Page 5 - NYS_ESS_07-2025

NYSAPLS, Inc.
President and CEO [ president’s message ]
Jeremy E. Thompson, LS
Executive Board
Steven J. Willard, LS
Executive Vice President Greetings All,
Scott A. Gillis, LS
Vice President “We don’t know, what we don’t know”. What the heck
Scott B. Allen, LS does this mean? Perhaps this is a bit philosophical, however
Treasurer
William R. Eggers, LS I believe it is a valuable statement, one which we should
Secretary remember and think of often, both in our professional and
Daniel E. Marvin, LS
Executive Director personal lives. The older I get, the more I find myself
Board of Trustees reflecting on the past. In my daily role as a teacher, a coach,
Robert R. Allen, LS a parent, and a surveyor, I am routinely faced with differing
J. Steven Boddecker, LS
Patricia P. Brooks, LS opinions. Perhaps a student doesn’t agree with one of my deadlines; maybe I disagree
Gregory J. de Bruin, LS, PE with an official’s call during game; it is conceivable that everyone else’s parents do say
John R. Ennis, LS
Roy B. Garfinkel, LS it’s “ok”; and maybe my opinion of where the boundary line is doesn’t agree with yours.
R. Ronald Kreiling, LS So? What does “we don’t know, what we don’t know” have to do with any of that?
Joseph G. Malinowski, LS
Daniel E. Marvin, LS Surveyors are often viewed as the preeminent measurer. We typically deal well with
Daren L. Morgan, LS numbers and math; we tend to embrace and understand technology, and we make the
Robert A. Smith, LS
Edwin A. Summerhays, LS invisible, visible. As with most things, the more we do this, the better we get. At least this
Gary L. Thompson, LS is what we have convinced ourselves. I have been doing this for “X” amount of time
Glennon J. Watson, LS
Marie T. Welch, LS (assuming X is larger than Y), than I must be better than everyone with “Y” amount of
NYSAPLS Headquarters experience. Another way we occasionally look at this is, if there is a difference in opinion
146 Washington Avenue between “X” and “Y”, “X” must be right and “Y” must be wrong. To put it bluntly, I do
Land Surveyors Building
Albany, NY 12210 not subscribe to either of those previous thoughts. I hope that all surveyors that perform
518-432-4046 boundary retracements, understand a very important concept that I try very hard to
www.nysapls.org
info@nysapls.org impress upon my students, and that is “change the evidence, and potentially, change the
Editor-in-Chief & opinion”. All too often, surveyors tend to take a deep dive into a project, reviewing
Managing Director everything they find, applying every bit of experience and education they have to make
Amber Carpenter
amber@nysapls.org the best possible decision at time. We occasionally commit these opinions to writing in
the form of a maps and descriptions, we set monuments, and we tell our clients and
Director of Operations
Heather Schultz everyone that asks, that we are right. Often these practices are based on what we have
heather@nysapls.org
done in the past; what our mentors and/or colleagues have taught us. Rooted firmly in
Administrative Assistant what our predecessors did. “Following in the footsteps…” exactly what we are supposed
Sharon O'Brien
sharon@nysapls.org to do, right? I am not writing this to challenge the foundational component of boundary
Affiliated Associations surveying or to suggest that we are all wrong and need to reinvent the wheel. Honestly,
Allegheny Plateau Association of Professional in my experience (now more than 25 years working in the surveying profession) the
Land Surveyors | Black River Valley
Association of Professional Land Surveyors overwhelming majority of surveyors do an amazing job. They understand what their
| Brooklyn Land Surveyors Association |
Catskill Area Association of Land Surveyors | charge is, and how to best evaluate the evidence to complete a project. Do I believe
Central New York Society of Land Surveyors some surveyors communicate better than others? Sure. Are some surveyors more willing
| City Surveyors Association of Greater New
York | Delaware-Hudson Land Surveyors to share information and discuss their reasoning with others? Definitely. In my opinion,
Association, Inc | Eastern New York
Society of Land Surveyors, Inc | Genesee are there opportunities for our profession to improve on our ability to work together,
Valley Land Surveyors Association | Long perhaps, bend a little and at least consider that our initial opinion may change if we are
Island Association of Land Surveyors Inc
| Mid-Hudson Valley Association of Land exposed to the evidence that someone else has? Absolutely! This is something that we
Surveyors | Mohawk Valley Society of
Professional Land Surveyors | Nassau-Suffolk can all do better with. I strongly encourage everyone that receives a question like “why
Civil Engineers Inc | Niagara Frontier Land did you do that?”; “will you share information with me?”; “are you willing to meet with
Surveyors Association | Northern New York
Association of Land Surveyors | Southern me to review what information I have?”; and/or any question that will potentially provide
Finger Lakes Association of Professional
Land Surveyors | Southern Tier Association additional evidence related to your project, that you jump at the opportunity. Be thankful
of Land Surveyors | Surveyors Association
of Queensboro Inc | Westchester-Putnam
Association of Professional Land Surveyors continued on page 4
EMPIRE STATE SURVEYOR / VOL. 61 • NO 4 / 2025 • JULY/AUGUST 3