The LSAW Board of Directors met in Wenatchee, WA on August 24, 2019. Below are the highlights from the third quarter.

  • The LSAW Fall Seminar Series will be held on October 25-26th in Vancouver, WA at the Heathman Lodge. This is a new educational opportunity that features a track specifically designed for technicians. (For those attending and desiring NSPS CST certification, exam proctoring will be available at the upcoming LSAW Conference in February 2020). In addition to the technician’s track, there is also a one-day public lands class. (For those attending that are certified CFed Surveyors, credits will be available.)
  • The Board of Directors approved an affiliation agreement with the American Association for Geodetic Surveying (AAGS). This provides LSAW members a discount on AAGS membership.  Details on this affiliation are being processed and will be sent to the membership upon availability.
  •  A new section has been added to the LSAW website. Under the Resources tab is a link to “Latest News.” This section is dedicated to not only current news but also provides an archive of past emails sent to the full LSAW membership. If you have current news you believe would be beneficial to the profession, please email info@LSAW.org
  • The LSAW Executive Office would like to remind members that are in private practice to log into the LSAW website and update their “Find a Surveyor” listing. The LSAW Executive Offices receives numerous calls for referrals from the public which are directed to the Find a Surveyor search engine. If you are an LSAW member in private practice and you are not listed on the Find a Surveyor, please email info@LSAW.org so that you can be added.
  • After receiving correspondence from multiple members, LSAW requested a letter of clarification regarding digital signatures from the DNR PLSO. This letter has been provided to the membership and is available in the August email archive. (See LSAW website Latest News section if you missed the email.)
  • The LSAW Executive Office maintains the website event calendar. The calendar includes information on LSAW events as well as BORPELS and Survey Advisory Board meetings. If you are aware of an LSAW event that is not listed, please forward to info@LSAW.org for posting.
  • In an effort to provide more time for review of the Board agenda, the Board of Directors amended the previous policy on dissemination of the agenda packet. The goal is to provide the agenda 30 days prior to the meeting (previously there was a policy of dissemination 5 days before the meeting). This would enable the Directors to discuss potential actions with their Chapter membership prior to the meeting.
  • The Bylaws Committee has received finalized Chapter Bylaws from 11 of the 12 Chapters and the LSAW Board of Directors has ratified these bylaws. The final Chapter is working toward submitting their bylaws before the October meeting.
  • Clark College was granted permission to use LSAW’s PLS Refresher Course video “Ethics and Business” by Jon Warren as part of the survey program curriculum. Permission was granted under the same stipulation to Renton Tech.  This opportunity is available to other college’s upon request.
  •  The first publication of the Evergreen State Surveyor (ESS) for 2019 was mailed in June and there has been a lot of positive feedback! Thank you to Editor Ben Petersen for his dedication and hard work, to those that provided articles, to those that advertised, and to Crissy Willson for administrative support and assistance. Reminder: all material for the November publication needs to be submitted by the end of September.
  • The 2020 Conference will be co-sponsored by Western Federation of Professional Surveyors (WestFed) and will be held at the Tulalip Resort & Casino on February 26-28, 2020.
  • The 2021 Conference will be held at the Hilton in Vancouver, WA on March 3-5, 2021. 
  • LSAW Board Member Gary Letzring now holds the Urban Surveyor position on the SAB.
  •  The Board of Directors created an ad-hoc committee, chaired by Gary Letzring, to review the SAB’s Draft Boundary Line Adjustment (BLA) model ordinance and report back to the Board of Directors at the October meeting.
  • The Board of Directors discussed the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (WUCIOA) which applies to many plats and short plats. It was discussed that this is important information and the topic should be included at the Conference.
  • LSAW approved a $1000 donation to NSPS to offset expenses of the NSPS Golf Tournament. By offsetting these expenses, more of the registration funds received for the tournament will be allocated to the NSPS Political Action Committee.
  •  At the request of the Education Committee several board members volunteered to review the online PLS Refresher courses to make sure the content is still relevant and up-to-date.
  • Jon Warren provided information regarding Survey Monument Preservation. Working with the AELC (lobbying coalition), LSAW will endeavor to introduce this legislation. A grass roots effort by the membership will be needed. Additional information will be provided at a later date. Jon also volunteered to speak at Chapter meetings should a Chapter want additional information.
  •  TrigStar had another successful year and LSAW thanks the Washington Council of County Surveyors (WCCS) for their donation. TrigStar Chair, Rich Lang is ready to pass the torch however, so if you are interested, please contact info@LSAW.org
  •  It’s time to submit your Associate and Surveyor of the Year nominees. The deadline for submitting nominations is October 10th.