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Duties
Duties
of the Vanderburgh County Surveyor
According
to Indiana Code, the County Surveyor performs the following duties:
1.
County Drainage Board. The County Surveyor is an ex-officio and a non-voting member of the
County Drainage Board, and is the technical authority on the construction,
reconstruction, and maintenance of all regulated drains or proposed regulated
drains in the county.
Regulated
drains are large, open ditches or piped storm water conveyances serving
sizeable tributary areas of agricultural, residential, commercial, and
industrial land. Vanderburgh County maintains about 80 miles of regulated
drain with about 20 miles of urban drains located within the corporate limits
of Evansville.
The
County Surveyor publishes an annual report on the condition of the individual
drains, and the regular maintenance and special repair work required to keep
the drains in working order. The County Surveyor then prepares specifications,
seeks public bids, and supervises the contractual work that constructs,
reconstructs, repairs, and maintains the county’s system of drains. Links to
the annual report and current ditch specifications are available in the blue,
right-hand margin of this page.
The
County Surveyor’s statutory duties and powers with regard to the county’s
drainage board and regulated drains are more specifically described at IC
36-9-27, which may be accessed via a link posted in the blue, right-hand
margin of this page.
The
Vanderburgh County Drainage Board is comprised of the three county
commissioners. For information regarding the county commissioners, contact
their staff at 812-435-5241.
The
Vanderburgh County Drainage Board meets at or about 4:00 pm, on
the fourth Tuesday of each calendar month. The County Surveyor publishes the
board’s agenda, and the County Auditor publishes verbatim minutes of the
board’s meetings. To access the board’s agenda or minutes, use the links
posted in the blue, right-hand margin of this page.
2.
Section Corner Perpetuation.
In 1806, land surveyors working for the U.S. Congress marked out the one
square mile sections comprising what would become Vanderburgh County, Indiana.
The County Surveyor must keep and maintain a corner record book showing
original government section corners set for each of the Congressional
sections. The Surveyor must check, locate, establish, and reference at least
5% of all original corners shown in the Corner Record Book each year.
In
2001, the Vanderburgh County Surveyor initiated a program to locate each of
the 992 Congressional section corners using highly accurate Global Positioning
Satellite (GPS) equipment. By July 2004, the County Surveyor had located and
referenced over 850 of the original corners, and recorded their exact
horizontal and vertical locations by Indiana State Plane coordinates and sea
level elevation. Work will continue until all points are discovered or
relocated.
The
locations and other data relevant to the county’s section corners are
available as interactive grid points overlaid on aerial photographs and
topographic mapping at a Geographic Information System (GIS)
Website. The data
is maintained daily by the Special Deputy County Surveyor, Douglas J. McDonald, P.E., L.S.
Access
the GIS Website using links in the blue margin of this page or the home page.
Mr. McDonald can be reached at 812-435-5641 for tutorials or direct
assistance.
3.
Investigations of Alleged Drainage Obstructions. When a property owner petitions the county drainage
board to remove an obstruction from a private drain or natural surface
watercourse, the County Surveyor must immediately investigate the alleged
obstruction and file a report with the board. The drainage board must then
hold a public hearing, listen to testimony from the affected parties, consider
the County Surveyor’s report, and issue an order to remove the obstruction
if the removal will facilitate better drainage of the petitioner’s land and
meets all other statutory requirements.
IC
36-9-27.4 regulates the process of filing a petition, conducting an
investigation, holding a public hearing, and ordering the removal of an
obstruction of a private drain or natural surface watercourse. The Vanderburgh
County Surveyor provides forms and documents related to the process. Use the
links in the blue, right-hand margin of this page for accessing IC 36-9-27.4
and documents for processing a petition.
4.
Area Plan Commission.
The County Surveyor is member of the Area Plan Commission. As a member of the
Commission the County Surveyor attends the monthly planning commission
meeting, and hears and makes decisions on rezoning petitions, subdivision
plats, land development, and other planning issues. The County Surveyor also
participates in the weekly technical review and approval of commercial and
apartment site development plans, new development drainage plans, and storm
water pollution prevention plans for construction sites.
5.
Plats, Maps, and Record Management. The County Surveyor maintains a large volume of original subdivision
plats, reproduces and distributes copies of the plats, and restores the
damaged originals when necessary. The County Surveyor also produces an
official county road map and cross-reference guide, individual township maps,
voting precinct maps, and tiger file maps of the urbanized area, census
tracts, and other geographic and political data.
The
County Surveyor also reviews, records, and manages subdivision drainage plans,
commercial site development plans, storm water pollution prevention plans, and
other plans and data related to land development and storm water management.
Copies of plats, maps, plans, and other documents are available from the
County Surveyor's Office.
6.
Legal Survey Record Book.
The County Surveyor maintains a legal survey record book for all legal surveys
within the county. Often a judge orders a legal survey conducted by a
registered land surveyor with notice to all adjoining landowners to resolve
property disputes. The land surveyor then prepares a plat of the survey for
recording in the County Surveyor’s legal survey record book available for
viewing in the Surveyor’s records vault.
7.
Annexation Descriptions.
The County Surveyor maintains annexation descriptions and dis-annexation
descriptions for the City of Evansville and the Town of Darmstadt. These
official legal descriptions are then certified for the State Election Board
who uses them to determine voting district lines.
8.
Certification to ABC.
Before the Indiana Alcoholic Beverage Commission issues a new Alcoholic
Beverage Permit in an unincorporated area, the County Surveyor must certify
that the permit location is within or in close proximity to a settlement known
by a specific place name for ten years or longer, and to which folks from
surrounding areas rely on for making retail purchases, holding public
meetings, or as a community or neighborhood center.
9.
Additional Duties and Services. In addition to statutory duties, the County Surveyor performs other
customary services in association with other government boards and agencies.
For
example, the County Surveyor often determines the jurisdictional location of a
crime scene or automobile accident, measures the distance between a crime and
the nearest school or daycare center, and acts as a professional witness for
the court or the prosecutor.
The
County Surveyor may perform surveys and engineering services for other
municipal agencies, thereby saving public expenditures and expediting a public
project.
The
Vanderburgh County Surveyor wrote the county’s 1994 Storm Water Drainage
Ordinance, and the 2005 Construction Site
Storm Water Runoff Control
Ordinance, thereby
saving the cost of hiring a consultant for the project. Access to both
ordinances is provided by links in the blue, right-hand margin of this page.
The
County Surveyor’s Office also acts as a clearinghouse for all drainage and
construction-related storm water complaints and inquiries from the public,
provides sound advice and direct assistance, or refers public complaints and
inquiries to the appropriate municipal agency for follow-up action.
The
County Surveyor’s Office is an integral and valuable agency of local
government, and is available, willing, and able to provide direct assistance
and helpful service to its constituents.
A
flextime schedule keeps the County Surveyor’s Office open from 7:30 am to
5:30 pm local time most business days. Evansville, Indiana observes Central
Standard and Central Daylight Saving times.
Ms.
Pam Pelaski, Office Manager, and the general office staff are available
812-435-5210.
Ms.
Brenda Jeffers of the water resource, natural habitat,
and field inspection staff are available at 812-435-5214.
Ms.
Linda Freeman, Chief Deputy, the regulated drain technical
staff, and the voting district files, TIGER and GIS mapping staff are
available at 812-435-5211.
Mr.
Douglas J. McDonald, P.E., L.S., and the benchmark data, AutoCad mapping, HARN
point, and survey staff are available at 812-435-5641.
Mr.
Bill Jeffers, the Vanderburgh County Surveyor, the drainage plan review, and
public relations staff are available at 812-435-5117.
The
County Surveyor’s FAX number is 812-435-5023.
(Photographs
courtesy of surveying.wb.psu.edu)
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