Our Annual Student Pizza Party
President:
Gary O'Connor
President Elect:
Mike Jones
Secretary:
David Slater
Treasurer:
Adam Rivera
Chapter Reps:
Mike Ford
Richard Maddock
Committee Chairs:
By-Laws:
Bruce Jarvis
Education:
Bruce Jarvis
Legislative:
Mike Ford
Nominating: Jon Olin
Membership:
Aaron Smith
Professional Practices:
Howard Brunner
Monument Preservation:
Paul Brown
G.I.S. Development:
Jerry Miller
Government Liaison:
Art Gambini
Historical County Records:
Art Gambini
Unrecorded Maps:
Mike Ford
Trig-Star/Public Service:
Jerry Miller
Scholarship:
Gordon Meininger
EDM Baseline:
Stu Righter
National Surveyors Week:
Richard Maddock
Website:
Stu Righter
California Land Surveyors Association - Sonoma County Chapter
Sonoma County Corners November 2011
We had our annual student
meeting at the Union Hotel &
Restaurant. Where are chapter
hosted Rick Mosier, and the
students from his Non-technical
skills for engineers class.
There were a total of fourteen students in
attendance, and a wide variety of topics
discussed at the meeting, the near completion of
the Kingsbury line, monument preservation,
unrecorded maps issues, and a state reps report.
The students were rather quiet, but seemed very
interested in what was going on.
Jerry Miller was our speaker for
the night, and gave an update on
the status of SRJC programs. It
does not look good, attendance is
down, and the future of these
programs is uncertain at this
point. Jerry went on to explain;
We need to promote our
profession, and put people in the
seats, and anything the chapter can
do would be appreciated.
Rick then went on to thank the
chapter for their generosity, and
discuss the importance of learning
social skills as well as technical
ones, when looking for a job.
Especially with the economy we
are faced with today.
CLSA Sonoma County Newsletter Page 2
The Original California Maritime GPS When the California Gold Rush came into full swing in 1850, California and the San
Francisco Bay became a magnet for tall ships delivering goods and men ready to seek their
fortunes in the Hills of Gold. However, the ragged California coastline was dangerous for
mariners, with hidden shoals and submerged rocks.
California lighthouses sprung up at the most dangerous points, to preserve life and keep
cargo from destruction. The lighthouses evolved from single lights in homeowners'
windows to fully-automated, independent structures on prominent peninsulas and sea cliffs.
Lighthouses provide an interesting look into the history of California, unique from the 21
missions built by Spain to claim the territory of California. The oldest lighthouses were
built after the California missions had been abandoned by Spain. California began building
them around 1850. The first lighthouses (a series of four) began lighting the California
coast around 1855-1856 after the California Gold Rush had mostly ended and the word was
out that this Western territory had a great climate and was a desirable place to live.
Commerce began to flourish.
As shipping increased to import & export food, redwood lumber, and other items,
shipwrecks became a serious problem. In many areas the California coast is rocky, often
foggy, and the entrances into ports can be treacherous. Lighthouses were first constructed
in Pacific Grove to light the Monterey Bay, Point Loma in San Diego, Farallon Island
outside the San Francisco Bay, and Battery Point near Crescent City. From north to south,
the entire state’s major ports were covered by four light stations.
There would eventually be over 30 of them in California. The lighthouse was kept by
people concerned for sailors' safety. Maintenance kept the light keeper busy, maintaining
oil lamps throughout the night and day. When the skies became heavy with damp fog, they
would manually ring warning bells keeping the keepers busy around the clock later they
would be replaced by foghorns. On treacherous nights, it was not unusual for a lighthouse
keeper to stay awake all night to ensure that their light guided travelers could travel along
the ragged California coast safely.
Then came GPS to aid mariners. On June 26, 1993 the U.S. Air Force launched the 24th
Navistar satellite into orbit, completing a network of 24 satellites known as the Global
Positioning System, or GPS.
The U.S. Coast Guard began deeding or giving away the lighthouses by 1995 as GPS
suddenly replaced the lighthouse, the first in a long line of GPS systems to come.
Upcoming Events
CLSA Webinar
November 30, 2011
12:00 PM - 1:30
Presented by:
Marti Ikehara
Sonoma County
Chapter Meeting
Holiday Party
Dec 14, 2011
Cattleman's Restaurant
Santa Rosa
"Safari Room"
CLSA Board of
Directors Meeting
Saturday Feb 4, 2012
Holiday Inn Airport
Oakland, California
National
Engineers Week
February 19 - 25
National
Surveyors Week
March 18-24, 2012
CLSA-NALS
Conference
March 23-28, 2012
Silver Legacy Resort &
Casino Reno, Nevada
Fresnel Lens
Lighthouses acted as visual navigation aids,
an observer, seeing a continuous weak light,
would see a brighter light during a short time
interval. These instants of bright light are
arranged to create a light characteristic or,
pattern specific to the particular lighthouse
with each lighthouse having a unique light
pattern so mariners could tell which lighthouse
they were observing, and be able to determine
their location in relation to it.
This was done through the use of a Fresnel
Lens. Concentrating light with a rotating lens
assembly. Vertical light rays of the lamp are
redirected into a horizontal plane, the light is
focused into one or a few directions at a time,
as a result, in addition to seeing the side of the
light beam, one can see the light directly from
a further distance away.
Surveyor’s Trivia:
GIS Day at Piner High School
"Students in
the pipeline"
Careers in
surveying,
and GIS are
the wave of
the future.
2) What is the total area of California
including both Land & Water?
a. 155,640 Square Miles
b. 163,707 Square Miles
c. 170,236 Square Miles
d. 182,050 Square Miles
It isn't sufficient to
want, you must ask
yourself what you are
willing to give to get
what you want.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt~
CLSA Sonoma County Newsletter Page 3
Answers on page 4
Success consists of
going from failure to
failure without losing
enthusiasm.
~Winston Churchill~
1) How many counties are there in
California?
a. Forty-eight b. Fifty-two c. Fifty-five
d. Fifty-eight
The general economic
slowdown has meant
challenging times today,
but the future promises
increased opportunities.
An edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook
predicted that the surveying and mapping industries can
expect to increase by 21% through 2016. So the question
is not whether there will be jobs, but rather what roll
technology proficient individuals will play in them.
GIS and scanner technology is the wave of the future,
and the people who know how to use them will have no
problem finding jobs in the years to come.
Trivia Answers: 1) d 2) b
CLSA Sonoma County Newsletter Page 4
Would you like to advertise
in our newsletter?
Rates are very affordable,
starting at $10 per month.
Comedy Corner:
A third grade teacher asked her
class what is a Civil Engineer?
One child raised her hand eager to
answer the question. So the teacher
called on her, and again asked, what
is a Civil Engineer? Sally, proudly
replied, its someone who is very
polite when they drive the train.
California Land Surveyors Association Sonoma County Chapter
Gary O'Connor - President
(707) 565 - 3711
Mike Jones - President Elect
(707) 542 - 6268
David Slater - Secretary
(707) 542 - 9810
Adam Rivera - Treasurer
(707) 544 - 2104
CLSA, Sonoma County Chapter, Meeting Minutes
Nov 9, 2011, Cattlemen's Restaurant, Petaluma, California
In Attendance: 36
Adam Rivera
Art Gambini
Brad Prescott
Brett Clarke
Brian Curtis
Bruce Jarvis
Christopher Larson
Clemencio Lopez
David Slater
Dylan Crabtree
Gary O'Connor
Gordon Meininger
Howard Brunner
James Olah
Jason Gedding
Jennifer Robinson
Jennifer Westmoreland
Jerry Miller
Jim Crabtree
John Fitzgerald
John Monaghan
Jon Olin
Mathew Dudley
Mike Ford
Mike Jones
Patrick Clark
Paul Brown
Paula Bisler
Reg Parks
Richard Maddox
Rick Mosier
Rulon Cottrell
Savada San
Scott Marincich
Stu Righter
Thomas Seitzer
Meeting Called to Order:
6:36 pm, Gary O'Connor called the meeting to order.
Introductions were made around the room.
Approval of Meeting Minutes:
A motion was made to approve the meeting minutes from 10/12/11.
It was requested that a clarification of the wording of the motion made 10/12/11 be entered
into the minutes as follows:
The motion was made by Art Gambini
1. To have the chapter authorize the Historical Records Committee to complete the
records donation by Hogan-Schoch and Associates.
2. To have the Chapter authorize the acceptance of the records by the president of
CLSA, Sonoma County Chapter.
The motion was seconded by Howard Brunner, and then approved by the chapter members.
Upon which, the minutes were duly accepted, seconded, and approved.
Treasurer's Report:
Checking = $ 3,362.90 Savings = $996.88 CD = $2,000.00
Committee Reports:
By-Laws:
We have recently made some minor adjustments to our by-laws, and will resubmit them to
the state for approval. They will be posted on our website for review by the members, and a
vote to ratify them will be pending in the near future.
Education:
We will be putting together a seminar/workshop on datums with Michael Magee, sometime
near the beginning of 2012.
Legislative:
Several ongoing bills were signed into law by the governor with the exception of one notable
veto to the continuing education requirements for engineers and land surveyors. His
comments were something along the lines; that as a group we professionals recognized the
need to stay current and did not need to be required to do so through legislation.
Nominating:
We have made some changes to the slate of officers for next year, we have done so to
hopefully implement a plan of officer succession, sometime in 2012.
Officers for 2012:
President - Mike Jones
President Elect - Stu Righter
Secretary - David Slater
Treasurer - Matt Dudley
Chapter Rep - Mike Ford
Succession Plan: Volunteers selected to be officers for our chapter will sign on for a four
year commitment, they will begin as Treasurer, then succeed to Secretary, President elect,
and then President. This will allow the officer from a previous position to mentor and guide
the incoming officer, creating greater continuity, and smooth transitions of officers from one
post to the next.
It will also make finding a new officer much easier, as we will only need to find one
volunteer each year instead of four. Naturally there are some issues that need to be ironed
out, such as the requirements to be an officer, and what to do if an officer is unable to
continue performing their duty for the duration of their service for whatever reason.
The officers for 2012 have all graciously agreed to participate in such a succession plan, if
the chapter decides to implement it, we will continue to work out the details and intend to
bring it up for a vote sometime early in 2012.
A motion was made by Jerry Miller:
Motion: To approve the nominated slate of officers for 2012.
The motion was seconded by Mike Ford, and then approved by the chapter.
Monument Preservation:
We are closer than ever to completing the Kingsbury line retracement, we have received the
final two maps. If you have any photos or stories, please send them to Paul Brown at,
[email protected] so he can submit them to California Surveyor for publishing.
We are also looking for new projects.
Historical Records:
We have been working with Larry Lieberman who is the holder of the Hogan-Schoch
records, and have been seeking donations to pay for the storage of these records. We intend
to give Larry a letter of value of the records for tax purposes once we receive them, and can
then begin the process of indexing them, working with the Sonoma County Historical
Records Commission, who is tasked with the oversight and maintenance of such records.
Unrecorded Maps:
We thought that the unrecorded maps legislation was done. The Marin chapter, at the 11th
hour, brought up the copyright issue for those who own the archived records of retired or
deceased surveyors. The revised language as presented seemed sufficient for the purpose of
getting records into the public domain, but President Hofferber intervened and sent the
matter back to committee to consider if copyright infringement may be an issue with the
un‐recorded maps. The next opportunity to move this legislation forward will be next year at
the February meeting.
National Surveyor's Week:
Surveyors Week, shall take place March 18 - 24, 2012, we will keep you posted.
Chapter Reps Report:
Frank Lehmann - President Elect:
Frank is looking forward to taking the reins at the beginning of next year. He attended the
August NCEES conference in Rohde Island. For those of us who weren’t aware, California
is not a voting member of NCEES despite having the largest percentage of engineers and
surveyors of any state. Our Governor won’t allow travel expenses for the California
delegates to be taken out of the BRPELSG budget. State CLSA covers the expenses for our
members to attend. NCEES doesn’t allow members to vote unless their travel expenses are
covered by the State. Frank is asking everyone to write their state representatives in support
of those expenses being added to the BRPLESG budget. The BRPELSG budget is made up
of professional license fees.
Professional Development:
Continuing education as reported in the July chapter representative report, California is one
of four states that does not require continuing education for license renewal. The Board of
Directors (BOD) is asking for more participation from the membership in the voluntary
program through the CLSA website. Pressure at the national level is growing to include
professional development as a requirement for license renewal in California. The CLSA web
site has information on how to begin.
Monument Conversation Committee:
The BOD approved a motion to move forward with proposed revisions to the language in
Section 8771 Current language is vague, ambiguous and ineffective. Discussion centered
around the need to revise the language or educate the municipalities and contractors that
monuments are required to be preserved. The existing language does not specify the work
has to be accomplished under the direct supervision of a licensed land surveyor. Applicable
sections of the Government Code, Streets & Highway Code, and Penal Code are also being
reviewed.
Miscellaneous Items:
Napa County LLA law suit ‐ Napa County vs. Sierra Club. The jist of the suit filed by the
Sierra Club was that only one LLA is allowed per property owner. Sierra Club alleged
multiple LLA’s are disallowed under the current LLA law. The initial suit ruled in favor of
Napa County which would allow multiple LLA’s with the limit of four lot lines adjusted
under one application. The Sierra Club has appealed the decision.
Surveyors Code of Ethics is currently under revision. Proposed revisions can be viewed on
the CLSA web site.
Awards request to recognize local and state chapter members are due ASAP.
Old Business:
There currently is no old business.
New Business:
PRMD:
We seem to be having some issues with PRMD regarding building envelopes, and
discrepancies between tentative map checkers and soils engineers.
Gary O'Connor:
Jerry Miller would like to give Gary a certificate of appreciation for serving on the advisory
committee at Santa Rosa Junior College.
David Slater:
The chapter would like to recognize David for the fine job he has done in implementing our
new Newsletter.
A motion was made by Mike Ford.
Motion: To submit our Newsletter to the state for nomination for an award.
The motion was seconded by Jerry Miller, and then approved by the chapter.
Announcements:
CD of Gordon Voorhies surveys from the records of Tom Brunner (Howard's brother), as
well as an index of them and other surveys in Marin County are now available.
Funds raised will go directly to the Jesse Stanley Scholarship, and the first scholarship will
be awarded at the CLSA-NALS Conference, March 23-28, 2012.
Scholarship applications need to be in by November 30th, as well as any awards the chapter
wishes to nominate for the state to consider.
Tonight's Speaker:
Jerry Miller PLS, Program Coordinator/Instructor,
Civil Engineering, Surveying & Geospatial Technology
Santa Rosa Junior College
Status of SRJC Programs:
It all began in 1965 with a program for industrial drafting and engineering. In 1994 we
added surveying, and in 2006 geospatial. We are probably one of the best equipped Junior
Colleges in the state as far as our equipment and labs go. With Topcon and Sokkia total
stations, TopSURV data collectors, and Trimble, Ashtech, and Topcon GPS receivers.
Enough equipment to outfit eight surveying crews.
The department also has three 24-seat, fully equipped computer labs. Each lab is fully
licensed with: AutoCAD 2011, Civil 3-D, Micro Survey, GPS Pathfinder, TerraSync, and
ESRI's ArcView and ArcGIS mapping software.
Last year we graduated 12 students, and of those who took the LSIT examination 90%
passed.
The programs are not doing well, typically we have 40-50 students in our plane surveying
class, our current plane surveying class has about 22 people in it, historically we lose 50%
by the second year. This is not sustainable as a department we need bodies in the seats to
keep the program alive.
We need to promote our industry more, and anything the chapter can do to fill seats will
help keep the program alive. We need at least 18 people per class to keep a class going.
It is a good way to build up PDU's, and you can also get free access to Civil 3-D and GIS
programs with a three year license (student version).
If you are interested in supporting our efforts and taking a class, check out the SRJC
website list of classes, or contact Jerry Miller at, [email protected]
Telephone: (707) 527-4376
Tonight's Guests:
Rick Mosier CE, Director of Public Works, City of Santa Rosa (and his students).
Rick has worked for the City of Santa Rosa for 26 years, the last seven as Public Works
Director. Rick has held several titles with the City, including Assistant Engineer, Associate
Engineer, Supervising Engineer and Deputy Director of Engineering.
I wish to start by thanking CLSA Sonoma County for having us for dinner.
It is important to not only know how to use equipment such as AutoCAD, total stations
and GPS equipment, etc. You also need to know how to explain what you're doing, to
potential customers.
Salesmanship is a necessary evil to promote yourself and your career, basically selling
yourself to potential employees, which should be easy if you believe in your product.
Clients actually pay a considerable sum of money for what is essentially a piece of paper,
if you cannot explain what you have done, and the technology used to achieve it. Your
client is not likely to recommend you to their friends, family, and neighbors.
Your presentation is essential, your skills and personality are a package deal. Share your
educational highlights, have questions for potential employers ready to ask to show your
interested in the job.
Dress for success, and act accordingly. Be positive, presentable, and on time, as the old
adage goes you only have one chance to make a first impression, make it a good one.
Meeting Adjourned: 8:32 pm.
Next Meeting: December 14, 2011 at Cattlemen's Restaurant, in Santa Rosa.
Next month's meeting will be held in the "Safari Room" located
at the back of the restaurant, use the side entrance.
Speaker: Tina Wallis
Respectfully Submitted,
David Slater, LSIT
CLSA Secretary
Sonoma County Chapter
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