May '08 Quarterly Board Meeting


	Area & Chapter Reports SOUTH PLAINS CHAPTER 1 The South Plains Chapter No. 1 has had no activity during the past quarter. We are planning a joint meeting with Chapter 16 on May 21^st. The meeting will be at the Cotton Patch Restaurant at 6:30 with Coleen Johnson as the guest speaker. Submitted by John Allen. NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER 2 CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER 3 Meeting held on April 10, 2008, at 7:00 pm at the Lake Brazos Steakhouse. The featured speaker was Galen Greaser, Spanish Archivist and Translator of the Texas General Land Office who gave a fabulous presentation. A $300 sponsorship was approved by motion to fund the Rudy's BBQ at the Educators Conference in Tyler. There were approximately 20 people in attendance. Next meeting in June: Colleen Johnson, President, TSPS, is our featured speaker. Respectfully submitted, Michael Evans Registered Professional Land Surveyor EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 4 January 17, 2008 – The Chapter held a business meeting at 6:30 pm at Tyler Junior College. We had 21 in attendance. Our guest speaker was TSPS President, Coleen Johnson. She spoke about the upcoming year and the direction of TSPS. Art Osborn was recognized with a round of applause for his years of service on the State Board. We discussed the upcoming Surveying Camp and Educator’s Retreat. A Thank You goes out to our meal sponsor, Stanger Surveying Company. April 17, 2008 – The Chapter held a business meeting at 6:30 pm at Tyler Junior College. We had 15 in attendance. A financial report was given by Secretary, Shane Neally. We discussed the upcoming TSFI Auction. The Chapter voted to spend up to $150 for TSFI auction items. Other items to be donated by individuals and Tyler Junior College were discussed and will be followed up on. The Chapter voted to donate $1000 to SEFT for Surveying Camp and $500 to TSPS for Educator’s Retreat. The Chapter received $1000 donations for the Surveying Camp and Educator’s Retreat from Steven Freeman with Thompson and Assoc. These checks will be forwarded to SEFT and TSPS. A Thank You goes out to TJC Surveying Instructor, Patti Williams for being our meal sponsor. We took a SURPAC donation and raised $200.00. Respectfully Submitted, Dempsey Hannah, Chapter President DALLAS CHAPTER 5 DEEP EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 6 A Chapter Board Meeting was held February 14, 2008 at the Lone Star Steakhouse Restaurant, in Beaumont. The meeting was called to order by the President. Minutes from the last Chapter Board meeting were read and a financial report was given by the Secretary-Treasurer Richard Worthey. A brief review of the TSPS First Quarter State Board meeting was given to the board by Joe Breaux. Also mentioned were important activities such as geocaching and setting local monuments, the Course Developers Seminar in May and the Convention Cruise in October. Coming chapter activities such as the annual seminar and sponsorship for the Educators Retreat in Tyler were discussed, but no action was taken at this time. On March 19, the Gulf Coast Chapter and our Chapter held a Joint Meeting in Winnie at the Chambers County Community Center. Catering was by Al T’s Restaurant. President Coleen Johnson and her husband were the featured guests. In attendance were approximately 30 members of the Gulf Coast Chapter and 11 members from the Deep East Texas Chapter. President Johnson brought the group up to date on state activities and issues and her travels across the state. The meeting was a great success and drew a surprising attendance considering the drive made by the members from the Houston area. Our thanks go out to the Gulf Coast Chapter, especially President Stephanie Funk for initiating the meeting, making the arrangements and bringing out such a good crowd. The meeting was a rare opportunity for fellowship and discussion between the chapters and was a great success. Our next Chapter Board meeting is scheduled for April 30, 2008 at the Lone Star Steakhouse. Respectfully submitted, W. J. (Joe) Breaux Chapter President CENTRAL EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 8 Our meeting of the quarter was on April 3, 2008 was held at Ralph & Kacoo’s in Lufkin, Texas. There were 8 in attendance.. Our next meeting is scheduled for May 1, 2008 at Ralph & Kacoo’s in Lufkin, Texas. Sincerely, Errol Collins, RPLS Chapter 8 President GULF COAST CHAPTER 9 Activities for the Gulf Coast Chapter: January 15, 2008 – The dinner meeting was held at the Houston City Club with approximately 40 in attendance. The program for the evening included a discussion of current events, TSPS general business and a guest speaker. Our guest speaker for the evening was Joan Baugh discussing “Business: Are you running it or is it running you?”. The topic covered emails, phone calls and allotting time to take care of your business on your terms. February 12, 2008 – The Chapter Board meeting was held at the offices of Benchmark Engineering. The newly elected board had several items on the agenda to discuss for the upcoming term. Most noteworthy items included the naming of the committee chairs, establishing a budget, coordinating the transfer of data between the outgoing secretary/treasurer and the incoming secretary/treasurer and resurrecting the newsletter and chapter website. March 19, 2008 – The dinner meeting was held at the Chambers County Hospitality Room in Winnie, Texas. A joint chapter meeting was held between the Gulf Coast Chapter 9 and the Deep East Texas Chapter 6. We had approximately 40 in attendance and our guest speaker was Coleen Johnson, TSPS President. Dinner was catered by a local restaurant and adult beverages were served out of ice chests to create an informal social event to catch up with surveyors from different regions. I think a good time was had by all. April 8, 2008 – The Chapter Board meeting was held at the offices of Benchmark Engineering. The most noteworthy items discussed at the board meeting included: schedule for upcoming events (softball, golf, fishing tournaments and picnic), budget items and newsletter and website issues. Terry Rowe, Chapter Education/Public Relations Committee Chair, has been trying to get the information for TrigStar to get it started in the Houston area and getting together a contingent of surveyors and equipment to assist with the Survey Merit Badge for the boy scouts at the winter camp over the Christmas holidays. May 2, 2008 – The Chapter had it’s annual softball tournament. Eighteen teams played to a first place finish by Costello, Inc. The chapter handed out koozies, towels, t-shirts and trophies to first, second, third and fourth place finishers. May 20, 2008 – The Chapter will host its May dinner meeting at Joe’s Barbeque Company in Alvin, Texas. Terry Rowe, Education/Public Relations Committee Chair will host an Evening of Education honoring Celeste Brooks with the Dickinson ISD for her work with students participating in the TrigStar and SkillsUSA programs sponsored by TSPS. The Chapter has also sponsored Ms. Brooks attendance to the Teacher’s Retreat in Tyler in June. May 24, 2008 - The Chapter will host its annual picnic repeating the previous year’s venue by having the event at the ballpark for an Astros game. We will be located in the Champions Room with food and fun for all attending. The Chapter purchases a large amount of tickets and receives a discounted price so they will go quickly once the announcement is made. Stephanie A. Funk, President PERMIAN BASIN CHAPTER 10 Submitted by Craig Alderman Chapter President March March 13th Chapter 10 hosted a Bar B Q lunch in Midland to promote National Surveyors Week and to introduce the Chapter's vision for a Permian Basin College level survey program. The event was attended by about 40 members and guest. Also in attendance where representative from local colleges. Our speakers for the event were Director of Surveying at Tyler Junior College Patti Williams and Past President and Education Committee Chairman Bud Thompson. Patti Williams did a great job of filling in the blanks about the challenges of starting and running a survey program. Bud Thompson also did a great job informing the group about what is going on with education at TSPS. After the speakers were finished several guest from the colleges shared their interest in our vision and there was some good discussion that followed. The guest were also able to view displays of surveying equipment and examples of drafting and other interesting items. We are keeping in contact with the colleges and there is even discussion of a joint venture with both colleges. March 27th Chapter Meeting in Midland at Gerado' Casita Mexican Restaurant. Bobby Hempfling of Martin Instrument spoke about common GPS blunders. We had 11 members present and after Bobby's presentation we finalized the details for our April Golf Tournament. April April 5th Chapter 10 hosted the Annual "Windy West Texas" Golf Tournament. We had 48 player (4 man Scramble). The weather was much wormer than last year, but was still windy. Grady McGowan did a great job "twisting arms" and getting sponsors for the tournament. We had every hole sponsored of $100 dollars. with sponsors to spare. We also had several venders donated very generously. Chapter 10 raised over $3000 dollars including mulligans and raffle items. Dr. Alred and Jim McPherson of Odessa College join us for Bar B Q after the tournament and they were able to meet some of our members. The folks from Odessa College were very impressed with our Chapter and what we told them about TSPS and our vision for our course. We have two fans here. May May 8th Chapter 10 is pleased to announce we will have Coleen Johnson with us for our May meeting. We are inviting the folks from the Colleges and will alert the local media and hopefully get some "airtime" for TSPS. ALAMO CHAPTER 11 Chapter 11 is on tract, once again, for a busy year. We are meeting each month and planning our yearly activities. We held our first General Meeting of 2008 on Thursday, January 17^th at the Hungry Horse Restaurant during the lunch hour. Mr. Ron Martin presented a discussion on Geodesy, Map Projections and GIS Surveying. The meeting was attended by 36 people and was a very interesting topic. February found us hosting our annual Golf Tournament on Thursday February 21, 2008. The tournament was held at Briggs Ranch in west Bexar County and there were 82 players that enjoyed a warm February afternoon. Duderstadt Stake Company provided their usual fine Bar-B-Q dinner following the tournament that closed out another successful event for the scholarship fund. The Symposium followed the golf tournament and was a huge success for TSPS with the Alamo Chapter providing volunteers to assist in the program presentations. We are very pleased to have been a part of a record breaking event for TSPS. March brought us “Surveyors Week” and as president of the Alamo Chapter, I asked a fellow worker, who has published a few articles before, if he would write a fictional story of an old surveyor meeting a new surveyor in the field. He did write the article and we tried to get it published, but could not get a response from the local secondary newspapers. Our next attempt at “Surveyors Week” was to plant some capped PVC pipes in a couple of locations around San Antonio and contact a geocache website to list the coordinates. Little did we know that the geocache community is very particular about the placement of items to be found. Our attempt to promote “Surveyors Week” through geocaching was a good idea, but we were not privy to the various “rules”. Next year we will make plans far enough in advance to avoid some of the pitfalls we encountered this year. March also was host to our second General Meeting with our guest speaker being Mike Dooley of Geodetics. Mike spoke about Photogrametry and the need for good control. Good control for the actual aerial mapping and the various applications of Photogrametry and it use in everyday life. Mike provided a question and answer session following his presentation. April 19^th was the date of the local TRIGSTAR competition held at San Antonio College. A total of 49 students took the exam with 4 students achieving a perfect score. Time separated the students in 1^st and 2^nd place with a tie for 3^rd place. The fourth month will find us having a “Board” meeting and a “General Meeting” combined. We will have a brief “Board” meeting to give some of our members a chance to see what a “Board” meeting is all about. We will also be filling a vacancy in our Program Committee. The “General Meeting” will be Chester Varner, from the Cruise Committee, explaining and answering any questions about the upcoming Convention This year has also brought us an addition to the newsletter. Each newsletter has a section for a picture and a brief description of something caught, trapped, bagged, or killed - this section has been popular so far with fish and hogs. We also have created space for articles by wanna-be writers to send in their stories about surveying -similar to the article about the old surveyor meeting the new surveyor in our March issue. We will continue to promote surveying any way we can. Don’t forget our 4^th Annual Hook Line and Surveyor fishing tournament in September and we will be hosting the State Convention (cruise) in October. Sincerely, Budd Buchanan, R.P.L.S. COASTAL BEND CHAPTER 12 Attendance has been up this quarter, thanks to an occasional guest speaker and some gentle persuasion by certain employers. January was mostly a social meeting, but was well attended with lots of new faces. In February, James Woods of TXDOT - Corpus Christi gave us a presentation on the process of becoming certified as a contractor for TXDOT, and the TXDOT VRS Network. A committee was formed for TSPS Course Development, and some discussion was held about the Chapter 12 Scholarship Fund. Although the TrigStar competition was scheduled for March 8, one of the teachers had requested a postponement because a local math teacher had passed away and the funeral was to be held on that date also. It was voted to postpone the competition until April 5, with the awards dinner on April 10. In March, Jim Nash of TerraSond, LLC, gave us a presentation on hydrographic surveying techniques in both shallow water and deep water conditions. A discussion of the Chapter 12 Scholarship Fund was held, and since no one had applied for a scholarship, it was voted and passed that a one-time contribution of $1000 be made to the Scott Mazurick Memorial Scholarship Fund at TAMUCC for this year, and that further work needs to be done on the Chapter 12 Scholarship. Arrangements were made for volunteers for the TrigStar competition on April 5. Tentative speakers for upcoming months include: April - Tom Moore, AAGS; July – Coleen Johnson, TSPS; August – Bill O.Hara; TxGLO. Michael J. MacInnis RPLS President, Coastal Bend Chapter 12 CAPITAL AREA CHAPTER 13 Regular Membership Meetings: Chapter 13 has had regular meetings held on the third Thursday of each month (except April's meeting was held on the fourth Thursday). February 21, 2008 — Travis County Clerk, Dana Debeauvoir was February's speaker. The meeting was held at Artz Rib House with approximately 40 members attending. Dana's talk focused on upgrades to the County's website and the issues involved with the Attorney General's decision on Social Security Numbers being on county documents. The speaker's message was well received and everyone enjoyed her presentation. There was $20 collected for SurPAC. March 20, 2008 — Hays County Commissioner, and Jeff Barton was March's speaker. The meeting was held at Artz Rib House with approximately 30 members attending. Jeff's presentation focused planned Hays County infrastructure improvements. His speech was also well received and everyone enjoyed his presentation. April 24, 2008 — The April meeting is the Chapter's annual picnic. We had to schedule this meeting for April 24 and this report is due April 23. I will report on this regular membership meeting during the Quarterly Board Meeting at the President's Luncheon. Executive Committee Meetings Chapter 13 has had Executive Committee meetings on either the first or second Wednesday of each month. We are currently working out the logistics of providing the books for Austin Community College students that are working toward an associate's degree in Land Surveying/Geomatics. Public Relations In February, Chapter members were involved with Merit Badge University, where thirty-six boy scouts earned the Surveying Merit Badge, one of the original Boy Scouts of America merit badges, at the end of the 4-hour session. Instruction for the Surveying Merit Badge was provided for the following: 1) knowledge of first aid; 2) angle measurement, error of closure computation, and distance measurement; 3) drafting; 4) description writing; 5) leveling; 6) deed research; 7) GPS discussion; 8) discussion in preparation for a career in surveying. Chapter 13 participated in the promotion of National Surveyor's Week by installing a geocache and museum exhibit at O. Henry Museum here in Austin. The geocache and exhibit will run through May 1. Education As a part of Chapter 13's Para-professional Mathematics Seminars, Mike Ritter and James Mason conducted the Para-professional S.I.T. Preparation Seminar on March 29, 2008. There were 20 participants raising $1200 with all proceeds going to SurPAC. Many of the participants said this was the best class they have attended as far as content and value. Chapter 13 has formed a six-member team to develop the Math 101 seminar for the TSPS Course/Speaker Development. Other Chapter 13 member Pat Smith was elected chairman of the National Society of Professional Surveyors board of governors, which includes a seat on its board of directors. Respectfully Submitted, David A. McDow PASO DEL NORTE CHAPTER 17 Officers: President - James Whitaker, RPLS Vice-President - Charles Gutierrez, RPLS Secretary-Treasurer - Hector Porras Director - Larry L. Drewes, RPLS Director - Bob Monroe, RPLS The TSPS Chapter 17 Paso Del Norte meet at 6:30pm Friday evening to conduct business. Mr. Gutierrez conducted the meeting. He brought to the table the need to support SURPAC and the TSFI and solicited for donations. No donations where offered. Mr. Gutierrez gave a brief of a survey in litigation he is involved with citing only basic information. A detailed explanation of the case will follow at the next meeting. A discussion of when, where, and what to discuss during Chapter meeting was covered. An attempt to get SITs' and crew members to become involved was brought to the attention of the meeting. Monthly meetings will be scheduled on a regular basis. The attending members are as follows: Charles Gutierrez, R.P.L.S. Benito Barragan, R.P.L.S. Avelardo Ponce, R.P.L.S. Daniel Barragan, R.P.L.S. Ira Hardin, R.P.L.S. James D.Whitaker, R.P.L.S. President, Paso Del Norte chapter RIO GRANDE VALLEY CHAPTER 19 On February 5, 2008 we had meeting on Los Compadres Restaurant in Mercedes, Texas. Our current President of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors Coleen M. Johnson, was our speaker, there were 18 members present. Our March Board of directors meeting was held March 12, 2008 at the Best Western Hotel in Weslaco, Texas. On April 1, 2008 was held on the Best Western Hotel in Weslaco, Texas. Our speaker was Garey W. Gilley an We are exited and happy of our new involve and interest in the Chapter activities and hope it will continue. I thank them for their service to our chapter and hopefully our attendance will grow. Our last meeting was held on May 6, 2008 at the Best Western Hotel in Weslaco, Texas. Our speaker was Peter Murphy, from Sierra Title, the topic was the relations between Title Companies and Land Surveyor. As you can imagine there was a lot of discussion, but at the end we all learn something. On June 7, 2007 the RGV Chapter is having a TSPS seminar at the Courtyard by Marriott in Harlingen, Texas. We are working hard to have a good representation of the Valley Surveyors. Sincerely, Carlos Vasquez BRAZOS VALLEY CHAPTER 20 We are planning a meeting for May. Not much activity in our chapter at this time. Respectfully Submitted, Curtis Strong HEART OF TEXAS CHAPTER 21 We’ve experienced a lot more participation lately and better attendance at our meetings than in the past. Our first chapter meeting after the last TSPS Board meeting was held in Cleburne on February 9^th. I gave the chapter a summary of the topics covered in the quarterly meeting. The chapter voted to donate $1,000 toward the expansion and maintenance of the surveyor’s exhibit at the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco. In addition, the chapter voted to allocate $1,000 toward two $500 scholarships to be awarded to individuals pursuing a career in surveying. The chapter also made plans to speak to high schools in their area to inform the students of the possibility of a career in surveying, let them know what surveying is about, and to also let them know about the scholarships. The Education Committee will accept essays from applicants for the scholarships and will award the scholarships based on review. There were 16 members and 3 guests in attendance. In addition to the Cleburne meeting, the chapter also met in Hico on April 5^th to touch base and plan ahead. An update was given by the Education Committee Chairman (Rick Hickman), the Secretary/Treasurer (Gary Clements) gave us a financial update, and general discussion was made regarding working toward developing a seminar. The chapter is hoping to raise money from a seminar in order to possibly put them in a position to award more scholarship money next year. Attendance at this meeting was less than the previous, but still rather healthy compared to the attendance numbers over the last few years. Discussion was made concerning the need to promote a membership drive in order to get more participation. The chapter appears to be headed in right direction. Our next meeting will be our annual picnic to be held in May. There were 11 members and 4 guests in attendance. Respectfully Submitted, S. Erik Dumas, R.P.L.S. CHAPARRAL CHAPTER 22 Chapter 22 held a Dinner Meeting at the Town House Restaurant in Uvalde, Texas on March 17, 2008. Eleven members and spouses were present. Paul Carey made presentations on the Convention Tour and on the Skills USA program. This Chapter had no meetings in 2008 prior to March 17 and did not have a Surveyors Week project. Two members intend to attend the Convention this year along with their spouses. Our next meeting is scheduled for June 9, 2008. Respectfully Submitted, Paul T. Carey, Chapter President NORTH EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 23 Chapter 23 meets bi-monthly. In January, Chapter met at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. No program was planned and the business meeting was brief. Fifteen surveyors and guests enjoyed a fine meal and companionship. Chapter met in March at Amigo Juan’s in Atlanta. Seventeen members and guests enjoyed the spicy meal. The evening’s program was presented by Surveyor Mike Gardner of Texarkana. Mike is one of only a handful of Texas Surveyors who have earned the certification of the Certified Federal Surveyors Program (CFEDS). Mike described the program and its purpose and the process of obtaining the certification. The business meeting was conducted by President Josef Hausler and the usual reports were given. Seminar Committee reported the progress made in presenting our seminar in Jefferson May 9. All things seem to be in line and on go. A work meeting was held in Texarkana with volunteers to prepare the seminar brochure for a mass mailing. Over 900 brochures have been mailed to Texas Surveyors. Also, the brochure was inserted in the recent issue of *TEXAS SURVEYOR* magazine. Chapter 23 is composed of 21 members. The next meeting is scheduled in May immediately prior to the Jefferson Historical Seminar. End of Report, submitted 23April08 Copyright © 2008 All Rights Reserved, TSPS	Choose Your Path & Make Your Mark in Land Surveying! Visit SurveyTexas.org to learn more!

Area & Chapter Reports

SOUTH PLAINS CHAPTER 1

The South Plains Chapter No. 1 has had no activity during the past quarter. We are planning a joint meeting with Chapter 16 on May 21^st. The meeting will be at the Cotton Patch Restaurant at 6:30 with Coleen Johnson as the guest speaker.

Submitted by John Allen.

NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER 2

CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER 3

Meeting held on April 10, 2008, at 7:00 pm at the Lake Brazos Steakhouse. The featured speaker was Galen Greaser, Spanish Archivist and Translator of the Texas General Land Office who gave a fabulous presentation. A $300 sponsorship was approved by motion to fund the Rudy's BBQ at the Educators Conference in Tyler.

There were approximately 20 people in attendance.

Next meeting in June: Colleen Johnson, President, TSPS, is our featured speaker.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael Evans

Registered Professional Land Surveyor

EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 4

January 17, 2008 – The Chapter held a business meeting at 6:30 pm at Tyler Junior College. We had 21 in attendance. Our guest speaker was TSPS President, Coleen Johnson. She spoke about the upcoming year and the direction of TSPS.

Art Osborn was recognized with a round of applause for his years of service on the State Board.

We discussed the upcoming Surveying Camp and Educator’s Retreat.

A Thank You goes out to our meal sponsor, Stanger Surveying Company.

April 17, 2008 – The Chapter held a business meeting at 6:30 pm at Tyler Junior College. We had 15 in attendance.

A financial report was given by Secretary, Shane Neally.

We discussed the upcoming TSFI Auction. The Chapter voted to spend up to $150 for TSFI auction items. Other items to be donated by individuals and Tyler Junior College were discussed and will be followed up on.

The Chapter voted to donate $1000 to SEFT for Surveying Camp and $500 to TSPS for Educator’s Retreat.

The Chapter received $1000 donations for the Surveying Camp and Educator’s Retreat from Steven Freeman with Thompson and Assoc. These checks will be forwarded to SEFT and TSPS.

A Thank You goes out to TJC Surveying Instructor, Patti Williams for being our meal sponsor. We took a SURPAC donation and raised $200.00.

Respectfully Submitted,

Dempsey Hannah,

Chapter President

DALLAS CHAPTER 5

DEEP EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 6

A Chapter Board Meeting was held February 14, 2008 at the Lone Star Steakhouse Restaurant, in Beaumont. The meeting was called to order by the President. Minutes from the last Chapter Board meeting were read and a financial report was given by the Secretary-Treasurer Richard Worthey.

A brief review of the TSPS First Quarter State Board meeting was given to the board by Joe Breaux. Also mentioned were important activities such as geocaching and setting local monuments, the Course Developers Seminar in May and the Convention Cruise in October.

Coming chapter activities such as the annual seminar and sponsorship for the Educators Retreat in Tyler were discussed, but no action was taken at this time.

On March 19, the Gulf Coast Chapter and our Chapter held a Joint Meeting in Winnie at the Chambers County Community Center. Catering was by Al T’s Restaurant. President Coleen Johnson and her husband were the featured guests. In attendance were approximately 30 members of the Gulf Coast Chapter and 11 members from the Deep East Texas Chapter. President Johnson brought the group up to date on state activities and issues and her travels across the state. The meeting was a great success and drew a surprising attendance considering the drive made by the members from the Houston area. Our thanks go out to the Gulf Coast Chapter, especially President Stephanie Funk for initiating the meeting, making the arrangements and bringing out such a good crowd. The meeting was a rare opportunity for fellowship and discussion between the chapters and was a great success.

Our next Chapter Board meeting is scheduled for April 30, 2008 at the Lone Star Steakhouse.

Respectfully submitted,

W. J. (Joe) Breaux

Chapter President

CENTRAL EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 8

Our meeting of the quarter was on April 3, 2008 was held at Ralph & Kacoo’s in Lufkin, Texas. There were 8 in attendance..

Our next meeting is scheduled for May 1, 2008 at Ralph & Kacoo’s in Lufkin, Texas.

Sincerely,

Errol Collins, RPLS

Chapter 8 President

GULF COAST CHAPTER 9

Activities for the Gulf Coast Chapter:

January 15, 2008 – The dinner meeting was held at the Houston City Club with approximately 40 in attendance. The program for the evening included a discussion of current events, TSPS general business and a guest speaker. Our guest speaker for the evening was Joan Baugh discussing “Business: Are you running it or is it running you?”. The topic covered emails, phone calls and allotting time to take care of your business on your terms.

February 12, 2008 – The Chapter Board meeting was held at the offices of Benchmark Engineering. The newly elected board had several items on the agenda to discuss for the upcoming term. Most noteworthy items included the naming of the committee chairs, establishing a budget, coordinating the transfer of data between the outgoing secretary/treasurer and the incoming secretary/treasurer and resurrecting the newsletter and chapter website.

March 19, 2008 – The dinner meeting was held at the Chambers County Hospitality Room in Winnie, Texas. A joint chapter meeting was held between the Gulf Coast Chapter 9 and the Deep East Texas Chapter 6. We had approximately 40 in attendance and our guest speaker was Coleen Johnson, TSPS President. Dinner was catered by a local restaurant and adult beverages were served out of ice chests to create an informal social event to catch up with surveyors from different regions. I think a good time was had by all.

April 8, 2008 – The Chapter Board meeting was held at the offices of Benchmark Engineering. The most noteworthy items discussed at the board meeting included: schedule for upcoming events (softball, golf, fishing tournaments and picnic), budget items and newsletter and website issues. Terry Rowe, Chapter Education/Public Relations Committee Chair, has been trying to get the information for TrigStar to get it started in the Houston area and getting together a contingent of surveyors and equipment to assist with the Survey Merit Badge for the boy scouts at the winter camp over the Christmas holidays.

May 2, 2008 – The Chapter had it’s annual softball tournament. Eighteen teams played to a first place finish by Costello, Inc. The chapter handed out koozies, towels, t-shirts and trophies to first, second, third and fourth place finishers.

May 20, 2008 – The Chapter will host its May dinner meeting at Joe’s Barbeque Company in Alvin, Texas. Terry Rowe, Education/Public Relations Committee Chair will host an Evening of Education honoring Celeste Brooks with the Dickinson ISD for her work with students participating in the TrigStar and SkillsUSA programs sponsored by TSPS. The Chapter has also sponsored Ms. Brooks attendance to the Teacher’s Retreat in Tyler in June.

May 24, 2008 - The Chapter will host its annual picnic repeating the previous year’s venue by having the event at the ballpark for an Astros game. We will be located in the Champions Room with food and fun for all attending. The Chapter purchases a large amount of tickets and receives a discounted price so they will go quickly once the announcement is made.

Stephanie A. Funk, President

PERMIAN BASIN CHAPTER 10

Submitted by Craig Alderman Chapter President

March

March 13th

Chapter 10 hosted a Bar B Q lunch in Midland to promote National Surveyors Week and to introduce the Chapter's vision for a Permian Basin College level survey program. The event was attended by about 40 members and guest. Also in attendance where representative from local colleges. Our speakers for the event were Director of Surveying at Tyler Junior College Patti Williams and Past President and Education Committee Chairman Bud Thompson. Patti Williams did a great job of filling in the blanks about the challenges of starting and running a survey program. Bud Thompson also did a great job informing the group about what is going on with education at TSPS. After the speakers were finished several guest from the colleges shared their interest in our vision and there was some good discussion that followed. The guest were also able to view displays of surveying equipment and examples of drafting and other interesting items. We are keeping in contact with the colleges and there is even discussion of a joint venture with both colleges.

March 27th

Chapter Meeting in Midland at Gerado' Casita Mexican Restaurant. Bobby Hempfling of Martin Instrument spoke about common GPS blunders. We had 11 members present and after Bobby's presentation we finalized the details for our April Golf Tournament.

April

April 5th

Chapter 10 hosted the Annual "Windy West Texas" Golf Tournament. We had 48 player (4 man Scramble). The weather was much wormer than last year, but was still windy. Grady McGowan did a great job "twisting arms" and getting sponsors for the tournament. We had every hole sponsored of $100 dollars. with sponsors to spare. We also had several venders donated very generously. Chapter 10 raised over $3000 dollars including mulligans and raffle items. Dr. Alred and Jim McPherson of Odessa College join us for Bar B Q after the tournament and they were able to meet some of our members. The folks from Odessa College were very impressed with our Chapter and what we told them about TSPS and our vision for our course. We have two fans here.

May

May 8th

Chapter 10 is pleased to announce we will have Coleen Johnson with us for our May meeting. We are inviting the folks from the Colleges and will alert the local media and hopefully get some "airtime" for TSPS.

ALAMO CHAPTER 11

Chapter 11 is on tract, once again, for a busy year. We are meeting each month and planning our yearly activities.

We held our first General Meeting of 2008 on Thursday, January 17^th at the Hungry Horse Restaurant during the lunch hour. Mr. Ron Martin presented a discussion on Geodesy, Map Projections and GIS Surveying. The meeting was attended by 36 people and was a very interesting topic.

February found us hosting our annual Golf Tournament on Thursday February 21, 2008. The tournament was held at Briggs Ranch in west Bexar County and there were 82 players that enjoyed a warm February afternoon. Duderstadt Stake Company provided their usual fine Bar-B-Q dinner following the tournament that closed out another successful event for the scholarship fund.

The Symposium followed the golf tournament and was a huge success for TSPS with the Alamo Chapter providing volunteers to assist in the program presentations. We are very pleased to have been a part of a record breaking event for TSPS.

March brought us “Surveyors Week” and as president of the Alamo Chapter, I asked a fellow worker, who has published a few articles before, if he would write a fictional story of an old surveyor meeting a new surveyor in the field. He did write the article and we tried to get it published, but could not get a response from the local secondary newspapers. Our next attempt at “Surveyors Week” was to plant some capped PVC pipes in a couple of locations around San Antonio and contact a geocache website to list the coordinates. Little did we know that the geocache community is very particular about the placement of items to be found. Our attempt to promote “Surveyors Week” through geocaching was a good idea, but we were not privy to the various “rules”. Next year we will make plans far enough in advance to avoid some of the pitfalls we encountered this year.

March also was host to our second General Meeting with our guest speaker being Mike Dooley of Geodetics. Mike spoke about Photogrametry and the need for good control. Good control for the actual aerial mapping and the various applications of Photogrametry and it use in everyday life. Mike provided a question and answer session following his presentation.

April 19^th was the date of the local TRIGSTAR competition held at San Antonio College. A total of 49 students took the exam with 4 students achieving a perfect score. Time separated the students in 1^st and 2^nd place with a tie for 3^rd place.

The fourth month will find us having a “Board” meeting and a “General Meeting” combined. We will have a brief “Board” meeting to give some of our members a chance to see what a “Board” meeting is all about. We will also be filling a vacancy in our Program Committee.

The “General Meeting” will be Chester Varner, from the Cruise Committee, explaining and answering any questions about the upcoming Convention

This year has also brought us an addition to the newsletter. Each newsletter has a section for a picture and a brief description of something caught, trapped, bagged, or killed - this section has been popular so far with fish and hogs. We also have created space for articles by wanna-be writers to send in their stories about surveying -similar to the article about the old surveyor meeting the new surveyor in our March issue. We will continue to promote surveying any way we can.

Don’t forget our 4^th Annual Hook Line and Surveyor fishing tournament in September and we will be hosting the State Convention (cruise) in October.

Sincerely,

Budd Buchanan, R.P.L.S.

COASTAL BEND CHAPTER 12

Attendance has been up this quarter, thanks to an occasional guest speaker and some gentle persuasion by certain employers.

January was mostly a social meeting, but was well attended with lots of new faces.

In February, James Woods of TXDOT - Corpus Christi gave us a presentation on the process of becoming certified as a contractor for TXDOT, and the TXDOT VRS Network. A committee was formed for TSPS Course Development, and some discussion was held about the Chapter 12 Scholarship Fund. Although the Trig*Star competition was scheduled for March 8, one of the teachers had requested a postponement because a local math teacher had passed away and the funeral was to be held on that date also. It was voted to postpone the competition until April 5, with the awards dinner on April 10.

In March, Jim Nash of TerraSond, LLC, gave us a presentation on hydrographic surveying techniques in both shallow water and deep water conditions. A discussion of the Chapter 12 Scholarship Fund was held, and since no one had applied for a scholarship, it was voted and passed that a one-time contribution of $1000 be made to the Scott Mazurick Memorial Scholarship Fund at TAMUCC for this year, and that further work needs to be done on the Chapter 12 Scholarship. Arrangements were made for volunteers for the Trig*Star competition on April 5.

Tentative speakers for upcoming months include: April - Tom Moore, AAGS; July – Coleen Johnson, TSPS; August – Bill O.Hara; TxGLO.

Michael J. MacInnis RPLS
President, Coastal Bend Chapter 12

CAPITAL AREA CHAPTER 13

Regular Membership Meetings:

Chapter 13 has had regular meetings held on the third Thursday of each month (except April's meeting was held on the fourth Thursday).

February 21, 2008 — Travis County Clerk, Dana Debeauvoir was February's speaker. The meeting was held at Artz Rib House with approximately 40 members attending. Dana's talk focused on upgrades to the County's website and the issues involved with the Attorney General's decision on Social Security Numbers being on county documents. The speaker's message was well received and everyone enjoyed her presentation. There was $20 collected for SurPAC.

March 20, 2008 — Hays County Commissioner, and Jeff Barton was March's speaker. The meeting was held at Artz Rib House with approximately 30 members attending. Jeff's presentation focused planned Hays County infrastructure improvements. His speech was also well received and everyone enjoyed his presentation.

April 24, 2008 — The April meeting is the Chapter's annual picnic. We had to schedule this meeting for April 24 and this report is due April 23. I will report on this regular membership meeting during the Quarterly Board Meeting at the President's Luncheon.

Executive Committee Meetings

Chapter 13 has had Executive Committee meetings on either the first or second Wednesday of each month. We are currently working out the logistics of providing the books for Austin Community College students that are working toward an associate's degree in Land Surveying/Geomatics.

Public Relations

In February, Chapter members were involved with Merit Badge University, where thirty-six boy scouts earned the Surveying Merit Badge, one of the original Boy Scouts of America merit badges, at the end of the 4-hour session. Instruction for the Surveying Merit Badge was provided for the following: 1) knowledge of first aid; 2) angle measurement, error of closure computation, and distance measurement; 3) drafting; 4) description writing; 5) leveling; 6) deed research; 7) GPS discussion; 8) discussion in preparation for a career in surveying.

Chapter 13 participated in the promotion of National Surveyor's Week by installing a geocache and museum exhibit at O. Henry Museum here in Austin. The geocache and exhibit will run through May 1.

Education

As a part of Chapter 13's Para-professional Mathematics Seminars, Mike Ritter and James Mason conducted the Para-professional S.I.T. Preparation Seminar on March 29, 2008. There were 20 participants raising $1200 with all proceeds going to SurPAC. Many of the participants said this was the best class they have attended as far as content and value.

Chapter 13 has formed a six-member team to develop the Math 101 seminar for the TSPS Course/Speaker Development.

Other

Chapter 13 member Pat Smith was elected chairman of the National Society of Professional Surveyors board of governors, which includes a seat on its board of directors.

Respectfully Submitted,

David A. McDow

PASO DEL NORTE CHAPTER 17

Officers:

President - James Whitaker, RPLS

Vice-President - Charles Gutierrez, RPLS

Secretary-Treasurer - Hector Porras

Director - Larry L. Drewes, RPLS

Director - Bob Monroe, RPLS

The TSPS Chapter 17 Paso Del Norte meet at 6:30pm Friday evening to conduct

business. Mr. Gutierrez conducted the meeting. He brought to the table the

need to support SURPAC and the TSFI and solicited for donations. No

donations where offered.

Mr. Gutierrez gave a brief of a survey in litigation he is involved with citing only

basic information. A detailed explanation of the case will follow at the next

meeting.

A discussion of when, where, and what to discuss during Chapter meeting was

covered. An attempt to get SITs' and crew members to become involved was

brought to the attention of the meeting.

Monthly meetings will be scheduled on a regular basis.

The attending members are as follows:

Charles Gutierrez, R.P.L.S.

Benito Barragan, R.P.L.S.

Avelardo Ponce, R.P.L.S.

Daniel Barragan, R.P.L.S.

Ira Hardin, R.P.L.S.

James D.Whitaker, R.P.L.S.

President, Paso Del Norte chapter

RIO GRANDE VALLEY CHAPTER 19

On February 5, 2008 we had meeting on Los Compadres Restaurant in Mercedes, Texas. Our current President of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors Coleen M. Johnson, was our speaker, there were 18 members present.

Our March Board of directors meeting was held March 12, 2008 at the Best Western Hotel in Weslaco, Texas.

On April 1, 2008 was held on the Best Western Hotel in Weslaco, Texas. Our speaker was Garey W. Gilley an We are exited and happy of our new involve and interest in the Chapter activities and hope it will continue. I thank them for their service to our chapter and hopefully our attendance will grow.

Our last meeting was held on May 6, 2008 at the Best Western Hotel in Weslaco, Texas. Our speaker was Peter Murphy, from Sierra Title, the topic was the relations between Title Companies and Land Surveyor.

As you can imagine there was a lot of discussion, but at the end we all learn something.

On June 7, 2007 the RGV Chapter is having a TSPS seminar at the Courtyard by Marriott in Harlingen, Texas.

We are working hard to have a good representation of the Valley Surveyors.

Sincerely,

Carlos Vasquez

BRAZOS VALLEY CHAPTER 20

We are planning a meeting for May. Not much activity in our chapter at this time.

Respectfully Submitted,

Curtis Strong

HEART OF TEXAS CHAPTER 21

We’ve experienced a lot more participation lately and better attendance at our meetings than in the past. Our first chapter meeting after the last TSPS Board meeting was held in Cleburne on February 9^th. I gave the chapter a summary of the topics covered in the quarterly meeting. The chapter voted to donate $1,000 toward the expansion and maintenance of the surveyor’s exhibit at the Texas Rangers Museum in Waco. In addition, the chapter voted to allocate $1,000 toward two $500 scholarships to be awarded to individuals pursuing a career in surveying. The chapter also made plans to speak to high schools in their area to inform the students of the possibility of a career in surveying, let them know what surveying is about, and to also let them know about the scholarships. The Education Committee will accept essays from applicants for the scholarships and will award the scholarships based on review. There were 16 members and 3 guests in attendance.

In addition to the Cleburne meeting, the chapter also met in Hico on April 5^th to touch base and plan ahead. An update was given by the Education Committee Chairman (Rick Hickman), the Secretary/Treasurer (Gary Clements) gave us a financial update, and general discussion was made regarding working toward developing a seminar. The chapter is hoping to raise money from a seminar in order to possibly put them in a position to award more scholarship money next year. Attendance at this meeting was less than the previous, but still rather healthy compared to the attendance numbers over the last few years. Discussion was made concerning the need to promote a membership drive in order to get more participation. The chapter appears to be headed in right direction. Our next meeting will be our annual picnic to be held in May. There were 11 members and 4 guests in attendance.

Respectfully Submitted,

S. Erik Dumas, R.P.L.S.

CHAPARRAL CHAPTER 22

Chapter 22 held a Dinner Meeting at the Town House Restaurant in Uvalde, Texas on March 17, 2008.

Eleven members and spouses were present. Paul Carey made presentations on the Convention Tour and on the Skills USA program.

This Chapter had no meetings in 2008 prior to March 17 and did not have a Surveyors Week project.

Two members intend to attend the Convention this year along with their spouses.

Our next meeting is scheduled for June 9, 2008.

Respectfully Submitted,

Paul T. Carey, Chapter President

NORTH EAST TEXAS CHAPTER 23

Chapter 23 meets bi-monthly.

In January, Chapter met at Luigi’s Italian Restaurant in Mt. Pleasant. No program was planned and the business meeting was brief. Fifteen surveyors and guests enjoyed a fine meal and companionship.

Chapter met in March at Amigo Juan’s in Atlanta. Seventeen members and guests enjoyed the spicy meal. The evening’s program was presented by Surveyor Mike Gardner of Texarkana. Mike is one of only a handful of Texas Surveyors who have earned the certification of the Certified Federal Surveyors Program (CFEDS). Mike described the program and its purpose and the process of obtaining the certification. The business meeting was conducted by President Josef Hausler and the usual reports were given. Seminar Committee reported the progress made in presenting our seminar in Jefferson May 9. All things seem to be in line and on go.

A work meeting was held in Texarkana with volunteers to prepare the seminar brochure for a mass mailing. Over 900 brochures have been mailed to Texas Surveyors. Also, the brochure was inserted in the recent issue of TEXAS SURVEYOR magazine.

Chapter 23 is composed of 21 members.

The next meeting is scheduled in May immediately prior to the Jefferson Historical Seminar.

End of Report, submitted 23April08

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