CLSA NALS - California Land Surveyors Association

SATURDAY (8 AM - 5 PM) - Pre-Conference 

Title vs. Survey: Statutes, Standards and Boundary Law Principles 

It is quite easy to find lawsuits in which surveyors were either directly or indirectly involved. Each of the various 

surveying publications seems to feature at least one or two a month. How do surveyors find themselves 

in such situations and can they do anything to prevent them? A common source of boundary-related lawsuits 

is a lack of communication on the part of the surveyor combined with one or more irrational owners and an inflexible 

belief by one or more surveyors in an absolutely correct solution that does not recognize the difference 

between matters of title and matters of survey. This program will offer a review of the many issues in which 

surveying and title seemingly overlap and a roadmap to limiting the surveyor’s liability in boundary disputes. 

SUNDAY (8 AM - 12 PM) - Pre-Conference 

Avoiding Boundary Problems: Understanding Surveyor Reports 

Even though a surveyor may spend an inordinate amount of time searching for, sorting through, and weighing 

evidence related to determining a boundary, the final plat typically reflects little if any of that effort. When combined 

with the typical surveyor’s less-than-stellar approach to communication, the stage is set for a problem 

one way or the other. It could manifest itself in another surveyor disagreeing with the first surveyor’s boundary 

or in an unadvised dispute with a neighbor on the part of the client (or vice-versa). In any case, the surveyor 

needs to do a better job of communicating what has been done, and why, and perhaps most importantly, what 

the results of the survey mean (and do not mean). A well-written, readily-understood Surveyors Report often 

can be a vehicle to communicate meaningful information to the client and to other surveyors. In this session, 

we will look at the concept of a surveyors report, what it might include and how it can help alleviate potential 

problems. 

SUNDAY (2 PM - 5 PM) - Conference 

Managing your Business in Challenging Times 

Managing a company is an on-going challenge in normal times, not to mention in the dust of the worst financial 

crisis since the Great Depression. Yet, most surveyors started their own businesses not because they 

wanted to deal with loans, hiring, firing, employee evaluations, contracts or accounts receivables. No – they 

went into business because they love surveying and had the entrepreneurial spirit to give running their own 

business a try. But as the business grew, running it became more and more complex. Throw in the current 

economic climate and the non-surveying issues compound themselves and simply can no longer be handled 

as an afterthought. At some point, if the venture is to continue to grow and take advantage of the opportunities 

that present themselves, there must be a realization of the need to separate the responsibilities for managing 

the company, from the responsibilities for handling the surveying/technical aspects of the company. In this 

program, we will look at many of the aspects of running a business: from the obvious, to the less obvious, but 

perhaps, more important. 

About The Speaker 

Gary Kent, PLS is in his 30th year with The Schneider Corporation, a surveying, GIS and 

consulting engineering firm based in Indianapolis and with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina 

and Ankeny, Iowa. He is chair of the National Society of Professional Surveyors committee 

on the ALTA/ACSM Standards and is liaison to NSPS for the American Land Title Association. 

Gary’s areas of expertise include boundaries, easements, and survey standards. He is 

often called as an expert witness and regularly presents programs across the country on a 

variety of topics. Gary is a past-president of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping 

and a two-time past president of the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors. 

He taught Boundary Law, Legal Descriptions, Property Surveying and Land Survey Systems 

as an adjunct instructor for Purdue University in Indianapolis or West Lafayette from 1999 to 

2006 where he received Excellence in Teaching and Outstanding Associate Faculty awards. 

He is in his ninth year on the Indiana State Board of Registration for Land Surveyors and writes regular columns for The 

American Surveyor magazine and for the ACSM Bulletin. 

CLSA 

NALS

SUNDAY (2 PM - 5 PM) 

BPELSG: Enforcement Case Start to Finish 

It was a Monday…a day like any other day. Staff from the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, 

and Geologists’ (BPELSG) Enforcement Unit was contemplating a recent complaint alleging negligence due 

to a licensee’s inability to deliver acceptable legal descriptions after multiple attempts at submittal that were 

anything but error free and correctly described the client’s intentions. Information obtained during the initial 

review, if true, would expand the investigation beyond the scope of the original complaint. 

Join BPELSG staff in a collaborative effort where the audience will serve as the licensed independent experts 

towards resolving this investigation. 

About The Speakers 

Ric Moore, PLS, Executive Officer, BPELSG began his Surveying career over 30 years ago 

working in the private sector in Colorado, Arizona, and New England before moving to California 

in 1990. While working in the Ventura / Santa Barbara areas, he began assisting with 

state Land Surveyor exam grading and development. In 2007 Ric became the Land Surveyor 

Consultant to what was then BPELS. When the Senior Registrar Land Surveyor position was 

created, he applied, and was hired to that position. After managing the internal licensing examination 

operations of the Board, Ric was appointed by the Board to be the BPELSG Executive 

Officer in July 2011. 

Raymond Mathe, PLS, is the Senior Registrar Land Surveyor, BPELSG. Prior to his appointment 

in February of 2012, he served as County Surveyor of the County of Orange. His 

experience includes project management in private practice and he also served as the Deputy 

County Surveyor for the County of Riverside. Since he was licensed in 1989 he has been active 

in CLSA and WFPS serving as local chapter and state CLSA president; chairman WFPS; 

past education chairman; all facets of LS exam development; and an instructor in engineering 

and land surveying. Ray obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Workforce Education and 

Development from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1995. 

Larry Kereszt has worked for the Board since January 2005. He was hired at the Board first as a licensing evaluator, 

handling applications for licensure, then as an Enforcement Analyst where he has been for the last six years. He handles 

enforcement cases for all licensed and unlicensed activity, and is the point of contact for monument conservation concerns 

and complaints. Larry began his State career with the Department of Corrections over 10 years ago. 

Nancy Eissler began working for the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors in August 1990. After working 

in the Administrative Unit for a year, she moved to the Enforcement Unit. She has served as the Board’s liaison to the 

Office of the Attorney General in all matters relating to disciplinary actions against licensed engineers and land surveyors 

who have violated the law since starting with the Enforcement Unit in 1991. Nancy works with the Attorney General’s Office 

regarding appropriate disciplinary actions to be taken against the engineers and land surveyors who violate the laws. 

Nancy also responds to inquiries from licensees, consumers, local government agencies, and other members of the public 

regarding the laws. She became the manager of the Enforcement Unit in November 2004. 



MONDAY (8:30 AM - 5 PM) 

Surveying the Comstock - The Continuing Saga 

We scratched the surface on “Surveying The Comstock” at our CLSA-NALS 2011 Annual Conference. Join us 

as we continue this surveying adventure (challenge). We will discuss the options considered for monumentation 

and recordation of disjointed mineral surveys (gaps and overlaps), overlapping patents/deeds, pincushion 

corners and difficult related corner decisions. 


Steve Parrish, PLS, CFedS - began surveying with the U.S. Forest Service in 1963, acquired his 

Utah PLS in 1973, transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in 1985 and eventually 

served as the BLM Nevada Cadastral Chief until late 1995. Steve then left the government to 

pursue private surveying experience. He is licensed in 7 western states, a Nevada water rights 

surveyor and has served as county surveyor for Inyo, Modoc and Mono Counties in California. 

Steve shares his 49 years of land surveying knowledge and experience through participation 

in land survey seminars, consulting and expert witness testimony. He worked for Tri State Surveying 

from 1999 to mid-2012 and began working for Albion Surveys of St. Helena, California 

in January 2013. Steve is an adjunct professor in the survey program for Great Basin College 

(Elko, NV), acquired his Certified Federal Surveyor (CFedS) certificate in 2007 and received his 

Bachelor of Applied Science degree in May 2009. He is active in state and national surveying 

organizations and enjoys sharing time with his family, photography and fishing. 

David Morlan’s, PLS career spans over 33 years, beginning as a Cadastral survey-aide in 1979 and becoming the Chief 

Cadastral Surveyor for Nevada in 2004. He manages the BLM Nevada Cadastral; Geographic Coordinate Data Base 

(GCDB); Title Records; and Geographic Information System (GIS) programs. David is a registered Professional Land Surveyor 

in the State of Nevada, an active member of the Nevada Association of Land Surveyors (NALS), and Past President 

of the Lahontan Chapter. He has spoken at numerous land surveying seminars/conferences regarding the Public Land 

Survey System (PLSS), Federal Title and Land Status, and has instructed at the National Training Center in Phoenix and 

engineering department at the University of Nevada, Reno. David is BLM Nevada’s “Expert Witness” in regards to the 

PLSS/Federal Title/Land Status. 



MONDAY (8:30 AM - 10 AM) 

California Real Time Network (CRTN) 

What is the CRTN and how do I use it? 

This presentation will cover the California Spatial Reference Center (CSRC) California Real Time Network (CRTN). Presenters 

will discuss the CGPS network and infrastructure, CSRS published station coordinates, future expansion plans 

and California NGS CORS stations. The presenters will also cover how to connect to CRTN for RTK surveying and describe 

some various GNSS hardware and configurations as well as recommendations for RTK GNSS surveying utilizing 

CRTN. 


Rich Maher, PLS is a professional land surveyor with over twenty years of experience practicing in 

California. As the owner of KDM Meridian, over the past 12 years he has provided professional land 

surveying and mapping services in the public works sector, including numerous projects requiring the 

establishment of survey control through GNSS static and real-time methods. He regularly provides 

training and education in best practices in static and real-time GNSS surveying through his mentorship 

of employees at KDM Meridian and consulting support to other local firms and surveyors. As a consultant 

to the licensing board of California he has participated in all phases of development and execution 

of the California PLS exam. He is currently the secretary of the Orange County Joint Professional 

Practices Committee and the secretary of the Executive Committee of the California Spatial Reference 

Center. 

Dave Olander, PLS is a professional land surveyor and has been employed with Caltrans District 11 

(San Diego/Imperial County) for over 20 years. He has worked in every capacity of Field Land Surveying 

work that Caltrans offers, throughout District 11. Currently he manages the District’s geodetic 

control and special projects. Additionally, he participates in various statewide panels charged with 

development and modification of Caltrans Survey standards, procedures and equipment issues. 

MONDAY (10:30 AM - 12 PM) 

NGS Update 

The mission of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Geodetic Survey (NGS) is “to 

define, maintain and provide access to the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS) to meet our nation’s economic, 

social, and environmental needs.” NSRS is the nation’s system of latitude, longitude, elevation, and related data, models 

and tools, which provides a common, consistent, and accurate spatial reference system for a broad spectrum of users and 

applications. Technological GNSS developments as well as user requirements and demand have resulted in extensive efforts 

to maintain and modernize the NSRS. These changes are all designed to improve the accuracy and accessibility of 

the NSRS, to the benefit of all geospatial professions and activities.This presentation will describe the current status of the 

NSRS and will include information about the NGS network of GNSS Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), 

the Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) utilities, and the online retrieval and updating options for geodetic control 

data. The current NAD83(2011) epoch 2010.00 datum realization and the corresponding geoid model (GEOID12A) will 

be described. Preparations are well underway for a major NSRS modernization makeover, to be realized in about a decade 

through a new generation of horizontal and vertical datums. Demonstrations of several interactive newer versions 

of NGS software will be given, including DSWorld, Vdatum (now does SPC conversions), NADCON, HTDP, and Translev 

for submitting Reset BM data. 


Marti Ikehara has been the California Geodetic Advisor for nearly 15 years, discussing the importance of datum tags and 

epoch dates in this geologically active state. She has also overseen nearly a dozen Height Modernization projects, and 

provided seminars about the relation between geodetic and tidal datums. Prior experience includes 18 years as a groundwater 

hydrologist with the US Geological Survey in Honolulu and Sacramento. 

William Stone is the NOAA/National Geodetic Survey’s (NGS) Southwest Region Geodetic Advisor. He assists the geospatial 

community throughout Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah—including public- and private-sector surveyors, 

GIS professionals, engineers, and earth scientists—with proper application of the National Spatial Reference System. 

Stone has been with NGS since 1989, and he previously worked for the Department of the Navy and the Defense Mapping 

Agency. He has a BA in Physics from Bowdoin College and an MS in Physical Oceanography from the Scripps Institution 

of Oceanography. He lives in Santa Fe, NM. 



MONDAY (8 AM - 10 AM) 

Mine Surveying: Photogrammetry 

This discussion will focus on fundamental concepts important to the mining field surveyor including: 

• Photo scale 

• Mapping scale 

• Size and placement of photo targets 

• Leeway in location of photo targets 

• Photo i.d. when a target is missing 

• Recommended field checks to verify the topo 

• Accuracy of the aerial topo 

• Overview of aerial mapping products including topo, DTM surface and orthophotography 

Mine Surveying: Incorporating Surveying into Exploration 

Surveying for open pit and underground mining 

• Uses in operation and design 

• 24/7 monitoring for safety 

• Procedures and processes 


Mitch Bartorelli is an Associate for Tri State Surveying, Ltd. and serves as the Project Manager for the Photogrammetry 

Service group. Mr. Bartorelli has been working in a responsible position in the photogrammetry, mapping and surveying 

field since 1989 and has been with Tri State since 1997. With Tri State, Mr. Bartorelli is responsible for photogrammetric 

operations including flight planning, aerial photography acquisition, film processing, analytical aero-triangulation and 

depending upon the project, digital terrain modeling, digital elevation modeling, planimetric mapping, topographic mapping 

and digital orthophotography. Mr. Bartorelli has conducted photogrammetric mapping projects for such clients as: 

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of 

Energy, the Nevada Department of Transportation, Sierra Pacific Power Company, Nevada Power Company, Newmont 

Mining, Comstock Mining and KGHM/Quadra FNX. 

2013 marks the 35rd year for Marty Crook’s involvement in the surveying equipment industry. From alidades to zenith 

plummets, training from L.A. to Germany with manufacturers from AGA to Zeiss, Marty has been a part of the evolution of 

our current electronic environment. Today our positioning abilities rely on lasers, robotics, GPS, and handheld computers 

ruggedized for outdoor use. Having always been on the leading edge of technology, Marty continues to remind us that our 

current equipment is still based on the basic transit, theodolite, chain and strength of figure. 

MONDAY (10:30 AM - 12 PM) 

Mine Surveying: GPS 101 

This non-technical presentation for field surveyors will focus in on some of the fundamental geodetic principles of GNSS 

survey technology: 

- GPS overview of sytem history, satellites, and equipment, 

- GPS epochs for CORS permanent base stations, 

- GPS Static accuracy and functionality, 

- GPS (Long Distance) RTK and functionality, 

- GPS Grid Distances versus GPS Ground Distances, 

- GPS Ellipsoid Heights versus Geoid Heights, 

- GPS Site Calibrations using a Geoid model, 

- GPS Site Calibrations – who, what, when, where and why, 


David Paul Johnson, PLS, started land surveying 30 years ago, when a Chainman “pulled a chain” all day. David has 

been a California Licensed Land Surveyor for more than 20 years. For the last 15 years, David has taught community 

college classes, presented conference workshops, and lectured throughout the western United States on: GIS, GPS, and 

Land Surveying. 



MONDAY (1:30 PM - 5 PM) 

Random Error Theory 

The topics include discussion on precision and accuracy, understanding the difference between systematic 

and random errors, significant figures in measurements, random error propagation, a basic overview of using 

statistics, random errors in angles, random errors in distance and using weights with measurements. It is the 

intent of this workshop to gear it to the sub-professional (technician), in order to give them a better understanding 

of measurements and what they are measuring. This workshop will also help prepare the technician 

for their exam. 

Learning Objectives 

The attendee will learn 

• The difference between errors and mistakes 

• The difference between systemic and random errors 

• The importance of significant figures in surveying. 

• How to understand and use random error propagation 

• A basic understanding of statistics for surveyors 

• How to identify and calculate random errors in angles and distances 

• How to use weights in measurements 

Intended audience’s experience level 

Introductory to intermediate; Professional Land Surveyors may also benefit from this workshop. 


Jim Coan, PLS started surveying in 1968 in the state of Maryland. He has surveyed on 

the east coast, Canada and the west coast. Jim is a Professional Land Surveyor in Oregon 

and Washington. He is also a Certified Federal Surveyor (CfedS). For twenty-three years 

Jim was an instructor at Renton Technical College teaching the Land Surveying program. 

During this time Jim has also served on the Department of Natural Recourses Survey Advisory 

Board, and the Architects and Engineers Legislate Council for the Land Surveyors 

Association of Washington (LSAW). Each year, Jim teaches for the LSAW’s South and 

North Puget Sound chapters PLS refresher courses. Jim also teaches workshops for the 

LSAW state conference, the NSPS conferences, and has taught for the Washington Council 

of County Surveyors. Jim has also taught workshops in surveying for attorneys and 

engineers, and has published over twenty articles in state and national magazines. Jim 

is an active member of the Land Surveyors Association of Washington, and the National 

Society of Professional Surveyors, the. In 1990 he was chosen as the Washington State 

Associate Surveyor of the Year and in 2010 was chosen as Washington State Surveyor of 

the year by his colleagues in LSAW. Jim is semi-retired and teaches a class in surveying 

to engineering students at Seattle University. He is also the 2013 president of the Land 

Surveyors Association of Washington. 




National Association of County Surveyors Presents: 

Electronic Filing 

Many States have enacted legislation requiring recordation/filing of professional surveys in County offices for 

public access. Additional State Code in Utah allows for the acceptance of electronic filing of these surveys. A 

first of it’s kind process for electronic filing has been successfully implemented in the Salt Lake County Surveyor’s 

Office in Utah. This session will review enabling State Code and the development, implementation, 

challenges and benefits of electronic filing , as presented by Salt Lake County Surveyor, Reid Demman. 


Reid Demman is the current President of the National Association of County Surveyors (NACS). 

Over the course of a 36-year career, he has been involved in hundreds of surveys and development 

projects in Salt Lake County, Utah. Sixteen of those years have been spent in leadership, 

management, and an administrative capacity. He is a licensed Professional Land Surveyor with 

experience ranging from working on and managing survey crews, to working as an engineering 

design and review technician, and later, managing and leading engineers, surveyors, and technicians 

in an engineering office within Salt Lake County Public Works. In November of 2006, 

he was elected as Salt Lake County Surveyor, taking office in January 2007. In 2010 he was 

re-elected to serve a second 4 year term. He Chairs Salt Lake County’s GIS Steering Committee 

and serves as Vice-Chair of the National Assoc. of Counties (NACo) GIS Committee. Reid 

has developed and implemented new technology in his office (including electronic filing) and 

championed the adoption of countywide integrated GIS and mapping standards and policy in 

Salt Lake County. Prior to being elected, he served four years as the Chief Deputy County Surveyor. He currently lives 

with his family in Draper Utah and enjoys golf, vintage cars, architecture and photography. 


National Association of County Surveyors Presents: 

Linking Google Earth with NGS Benchmarks 

Learn how to display NGS published benchmarks in Google Earth. Presentation on Google Earth uses for surveying 

activities, including using kmz files for benchmarks. 


Gail Oliver is a Professional Surveyor and Mapper licensed to practice in the State of Florida. 

She has over 30 years of experience. In March 1979, after graduating from the First Coast 

Technical Institute Mapping and Cartography Program, she began her career in Jacksonville, 

Florida where she had the opportunity to participate in some high profile projects with groundbreaking 

technology and approaches. Gail has been serving as the County Surveyor for St. 

Johns County, Florida, for the last 20 years and oversees the GIS and Survey Divisions. Gail 

has extensive experience in most aspects of surveying, including Boundary, Platting, Topographic, 

Mean High Water, Rights-of-Way, Hydrographic, and Geodetic Surveys. Gail is a former 

member of the Florida Board of Surveyors and Mappers, an emeritus member of the 

National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), a past president of 

the National Association of County Surveyors, a member of the National Society of Professional 

Surveyors (NSPS), and the Florida Surveying and Mapping Society (FSMS). Gail is also 

a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) and is a member of the Association of State Floodplain 

Managers. 



TUESDAY (8:30 AM - 12 PM) 

Coordinates and Geodesy 

Coordinates? Press a few buttons on a computer and they are automatically imported, exported, rotated, 

translated, collated, annotated and served up in any format you choose with no trouble at all. There really is 

nothing to it. Why have a seminar about coordinates? It’s a good question really. Computers are astounding 

in their ability to make the mathematics behind coordinate manipulation transparent to the user. This seminar 

is not much about that sort of mathematics. But it is about coordinates and coordinate systems. It is about 

understanding how these systems work, and how they sometimes don’t work. It is about how points that 

should be in New Jersey end up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean even if the computer has done nothing 

wrong. And that is, I suppose, the answer to the question from my point of view. Computers are currently 

very good at repetition and very bad at interpretation. People are usually not so good at repetition. We tend to 

get bored. But we can be very good indeed at interpretation, that is if we have the information in our heads to 

understand what we are interpreting. This seminar is about providing some of that sort of information on the 

subject of coordinates and coordinate systems. 

TUESDAY (1:30 PM - 5 PM) 

GIS and GNSS 

GIS is a representation of reality that has the remarkable ability to answer questions about itself. It can tell 

you almost anything you want to know about what you’ve done, what you’re doing or what you intend to do, 

but there are a couple of catches. For example, you have to point it at the information it needs to answer your 

questions. And if you want the answers to be right, the information has to be right. Here’s another catch, GIS 

will only do what it’s told if the software and hardware are in place to carry the information you asked for in 

the form you want to see. This presentation is about some real-world examples of the processes necessary to 

achieve these things. One of the case studies involves a GIS for the management of a international utility and 

another is about right-of-way acquisition for and construction of a gas gathering pipeline in Texas. 


Jan Van Sickle, PLS has many years of experience in GIS, GPS, surveying, mapping and imagery. 

He has advised Anadarko, IHS Energy, Chesapeake, Microsoft, Intermap, Jeppesen, Geoeye and 

others in geospatial matters. He began working with GPS in the early 1980s when he supervised 

control work using the Macrometer, the first commercial GPS receiver. He created and led the GIS 

department at Qwest Communications for the company’s 25,000-mile worldwide fiber optic network. 

He also led the team that built the GIS for natural gas gathering in the Barnett Shale. He has led nationwide 

seminars based on his three books, GPS for Land Surveyors, Basic GIS Coordinates and 

Surveying Solved Problems. The latter book was serialized in the magazine POB. He led the team 

that collected, processed and reported control positions for more than 120 cities around the world 

for the ortho-rectification of satellite imagery now utilized in a global web utility. He managed the 

creation of the worldwide T&E sites for two major earth observation satellites (Geoeye I and Geoeye 

II) which are used for frequent accuracy assessments. He created an imagery-based system of 

deriving road centerlines that meet the stringent Advanced Driver Assistance specifications and developed a method of 

forest inventory to help quantify that depleted resource in Armenia. He assisted the supervision of the first GPS survey of 

the Grand Canyon for the photogrammetric evaluation of sandbar erosion along the Colorado. He has done 3D mapping 

with terrestrial photogrammetry and LiDAR as well as Building Information Modeling. He was involved in the creation of 

a BIM of the White House in Washington DC. He was a member of the team of authors for the recently created Geospatial 

Technology Competency Model for the Department of Labor. He has recently conducted training at the NAVCEN in 

Alexandria for the USCG. He has recently provided technical assistance in the reconstruction of the geodetic network 

of Nigeria. He has recently managed the gravity/magnetic and hyperspectral/multispectral analysis of Borzon VII a concession 

block in the South Gobi in Mongolia. He has been a featured speaker at many conferences including MAPPS, 

GITA, the Institute of Navigation (ION) Annual Meeting. He delivered the 2010 keynote at the ESRI UC in Imagery and 

Remote Sensing and the 50th Texas Society of Professional Surveyors Conference. He is a Senior Lecturer at Penn 

State University. He was formerly on the board of RM-ASPRS, was the vice-chairman of GIS in the Rockies and is the 

current chairman of the US West chapter of the Americas Petroleum Survey Group. Jan earned his Ph.D. in geospatial 

engineering from the University of Colorado. He has been a licensed professional Land Surveyor for thirty-one years is 

a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and is currently licensed in Colorado, California, Oregon, Texas, 

North Dakota and West Virginia. 



TUESDAY (8:30 AM - 5 PM) & WEDNESDAY (8 AM - 12 PM) 

OSHA Certification 

Seven states now have laws in place that require construction workers to complete the OSHA 10-hour construction 

safety training. Six of these states have specific criteria that determine which workers need to complete 

the training, while Nevada requires the training for all construction workers. 

The states that do require the training are Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New 

York, Missouri and Nevada. There are varying requirements for each state and it is recommended that workers 

inquire as to the requirements prior to working there. 

Although each state’s laws may be different, the Federal requirements for the OSHA 10-hour construction 

training class remain the same for all of them. These requirements are: 2-hour Introduction to OSHA, 4-hour 

OSHA Focus Four Hazards, 30-minutes each of Personal Protective Equipment and Health Hazards in Construction 

with the remaining 3 hours being elective subjects that are spelled out in the class requirements. 

Upon successfully completing the class, attendees will receive a “Certificate of Completion”. Two to three 

weeks later each will receive a wallet card issued by OSHA. 


Ron Applegate’s career in the mining and construction industry spans over 35 years 

beginning in 1966, working in Wyoming, South Dakota and Nevada. During this time 

he worked all aspects of the industries. While working at surface iron ore, gold and coal 

mines, he received a licensed foreman accreditation and certification as a Mine Safety 

and Health Administration Instructor. With the MSHA certification, he was responsible 

for training new miners and conducting annual miner refresher courses in accordance 

with the federal mine safety requirements. After going to the construction industry he 

has worked as a heavy equipment operator, safety manager, project manager and 

operations manager for Reno and Carson City area contractors. In 2005, Ron began 

working as a Director of Construction overseeing all aspects of the development of a 

master planned community located in the Reno/Sparks area. With the downturn of the 

economy, Ron’s position with the development company evaporated and he chose to 

take his career in another direction. In doing so, Ron pursued and achieved the OSHA 

Authorized Construction Trainer credentials for Federal and California, to allow him to teach the 10 and 30 hour safety 

classes. Currently Ron provides OSHA, MSHA, ATSSA, First AID/CPR and HAZWOPER training to individuals and companies 

in the western United States through his company Ron Applegate Safety Training. 



TUESDAY (8:30 AM - 10 AM) 

Business Aspects of Land Surveying 

The purpose of this presentation is to accentuate the business aspects of the practice of Land Surveying. This presentation 

begins with the initial contact from the potential client all the way to project completion. 

HIGHLIGHTS: 

• The focus is: Entertaining the Possibilities! The “What IF’s” 

• Beginning with Out-of-the-box thinking! Can we look at an old method of doing business with an eye on the every 

changing profession of surveying? 

• Brief History of the standards from 1962-2011. Understanding where we came from and where we are going! 

• Touching on the Marketing & Business Development (M&BD) of our professional services. 

• Asking the Probative Questions! How to define the client’s needs and desires so as to accomplish their goals and 

MAKE MONEY in the process! 

• Understanding and defining the Scope of Services. The Key to success in any type of survey we encounter. 

• Discussions on the Proposal Process and the Contract. This is important no matter what type survey you undertake. 

• Making Money/Losing Money on ALTA Surveys. Watching out for the losses with an eye on profitability. 

• Finalizing the presentation with photos unique to the ALTA Survey. A Walk-Through of Surveying issues that have 

impacted my surveys over the years! 

Each participant will leave with a copy of the power point presentation which is an excellent guide for marketing, proposing, 

developing, and delivering a professional work product, the ALTA/ACSM Land Title Survey. ENTERTAIN THE POS- 

SIBILITES! 


Jay Seymour, PLS brings his forty plus years’ experience in Land Surveying to 

speak to us today about the Business Aspects of Surveying. Following in the footsteps 

of his grandfather Charles Albert and his father Rule O. Seymour, RLS-20; 

he began his career in 1969. Having now surveyed in six decades, in ten western 

states, and holding professional registration in three, allows him to draw on his vast 

experiences to present his topics today. He is president of Professional Land Consultants 

a consulting firm specializing in Educational Seminars and training-presentations 

for surveyors, attorneys, and developers, and the Real Estate community 

since 1984. He has presented to several of the local CLSA Chapters throughout 

California and other western states. He has also presented at the national ALTA 

conventions as well as co-presenting with Gary Kent on the ALTA Standards at the 

2011 ACSM/ESRI Conference in San Diego. He is the past president of the Los Angeles Chapter of CLSA 

(2008); Member at large to the state Executive Committee (2009-2011); MEMBER OF THE YEAR 2011; State 

Treasurer (2012); State Secretary (2013); Chairman of the Policies and Procedures Committee; Member of 

the Public Awareness, Legislation, and Monument Conservation Committees. He continues to support education 

of the next generation of surveyors and engineers speaking annually at Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State 

Fresno, College of the Canyons, Santiago College, and East LA College. He seldom misses an opportunity to 

speak to his local elementary, middle, and high schools in his area. 



TUESDAY (10:30 AM - 12 PM) 

NV BOEPLS - Disciplinary Actions and Hot Topics 

This program will cover The Nevada State Board of Engineers and Land Surveyors make-up and authority and will address: 

• Recent changes to NRS 

• Hot topics which have been addressed in 2012 including: 

• Qualifications based selection and Requests for Proposals 

• Setting of land corners – Record of Survey – required or not? 

• Actual disciplinary cases which have been addressed over the last year including: 

• Unlicensed practice 

• Failure to report discipline 

• More than three incomplete submittals to a public agency 

• Incompetence 

• Practice outside of discipline 

Actual board actions regarding these charges will be shared for information and discussion. 


Alan R. Riekki, PLS has been involved in private and public sector surveying for the better part of the last 25 years. Until 

1994, he was a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local #12 in Southern California. Mr. Riekki 

became a registered Professional Land Surveyor in the state of Nevada in January 1997, a Nevada State Water Rights 

Surveyor in September, 1997, and a registered Professional Land Surveyor in the state of Utah in April, 2000. Mr. Riekki 

became a member of the Nevada Association of Land Surveyors in 1994 and served the Southern Chapter as Director, 

Treasurer, President-Elect and, in 2002, as President. In 2004 Mr. Riekki was appointed City Surveyor for the City of Las 

Vegas, Nevada, a position he currently holds. In July of 2008 Mr. Riekki was appointed to the Nevada State Board of 

Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors where he serves as one of the two Professional Land Surveyor members. 

Bob LaRiviere, PLS has been a surveyor working in Northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area for the past 30 years. 

He has been a partner at CFA since joining the firm in 1998. He was promoted to President in the spring of 2011. He is 

responsible for the firm’s overall operations, oversees all department directors, and ensures that high quality service is 

provided at all times to all clients. He is a member of the Nevada Association of Land Surveyors and has served as the Lahontan 

Chapter President in 1994 and State President in 1999. Bob is also very active and a charter member of the Sparks 

Centennial Sunrise Rotary Club and served as club president in 2008-2009. In July of 2010, Bob was appointed to the 

Nevada State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors; he is one of two surveyors on a board of 9 members. 


NV Coordinate Reference System 

This presentation is for anyone interested in the development and application of a custom low-distortion projection system. 

We will be specifically discussing the Nevada Coordinate Reference System developed by the City of Las Vegas, but a 

vast majority of the information applies to low-distortion projections in general. The topics will include: 

• A general look at commonly used coordinate systems by surveyors 

• The grid vs. ground problem 

• Design of a custom low-distortion projection 

• Application of map projections in surveying, engineering and GIS software 

• Using map projections with GPS 

• The present and future of the Nevada Coordinate Reference System 


Alan R. Riekki, PLS (see bio above) 

Michael Kinney, PLS is a Land Survey Associate with the City of Las Vegas. He has been involved in land surveying for 

the past 15 years. Most of his first eight years were spent working for a private firm in Southern California, and the last 

seven have found him at the City of Las Vegas. He completed the Land Surveying and Mapping program at Coastline 

College, California in 1998. He became a registered Professional Land Surveyor in the state of Nevada in 2011. 




3D Infrastructure - 3D Models 

VTN Consulting offers technology-aided utility mapping and utility locating solutions. Many utility companies and government 

agencies have observed that utility mapping provides proactive, accurate solutions to aid in their construction and 

planning projects, without straining their financial resources and wasting their time and budget. Utility mapping is of utmost 

benefit to utility companies for gathering accurate and real-time data in the form of digital maps. Any construction or utility 

company will testify for the importance of having accurate data for underground utility lines. An average city is an amazing 

maze of roads, rails and bridges. The underground scenario is an even more complex network, with utility pipes for 

telephone cables, water, power, gas, sewers etc. Digging into a utility line without having accurate, pin-point knowledge of 

what lies beneath can cost you money, time and energy. Companies cannot rely on obsolete maps that give incorrect and 

incomplete picture of what they are researching for; what they need are technology-aided utility locating and underground 

utility mapping. VTN are experts in utility mapping, offer the most detailed and dynamic underground utility mapping solutions 

possible. They produce 2D and 3D maps and help companies in locating the utility lines easily and accurately. Utility 

mapping can be enormously helpful from just aiding you with a construction site to mapping the whole city. With the help 

of Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Computer Aided Design (CAD) and GIS data conversion software, VTN can convert 

data into dynamic maps that are very useful for utility projects. 

Subsurface Utility engineering, or as it is commonly known, SUE, combines traditional Surveying, Civil engineering, GIS, 

and BIM practices with new technologies to develop reliable and accurate maps of underground utility infrastructure. The 

3D SUE process is effectively like setting up a common language that engineers, owners, contractors and utilities can all 

understand and utilize. SUE is recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and is detail in CI/ASCE 

38-02: Standard Guidelines for the Collection and Depiction of Existing Subsurface Utility Data. 

In addition to utility infrastructure using survey data like HDS see how you can apply that to build a digital 3D city. 


Keith Warren has worked in the greater Las Vegas area for the last 25 years, and is currently 

VTN’s BIM/Visualization Technology Manager. His responsible for designing and guiding initiatives 

supporting the advancement of 3D City infrastructure utility design, processes, and systems. 

Coupling product management and industry experience, he works to formulate initiatives 

and programs that support business objectives and align with organizational cultures. In addition, 

he is tasked with increasing the value of BIM by identifying and implementing new technologies, 

working directly with upper management and engineering departments to stay ahead of the competition 

in the engineering market. As president of the BIM Source users group, he established 

an experimental civil engineering AutoCAD class at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which has 

since grown into a required class for civil engineering graduates. Areas of expertise include college 

professor, in-house expert on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and oversee the use of 

BIM technology, 3D virtual design technology, research and development, regulatory adherence, 

cost benefits analysis, data integrity, risk assessment/impact analysis, technical specifications development, and team 

and project leadership. 



WEDNESDAY (8:00 AM - 12 PM) 

Interactive Case Study 

Byrum will be presenting an interactive case study based on a very nearly disastrous surveying malpractice claim for 

which he served as the mediator; successfully resolving the case before trial. After initial discussion of the factual setting 

for the claim, Conference participants will have an opportunity to identify the surveying, office practice, contract drafting, 

insurance and ethical issues presented in the claim. Byrum will then lead the participants through a discussion of each of 

the issues raised and provide the opportunity for discussion of the “lessons learned.” 


Byrum Lee is the son of an architect, surveyor, master builder, poet, preacher and musician. 

His major in architectural engineering was interrupted by military service during the 

“conflict” in Viet Nam. After his discharge, Byrum decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps 

and enrolled in law school while simultaneously pursuing his MBA. 

Byrum began his legal career in Denver, Colorado with a law firm that specialized in professional 

liability defense for doctors, lawyers and accountants. The first engineering liability 

claim assigned to the firm involved a failed airport asphaltic concrete pavement design. 

Since Byrum was the only one in the firm that had so much as heard of a Marshall Mix 

Design, the case fell quite naturally onto Byrum’s desk. 

The rest, as they say, is history. Byrum spent the next 30 years representing architects, 

engineers, surveyors and contractors. In 2008, while maintaining his practice in Denver, Byrum relocated his primary 

residence to Las Vegas, Nevada where he served as in-house counsel and manager of litigation for a major California 

based real estate developer with offices in California and Las Vegas. 

He has tried over 100 professional liability cases representing architects, engineers and surveyors in over 15 states and 

has handled claims before the Board of Contract Appeals for the Corp of Engineers, GSA and Post Office. Byrum is a 

member of the AAA panel of neutrals and is a frequent mediator and arbitrator on design and construction cases. 

Byrum continues to maintain an active legal practice including mediation and arbitration. However, given the choice, he 

would prefer to spend his time riding one of his several motorcycles. In 2010 he completed an “Iron Butt” ride covering 

1375 miles in 20 hours. He has ridden in each of the 50 states, every Province in Canada and much of Mexico. 



LS REVEW (Saturday - Wednesday) 

Test Plan 

Ric Moore, PLS & Ray Mathe, PLS 

Legal Descriptions 

Armand Marois, PLS 

Public Lands 

Mike Hart, PLS 

GPS & Geodesy 

David Paul Johnson, PLS 

Boundary 

Jay Seymour, PLS 

Photogrammetry 

Neil King, PLS 

Construction 

Robert McMillan, PLS 

CA Coordinate System 

Jeremy Evans, PLS 

Water Boundaries 

Robert Reese, PLS 

LS Act & SMA 

Frank Maxim, PLS

CLSA NALS - California Land Surveyors Association

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