MSPS Chapter 6

Summary Report for the 2007 Meeting Year

By Bob Burrell, 2007 President

January 8, 2008

This report is a summary of Chapter 6 business that was conducted from the period starting on November 16, 2006 and ending with elections at the November 15, 2007 meeting.

The Minnesota Society of Professional Surveyors--Chapter 6 affiliate meets five times during the year to provide its Twin Cities Metropolitian membership with professional and technical development. In addition, the meetings serve as an opportunity for socializing and professional networking. The Chapter meets on the third Thursday in the months of November, January, March, May, and September. The election of officers occurs at the November meeting.

At the November 15, 2007 meeting the membership installed president-elect John Benner, as president. Julie Groetsch and Bob Burrell were elected treasurer and secretary respectively. The position of president-elect is unfilled and the executive board is actively recruiting for this position.

A continuing goal of the Chapter is focusing on professional development by engaging the membership with speakers from the profession and related professions to speak on current topics of interest. Another continuing goal is providing a social environment where our membership and supporters of the Chapter are comfortable meeting and socializing. In terms of professional development the Chapter initiated in 2007 a surveying seminar on Minnesota platting laws. We found this seminar to be very rewarding for the members and our goal is to continue with similar educational offerings.

The year, 2007, was a rewarding and productive for Chapter 6 in that we had an excellent program from John Barnes, partner of Sunde Surveying, on “3D RLS Platting” in January. John Freemeyer provided a very interesting talk on the Minneapolis Star Land Promotion—Carver Beach at the March meeting. In May, we met with the Capitol Area Land Surveyors Association to share ideas and develop camaraderie between the two organizations. For the September meeting Ed Bock, the Registrar of Titles for Hennepin County, gave a superb overview on Torrens Title Registration and how it affects the surveyor. In October, we successfully hosted a seminar on, “Platting in Minnesota”. We had over 40 surveyors in attendance to hear presentations from Bill Brown, Hennepin County Surveyor; John Freemeyer, Carver County Surveyor; Rick Moray, Right-of-way Chief for Minnesota Department of Transportation; and Mike Welling, Washington County Surveyor. In terms of Professional Development Hours we provided 8 PDH’s for our members.

Chapter 6 experienced another year of growth in membership, meetings with an average attendance of about 20 people, and a greater enthusiasm and interest in Chapter business. Our desire is to continue on this path of building membership, providing quality speakers on contemporaneous topics, hosting one surveying seminar in the meeting year, and fostering stronger bonds with the MSPS parent organization.