"Rural Surveyor" Designation in Alabama

Apparently, the State of Alabama is contemplating creating a new type of surveyor that requires no background in surveying! This new surveyor would be referred to as a "Rural Surveyor". I am not sure how or if we should get involved, but I think we should support our counterparts in the State of Alabama as they fight this bill.

The following is a letter dated February 12, 2008 from Ann M. Galloway, Executive Director of the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors:

Feb. 12, 2008

To: All Members of ASPLS

Fr: Ann M. Galloway , Executive Director

Re:House Bill #333 by Rep. Marc Keahey(whose District 65 covers Choctaw, Clark and Washington Counties ) was introduced in the legislature last week.

This bill would amend the BOL law relating to licensure of surveyors. This bill would allow for a "rural surveyor". This type of surveyor would not have to be licensed. This bill would limit the practice of the rural land surveyor to rural areas and municipalities with a population less than 5,000.

We believe that rural areas are just as important as any other to be properly surveyed by a licensed professional land surveyor.

This bill has been assigned to the Board and Commissions Committee.

This is a very bad bill and ASPLS opposes this bill. Please review the bill yourself. For a complete copy of this bill, go to the website of the Alabama Legislature: www.legislature.state.al.us

Select legislation, code & constitution

Scroll down and click on Visit ALISON

On left hand side, click on BILLS

Then BILLs by Sponsor

Under House, scroll down to Rep. Keahey's name, click on his name, then Get bills on the left, scroll down to HB #333.

Click on this bill number, then up in the top red tool bar, click on VIEW, then you can print a copy of this bill.

Also in the red bar, you can click on amendments and history to get a detail about the progress of this bill.

MOST IMPORTANTLY call your Representative today and tell him that you oppose this bill because it is important that boundaries whether rural not should be located by a licensed professional land surveyor.

Ask your representative to oppose HB#333. To reach your representative, call (334)242-7600 and ask for him by name.

If you do not know the name of your legislator, you can search on the legislature website by your zip code to find out who it is.

Please email me back when you make contact to let me know if your representative agreed to vote against the bill when it comes up.

It is very important that you contact your representative now!

SJV-CLSA Meeting Announcement - Feb. 21st

The February meeting for the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyor's Association will be held next week on Thursday, February 21, 2008, at 6:30 pm. It will not be held this week, on our usual 2nd Thursday of the month. We will meet at our usual place, Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis, CA. Please reply to this message to RSVP for the meeting. We need a minimum headcount of approximately 12 people so that the restaurant can prepare the proper accommodations. (If we get less than that, we may need to move the meeting out of the private banquet room into the front dining area.)

We will have a presentation by John Dodson of SJV Technology on their new software, "The Floodplain Surveyor" (http://www.floodpd.com). John has been developing this software to help surveyors with the task of performing, and completing, the FEMA Elevation Certificates. The software is nearly complete (beta testing) and he is looking for input from the surveying community to "fine-tune" it to a surveyor's real world needs. Come take a look and tell him what you think.

Also of note: Andiamo's raised their large group prices at the beginning of the year. That'll mean a few dollars more for us, but they're not charging us for the room, like most places would, which is a substantial savings for the Chapter. All meals include bread, salad, and a non-alcoholic drink. The full menu that has been offered to us can be found at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/AndiMenu.htm

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Mark Your Calendars -

Thur., Mar 13, 6:30pm - SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis, CA
Speaker: Crissy Willson of the State CLSA
Topic: CLSA Student Outreach Program

Crissy will give a presentation on the CLSA Student Outreach Program and explain how we can better present the CLSA and the surveying profession to students and the public.

Thur., April 10, 6:30pm - SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis, CA
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA

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For more information:
visit the Chapter website at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/
visit the Chapter calendar at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/Calendar.htm
or contact the Chapter President at president@sjvclsa.org

Current Chapter activity, Chapter polls, and links to current trade magazines & articles (updated daily) are posted on the Chapter's (updated occasionally) online blog at http://sjv-clsa.blogspot.com/.

Additionally, the Chapter has an online chat group at http://groups.google.com/group/SJVCLSA available to all Chapter members and those on the email list. (You will need a Google account to post.)

Chapter Meeting Announcement

Our regularly scheduled, 2nd Thursday (Feb. 14, 2008) meeting has been rescheduled to the 3rd Thursday (Feb. 21, 2008). This was to avoid any conflict with Valentines Day, the reservation scheduling of our usual Italian eatery, and any potential scheduling conflicts with the Significant Other.

The February meeting for the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the California Land Surveyor's Association will be held on Thursday, February 21, 2008, at 6:30 pm, at Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis, CA. We will have a presentation by John Dodson of SJV Technology on their new software, "The Floodplain Surveyor" (http://www.floodpd.com/). John has been developing this software to help surveyors with the task of performing, and completing, the FEMA Elevation Certificates. The software is nearly complete (beta testing) and he is looking for input from the surveying community to "fine-tune" it to a surveyor's real world needs. Come take a look and tell him what you think.

Also of note: Andiamo's raised their large group prices at the beginning of the year. That'll mean a few dollars more for us, but they're not charging us for the room, like most places would, which is a substantial savings for the Chapter. All meals include bread, salad, and a non-alcoholic drink. The full menu that has been offered to us can be found at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/AndiMenu.htm

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Mark Your Calendars -

Thur., Mar 13, 6:30pm - SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis,
CA
Speaker: Crissy Willson of the State CLSA
Topic: CLSA Student Outreach Program

Crissy will give a presentation on the CLSA Student Outreach Program and explain how we can better present the CLSA and the surveying profession to students and the public.

Thur., April 10, 6:30pm - SJV-CLSA Chapter Meeting
Where: Andiamo Ristorante Italiano, 1275 Shaw Ave, Clovis,
CA
Speaker: TBA
Topic: TBA

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For more information:
visit the Chapter website at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/
visit the Chapter calendar at: http://www.sjvclsa.org/Calendar.htm
or contact the Chapter President at president@sjvclsa.org

Current Chapter activity, Chapter polls, and links to current trade magazines & articles (updated daily) are posted on the Chapter's (updated occasionally) online blog at http://sjv-clsa.blogspot.com/.

Additionally, the Chapter has an online chat group at http://groups.google.com/group/SJVCLSA available to all Chapter members and those on the email list. (You will need a Google account to post.)

SJV-CLSA President
Kevin W. Nehring, PLS
mailto:president@sjvclsa.org
http://www.sjvclsa.org