MINUTES OF MEETING
STATE LAND SURVEY AUTHORITY
March 8, 1973
The meeting of the State Land Survey Authority was called to order at 9:00 a.m., March 8, 1973 by Acting Chairman Willard Eckhardt, at the Land Survey Authority Building, Rolla, Missouri. Also present were James Anderson, Richard Barr, Larry Fellows and Robert Myers.
The minutes of the February 8 meeting were reviewed and minor changes suggested. Minutes approved.
The trial balance sheet for February was received and noted.
Fourth quarter budget request proposals were approved as follows:
Personal Services $16,724.28
Equipment Purchase & Repair 812.00
Operations 17,678.00
The following items were approved for expenditure:
Printing and binding 750.00
Purchase of trees - UMR 800.00
St. Louis Coordinate System 500.00
UMR Microfilm 320.00
Mr. Myers called attention to the fact that the remaining funds allotted for per diem for Authority members was limited in the fourth quarter. A review was made of planned Authority meetings and the attendance of other meetings by SLSA staff members and board members during the remainder of FY 72-73. Authority members agreed that the planned 2-day meeting in May should still be scheduled, but only one day per diem be paid each member for attendance. Authority members requested that Mr. Myers draft some guidelines pertaining to attendance and expenses of staff and board members incurred as a result of meeting with out of state survey organizations. The guidelines will be presented to the Authority for action at the next meeting.
Mr. Myers reported as follows on current legislation:
a) Supplemental Appropriation (H.B. 16) - In Senate committee.
b) 1973-74 Budget Request (H.B. 4) - Still in House committee.
c) Reorganization Bill (H.B. 419 & S.B. 77) - Messrs. Barr, Eckhardt and Myers appeared at a hearing on H.B. 419, February 20th at Jefferson City. A brief paper prepared by Mr. Eckhardt was presented to the committee recommending changes as agreed by the Authority. S.B. 77 has been modified and is still in committee.
d) State Coordinate Bill (H.B. 138) - Has been perfected by the House.
Mr. Myers reported he had talked with Mr. Robert James, Mr. Wm. Moon and Mr. Mark Edelman at Jefferson City regarding the SLSA Capital Improvement request and the elimination of funding for the vault from the request. Mr. Myers asked Mr. James to meet with the Authority in the near future for the purpose of acquainting Mr. James with the present SLSA facility and to assist in planning for the vault and facility expansion as needed. Mr. Myers recommended that a concrete plan, either for a new site or expansion at the present site, should be prepared by the SLSA prior to the meeting with Mr. James. Mr. Arthur Jacobs, Chief, Administrative Services, presented a preliminary study he had prepared and cost projections for expansion in the present SLSA building and also for a new structure on a site that would possibly be available from the University of Missouri-Rolla. Advantages and disadvantages of the two plans were examined in detail. A definite decision was delayed until the next Authority meeting. However the consensus of the Authority members was that Mr. Myers should work up a more detailed plan on utilization of the present SLSA building for presentation at the next meeting.
Comments concerning the preliminary draft of the State Coordinate Manual were offered. Mr. Anderson presented additional information that he recommended be added to the Manual. Authority members approved this addition. It was agreed that the Manual was ready for final draft.
Copies of an Executive Order dated December 4, 1970, stating that the State Land Survey Authority was assigned to the Division of Geological Survey and Water Resources, Department of Business and Administration, were reviewed. Mr. Myers reported that as far as he knew, the SLSA had no knowledge of the existence of this Executive Order until recently. Mr. Myers stated he had talked to Mr. Hugh Sprague concerning the Executive Order, and steps are being taken to rescind this order.
Mr. Myers reported that he had written to Mr. John D. Ashcroft requesting an audit of SLSA records. It was Mr. Myers' opinion that an early audit of the SLSA would be helpful with the accounting and inventory records.
A letter of complaint concerning survey quality by an individual surveyor was reviewed. Mr. Myers requested a recommendation from the Authority for handling this type of correspondence. It was the recommendation of the Authority that all substantial complaints be forwarded by the State Land Surveyor to the State Registration Board with an information copy of this action sent to the person issuing the complaint.
Mr. Myers stated that copies of certain survey records had been offered to the SLSA Repository with the request that the records be kept confidential. It was the opinion of the Authority that it would not be to the advantage of the SLSA to store confidential survey records. Dr. Fellows suggested that an index of confidential records available to the SLSA for their use might be helpful.
Mr. Myers reported that Mr. James DeYoung, acting attorney for the State of Missouri, had contacted him concerning the Missouri-Nebraska boundary dispute. Mr. DeYoung stated he had recommended to the Attorney General of Missouri that $100,000 be requested from General Revenue to be used for work concerning the Missouri-Nebraska compact. He suggested that the SLSA work up a rough estimate of cost for the project. To date, Mr. Myers has received no request for assistance from the Attorney General concerning the boundary dispute.
Mr. Myers requested authority to employ additional students or student dependents on a part-time basis to assist with the indexing of records. Authority members approved the request.
Mr. Myers recommended that the date of the Authority meeting be changed from the second Thursday to the fourth Thursday of each month. This would assist in arriving at a more accurate expenditure report for each meeting. Recommendation approved. The next meeting is tentatively planned for April 26, with the proposed 2-day meeting to be held on May 24-25.
Mr. Myers reported on the progress of the following projects:
a) Iron County - good progress on search and evaluation work
b) Microfilming - 16 counties filmed to date
5 counties, indexing completed
c) St. Louis Coordinate - no report
Meeting adjourned at 3:05 p.m.
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Transcribed by Steven E. Weible
