (It is important for you to recognize that the Foundation takes into consideration how well the requested information is presented).
1. Type of scholarship being applied for. (1st & 2nd year applicants) 2. Full name, address, telephone number, and email address. (1st & 2nd year applicants) 3. Description of financial need. (1st & 2nd year applicants) 4. Work experience, especially any surveying experience. (1st & 2nd year applicants) 5. The name and location of the high school you are attending or you attended. Include the month and year of graduation or anticipated
graduation. (1st year applicants only) 6. Your high school grade transcript to date. (1st year applicants only) 7. The name of the school you are planning to attend and the program you will enroll in. (1st year applicants only) 8. A one page essay describing what interested you in pursuing an education in surveying, and your career goals. (1st year applicants only) 9. The name of the institution you attended for your 1st year of surveying education. (2nd year applicants only) 10. Your post high school grade transcript to date. (2nd year applicants only) 11. Name of the institution you are planning on attending for your 2nd year of surveying education. (2nd year applicants only) 12. A one page essay describing what you have learned about surveying to date and how that knowledge will assist you in achieving your career
goals. (2nd year applicants only) 13. A letter of recommendation (sent directly to the MARLS scholarship foundation) from a school counselor or surveying instructor who you
had contact with at the institution of your first year of surveying education. The letter should include the writer's opinion as to your qualifications, character, and attitude. All recommendations are confidential. (2nd year applicants only)
Your application packet should include the following statement along with your signature and the date. “I hereby certify that all the information on this application is true and correct. I understand that any false information in, or deliberate omissions from, this application may be grounds for rejection of the application and withdrawal of any scholarship award offer. I agree that I will abide by the decisions of the MARLS Board of Directors as they relate to this Scholarship application”. All applications must be postmarked no later than May 31, 2010. All decisions regarding scholarship awards for the 2009-2010 school year will be made by the MARLS BOD. Awards of scholarship funds will be made after receipt of proof of enrollment. Submit application materials to: MARLS Scholarship Foundation, Inc., Attn: Kay McDonald, PO Box 359, Columbia Falls, MT 59912
MARLS Scholarship Foundation
APRIL 2010 41
Name __________________________________________________________ Montana Registration No. __________________
Contact Person if Business __________________________________________
Home Address ______________________________ City / State / Zip _______________________________________________
Home Telephone ____________________________ Business Telephone ____________________________________________
Fax: _______________________________________ E-mail _______________________________________________________
Employer __________________________________ Address ______________________________________________________
Send mail to Home_________ Office________ City /State / Zip ______________________________________________
Are you registered in any states other than Montana? ______________ If yes, list _____________________________________
What are your specialties? __________________________________________________________________________________
Would you be interested in serving on a Committee for MARLS? ____ Yes ____ No
Class of Membership Applied For:
5 Active LS Membership $170 Any Registered Land Surveyor in good standing in the State of Montana.
5 Associate Membership $50 Any person actively training as a land surveyor under the direct supervision of a licensed professional land surveyor or who is enrolled as a student in a higher education surveying curriculum, and is recommended by an Active, Fellow, or Life Member of MARLS.
5 Affiliate Membership $130 Any person in a profession or business associated with the profession of land surveying who is approved by the MARLS Board of Directors.
5 Sustaining Membership $170 An individual or institution that desires to assist financially in the work of the Association.
5 Sustaining - Health Insurance Membership $170 An individual or institution that desires to assist financially in the work of the Association.
5 Non-Resident LS Membership $130 Any person registered as a Land Surveyor who resides outside Montana and does not practice in Montana.
5 Emeritus Membership $65 Any person who has been registered in the State of Montana as a Land Surveyor, and who otherwise complies with the requirements for Emeritus Status as specified by the State of Montana, Board of Registration for Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors.
5 Student Membership $20 Any person who is enrolled as a student in a higher education surveying curriculum.
I agree to observe the By-Laws of the Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors and to support it in its endeavors.
Signature _______________________________________________________ Date _______________________________
Recruiting Member (PLEASE PRINT) ____________________________________________________________________
Visa/MC # _____________________________________________________ Exp. Date:_____________________________
MARLS annual dues are for fiscal year July 1, 2010 - July 1, 2011 RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE PROGRAM
Any active member who recruits a new associate member will receive a credit of $5 on his or her dues assessment. Any associate member who recruits a new associate member will receive a credit to his or her dues equal to one-third of the dues assessment. To claim the dues credit, the recruiting member must sign the membership application form along with the new member and note on the application form that it is a recruitment incentive application. TAX INFORMATION: Federal tax law limits the deductibility of membership dues expended for legislative purpose. The 2010-2011 year MARLS reasonably estimates the deductible portion of your dues to be 80%.
$20 of your dues is disbursed towards 4 issues published annually of the Treasure State Surveyor magazine.
Montana Association of Registered Land Surveyors P.O. Box 359, Columbia Falls, MT 59912 Phone: 406-892-4579 Fax: 406-897-2519
Email: [email protected]
MARLS MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
42 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
Name __________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ City ________________________ State _________ Zip _________________ Visa/MC/AE/Discover _________ ________Exp. date __________________
Mail orders to: MARLS
Attn: Kay McDonald P.O. Box 359
Columbia Falls, MT 59912
Phone: 406-892-4579 FAX: 406-897-2519
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.marls.com
DESCRIPTION PRICE QUANTITY AMOUNT
MARLS Standard of Practice Manual (Member Price) MARLS Standard of Practice Manual (Non-Member Price) Contains MARLS current officers, By-Laws and Code of Professional Conduct, alphabetical listing of Montana LS’s and ES’s, Recommended Procedures for Boundary Surveys, State Statutes such as Subdivision and Platting Act, Corner Recordation Act and the Registration Act. Disk available ($20)
$35.00 $55.00
Certified Corner Recordation Form - available at www.marls.com These forms are accepted by the State Board of Registration as being the official state recordation forms. FREE - no charge
NO CHARGE
MARLS Membership Pin - This pin is a ¾ diameter gold colored pin with the MARLS logo. $6.00
MARLS Land Survey Monument Sign ~ (Metal) MARLS Land Survey Monument Sign ~ (Plastic)
$2.00 $1.00
MARLS Decals (3½" diameter) - The MARLS logo decal is the symbol of the association. $.50
DENIM LONG SLEEVE SHIRTS POLO SHORT SLEEVE SHIRT HENLEY SHORT SLEEVE SHIRT ALL SHIRTS HAVE THE MARLS LOGO AND SIZED MEDIUM, LARGE, X-LARGE, OR XXL
$30.00 $38.00 $25.00
MARLS LOGO HATS - Specify type - Gray, Tan/blue bill, Tan/black bill $18.00
Carhart Coat (Gray) Sizes: Medium, Large, XL, XXL Polar Fleece Coat (Colors: Red/Black or Oxford Gray/Black) Sizes: Sm, Med, Lg, XL, XXL, 2XL Polar Fleece Vest (Colors: Oxford Gray/Black) Sizes: Sm, Med, Lg, XL, XXL, 2XL
$95.00 $65.00
$50.00
Shipping and Handling Orders up to $10 add $5 Orders of $10 to $20 add $9 Orders of $20 to $30 add $10 Orders over $30 add $12
TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED $
MARLS LOGO BOLO TIES - Made by Peter Olson, PLS “LASTING IMPRESSIONS” By Rhonda L. Rushing (A Glimpse into the Legacy of Surveying) “WYOMING - MONTANA BORDER” (They Followed the 45th 1879 - 1880 By Bruce H. Blevins)
$40.00 $35.00 $25.00
MARLS MARKETPLACE
APRIL 2010 43
June 18, 2010
Seminar presented by MARLS and NDSPLS
“The Manual of Surveying
Instructions (2009) and the Practice of
Land Surveying in Montana and North Dakota”
SPEAKERS:
Bob Dahl, PLS, BLM James Claflin, PLS, BLM
Rough Riders Hotel Conference Center Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation
Medora, North Dakota
(located on I-94 just across the eastern Montana border in North Dakota)
8AM - 5PM
(8 PDHS)
MARLS and NDSPLS Joint Seminar “The Manual of Surveying Instructions
(2009) and the Practice of Land Surveying in Montana and North Dakota”
This is a presentation about the relationship between the Manual of Surveying Instructions (Manual), Montana and North Dakota land surveyors, and landownership boundary lines. Included is information on (1) the process of developing the 2009 edition of the Manual by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), (2) significant changes, clarifications, and additions to the 1973 edition of the Manual, (3) what Federal authority surveyors are guided to do in the Manual, and (4) reinforce what Certified Federal Surveyors (CFedS) and Registered Land Surveyors (RLS) should be considering when positioning boundary lines that (a) were created under the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and/or (b) abut Federal interest lands. Potential specific issues with survey scenarios could be discussed including: ♦ Closing corners and examples ♦ Supplemental plats and use of local surveys ♦ Coordinates as substantial evidence ♦ Mineral survey resurveys and mineral
segregation surveys ♦ Water boundaries Cadastral is an important but often overlooked system of exerting political and economic control of land. Cadastral surveys, when conducted correctly, promotes orderly settlement, protects property rights, does justice, and promotes domestic tranquility. The Manual describes how cadastral surveys of the Public Land Survey System (PLSS), including Federal interest lands and non-Federal lands, within the 30 western states are made in conformance to statutory law and its judicial interpretation.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their 1973 and
2009 editions of the Manual of Surveying Instructions.
SEMINAR BREAK SPONSORS
FRONTIER PRECISION, INC. SELBY’S
44 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
Sem
inar
Spe
aker
s
Rob
ert
W. (
Bob
) D
ahl
is a
Cad
astr
al S
urve
yor
with
the
B
urea
u of
Lan
d M
anag
emen
t, st
atio
ned
in t
he H
eadq
uart
ers
Off
ice,
Was
hing
ton,
DC
. H
e is
the
Chi
ef E
dito
r of
the
200
9 ed
ition
of
the
Man
ual
of S
urve
ying
Ins
truc
tions
. H
e is
als
o in
volv
ed w
ith I
ndia
n la
nd s
urve
y tr
ust
oblig
atio
n is
sues
, th
e D
epar
tmen
t of
the
Int
erio
r St
anda
rds
for
Indi
an T
rust
Lan
ds
Bou
ndar
y E
vide
nce,
and
Cer
tifie
d Fe
dera
l Su
rvey
or (
CFe
dS)
Prog
ram
. P
rior
to
his
tran
sfer
to
Was
hing
ton
in 1
998,
he
cond
ucte
d de
pend
ent
resu
rvey
s fo
r 21
yea
rs i
n C
alif
orni
a,
Ore
gon,
and
Was
hing
ton.
H
e ha
s re
surv
eyed
Fed
eral
, In
dian
an
d pr
ivat
e la
nds
asso
ciat
ed w
ith N
atio
nal
Fore
sts,
Ind
ian
Res
erva
tions
, In
dian
A
llotm
ents
, N
atio
nal
Park
s,
Mili
tary
R
eser
vatio
ns, a
nd p
ublic
lan
ds.
He
has
cond
ucte
d su
rvey
s of
sp
ecia
l A
cts
of
Con
gres
s in
clud
ing
rive
r an
d tid
al
wat
er
boun
dari
es.
Bob
is
a re
gist
ered
lan
d su
rvey
or i
n C
alif
orni
a,
Ore
gon,
an
d W
ashi
ngto
n an
d a
Cer
tifie
d W
ater
R
ight
s E
xam
iner
in O
rego
n. H
e ha
s a
Bac
helo
r’s
degr
ee in
Sur
veyi
ng
from
the
Ore
gon
Inst
itute
of
Tec
hnol
ogy.
Pr
ior
to s
urve
ying
fo
r B
LM
, he
surv
eyed
for
a p
riva
te la
nd s
urve
yor
and
the
U.S
. Fo
rest
Ser
vice
.
Bob
is a
mem
ber
of th
e A
mer
ican
Con
gres
s on
Sur
veyi
ng
and
Map
ping
, and
the
Prof
essi
onal
Lan
d Su
rvey
ors
of O
rego
n.
He
has
pres
ente
d be
fore
Lan
d Su
rvey
or S
ocie
ties
in A
lask
a,
Ari
zona
, A
rkan
sas,
C
alif
orni
a,
Col
orad
o,
Idah
o,
Indi
ana,
K
ansa
s, M
inne
sota
, M
onta
na,
Nev
ada,
Okl
ahom
a, O
rego
n,
Uta
h, W
ashi
ngto
n, a
nd W
yom
ing.
H
e ha
s pr
esen
ted
befo
re
the
Am
eric
an C
ongr
ess
on S
urve
ying
and
Map
ping
, W
este
rn
Fede
ratio
n of
Pr
ofes
sion
al
Lan
d Su
rvey
ors,
an
d N
atio
nal
Ass
ocia
tion
of C
ount
y Su
rvey
ors.
H
e ha
s in
stru
cted
at
the
BL
M/U
SFS
Adv
ance
d C
adas
tral
Sur
vey
Cou
rses
, th
e B
LM
/U
SFS
Foun
datio
ns o
f L
and
Ten
ure
Cou
rse,
BIA
/OST
/BL
M
Lan
d T
enur
e in
Ind
ian
Cou
ntry
Cou
rse,
and
the
Cer
tifie
d Fe
dera
l Sur
veyo
r (C
FedS
) Tra
inin
g Pr
ogra
m.
Ja
mes
D.
Cla
flin
, P
LS,
beg
an h
is s
urve
ying
car
eer
in
1976
w
orki
ng
on
a su
rvey
cr
ew
in
the
nort
hwoo
ds
of
Wis
cons
in. W
hile
wor
king
for
Con
solid
ated
Pap
ers
Inc.
in h
is
hom
etow
n of
R
hine
land
er,
Wis
cons
in
he
atte
nded
N
icol
et
Col
lege
and
the
Uni
vers
ity o
f W
isco
nsin
. In
1984
he
acce
pted
a
posi
tion
as a
Cad
astr
al S
urve
yor
for
the
BL
M,
Wyo
min
g St
ate
Off
ice
in C
heye
nne,
Wyo
min
g.
In 1
992
he a
ccep
ted
the
posi
tion
of
Gill
ette
Pr
ojec
t O
ffic
e M
anag
er
in
Gill
ette
, W
yom
ing
assu
min
g al
l fi
eld
espo
nsib
ilitie
s fo
r W
yom
ing
and
Neb
rask
a in
199
4. I
n 19
99 h
e ac
cept
ed th
e po
sitio
n of
Sur
vey
Tea
m L
ead
for
the
BL
M,
New
Mex
ico
Stat
e O
ffic
e in
San
ta
Fe,
NM
w
ith
Cad
astr
al
resp
onsi
bilit
ies
in
New
M
exic
o,
Okl
ahom
a, K
ansa
s an
d T
exas
. In
200
1 he
ree
nter
ed p
riva
te
prac
tice
as D
irec
tor o
f Sur
veyi
ng fo
r Jor
gens
en A
ssoc
iate
s, P
C
of J
acks
on,
Wyo
min
g. I
n 20
06 h
e ac
cept
ed a
pos
ition
with
B
LM
, C
adas
tral
Sur
vey,
Was
hing
ton
Off
ice
as o
ne o
f th
e ne
wly
form
ed B
LM
Indi
an L
ands
Sur
veyo
rs in
Bill
ings
, MT
.
C
urre
ntly
he
dire
cts
the
Geo
grap
hic
Coo
rdin
ate
Dat
a B
ase
(GC
DB
), Fi
eld
Surv
eys
and
Titl
e-R
ecor
ds S
ectio
n fo
r B
LM
C
adas
tral
Sur
vey
at th
e M
onta
na S
tate
Off
ice
in B
illin
gs, M
T.
He
is li
cens
ed to
pra
ctic
e in
Wis
cons
in, W
yom
ing
and
Idah
o.
He
has
been
on
the
BL
M,
Nat
iona
l T
rain
ing
Cen
ter
Cad
re
sinc
e 19
88.
He
is a
lso
the
Past
Pre
side
nt o
f th
e Pr
ofes
sion
al
Lan
d Su
rvey
ors
of W
yom
ing.
RE
GIS
TR
AT
ION
IN
FO
RM
AT
ION
“Th
e M
an
ual o
f S
urv
eyin
g I
nst
ruct
ion
s (2
00
9)
an
d t
he P
ract
ice o
f Lan
d
Su
rveyin
g in
M
on
tan
a a
nd
No
rth
Dako
ta”
June
18,
201
0 —
8am
- 5p
m
(8 P
DH
s)
Reg
istr
atio
n—Pl
ease
che
ck th
e fo
llow
ing:
o
$180
.00
MA
RL
S or
ND
SPL
S M
EM
BE
R F
EE
o
$90.
00 M
AR
LS
or N
DSP
LS
Ass
ocia
te o
r St
uden
t Mem
bers
hip
ON
LY
fee
o
$250
.00
NO
N-M
EM
BE
R o
f MA
RL
S or
N
DSP
LS
regi
stra
tion
fee
Not
e: R
egis
trat
ion
fee
incl
udes
lunc
h, b
reak
s &
han
dout
s.
NA
ME
:___
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
___
BU
SIN
ESS
NA
ME:
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
AD
DR
ESS:
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
CIT
Y:_
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
STA
TE/Z
IP:_
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
PHO
NE:
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
_
Che
ck #
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
Pay
able
to M
AR
LS
Bill
gov
ernm
ent e
mpl
oyer
: __
___
VIS
A/M
C/A
E/D
isco
ver:
#___
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
Exp.
Dat
e __
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
__
Aut
horiz
ed s
igna
ture
: __
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
____
_ ___
____
____
_
Ret
urn
rece
ipt r
eque
sted
: _
____
Yes
__
___N
o
PLE
ASE
RE
GIS
TER
BY
MA
Y 17
, 201
0 M
AIL
RE
GIS
TR
AT
ION
WIT
H F
EE
TO
: M
AR
LS
PO B
OX
359
C
OL
UM
BIA
FA
LL
S, M
T 5
9912
PHO
NE
RE
GIS
TR
AT
ION
TO
: K
ay M
cDon
ald
(MA
RL
S)
406-
892-
4579
FAX
RE
GIS
TR
AT
ION
TO
: 40
6-89
7-25
19
EM
AIL
RE
GIS
TR
AT
ION
TO
: km
mar
ls@
cybe
rpor
t.net
“Th
e M
an
ual o
f S
urv
eyin
g
Inst
ruct
ion
s (2
00
9)
an
d t
he P
ract
ice o
f Lan
d S
urv
eyin
g
in M
on
tan
a a
nd
Nort
h D
akota
” PR
ESE
NT
ED
BY
: B
ob D
ahl,
PLS,
BL
M
Jam
es C
lafli
n, P
LS,
BL
M
June
18,
201
0 R
ough
Rid
ers
Hot
el C
onfe
renc
e C
ente
r T
heod
ore
Roo
seve
lt M
edor
a Fo
unda
tion
Med
ora,
Nor
th D
akot
a
Atte
ndee
s ar
e en
cour
aged
to b
ring
thei
r 19
73 a
nd 2
009
editi
ons
of th
e M
anua
l of S
urve
ying
Inst
ruct
ions
.
Hot
el R
eser
vatio
ns
1-80
0-63
3-67
21 (1
-800
-ME
DO
RA
-1)
Ask
for
RE
SER
VA
TIO
NS
Gro
up n
ame:
MA
RL
S an
d Ju
ne 1
7, 2
010
RE
SER
VE
RO
OM
BY
MA
Y 1
7, 2
010
for
grou
p ra
te.
Roo
m R
ates
+ ta
x:
Bun
khou
se (q
ueen
or
2 tw
ins)
$70
.10
Bad
land
s (2
dou
bles
or
1 ki
ng) $
97.7
5 R
ough
Rid
ers
(kin
g) $
161.
00
Rou
gh R
ider
s (2
que
ens)
$15
2.00
JUN
E 1
8, 2
010
- 8A
M -
5PM
L
UN
CH
(12
NO
ON
) AN
D S
EM
INA
R H
AN
DO
UT
S IN
CL
UD
ED
8 PD
HS
- R
EM
EM
BE
R Y
OU
CA
N C
AR
RY
OV
ER
PD
HS!
Fo
r fur
ther
info
rmat
ion
or q
uest
ions
rega
rdin
g re
gist
ratio
n
plea
se c
onta
ct K
ay M
cDon
ald
at th
e fo
llow
ing:
Ph
one:
406
-892
-457
9 F
ax: 4
06-8
97-2
519
Em
ail:
km
mar
ls@
cybe
rpor
t.net
R
egis
tratio
n al
so a
vaila
ble
at w
ww
.mar
ls.c
om
R
efun
d po
licy
Pr
ior t
o M
ay 3
1, 2
010
~ 10
0% re
fund
A
fter M
ay 3
1, 2
010
~ no
refu
nd
PLE
ASE
RE
GIS
TE
R B
Y M
ay 1
7, 2
010
We
sinc
erel
y ho
pe t
hat
you
will
tak
e tim
e ou
t fr
om y
our
busy
sch
edul
e to
at
tend
this
sem
inar
and
I en
cour
age
you
to b
ring
alo
ng y
our
empl
oyee
s. W
e lo
ok fo
rwar
d to
a s
ucce
ssfu
l sem
inar
and
hop
e th
at y
ou w
ill s
ign
up to
day.
B
ook
your
res
erva
tions
and
enj
oy a
ll of
the
act
iviti
es i
n M
edor
a, N
orth
D
akot
a lo
cate
d ju
st a
cros
s th
e bo
rder
of M
onta
na o
n I-
94. V
isit
the
Med
ora
Web
site
ww
w.m
edor
a.or
g fo
r m
ore
info
rmat
ion
for
your
sta
y.
Detach Detach
APRIL 2010 45
Frontier Precision Inc. Field Sales Representative: Nathan Kupfer, [email protected] Cell: 701-471-3988
46 TREASURE STATE SURVEYOR
