Surveyor News and Articles
Blueline Geo
Chapter 36 Nominations
Oct 12th
Every year it is the responsibility of the Nominations Committee to maintain Chapter 36’s Board of Officers and certain Commit-tee Chairs.
Moving up from one officer position to the next position is not an automatic action. All elected officers must be nominated and voted into office. The nomination is not required to come from the nominations committee, but from any chapter member.
The President is responsible for leading the chapter meetings and board meetings, attending Regional Winter Forum to repre-sent the Chapter in reports and the responsibilities at the Re-gional Seminar in College Station, required reports and communi-cations from and to IRWA headquarters and representing chap-ter’s interest at the International Right of Way Annual Confer-ence.
The Vice-President is responsible for stepping in when the president is not available to lead the chapter meetings and board meetings, attends the Winter Forum, required reports and com-munications from and to IRWA headquarters and plans all parts of Chapter 36’s Spring Seminar – which is the largest source of income for the chapter.
The Treasurer is responsible for all incoming money, payments made on behalf of the Chapter and detailed monthly reporting to the board, required reports and communications from and to IRWA headquarters and chapter members for all transactions.
The Secretary is responsible for keeping board meeting minutes and monthly reporting to the board and chapter members.
Professional Development Committee (PDC) – Three Year – A member is elected to a three year position to advise and guide members during their education certification process. The PDC Committee communicates with IRWA’s headquarters with all necessary paperwork received from the chapter mem-bers and keeps the members informed of any necessary require-ments. The PDC Committee is the Chapter’s education advisors and connection to IRWA Certification and maintains all reports and communications from and to IRWA headquarters regarding its members’ certifications.
Directors – Two Year – a member is elected to a two year position to represent the Chapter as a voting member and attend the Regional Caucus meeting at the International Right of Way Annual Conference. All changes to IRWA policy or procedures and location of the annual conference are voted on during the International Right of Way Annual Conference and the Directors represent the Chapter’s vote on these issues.
Please read the biographies beginning below and continuing on to page 5 of the newsletter. Voting is scheduled to occur at the end of our meeting, October 13th.
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IRWA Surveyor News – October
Oct 12th
October is an exciting month for Chapter 36. Not only do we have a joint meeting with the local chapter of the Appraisal Institute, but we will be voting on your officers for the next year. Make a special effort to attend and give your support by voting for the candidate of your choice.
If you missed the September meeting, you should know that Chapter 36 voted to update our By-Laws to coincide with those at Headquarters. The major change is that our year will end on June 30th. This allows the incoming officers to attend leadership sessions at the annual conference provided by Headquarters. Consequently, this year’s incoming officers will hold their positions until June 30, 2011 or 18 months. Your officers are dedicated members who have made a commitment to fulfill their duties and responsibilities of their respective office. Do not be afraid to volunteer and volunteer early. They can, do, and will need your support. Step up and ask what you can do to make Chapter 36 the biggest and the best!
IRWA Headquarters has launched a new Uniform Relocation Act (URA) Certification, which is designed for members who can achieve professional status through experience, education and an exam in the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act (URA). The certification program is available on the IRWA website.
The Federal Agency Update (FAU) is scheduled for January 26-28, 2010 in Las Vegas at the Flamingo Hotel. With more than 30 industry workshops, this is a great opportunity to get acquainted with our federal partners, ask those questions that you need guidance on, gain knowledge from the session workshops, hear speaker’s opinions and experiences, and have fun all at the same time. Are you aware that you can earn “Advantage Rewards” and never leave home? During the month of October (only) you can win the following awards:
CLASS PARTICIPANT REWARD: Register for any IRWA class OR attend a class occurring between October 1-31, 2009, and receive a $20 coupon which can be used towards future class registrations, credentialing fees, or any other IRWA education product.
ONLINE PARTICIPANT REWARD: Register for any IRWA online class through BTL (Business Training Library) and receive a $20 coupon which can be used towards future class registrations, credentialing fees or any other IRWA education product. Coupon cannot be applied towards registrations for online classes through BTL.
EMPLOYER REWARD: Register 3 or more attendees for a class and receive a 15% tuition discount. (NOTE: All employees must be registered at the same time by contacting IRWA Headquarters Staff.) SPONSOR REWARD: Employees of current IRWA sponsors will be offered a 15% tuition discount.
(NOTE: All employees must be registered at the same time by contacting IRWA Headquarters Staff.)
CANDIDATE REFERRAL REWARD: Each IRWA Member that refers someone to become an active candidate for the SR/WA Designation and/or any R/W Certifications will receive a $20 coupon to be used towards education products. (NOTE: Referring member need not be certified, designated or a candidate themselves. Candidate must provide referral name at time of application.)
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TBPLS New board Members
Sep 28th
The Governor appointed two new public members, Robert “Bob” Price and James “Jim” Childress to replace Ty Runyan and Kelley Neumann. Bob is the Director of Public Works with the City of Southlake and a professional engineer. Jim is an attorney in San Saba and owns a title company.
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Requirements for TBPLS License Renewal
Sep 28th
You will need 8 hours of Continuing Education Credit to renew your license to practice in 2010. Please continue to report CE credit to the Board throughout 2009, as you have done in the past. New rules have been proposed that WILL NOT impact the reporting of continuing education this year. The new rules will impact CE reporting in 2010. Next year, 2010, you will be responsible for maintaining your own record of CE courses. When renewing, you will be asked if you have completed the required 8 hours of CE credit. If you answer yes, you will be able to renew. If you answer no, you will not be able to renew. The Board will audit approximately 5% of all registrants and ask for verification of the CE. If you are unable to provide verification, your license to practice will be suspended until such time as you are able to provide verification. See the proposed rules printed below for additional information.
The Board is aware of confusion regarding the number of continuing education hours needed for license renewal. The Board has proposed rules that require 8 hours of continuing education credit for license renewal. These rules do not change the number of hours needed. The rules do change the method of reporting the hours. Starting in January 2010, the Board will no longer maintain a record of CE courses taken. Each registrant will be responsible for maintaining their CE information, which will be subject to audit as noted above.
Rule 663.19 (4) states “Courses shall be referenced by notation upon the survey plat to an identifiable line for directional control.” In order for a line to be identifiable it must be physically marked.
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TBPLS New Rules
Sep 28th
Since the last Newsletter (September 2008), the following rules have been amended:
661.44 – Rejections. Added deadline dates for the board to consider additional information for rejected applications. Additional information must be received on or before the next application deadline (either January 15 or July 15).
661.45 – Examinations. Added language for examination candidates that have been called into active U.S. military duty. The examination may be postponed once the board has received copies of orders and a request to postpone the examination. The candidate must notify the board within 60 days of release to resume the examination cycle.
661.53 – Active Duty Military. New section regarding registrants who are active duty are exempt from penalty if they failed to renew their license on time and can show the board they were on active duty outside of Texas.
661.55 – Surveying Firms Registration. Added the definition of “full-time” employee.
661.56 – Surveying Firms Renewal and Expiration. The change clarifies that each certificate of registration is valid until December 31 of the year registered and then must be renewed yearly.
661.62 – Complaint Process. Language was added that a contested case hearing or an Informal Settlement Conference must be requested within 20 business days of receiving notice of the violation.
663.10 – Disciplinary Rules. Added language to clarify that a land surveyor may be guilty of only one of the behaviors noted.
663.17 – Monumentation. The change removed language that was redundant. All monumentation must comply with subsection (b) of this section.
664.4 – Types of Acceptable Continuing Education. The authorship of technical papers must be in a board approved publication.
664.7 – Determination of Credit Units. There is not a specific number of hours for authorship of technical papers. Each will be credited on a case by case basis.
664.13 – Exemptions. New section to list reasons a registrant may be exempt from obtaining continuing education.
A complete copy of all rules can be found on the Board’s website, www.txls.state.tx.us
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Blueline Geo Article Archives
Sep 23rd
This will soon be our ever growing professional surveyor articles and news archive section. We will try and write, print or round-up all of the best and most informative articles in the Professional surveyor world. If it will be helpful to you or helpful to us we will put the article or news about it in here.
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