3 Professional Land Surveyors of Oregon | www.plso.org that the city surveyor would only have one “technical” review of the plat and any conflict would be resolved by the county surveyor. PLSO is not in favor of this order, and I assume that the county surveyors are not also. If this becomes law, it would place a large burden on the counties that are already understaffed. It also shows that the commission does not understand ORS 92.100 and the function of the city surveyor to serve in lieu of the county surveyor. It is my understanding that the county surveyor merely reviews the plat for recording requirements while the city surveyor completes all other required reviews. The relationship between the city and county and the private surveyor in this process is one of professional and teamwork. Submitting the plat for review is tedious for the surveyor, with all the conditions of approval and then the plat standards to be met. But you don’t just submit something and hope it is complete (or are you submitting a plat just to get the client off your back?). And whose fault is it that it takes several reviews to get the plat into recording shape? It’s one thing if the reviewing surveyor is asking for something that is a “nice to have” instead of a “have to have.” Then, there is the old complaint of the boundary being in question, who is signing the plat, and if it is questioned, is there a good reason? The issue of getting plats recorded in a timely manner is an age-old problem. So is the review of our work. Land surveying is a profession and we as Licensed Land Surveyors are professionals. We are not technicians and should not allow ourselves to be treated as such by other entities. It’s easy to keep our heads down on the computer and take care of our clients and assume someone else will defend our interests. That is a very dangerous attitude to take today. Every day, we need to let others know we are professionals and what kind of mess there would be if we weren’t there to take care of the problems that come up. I respect the work that planners and GIS people do, but at the same time we need to educate those people along with the lawmakers that land surveyors are necessary and professionals in our own right. How to Send Us Your Work Please email the editor Vanessa Salvia with submissions: vsalvia@gmail.com. Your submission should be in .doc format. Please send images separately (not embedded in the document) and at the highest file size available (MB size range versus KB size range—larger sizes are encouraged). Please include the author’s name and email address or phone number for contact. From the PLSO Chair
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