News
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MINNESOTA BOARD OF AELSLAGID ISSUES CEASE AND DESIST ORDERS TO THREE MUNICPIAL EMPLOYEES DETERMINED TO BE PRACTICING LAND SURVEYING WITHOUT A LICENSE
http://mn.gov/aelslagid/disciplinaryactions/2022/Tranby,%20Peter.pdf
http://mn.gov/aelslagid/disciplinaryactions/2022/Hedlund,%20Larry.pdf
http://mn.gov/aelslagid/disciplinaryactions/2022/Finseth,%20Melissa.pdf
http://mn.gov/aelslagid/enforcement.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DICK WALTER, RETIRED HOUSTON COUNTY SURVEYOR, SHARES THE IMPORTANCE OF LAND SURVEYING AT THE ASSOCIATION OF MINNESOTA COUNTIES 2021 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Dick is one of the founding members of the Minnesota Association of County Surveyors. He has spent countless hours making sure MACS is well represented at the AMC Conference. His approachable personality and extensive knowledge of land surveying has allowed him to share his passion for land surveying with decision makers throughout Minnesota.
HELP PRESERVE THE PUBLIC LAND SURVEY SYSTEM IN MINNESOTA
Allocating financial resources now achieves the best opportunity to preserve the PLSS for future generations.
Starting now rather than waiting for more monuments to disappear is crucial. Experiences from other states such
as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Utah demonstrate that a proactive investment is cost-effective, saving millions of
dollars later. A state funded legislative approach of $10M per year is being proposed.
https://mnplss-umn.hub.arcgis.com
MINNESOTA FUTURE CITY COMPETITION IS BACK
Thank you for your past involvement with the Minnesota Future City Competition. We are back for the 2021-2022 season! This year's theme is A Waste-Free Future – Students are challenged to use the three principles of a circular economy to design a futuristic, waste-free city.
Participating middle school students are working hard on their projects. We need engineers, surveyors, architects, city planners, scientists and other STEM professionals to volunteer as judges to evaluate the students’ work. We provide rubrics and training. Please share these volunteer opportunities with your colleagues.
Judge Roles:
- City Essay – Virtual Judging -- Students write a 1,500 word essay addressing this year’s theme (A Waste-Free Future) and describing the unique aspects of their futuristic city. Judges evaluate essays at their home of office from mid-December to mid-January and submit scores online.
- City Model Slideshow – Virtual Judging – Due to the pandemic, students will create a slideshow about their city model as the deliverable. Judges evaluate slideshows at their home or office in early to mid-January and submit scores online.
- City Presentation – Virtual Judging -- Due to the pandemic, students will record a 7-minute video presentation about their future city. Judges evaluate presentations at their home or office in early to mid-January and submit scores online.
- City Q&A – Hopefully in-personon1/22/22 from 8:00am to noon at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount – Judges attend the final competition, see the students’ city models, and engage in a 10-minute Q&A with students about their project. This will pivot to a live virtual competition on the same day and time if needed.
Sign up* for one, two, three, or all four judging opportunities!
https://dashboard.futurecity.org/register/
*Be sure to select “regional competition judge” and choose “Minnesota” as your region.
Learn more about volunteering as a Future City judge: https://futurecity.org/participants/judges
Thank you for your support of Future City!
FARMER MOVES FRENCH/BELGIAN BORDER
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/world/europe/france-belgium-border-moved.html
COVID 19 PANDEMIC RELATED NEWS
The Association of Minnesota Counties is maintaining the following webpage to inform the public about operational changes at various counties in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.
https://www.mncounties.org/information_and_jobs/county_operational_change_announcements.php
BERNTSEN INTERNATIONAL INVITES YOUNG SURVEYORS
12-15 YEARS OF AGE TO SUMBIT ARTWORK FOR THEIR
2020 SURVEYING THE FUTURE MEDALLION CONTEST
https://www.berntseninternational.com/contest?utm_source=constant%20contact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Surveyor%20of%20the%20Future%20design%20contest
JUSTICE PAGE MIDDLE SCHOOLERS WIN 1ST PLACE
AT MN REGIONAL FUTURE CITY COMPETITION & TAKE
HOME BEST LAND SURVEYING PRACTICES AWARD
MN REGIONAL FUTURE CITY COMPETITION
January 22, 2020
Dakota County Technical College
MACS and NCEES were involved in the judging of one of the special awards at the competition. The Best Land Surveying Practices Award is sponsored by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)
The judges for this award were:
Virginia Winberg: Westwood Professional Services
Sam Gibson: Washington County
Peter Jenkins: Minnesota Department of Transportation
Steve Jobe: Wright County
Robin Mathews: Pine County
The winning team received a plaque for their school & each student on the team (including alternates) received a gift bag with small prizes.
Best Land Surveying Practices Award - This award recognizes the design that employs the best land surveying practices, taking into consideration the high standards used by surveyors to help protect the public's safety and welfare.
The winning school of the award is:
Justice Page Middle School
Name of their Future City:
"Nuova Venezia"
| |||
| |||
We invite you to nominate yourself or a colleague as a board member and we are now accepting nominations for:
The MN GIS/LIS Consortium Board of Directors will be appointing a Surveyor Representative to the board for a one-year term in 2020. The Consortium continues to work with the surveying sector through conference and other networking events, including the 'Meet me at the Corner' event. We'd like to encourage someone from the surveying sector to help develop the duties and responsibilities for this position. The Surveyor position will be added to the election cycle in the Fall of 2020 as a two-year term, just like the other current two-year board positions. You can nominate someone by emailing the board at nominations@mngislis.org. |
MeetMeAtTheCorner_2019.pdf
OFFICE OF THE MINNESOTA SECRETARY OF STATE
Steve Simon
Notice of Vacancies in State Boards, Councils and Committees
April 16, 2019 — The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State today released notice of vacancies for various state boards, councils and committees that are accepting applications. Minnesotans are encouraged to apply and serve in demonstration of public service. The newest vacancies are listed below, and the full list of 879 vacancies can be found on our website Open Positions.
Applications may be submitted online, and must be submitted within 21 days of the “Publish Date” listed on our Open Positions page, to be assured of full consideration by the appointing authority. Appointing authorities may choose to review applications received by the Secretary of State after the 21 day application period.
See our new instructions on HOW TO APPLY at the end of the message.
CURRENT VACANCIES
Below is a list of agencies with new vacancies.
Please visit our website for complete descriptions.
Minnesota Geospatial Advisory Council
Vacancies: Member (23 Seats)
Vacancies for representatives of Minnesota's geospatial community in the following categories:
• 2 State agency representatives
• 1 Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium representative
• 1 MetroGIS representative
• 1 Twin Cities metro (7-county) regional government representative
• 1 Greater Minnesota regional government representative
• 1 Twin Cities metro (7-county) county representative
• 1 Greater Minnesota county representative
• 1 Twin Cities metro (7-county) city representative
• 1 Greater Minnesota city representative
• 2 Higher education representatives
• 1 K-12 education organization representative
• 2 Federal agency representatives
• 1 Tribal government representative
• 1 Non-profit organization representative
• 2 Business representatives
• 1 Surveyor community representative
• 3 At-large representatives
Meetings are held 4 times a year, usually in St. Paul. Please see the council's website at: https://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/councils/statewide/index.html
Restrictions to Membership: The twenty-three members must represent a cross section of organizations including counties, cities, universities, business, non-profit organizations, tribal government, federal agencies, and state agencies. All appointed members will be voting members.
HOW TO APPLY
Visit the Open Positions page.
Scroll down to find the correct Agency/Board/Council.
Choose the correct seat type, and click button that says APPLY
The system will walk you through creating an application profile.
Page 2 of the application will now allow you to attach the following documents:
• Letter of Interest
• Resume or Biography
Applicants are encouraged to use the online application as the Appointing Authority will have access to your information as soon as it is submitted.
Applications submitted via downloadable application may experience some delay in reaching the Appointing Authority.
Paper applications may be submitted by email to: Open Appointments or by mail or in person to:
Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State
180 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.
St Paul, MN 55155-1299
In accordance with the Minnesota Open Appointments Law, the Secretary of State acts as an administrator in publishing vacancies, receiving applications and recording appointments. Applications will be reviewed and appointments made by the appointing authorities; questions about specific vacancies and appointments should be directed to the appointing authority. Applications are kept on file for a one-year period.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO RULES GOVERNING PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT, Minnesota Rules, Chapter 1805.
CHAPTER_1805_PROPOSED_RULE_CHANGE.pdf
MN REGIONAL FUTURE CITY COMPETITION
January 19, 2019
Dakota County Technical College
MACS and NCEES were involved in the judging of one of the special awards at the competition. The Best Land Surveying Practices Award is sponsored by the National Council Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors NCEES
The judges for this award were:
Peter Jenkins MNDOT and MACS
Steve Jobe MACS
Robin T. Mathews NCEES and MACS
The winning team received a plaque for their school, a $50 Visa debit card from NCEES and each student on the team (including alternates) received a gift bag with small prizes.
Best Land Surveying Practices Award - This award recognizes the design that employs the best land surveying practices, taking into consideration the high standards used by surveyors to help protect the public's safety and welfare.
The winning school of the award is:
Minnesota Center
Name of their Future City:
Isla Cielo

NCEES and MACS judges preparing prior to judging.


Future City “Isla Cielo”

NCEES presenting the award to the Minnesota Center team
FOX21 DULUTH Coverage of "Meet Me At The Corner"
Land Surveyors and GIS Professionals braved rain showers to take part in what FOX21 coined "Surveyors Scavenger Hunt". The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center recently hosted the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortim 28th Annual Conference. The "Meet Me At The Corner" series was conceived by the Wisconsin State Cartopgrapher's Office. These events are intended to advocate the importance of the Public Land Survey System, which is the foundation of land ownership in the Midwest.
http://www.fox21online.com/2018/10/03/surveyors-scavenger-hunt-at-gis-lis-consortium-at-decc/
Get your "Get Kids into Survey" Poster
Elaine Ball Ltd promotional materials are designed to inspire children and promote the Land Suveying profession. Posters are available for minimal cost and free for educators.
http://www.elaineball.co.uk/product/get-kids-into-survey-poster/
July 18, 2018
The Legislative-Citizen Commission of Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) informed Pat Veraguth, MACS Past President & Douglas County Surveyor, of their intention to recommend funding for proposed project 046-AH. The project involves the remonumentation of Public Land Survey corners in Lawrence Township in Grant County MN with funds from the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF). The project still needs legislative approval before LCCMR may award funding. MACS would like to congratulate Pat Veraguth for his accomplishment. His vision and dedication have been the driving force in this project being recommeded for approval.

July 18, 2018
MACS recently funded a reprint of material displayed at the roadside kiosk adjacent to Lee's Monument in New Albin, Iowa. Tammy Mauss (Houston County Deputy Surveyor), Eric Schmitt (Houston County Surveyor), Dick Walter (Retired Houston County Surveyor), Sam Stemper (Houston County Seasonal Worker), and Steve Jobe (Wright County Surveyor) installed the new signage on Wednesday, July 18th. In 1849, Captain Thomas Lee was instructed to set the monument on the west bank of the Mississippi River along the boundary between Minnesota and Iowa at latitude 43 Degrees 30 Minutes North. According to MnDot's most recent Geodetic data sheet, Lee's Monument currently stands at latitude 43 degrees 30 minutes 02.85026 seconds North.



Eric Schmitt, Dick Walter, Sam Stemper, and Tammy Mauss

Eric Schmitt, Dick Walter, Sam Stemper, and Steve Jobe
Image of Lee's Monument
March 31, 2018
The following article entitled "Surveyos uncover history in the woods of St. Louis County", was written by John Myers and published by the Duluth News Tribune
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4425649-surveyors-uncover-history-woods-st-louis-county
March 28, 2018
The following article appeared in the Hibbing Daily Tribune & was written by Nick Stewart, St. Louis County Surveyor
Land_Surveying_Article_by_Nick_Stewart.pdf
January 20, 2018
The Minnesota Regional Future City Competition was held at Dakota County Technical College. The award for Best Land Surveying Practices was received by the Harmony team from Rosemount Middle School. MACS received the following letter of appreication.
Future_City_Competition_Appreciation_Letter_2018.pdf
Future_Cities_Competition_Brochure_2018.pdf
https://futurecity.org/about
August 25th, 2017
Lisa Hani, Goodhue County Surveyor, was honored by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) with a 2017 Distinguished Service Award. Awards were presented in Miami Beach, Florida during the (NCEES) annual meeting. (See link below)
http://www.republican-eagle.com/news/4338172-hanni-receives-distinguished-service-award
March 23, 2017
The Stearns County Surveyor's Office gave a tour of their office to 2nd year students in the Land Surveying and Civil Engineering Technology program at St. Cloud Technical and Community College (SCTCC)
Read more here