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214.994.9521 mobile

972.346.4267 office

THANK YOU ADVERTISERS!

A special THANKS to all the individuals and firms that have renewed their advertising in the Chapter 5 Newsletter. The funds generated from the ads go into the General Fund of the Chapter, and help with educational and promotional events and activities throughout the year that benefit our members and profession. The rates are purposefully priced at favorable rates to provide maximum benefit to our supporters and sponsors. If you or your firm is interested in adding your business card or larger ad, please contact Chris Freeman (972-226-8181).

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TSPS-5 Advertisers should be encouraged to send advertisements in .JPG format at 72dpi/ppi

Business card sized at 2" * 3.5"
Half page ads sized at 5.5" * 4.25"
Full page ad's 11" * 8.5"
Other acceptable image file format as follows: .tif, .bmp, .gif

.PDF are acceptable but require re-formatting which may affect final image quality.

Other file formats will require reformatting and take longer to post. Advertisements may be sent as stand alone HTML based web code. For more specific web based advertising details please contact Chris Freeman at his email address: cfreeman@bhinc.com

Advertisements should be emailed to Chris Freeman at his email address: cfreeman@bhinc.com

Advertisements should be sent prior to Newsletter posting on the 1st of each month.

Advertising prices are listed on the TSPS-5.org Pro Listings page.

Chapter Officers for 2010-2011
The Executive Committee for Chapter 5 for 2010-2011 is as follows:

Jerry Lehew, RPLS	President
Jason Jernigan, RPLS	1st Vice President
Paul Mannel, RPLS	2nd Vice President
John Pierce, RPLS	Secretary/Treasurer
Fred Bemenderfer, RPLS	1 year Director
Colin Henry, RPLS	1 year Director
John Melton, RPLS	2 year Director
Richard Ortiz	2 year Director
Raul Wong, Jr., PE, RPLS	Past President
Chris Freeman, RPLS	Chapter Representative

 

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In the Rearview Mirror…

The February meeting was well attended by over 40, as Mick Maguire of the North Central Texas Council of Governments was the featured speaker and presented a program to attendees on resources available that Surveyors might utilize. John Pierce presided over the latest round of Certified Survey Technician testing on Saturday February 12 at the West Campus of North Lake College in Irving. The NSPS certification program is a good avenue for paraprofessionals to gain survey certifications that are recognized nationwide.

Announcements/Breaking News

BRENT HAYS JOINS GEOSHACK

DALLAS, TX – February 1, 2011 – Brent Hays joins the GeoShack team as a Positioning Specialist bringing with him over thirteen years of experience in the survey and positioning industry in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. In 1999 he sold more GPS than anyone else in the country and has consistently been a top performer. Brent’s knowledge and expertise includes not only his own training in Topcon, TDS, NGS CORS, Carlson, Leica, Javad and Ashteck equipment, software and networks but he’s also taught classes for TSPS, the University of Tyler Jr. College and the University of North Texas. He’s been an associate member of TSPS since 1997 and is a member of the Oklahoma Society of Professional Surveyors.

Brent joined the GeoShack team because he saw the opportunity the organization offered. “GeoShack has the structure in place to help me be successful as a Sales Specialist that in turn helps our customers be successful on their jobs. They also have a very experienced management team and dedicated service technicians to support the sales effort. I’m looking forward to a long and successful career at GeoShack.”

Brent can be reached at (405) 495-8523 or on his cell phone at (405) 365-3548 or by email at bhays@geoshack.com.

ABOUT GEOSHACK

GeoShack operates under the concept, “Everything for Jobsite Accuracy”. At each location contractors, surveyors and farmers can find a wide selection of construction lasers, total stations, robotic instruments, GPS Survey systems, optical instruments, 2D & 3D machine control systems, GPS based agricultural guidance and autosteer systems, variable rate control technology, software for a multitude of applications, and a complete line of supplies and accessories. GeoShack is the retail division of GeoShack North America, Inc., an organization with sales professionals and technical service and support specialists in 16 major market areas in North America with over 120 employees.

WOOLPERT to Acquire Bohannan Huston’s Dallas Operations, Expand Services to Texas Clients

DAYTON, Ohio (February 18, 2011)… Woolpert announced today it has signed a letter of intent to acquire Bohannan Huston’s Dallas operations in early February. Bohannan Huston is a spatial data, mapping, civil engineering and advanced engineering technology services firm headquartered in New Mexico. Woolpert, a design, engineering and geospatial firm headquartered in Dayton, Ohio and celebrating its 100th year in business, employs approximately 650 professionals throughout its 22 offices. “Of our 650 employees, 250 are geospatial professionals, making us one of the largest surveying and mapping operations in the U.S.,” said Jeff Lovin, Woolpert senior vice president and director of geospatial services. “We are very excited to continue our growth within the geospatial group and establish our footprint in the Texas market.” Woolpert will now be able to provide Texas clients with robust geospatial services spanning geodetic and engineering surveying, photogrammetry, remote sensing, aerial and ground-based light detection and ranging (LiDAR) laser scanning, GIS and land information system (LIS) data and spatial database development. “Bohannan Huston’s expertise in the Dallas office will be a great complement to the already diverse services Woolpert offers its clients,” said Mike Flannery, Woolpert president and CEO. “Both firms, as well as our clients, have benefitted from a mutually successful partnership over the years, and we look forward to continuing strategic partnerships with Bohannan Huston for years to come.”

About Woolpert

Woolpert, ranked by Engineering News-Record as a top national design firm, provides professional design, geospatial and infrastructure services to clients in the public and private sectors. Founded in 1911, Woolpert’s innovative design approach and commitment to the creative application of technology have grown the firm into a leader in the consulting industry. With nearly 650 professionals in 22 offices located throughout the U.S., Woolpert’s collaborative and multidisciplinary approach is driven by great people, great clients and great projects. For more information on Woolpert, visit Woolpert’s website.

 

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JAMIE GILLIS JOINS GEOMATIC RESOURCES Irving, Texas – February 9, 2011 – for immediate release Jamie Gillis, RPLS, PLS has joined Geomatic Resources LLC as a Technical Support Specialist based at Geomatic’s Solutions Center located adjacent to the DFW Airport in Irving. He will provide technical support for Leica Geosystems GPS, Robotics, Total Stations, and Data Collection to Land Surveying Professionals in North Texas and Oklahoma.

Jamie brings a strong background in the surveying industry, and his high level of professionalism and survey knowledge to the Geomatic Resources team. His experience covers a wide range of surveying duties. His background includes serving as Instrument Man, Survey Assistant, Party Chief, Offshore Survey Technician, Project manager, and Professional Land Surveyor. His early surveying experience includes performing numerous field assignments in Nova Scotia, Canada. Recently, he has served as RPLS/ Project Manager for a number of natural gas gathering pipeline projects, oil & gas lease and location surveys, boundary, topographic, and hydrographic surveys and has been involved with offshore positioning and metrology, monitoring & logging surface & sub-surface positioning data in the Gulf of Mexico. Jamie is a Registered Professional Land Surveyor in Texas and Louisiana, and is very active in the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors and the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping. He holds a PBC in Geographic Information Sciences from Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi. He also received a BA in History and Political Science from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “Jamie will be taking on the key role of supporting our existing customer base on all survey products and will be helping with our ongoing sales efforts. We hope you share our excitement in adding such a well respected and knowledgeable person to our staff. Please join us in welcoming Jamie Gillis to Geomatic Resources” says Rodney Walsh, President of Geomatic Resources LLC. Jamie can be reached via email at jg@geotx.com About Geomatic Resources Geomatic Resources LLC is one of the largest independent distributors of Leica Geosystems products in the United States, serving North Texas and Oklahoma from a sales, rental, service, support and training center adjacent to the DFW airport in Irving, Texas. Geomatic provides Surveying Professionals with state of the art GPS, Robotic, Total Station, Digital Level, Machine Control and HDS Laser Scanning solutions as well as a full range of Supplies and Accessories. For more information about Geomatic Resources visit www.geotx.com, email rw@geotx.com, or call 1-817-691-5328.

Opportunities for You….

---Calling all Surveyors!!! WE NEED YOU AND YOUR GPS EQUIPMENT The National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) is organizing a “Survey America” event for Saturday March 19. Essentially the event will try to have Surveyors across the United States simultaneously occupy and observe by GPS as many survey monuments (benchmarks) as possible. Press releases and newspaper articles will be dispersed in conjunction with the event to bring awareness of the survey profession and TSPS, and the contributions from the profession to society. Chapter PR Committee Chairman Chris Freeman will be organizing the information for Chapter 5 members, so stay tuned and plan on being part of something BIG!

---Damage Prevention Summit If you are in the neighborhood, you may want to try to attend the 2011 Damage Prevention Summit in San Marcos on February 1 and 2. In particular, there is a Utility Mapping & Marking Workshop that should be of interest for Surveyors. If you attend, be sure to look for the TSPS booth, as they will be there to help bridge the gap between the Surveying community and the Utility Line Locators. Summit Website: http://summit.digtess.com

---Chapter 5 Committee Opportunities…any volunteer organization will only be as strong as the membership. Chapter 5 has a long history of being a “get ‘er done” Chapter, and is looked upon across the State as a leader in our association. There are a variety of opportunities for members to become active in different ways to help the Chapter promote the survey profession. Working on a Chapter committee helps progress these efforts at the local level, and even at the state level. A little work by many is more fruitful and less demanding that a lot of work by a few. Please consider working on a committee. Contact any of the Chapter 5 EXCOM members for information.

---News from the Texas Board of Professional Land Surveying…There is a new Executive Director in place. Frank DiTucci has replaced Sandy Smith, who recently retired. Several amendments to Rules were posted recently in the Texas Register.

---Skills USA/Duncanville High School Survey Program… Chapter 5 SkillsUSA Committee Chairman Richard Ortiz (214/994-9521) is organizing a team to assist with preparing the Duncanville High School survey students for the upcoming February 11th District 6 survey contest. The event will take place at the campus of Texas State Technical College in Waco, with the top 3 teams advancing to the state survey competition in Corpus Christi in early April. Volunteers so far include Justin Waldrip, Randy Hughes, Randall Marshall, and Scott Posey. If you’d like to assist, contact Richard for additional information.

In related Skills news, the national Skills organization, at the request from several states, is leaning toward a national survey competition at the high school level. Arkansas, New Jersey, Kansas, and Illinois are interested in starting their own competitions, and the Texas model is what they are using. Paperwork was recently submitted to set in motion the steps necessary to stage a national survey competition. Meeting recently with Barton Burnett were TSPS members Bill Coleman, Jamie Gillis, Scott Posey, Chris Freeman, and Richard Ortiz. It appears in all likelihood that this June there will be a demo competition so that SkillsUSA administrators, faculty, and students can observe a typical survey competition event, with a “real McCoy” national competition set for June of 2012. Remember, all the Skills survey activities were born from the inaugural Teachers Retreat held in June of 2007. Chapter 5 has been a strong leader and supporter thanks to the commitment of its members.

---North Lake College Spring Semester Survey Courses….Several Survey courses will be offered for the upcoming Spring semester at North Lake College. Due to Dallas County Community College District rules, classes must have a minimum of 8 students for the class to “make”. The following survey courses constitute the pool of available courses offered: Introduction to Surveying, Survey Calculations, Survey Measurement, Legal Principles I & II, Land Surveying Applications, Land Surveying, Geodetic Surveying & Mapping, and GIS Applications. All of these courses are recognized by the TBPLS as college credit survey courses. All courses are taught by a current or former Registered Professional Land Surveyor. Chapter 5 assists students who work for TSPS members by providing reimbursement for books and/or calculators. Encourage your paraprofessional staff to enroll in a course for the coming semester. Click here for scholarship application.

---Monthly Meeting Program/Speaker ideas? If you have an idea regarding a Speaker or meeting Program, contact Program Committee Chairman Jason Jernigan (214) 346-6204. Good programs mean good attendance and greater activity, and the opportunity to learn something to make us better at our jobs.

---Newsletter Contributions
If you would like to offer an article or share some news or information, you are more than welcome to do so. The Newsletter is a service to Chapter 5 members, and your contributions are encouraged. Whether it is a technical offering, a historical article, or just a neat photo or link that might be of interest to our members, please forward it for inclusion so that all may enjoy.

On the Horizon ...

---SurveyingAmerica Event set for Saturday March 19. In conjunction with National Surveyors Week (March 20-26), the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) has organized a great event to highlight Surveyors and promote the survey profession. The event attempts to have as many Surveyors as possible occupy a monument (or any location, for that matter) and obtain latitude and longitude so that position can be forwarded to NSPS. They ask that the “observation” be at least 30 minutes long, and it can be done utilizing typical survey grade equipment used by Surveyors, or even hand held GPS devices. The event is to be a fun event for all, while also an event that draws attention to Surveyors and the profession.

TSPS is hoping for a strong participation from its members and Chapters, as Texas obviously has the opportunity to exploit its geographic size and its number of Surveyors to lead this activity. There is talk from the Chapter Presidents Committee and the Public relations Committee to have a “challenge” amongst the Chapters as a way to encourage participation. A link is available via the TSPS website where participants can obtain event information, Data Submittal Forms, and ideas to assist in promoting our profession.

SIT/RPLS Study Groups
April is getting close! Halff Associates will host three study groups before the April exams for anyone studying for the SIT or RPLS exam. If you’ve come before – welcome back! If this is your first time we look forward to meeting you. Anyone from any company is more than welcome to come.

Here is what we do: SIT candidates study in their own group. Everyone is encouraged to bring books or study material and a TBPLS approved calculator. There is no formal lecture. It is just a bunch of people working through problems to prepare for the NCEES exam. The group moves at whatever pace the participants set. It is a great opportunity to learn from your peers and meet people from different companies. Chances are if you’re having trouble with a certain subject or problem, one of the other people in the group knows the answer and can help you with it.

RPLS candidates also meet in their own group and work through analytical problems. Several topics from the legal portion of the exam also come up, but the main focus of the group is the analytical portion. It tends to be harder to study for alone. Analytical problems are notoriously hard to come by, so if you have any, please bring them. Bring your TBPLS approved calculator and some colored pencils for deed sketches.

The first meeting this year will be Saturday, February 19, from 8am-noon at Halff Associates’ Richardson office (see attached map). The next two meetings are scheduled for March 5 and March 19 in the same time slot. As always, there is no charge for the groups and breakfast is provided for those who RSVP. Please RSVP to me by replying to this e-mail.

You can also keep track of group meetings and access study material through the following two Yahoo groups. To reduce Spam I’ve restricted who can become a member. That won’t affect you if you’re already a member, but I will have to approve any new people who want to join. It could take about a day or so between the time you try to join the group and when you gain access.

• SIT Study Group: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/land_surv/
• RPLS Study Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rpls_study_group/

Thanks,
Jason

PS - I'm retiring!! This series of three study groups meetings will be the last I lead it. After six years of running the study groups, I've decided to hand the reigns over to someone else. If you are interested in taking over, please let me know and I'll be happy to bring you up to speed.

Notice: Please e-mail me if you would like to be removed from this mailing list.

Tim Mireaur Memorial Golf Tournament
Golf Tournament Chairman Sean Flaherty reports that this year’s Tournament has been set for Saturday May 14th at The Brickyard Golf Course in Ferris. There will be an 8 a.m. shotgun start, with the always popular Texas de Brazil lunch to follow. Watch for details on signing up.

---James Harkin from the Texas General Land Office will be our Guest Speaker at the March 8 Chapter 5 monthly meeting.

---next TBPLS Board Meeting is scheduled for Friday March 11th in Austin. The TBPLS awards 4 CEU’s to attendees of their meetings. Check the new Board website for information and meeting agenda (www.txls.state.tx.us).

---next TSPS Board of Directors Meeting to be held on Saturday June 25th in Austin at the Airport Hilton. The annual Ray Wisdom barbeque and auction fund raiser will be held immediately following the Board meeting.