SURVEYING AND LAND RECORDS MANAGEMENT: A LIST OF THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES IN LAND RECORDS AND AN ANALYSIS OF HOW THEY OCCUR

 One county’s review process and how it helps identify and remedy the most common mistakes in Land Records.

Reviews of:  CSM’s  Condo Plats  Subdivision Plats

No review of  Plats of Survey -By volume, top land survey info submitted to Counties.

1.Eau Claire County Assistant Surveyor A. Part of Department of Planning and Development B. Land information division C. BS deg. in Geography, Associates deg. in Land Surveying D. Registered Land Surveyor E. Surveying for 16 years F. Consulting engineering firm in SE WI prior to ECC G. Reviewing Surveys for ECC since 1999.

2.What I do. A.Field verification of PLSS corner monuments – Explanation: In correct spot, In good condition, can be found and used by private surveyors. Backed by paper evidence housed in the ECC Surveyor’s Office B.Filing of surveys performed in county –explanation Surveys are to be housed, filed, indexed in our office C.Review of CSM’s submitted – Main topic, upon which the rest follows.

1.What I’m going to cover A.Staff involved B.Timeline C.Typical workflow from submission to recording D.Why we do this E. How it’s done

2.What I’m NOT going to cover A.What you may do in your county B.How you should review in your county C.Rants and raves about who’s doing a bad job

*There are municipalities that examine divisions for their own criteria, city extraterritorial, towns. Committees, (planning) i.e. non-EC staff in certain cases. III. Process 1.Eau Claire County Departments/Staff involved and GENERAL description of their involvement* -only in non-incorporated areas. (City of EC, Altoona, not under review area)

A. Health Department – determines suitability of site for a sanitary system and if any known groundwater issues exist.

B. Highway Department –if access is to be obtained to a County Highway – Address visibility/traffic flow concerns.

C. Land Conservation Division – examines erosion and environmentally sensitive areas on site.

D. Zoning Administrator -interprets county code as it applies to proposed lot division/configuration. Also, acts as coordinator for the review process.

E. Real Property Lister – generates new parcel ID numbers for lots in proposed division.

F. Planner –assigns address range to any newly created street segments

G. Land information technician –verifies owner of record and deed information

H. Surveyor –will detail in following

I. GIS Specialist (largely informational only)

4.Why we do this: A. Ensure compliance with WI statutes , WI Admin Code AE-7 and County regulations B. Ensure that parcel can be used as intended by buyer C. Address public safety issues D. Address Environmental issues E. Update tax and parcel records

5. How we do it (Survey Staff) A. Draft parcel perimeter from legal description 1. Using legal description only we will draft the boundary using COGO within AutoCAD Land Development Desktop

2.Once completed, we check closure by snapping the end of the last line drawn to the beginning of the first line of the parcel described.

3. Check overall area

4.Label the drawn exterior lot lines with bearings and distances and verify that these agree with what is shown

5.Break exterior lines into segments as needed and verify that the segment lengths add up to the overall length (no rounding errors from CAD)

B.Using dimensions given on survey, create and verify interior lot or right-of- way lines

1.Verify that these interior lines don’t create excessive slivers or gaps

2.Check individual lot areas

3.Break interior lines into segments as needed and verify that the segment lengths add up to the overall length (no rounding errors from CAD)

4.Check all curve information as required

C.Fit into pertinent Section/Quarter Section

1.Rotate as needed

2.Verify Section corners used and distances between them are correct

3.Verify that forties noted fall in the correct ¼-¼ section

D.Go through common revisions found list (Handout)

E.Complete CSM Checklist (Handout)

F.Forward comments to Zoning Administrator

The Zoning Administrator then forwards those comments/revision notes to the contact individual and once issues are addressed, they will then submit a recordable CSM, our department director will sign it and the Register of Deeds records said CSM/Plat.

Questions?