the bois d’arc post · family feud? how do you come up with those questions?” in my previous...

The Bois d’Arc Post The Official Newsletter of Dallas Chapter No. 5

Of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors

Bois d'Arc Tree (Orange Osage)

The Bois d’Arc Post The Official Newsletter of Dallas Chapter No. 5 of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors

Summer 2018

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CHAPTER 5 OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President: JT Truong, RPLS Vice President: Tyler Carter, LSI

Past President: Shaun Piepkorn, RPLS Secretary/Treasurer: Patrick Baldasaro, RPLS

DIRECTORS

1st Year Director: Andy Dobbs, RPLS 1st Year Director: Lawrence Ringley, RPLS

2nd Year Director: Travis Crocker, RPLS 2nd Year Director: Jeremy Ruckman, RPLS

Chapter Representative: Philip Adams, RPLS

COMMITTEES & MEMBERS

Programs: JT Truong, RPLS

Membership: Shaun Piepkorn, RPLS

Education: Paul Hubert, RPLS

Public Relations: Shaun Piepkorn, RPLS

SkillsUSA: Shaun Piepkorn, RPLS

Nominating: Shaun Piepkorn, RPLS

Newsletter: Bill Swope, CP

Texas Young Surveyors Chapter 5 Representative: Danielle Pirtle

Chapter 5 Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/TSPSchapter5/


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PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

Another quarter down and we are halfway through the year already! I feel we have

made some good progress and I continue to learn from each and every member.

As most of you may know the general public often has no idea who a surveyor is or what a surveyor does. When I go to networking events and try to explain to people what we do in our profession about half of the time I can tell that they do not understand and just nod their heads. Or they will say, “Oh, the guys with the yellow camera on a tripod…what are you taking pictures of?” Other times, I have to clarify that I am a Professional Land Surveyor, because the follow up statement typically is: “Surveys, like on Family Feud? How do you come up with those questions?” In my previous positions (usually with larger engineering firms) when I would speak with young engineers and ask where the majority of their survey knowledge came from the answer typically was from a single semester in college. So, as professionals in a time honored profession, how do we convey to the public who a surveyor is and why our services are so necessary? Personally, I feel it is my duty to explain to anyone that asks what I do as a surveyor and why our services are so important in protecting the general public. We need to be more creative in how we market surveying to the community. We need to collectively get out there and be more involved as no one will do it for us. I give presentations to High School students, at trade schools, and even for my old Boy Scout Troop. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have a surveying merit badge, which is one of the original 57 merit badges issued by the BSA in 1911. What a great opportunity to reach out to our youth and get them interested in surveying early in life! In March there is National Surveyors Week. But other than the President and Governor recognizing the week what else did each one of us do to further our profession? Starbucks, as well as many other companies, have made this the year of no plastic straws. So as Surveyors let’s make this our summer of educating the public on surveying. Tell your kids, your friends, and even your neighbors! Public relations starts with our members. George Washington, our nation’s first president, and famous for his honesty when asked about chopping down a cherry tree as a youth, was a surveyor. Thomas Jefferson, responsible for writing most of the Declaration of Independence, and credited for inventing the swivel chair, was also a surveyor. Honest Abe Lincoln? A surveyor too. You get my point, our profession can be traced back through history, all the way back to the Egyptians! With such a rich history it is hard to believe that so few people know and understand what we do. I look forward to hearing how we can better serve our members and community, and am looking forward to a great rest of the year.


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Members in Action

The Heights of Kilimanjaro At the July Chapter 5 lunch meeting, Jim Gillis, RPLS, NSLS,

CLS, of Criado and Associates gave an interesting and

informative presentation of his 2017 trip to Mount

Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Among being the highest

mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro is distinctive with its

three volcanic cones and in recent years has been the subject of multiple scientific studies due to its

shrinking glaciers and disappearing ice fields. Mr. Gillis was there with his son as part of a vacation

bucket list wish but also found time to survey the summit. Nice job, Jim…next year try a nice all-inclusive

vacation on a beach somewhere!

Tim Mireur Memorial Golf Tournament The TSPS Dallas Chapter 5 Tim Mireur Memorial Golf Tournament was to be held on

Sunday May 20th at the Indian Creek Golf Club in Carrollton but was eventually

canceled due to rain. It was a valiant effort by all, but chapter members and guests

finally had to give up the ghost after trying to wait out the weather. It was not a case of

all for nothing, however. The raffle prizes were still given out and each of the golfers received a

complimentary round of golf plus lunch to be used at a later date. Thanks to all who came to play, the

golf committee, and Indian Creek Golf Club and a special Thank You to Travis Crocker for working hard

and long to put together this great chapter event. Your effort and time are appreciated by all. Better

luck next year!

Jim Gillis takes a break and re-fuels during the ascent. Andrew Gillis surveying the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Chapter 5 Meeting Presentation.


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Water Boundaries Seminar On Saturday July 14th the Fort Worth Chapter 2 of the TSPS held a Water Boundaries Seminar at the

Hurst Conference Center in Hurst, Texas. Past President of TSPS and Chapter 2 & 5 member Jim Gillis

RPLS, NSLS, CLS proctored the seminar to 23 attendees who received 8 hours of CEU’s with 3 hours of

instruction in Act, Rules, and Ethics. The seminar was a study in cases, statutes, and rules that have

impacted how water boundaries law has evolved over the years since the state of Texas replaced the old

Spanish Civil Code with British Common Law in 1840.

Red River running between Oklahoma and Texas.


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Guest Editorial Boundary Construction - My Take on Board Rule 663.16 By Jason A. Jernigan, RPLS

Surveyors are the only professionals licensed to construct or reconstruct real

property boundaries in the state of Texas. So what do our Board Rules tell us about how to do this? In short: not much. Let’s take a look, §663.16 Boundary Construction reads, in part: When delineating a boundary line as an integral portion of a survey, the land surveyor shall:

(1) Respect junior/senior rights for boundary retracement; (2) Follow the footsteps of the original land surveyor; (3) Follow the documented records of the land title affecting the boundaries being surveyed; (4) Follow the intent of the boundary location as evidenced by the record; (5) Respect the proper application of the rules of dignity (priority) of calls, and applicable statutory

and case law of Texas. While not many words are used, this directive from our Rules contains some excellent guard rails to help keep professionals on the straight and narrow. They are all derived from various court cases or the laws and customs we inherited from our various sovereign governments over the years. Here is one way to implement the rules when retracing boundaries, rearranged into a step-by-step format. STEP 1: (3) Follow the documented records of the land title affecting the boundaries being surveyed; You can’t retrace and re-establish a boundary if you don’t have something telling you where that boundary should be. That’s why I’ve put this one at the top of my step-by-step list. This Rule, when combined with its four subparagraphs below, is pretty self-explanatory, but here is my summary: Since there are two sides to each boundary line, the Surveyor is responsible for research on the subject and adjoiner tracts, so make sure you do it or trust the person who does. Tie your description to something that existed before in the deed record and on the ground if at all possible. Cite your sources like any good professional would.

A. Rely on the appropriate deeds and/or other documents including those for adjoining parcels for the location of the boundaries of the subject parcel(s).

B. A land surveyor assuming the responsibility of performing a land survey also assumes the responsibility for such research of adequate thoroughness to support the determination of the location of the boundaries of the land being surveyed. The land surveyor may rely on record data related to the determination of boundaries furnished for the registrants' use by a qualified provider, provided the registrant reasonably believes such data to be sufficient and notes, references, or credits the documentation by which it is furnished.


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C. All boundaries shall be connected to identifiable physical monuments related to corners of record dignity. In the absence of such monumentation the land surveyor's opinion of the boundary location shall be supported by other appropriate physical evidence, which shall be explained in a land surveyor's sketch or written report.

D. Shall review the record instruments that identify the adjacent properties researched to prepare the boundary and cite the record instruments on the drawing.

STEP 2: (4) Follow the intent of the boundary location as evidenced by the record; Intent trumps the rest of it, but what it intent? Is it what you think the previous Surveyor probably wanted to do? No. Is it what you would do if you where the previous Surveyor? No. Is it what the previous Surveyor should have done? Nope, not that either. The Surveyor’s Intent is his or her interpretation of the Intention of the Parties, or more simply, what the tract’s owner contracted him or her to do. The owner and the original Surveyor sat down, had a conversation, hopefully the Surveyor understood exactly what their charge was, and then they cut out the tract of land per the owner’s wishes and instruction. At the end of the day, we have to trust that all this took place, and we are left with two important pieces of evidence: the deed record and the conditions on the ground. We determine intent of the deed record by using the Four Corners Rule: pick up the document by its four corners and, placing ourselves as nearly as possible in the seats of those who wrote it, read it. Don’t read anything into it; don’t read anything out of it. We have to assume that whoever wrote it captured their exact intent in the document. Therefore, the intent we as boundary retracement surveyors are interested in should be thought of as the Written Intention of the Parties. STEP 3: (2) Follow the footsteps of the original land surveyor; The second important piece of evidence we have to determine intent are the conditions on the ground. It’s our responsibility to find and retrace the steps of the original land surveyor. Not the half-dozen other guys who decided to set their own capped iron rod within a foot of each other, but the actual evidence left by the surveyor who originally established the boundaries of the tract we’re retracing. The deed record lets us know what to look for. We have a variety of techniques and technologies available to help us find what we’re looking for. Our job is looking in the right spot to find the right thing. STEP 4: (5) Respect the proper application of the rules of dignity (priority) of calls, and applicable statutory and case law of Texas. So what happens when we’re confident we’re in the right spot, but we can’t find the right thing? This is pretty common because it’s very rare to find everything the Original Surveyor said they set or found exactly where they said they set or found it. When this happens, we place varying amounts of weight on the evidence we do have in order to reach a decision that most closely mirrors the Written Intention of the Parties.


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The technique for this has been established by multiple court cases starting with Stafford vs. King and then refined over the years. Since Surveyors are stubborn and like things our own way more often as not, this technique goes by many names such as Rules of Dignity, Priority of Calls, Rules of Construction, and Dignity of Calls, among others. Whatever you call it, the generally accepted order is as follows:

1) Natural Monuments (sometimes including trees and adjoiners) 2) Artificial Monuments (also sometimes including trees and adjoiners) 3) Course 4) Distance 5) Area

Although there are many names for this technique, none of those names includes the word Law. That means the order is flexible. Something might take a higher priority in one situation but have a lower priority in another. Use the Written Intention of the Parties as your guideline to help you determine the correct order for your particular retracement survey. STEP 5: (1) Respect junior/senior rights for boundary retracement; So you’ve used the deed record and your expensive survey equipment to find and follow the footsteps of the original surveyor or, where they were missing, prudently apply the dignity of calls to retrace the lines and corners of the tract you’re surveying. Great work! The only problem is part of your newly retraced boundary conflicts with an older tract. You know this because you researched the adjoiners and there are two sides to each boundary line, remember? So what do you do? You back off. Truncate junior lines at the senior lines. As time passes it gets harder and harder to tell which tracts are senior and which are junior. It comes down to the date any particular line was originally surveyed on the ground. This date might be hard to uncover because of various transactions, deeds, and earlier retracement surveys. As such, make sure you get enough budget to do the research necessary to prepare a professional end product. CONCLUSION As I stated earlier, these Rules are excellent guard rails to help keep professionals on the straight and

narrow, but they do no good if not used and taught. Make sure you’re mentoring junior staff in the right

way to retrace boundaries. The classic counter to time spent training is “what happens if I train them

and they leave?” The classic response to this is “what happens if you don’t train them and they stay?”

Ours is a small professional community, and we’ll all be following each other’s work for years to come.

Let’s abide by our existing standards while mentoring the next generation on them as well.

Jason A. Jernigan is a Texas Regional Manager of Survey at McKim & Creed, Inc., and is a member of

TSPS Dallas Chapter 5.


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COMMITTEE REPORTS The Education Committee has been in communication with Tyler Junior College

and at the July Lunch Meeting a motion was passed to allocate funding for

students facing emergency situations that could require them

to withdraw from their courses. More information to come as the details are put

together!

Chapter 5 currently has 203 members, and the TSPS has 1,605 statewide. Please

remember to do your part and be on the look-out for talented surveyors not yet in

Chapter 5. In a sense, we are all on the membership committee and it’s up to each and

every one of us to help grow the chapter’s membership, thereby strengthening our

association.

The Programs Committee has several events upcoming this year for the chapter, so please read more

about them all in the Upcoming Events section of the newsletter on page 10. If you have an idea or

suggestion for the committee just let us know. We have an open door policy and depend on chapter

members to help make our programs better for everyone.

The Public Relations Committee is working to find a variety of new and unique

ways to promote Chapter 5, the TSPS, and surveying in general. Chapter members

are encouraged to bring any ideas, suggestions, or comments to the Committee

Chair for consideration. It’s your chapter, so don’t be afraid to speak up and be heard! Reach out to

Shaun Piepkorn at [email protected] or 214-484-8586.

mailto:[email protected]


Summer 2018

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Former SkillsUSA student and CST Level 1 Oscar Soto recently

became a Chapter 5 member and is an intern with JQ

Infrastructure in their Dallas office. Congratulations, Oscar!

Welcome to the DFW surveying community, it is great to see

talented young surveyors like yourself rising up to the challenge and embarking on a

rewarding career. Best of luck to you in the future, we look forward to seeing you at

Chapter 5 events and meetings.

$ecretary/Treasurer Patrick Baldasaro reports the following information with regard to the chapter’s

finances as July, 2018:

General Fund: $10,956.93

Scholarship Fund: $5,519.58

Total: $16,476.51

Items of Interest

TBPLS Policy Concerning Monumentation of Easements

As a follow-up to the notice emailed to membership Thursday

May 24, 2018, concerning monumentation of easements,

Richard Heiges (TBPLS Liaison) and Bill O’Hara (TSPS

Governmental Affairs Committee Chair) report that the TBPLS

Board did not vote to approve the proposed document and new

guidelines regarding monumentation of easements. No further changes to existing rules or to existing

policy on this matter are being considered at this time. After a lengthy discussion the Board advised

Board Investigator Mike McMinn to urge surveyors to use their professional judgement in complying

with the current rules and in deciding which easement corners to monument; and, for members of the

public concerned that they don’t know where a proposed easement is crossing their property for lack of

visible markers, the response should be do not sign an easement agreement until satisfied with the

markings and location. So, no policy or guideline changes were made.

Oscar Soto


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Do You Know About This?

The TSPS created and sponsors a web-site that

offers great information about becoming a Texas

Land Surveyor (www.becomeatexassurveyor.com).

In addition to a general description about what land

surveying is the site offers a history of surveying tab,

with links to the Texas General Land Office, and information about the benefits offered by employers,

degree information and links to Texas educational institutions. There is even an area for school guidance

counselors with a number of ways to help get students started and more information and links for

additional resources for interested students.

So be sure to visit this great resource-filled web-site and take the time to let others whom you feel may

be interested in becoming a surveyor. It’s up to all of us to make sure we are helping to recruit young

people to the industry and are stewards for our profession to the community in general.

Upcoming Events

State Level

Strategic Planning & Board of Directors Meeting

8/3/2018 – 8/4/2018

John Barnard, RPLS will host the 2018 Strategic Planning meeting in Georgetown with the Ray

Wisdom Raffle, a fun, family event taking place Friday August 3rd.

Location:

Sheraton Georgetown Texas Hotel & Conference Center

1101 Woodlawn Avenue

Georgetown, TX 78628

For more information contact DJ Kyle: [email protected] or 512-327-7871

Strategic Planning & Board Directors Meeting Information

Texas Young Surveyors Dallas Section Happy Hour 9/25/2018

Location: TBD

More information to come. Follow the Texas Young Surveyors: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

http://www.becomeatexassurveyor.com/

http://www.glo.texas.gov/history/archives/overview/index.html


http://www.tsps.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1038934&group

https://www.facebook.com/TexasYoungSurveyors

https://twitter.com/TXYoungSurveyor

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8300367


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67th Annual TSPS Convention & Tech Expo 10/3/2018 – 10/6/2018

Registration, educational classes and the exhibit hall will all be held at the Galveston Island Convention Center. Hotel rooms will be available at the Hilton Galveston Island Resort for $149/night and the San Luis Resort Spa & Conference Center for $164/night. All hotel reservations must be made no later than Monday, September 10, 2018. Schedule of events and more details coming soon!

Location: Galveston Island Convention Center 5222 Seawall Boulevard Galveston, TX 77551

For more information contact DJ Kyle: [email protected] or 512-327-7871

67th Annual TSPS Convention and Tech Expo Information

Chapter 5 Events

Chapter 5 Monthly Meetings* Prepay for Lunches Here

TBPLS rules now allow attendees to earn 1 CEU for attending meetings, maximum 4 per year.

August 14th

September 11th

October (no meeting due to convention)

November 13th

December (not meeting) *Note: Dates are tentative. Speakers are to be determined.

July Chapter 5 Lunch Meeting.


http://www.tsps.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1038963&group

https://goo.gl/qy2Cjc


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2018 Chapter 5 Seminar

10/26 – 10/27/2018

This year’s Chapter 5 Seminar will be given by Jeff Lucas, PLS, Esq., and includes

three sessions: Engineer and Land Surveyor Liability, How to Make a Boundary

Determination That Will Win in Court, and Ethics for Engineers and Land Surveyors.

Registration Fees for licensed professionals, i.e., RPLS’s and PE’s

o $350 for all sessions - $350 pay link here

o $250 for both Friday sessions - $250 pay link here

o $150 for Saturday only session - $150 pay link here

Registrations Fees for non-licensed professionals

o $225 for all sessions - $225 pay link here

o $125 for both Friday sessions - $125 pay link here

o $100 for Saturday only session - $100 pay link here

Location:

Collin College Conference Center – McKinney Campus

2400 Community Avenue

McKinney, TX 75071

For more information or a registration form contact Brad Sparr: [email protected] or 214-

544-2297, or use the appropriate link above to prepay for the seminar.

Texas Young Surveyors Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn

Anybody 35 years of age or younger in geospatial professions (Techs, Students, Rodmen,

Instrument Men, GIS Pros, SIT’s, RPLS’s, etc.) are welcome to become a part of the Texas

Young Surveyors (TYS) group. For information on the group and its activities you can contact DFW

Coordinator Stuart Warnock at: [email protected], or Chapter 5 Representative Danielle

Pirtle at [email protected].

Get in Print!

We need story ideas, photos, event details and anything else you think is worth letting our members and

the community know about. We literally got no response to this request in our last newsletter so we are

hoping some folks can step up and get involved. Contact Bill Swope with your contributions at:

[email protected] or 469-416-6854.

https://bit.ly/2uHcYLz

https://bit.ly/2pZ6LGd

https://bit.ly/2Gw7Kru

https://bit.ly/2Gt55Lg

https://bit.ly/2pZ6S4B

https://bit.ly/2pXWedm


https://www.facebook.com/TexasYoungSurveyors

https://twitter.com/TXYoungSurveyor

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8300367





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Behind every picture, there’s a story…

The Tripod and the Train. Jim Gillis RPLS, NSLS, CLS with Criado and Associates of Dallas shared these

photos of a 1934 triangulation monument alongside US 54 near Rehm, Texas taken in October of 2017

under a beautiful Texas sky. The larger photo shows the GPS over the monument while the inset photo

is of the unusually set brass disk in concrete, which is in-turn, inside an iron pipe. “The old Coast

and Geodetic Survey used this monument type in sandy soil, and many younger surveyors have

never seen this type of monument,” said Jim.

the bois d’arc post · family feud? how do you come up with those questions?” in my previous...

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