February 2025
64th Annual LSPS Convention
April 9-11, 2025
Golden Nugget Casino & Hotel, 2550 Golden Nugget Blvd., Lake Charles, LA 70601
Hosted by the Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors
Jeff Messinger, LSPS President
PRESIDENTIAL PRIVILEGE
Dear LSPS Members
I hope everyone is doing well, staying busy, and looking forward to Spring.
It appears that the economy is improving, and the demand for surveying is on the rise, with increased construction, new roads, business and private landowners making improvements, and new investments, especially in the oil, gas, petrochem, and industrial markets. As surveyors we are called to perform a lot of different tasks. From interpreting and determining the location of boundary lines based on historical deeds to making judgment calls on intent, to putting weight in “old” corners, fences & possessions, and many more things. We have to speak to landowners, who are our clients, but we also have to speak to adjacent landowners, lawyers, title companies, bankers, realtors, appraisers, and the list goes on and on and on. If you are one who owns your own surveying business, you know we are not only surveyors – and likely the professional of record, but we are also secretaries, janitors, bookkeepers, mechanics, etc.
The one thing I have noticed and have heard directly, not only from surveyors but also from engineers, is we are not good “money managers.” Most of us chose surveying as a profession because we love it – not because we wanted to be stuck inside or be an office manager! Much less be a money manager.
That said, why do we spend such little time managing our money, planning for retirement, increasing our IRA or 401(k) contributions, determining our project expenses & costs, reviewing our actual costs after completing a job and planning for the expenses of replacing and/or upgrading equipment. When was the last time you rebalanced your retirement portfolio or checked the balance of your equipment accrual fund?
I have noticed in high schools, community colleges, and universities, parents always say, “Go get a good job.” But a good job doesn’t mean much if you can’t manage your money, plan for the future, and have a rainy-day fund. I wish I had a $20 bill for every time I have heard a surveyor say, “I can’t make any money doing that.” Admittedly, that absolutely mesmerizes me. Money is not the reason we chose the land surveying profession, and I’m the first to admit that money cannot buy happiness. But, it does buy a way of life, and it makes it possible for you to turn on your lights and unlock your doors every day. I challenge each of you to take 5 hours in the next 3 months to review (1) your costs of doing business, (2) when you would like to be able to retire, (3) IF you have enough money to retire then, and (4) your contingency plans when we have another 80’s crisis.
It seems like just yesterday I was an LSI, and I vividly remember how excited I was when I opened my letter from LAPELS, congratulating me as a newly licensed Professional Land Surveyor. I blinked my eyes, and now I’m far closer to retirement than I am to my “first day of licensure.” OH, how I wish I knew then what I know now when it comes to retirement planning. Please don’t make the same mistakes I made.
On a different but equally important subject, I heard lots of chatter in 2024 about the unlicensed practice of land surveying. I’ve seen and heard everything from digital marketing to advertising on vehicles to social media promotion to drone and LiDAR services, all offering to do what we have spent many years and many dollars working hard to achieve. That being professional licensure as a land surveyor. As a profession and as a society, we owe it to the public, to each other, and to future land surveyors to ensure individuals and companies do not violate our rules and laws by practicing or offering to practice land surveying without being properly licensed.
When you see something, do not just say something. Do something. There are many ways you can report what you see to LAPELS. You can call LAPELS. You can mail LAPELS a note. You can email LAPELS. You can call a current or former LAPELS Board member. And, if you desire, you can remain completely anonymous. Contrary to some beliefs, there is nothing wrong with reporting it. Rather, there is everything right with doing so. I’ll end this topic with this statement: It’s kind of like voting. If you don’t vote, don’t complain about the results of an election. Similarly, if you don’t report unlicensed land surveying, don’t complain about not having enough work or making enough money.
We have an outstanding agenda for the upcoming convention, and if you have not registered already, please do so to enable us to adequately plan and prepare. As always, please contact me or your district chairman with any suggestions or questions.
See you in Lake Charles in April!
Jeff Messinger
Blair’s Boundary Blog
By Blair Naquin,
Law Offices of R. Gray Sexton
(Chairman’s Note: As most of you know, Blair Naquin – LSPS’s attorney-consultant, will provide us with her legal opinions to the most commonly asked and encountered situations the members have submitted to their District Chairman. For the sake of brevity, Blair’s response is summarized in each edition of our quarterly newsletter. Her full opinion, containing case law, court decisions, etc., will be posted on the LSPS website in the Members Only section. This edition’s topic is about surveyor’s liability, as that’s a big issue – with a lot of uncertainty – amongst our members.)
A 2024 federal court decision in a dispute handled successfully by our firm underscores the importance of directional and contiguous private vs. public land ownership considerations.
In Thibodeaux v. Bernhard, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal decided that United States federal courts have jurisdiction over conduct that occurs on waterways located on private property. Thibodeaux v. Bernhard, 23-30405, 2024 WL 3181458, at *1 (5th Cir. June 26, 2024). This conclusion renders such waterways accessible to the public.
The waterway at issue in Thibodeaux v. Bernhard was Lost Lake, which is an inland area located on private property. Lost Lake is a mud-flat 8 months of the year. During the spring, a natural low area, widened by years of boat traffic, connects Lost Lake to the Atchafalaya River Basin. Lost Lake is, on occasion, also a prime location for trapping and harvesting crawfish and other wildlife and is situated in undeveloped swampland between the Atchafalaya River and the Butte LaRose Cutoff Channel. Although the depth of the lake generally fluctuates between 1.5 and 7.5 feet, during dry seasons, 8 or 9 months of the year Lost Lake dries into “ponds.”
For the majority of the year, Lost Lake is landlocked. However, for approximately 110 days each year, this lake has limited access to the Atchafalaya River Basin through the 10- to 20-foot-wide, miles long, natural drainage channel. This period of accessibility coincides with crawfish harvesting season, and commercial crawfish producers sometimes harvest crawfish in Lost Lake. Historically, small bateaus and pirogues could only be used for such commercial crawfish harvesting on the lake.
Despite the limitations significantly constraining the accessibility of Lost Lake, the Fifth Circuit considers the “lake” to be navigable, and thus publicly accessible, year-round. This determination has substantial consequences for landowners contiguous to navigable waterways.
Now, Lost Lake is legally subject to public use, access, and travel. As a result of the Thibodeaux decision, any similarly situated waterbodies otherwise considered to be privately owned, yet “seasonably navigable,” are likewise accessible by the public.
LSPS DISTRICT INFORMATION
District 1
John Teegarden
jteegarden@ascellc.com
District 2
Dillon Baronne
dillonbaronne@gmail.com
District 3
Devon Richard
drichardsurveying@gmail.com
District 4
Jason Tuggle
Jason_tuggle@hotmail.com
District 5
Joey Riggin
jriggin@lazenbyengr.com
District 6
Mike King
mking@ntbainc.com
District 7
Jules Toups
jules.toups@la.gov
District 8
Lee Broom
lbroom@ballard-clc.com
District 9
Dennis Gowin
dgowin@ddgpc.com
District Announcements:
DISTRICT 6 - Mike King, Chairman
District 6 held a district meeting on January 16, 2025. Mr. Dustin Smith with LADOTD led a presentation on the Quality Assessment and Quality Control of LIDAR Data. New District 6 officers were voted on and approved. Mr. Derek Wheat, PLS District 6 Chairman, Ms. Rachel Waldroup, PLS District 6 Vice-Chairman, Mr. Andy Shread, PLS, PE District 6 Treasurer.
If you are not an LSPS member, we would like to invite you to attend a District meeting in your area. Contact the LSPS office at lsps@lsps.net, or the chairman in your area noted above for details about upcoming meetings.
LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY
Student Chapter of LSPS Update
The Louisiana Tech University student chapter of LSPS has been actively involved during the Winter Quarter. The student chapter of LSPS held a canned food drive between Thanksgiving and the Christmas break to benefit a local charity. Three large boxes of imperishable food items were collected and donated to Christian Community Action in Ruston.
Donna Sentell and Janet Lindsey with LAPELS were on Louisiana Tech’s campus February 19th and 20th. They made a presentation to the students pursuing the land surveying certificate about becoming a Licensed Professional Surveyor. Afterward, LAPELS provided a meal of jambalaya, rolls and chocolate chip cookies to the students.
Pictured (L to R) are Colby Comeaux, Treasurer, Colby Staffier, President, Stephanie Matthews with Christian Community Action, Jacob Murray, Vice-President and Paxton Pace, Secretary.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
By: Harper Duncan & Associates, LLC
The 2025 Louisiana Regular Legislative Session is quickly approaching, and we want to keep you informed on what to expect in the coming months. This year’s session will be a fiscal session, meaning legislators are primarily focused on tax and budgetary matters. Legislators are permitted to introduce general policy bills, but each legislator can file up to 5 non-fiscal bills.
Session Timeline & Pre-Filed Bills
Session Begins: April 14, 2025
Session Ends: June 12, 2025
Bill Pre-Filing Deadline: April 4, 2025
Pre-Filed Bills So Far: 13, most of which have been referred to the Retirement and Criminal Justice Committees.
We are actively monitoring legislation and will provide updates as more bills are introduced, particularly those that could impact the surveying profession.
State Budget Proposal & Joint Budget Hearings
On February 20th, Governor Landry introduced a standstill budget, meaning no major increases in spending or new revenue sources were included. Over the coming weeks, state departments and agencies will present their proposed budgets before the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (JLCB). These hearings will help shape the financial priorities for the state ahead of the fiscal session.
We will be following these budget discussions closely, particularly in areas related to infrastructure, economic development, and regulatory agencies that impact the surveying industry.
What’s Next?
As we move closer to the session, we encourage members to stay engaged and be ready to advocate for policies that support our profession. We will provide further updates as legislation progresses.
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to keeping you informed throughout the 2025 session.
NICHOLLS GEOMATICS PROGRAM UPDATE
November 2024
By: Dr. Esra Tekdal-Yilmaz
Dr. Balaji has been elected to Vice President, Gulf South Region of American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
Dr. Balaji attended 2025 GEO WEEK conference on Feb 10-12, 2025, Denver, CO. as an
invited panel member “Working Together to Put the Modernized National Spatial Reference System into Practice”.
Through Dr. Balaji's BOR grant the Geomatics Program now have access to the state of the art Simlat Drone Simulator ($310K) seven seat lab. It was operational last month and couple of Nicholls and HTAC drone pilots were trained on the system.
Geomatics Students Jake Chauvin and Reece Toups were featured in Gulf South Region ASPRS newsletter.
Geomatics program hosted 63 high school students from four different high schools on GIS Day on November 20th at Nicholls State University. We would like to thank U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, NEI, Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government and T. Baker Smith for attending this event.
Nicholls State University GiveNDay will be on March 18th 2025. Please support our program. https://www.givenday.org/organizations/geomatics-student-association
Hope to see you at LSPS Convention!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Your generous contribution is needed to support the following funds:
1.The Education Foundation, grants scholarships while providing guidance by assisting worthy students to obtain instruction and training in land surveying and higher education.
2.The Every Member Campaign (EMC), which began in 2006, was created solely for the purpose of supporting the Geomatics Program at Nicholls State University.
3.The Disaster Fund, which stands ready to give relief when disaster hits our area.
4.The Legislative Fund, allowing us to be ready to address legislation affecting our Surveying Profession.
Click here for DONATION OPPORTUNITIES
Or find the link at the top of our home page at www.lsps.net
JOIN LSPS:
The Louisiana Society of Professional Surveyors is organized to enhance the Surveying Profession. Our goal is to carry out our mission by maintaining high technical and cultural standards in our field, working with educational institutions for the maintenance of high standards of education in Land Surveying, requiring a high standard of ethical practice by our members, and encouraging the personal and professional development of young Land Surveyors.
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