PLSO The Oregon Surveyor May June 2020

Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon |  www.plso.org 17 Featured Article private land surveying firms as well as their own forces to perform the work and document it. The federal govern- ment set up guidelines to be followed and the cantons followed them, adding their own where it was prudent. In the 1990s, when GIS came into play, Swit- zerland set up a system and had all the property lines brought into the GIS. Ba- sically, they identified the right way of doing things, made an investment, and now they are reaping the benefits of that investment. So my biggest takeaway from the Swit- zerland trip is that the Swiss government funded and guided the whole effort. Who would pay for that here in the United States? I think it would take decades to even get such a proposal to be considered by our federal government. Honestly, I don’t see it ever making it to the top of their priority list, and I think it would be a waste of my time and energy to even try. My proposal for progress Rather than working on our government to set up a new system, I believe that we should just start documenting our cadas- tre in GIS similar to the way the Swiss are doing it, starting with New York City and Long Island. My company is the big- gest land surveying company in this area. We regularly perform boundary surveys for large areas and for corridors sever- al miles long. We are also Esri Business Partners, because we are prominent users of GIS application development. I am proposing that my company sets up a GIS repository of surveyed proper- ty line data. After boundaries are set, we convert the linework in the state plane coordinate system from CAD to GIS. The geometry includes points for monuments that exist in the field. We even add points for monuments that were called for in records, but were not found in the field. Record data will also be stored in the GIS with links to scanned PDF files of each document such as deeds, subdivision maps, taking maps, etc. We also include metadata about how the boundary lines were set—what was found, what was held, equipment used, records used, scoring about confidence in the place - ment, and notes about known issues. There is so much useful data that can be incorporated into the repository to prevent loss of historical data and du- plication of survey efforts. My company currently holds a large con- tract with the New York City Department of Design and Construction to perform land surveying services for the next three years. There are at least 10 other com- panies that have similar contracts. We get the city on board with sharing the data in the repository. This will serve several purposes: 1. The city has one place to look for property boundary data for all of their recent projects. 2. Property line data will be shared between consultants so they can coordinate when they work near an area that has already been mapped. Protocol would be to check the repository when beginning a new project, so that research efforts are not duplicated. 3. New York City has several government agencies— Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Transportation, Buildings, Environmental Protection, etc. Various city agencies can have access to the repository, significantly reducing correspondence about boundary line issues. I believe we could gain significant cover - age of the city and Long Island in just a few years. Those who contribute quali- ty data to the repository get free access to all of it. Other companies, munici- palities, and the general public can pay for a subscription to the repository. We would need buy-in from the government to promote getting data into the system by adding a specification to their projects that surveyed property lines, acquisi- tions, taking maps, and subdivisions. Why not? I wrote this article to get people thinking about what we could do. I’m not saying it’s easy or without argument, but here are a couple of analogies for my fellow land surveyors to consider: Some land surveyors will say that the re- pository will put land surveyors out of business. If you’re a doctor and you can cure cancer, then you cure it. You don’t avoid the cure to keep the treatment business. You implement the solution and you move on to the next problem that needs attention. Also, I kinda think that if we don’t do it, Google will.  x Here are some links to Swiss GIS data. • https://s.geo.admin.ch/7f83332aea Where you can access a map with the four layers loaded. • https://maps.zh.ch?topic=AVswZH &scale=552&=2686017.62&y= 1243450.23&srid=2056&offlayers= bezirkslabels&back=AVlightswZH With two level-three planimetric control points. Christine Gayron is a partner in Gayron de Bruin Land Surveying and Engineering PC, www.gayrondebruin.com , along with Greg de Bruin, who wrote the NYSAPLS President’s Message on page 12. Christine met Samantha Tanner’s friend James Barber, who wrote the Outsider’s article on page 18, on the Swiss trip she mentions here. continued from page 15 T Screenshot of Swisstopo notes.