California Surveyors Forums

Good Afternoon,

Attached is a request from the County Surveyor for voluntary submission of your survey control points. Please see the attached memo for background information and instructions.

This is an exciting opportunity to help improve the spatial accuracy of the County’s GIS layers that the surveying and engineering community use on a daily basis.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Dave

David L. McMillan, P.L.S.

Senior Land Surveyor
Transportation Department, Survey Division
Geodetic Analysis & Counter Services
4080 Lemon Street, 8th Floor | Riverside, CA 92501
Direct 951-955-6723 | General 951-955-6700
dmcmilla@rctlma.org| http://rctlma.org/trans/Survey

What good is improvement of the spatial accuracy of Riverside County's GIS layers if the survey control point data is not to be shared with the general public?

I must be missing something here... Are there people who consider the location of existing survey monuments proprietary information?

I admit that I know nothing about ESRI parcel fabric technology.

How much does Riverside county charge for tie notes?

Better yet, how much are they going to pay for control point information?

I think you only pay if you get paper copies. The research is available for free online.

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Olin,

I don't work for the County, but that's ridiculous. There are parts of that county where the GIS PL layers are off by 300 feet. There's an area near downtown Riverside, a very populated area off by 50 feet or more. They just want observed control points throughout the County to get the layers in a more accurate position. How is it a waste of resources when the points they are going to us are donated by the public? The CS is charged with keeping an accurate boundary layer in the County GIS. What better way to save public resources than by asking for GPS control points to be donated to the County?

Thanks,
Ryan.

I believe strongly that it could be a fantastic use of public resources and a very valuable tool if it was implemented properly and accessible to the community. I just don't understand the note at the bottom of the request, I am hoping for some clarification from the OP on why these points would not be made public

Wow, $100 an hour, I should become a technician and not a PLS!

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I am hoping for some clarification from the OP on why these points would not be made public

I'm not sure that submitted control points could be shielded from a PRA request, but on the other hand, who'd want them anyway? Without knowledge of how they were developed, no prudent licensee would rely on them for any professional purpose.

Which makes one wonder why the county would rely on them either.

Jim Frame wrote:

I am hoping for some clarification from the OP on why these points would not be made public

I'm not sure that submitted control points could be shielded from a PRA request, but on the other hand, who'd want them anyway? Without knowledge of how they were developed, no prudent licensee would rely on them for any professional purpose.

I'd want them to show up on the GIS for what I thought would be obvious reasons... It would certainly help me estimate a job if I knew which monuments are in my place before I go, what they look like and when was the last time they were tied and by whom.

If you are saying that someone might sit in the office and draft a subdivision map based on the coordinates off of the GIS website then yes, I see your point. I'm sure someone would do it too...