S.J. County surveyor earns state award
Just three years into his job as the San Joaquin County surveyor, Warren Smith already has ascended to the top of his field in being named the 2017 Surveyor of the Year by the County Engineers Association of California (CEAC) during the annual California State Association of Counties meeting in Sacramento on Dec. 1.
A county surveyor’s role as a public official is to make precise measurements to determine property boundaries, administer county land survey records, maintain the official government survey monuments, and to review property boundary surveys and subdivision maps.
“It is a job I love doing because it involves so many elements: physics, engineering, metrology, geometry, trigonometry, retroreflectors, drones and more,” explained Smith. “I’m thrilled to be honored with this prestigious award but given all the work that goes into land surveying, I could not do my job without the support of so many other extremely dedicated team members who give 110 percent to each and every project that comes our way.”
Among his many accomplishments, Smith spearheaded a survey of Mount Boardman, one of only two places in California where four counties converge at one point. He coordinated efforts with county surveyors from Alameda, Stanislaus, and Santa Clara to retrace previous surveys and calculate the coordinates of the historic location.
The coordinates were then used by computer based Geographic Information System (GIS) divisions of the four counties for use in their baseline mapping and for purposes of commonality. Corner records were filed in each of the four counties. Smith later wrote an article about the expedition in the California Surveyor entitled “Mount Boardman Expedition 2016.”
“Warren and his team provide a tremendous service to the residents of San Joaquin County,” San Joaquin County Supervisor Chuck Winn said. “Not only do they establish and maintain the critical boundaries of our public and private lands, but they are also key partners in emergency response, GIS mapping, construction, infrastructure projects, history preservation, public real estate transactions, litigation, and a host of other important public services.”
San Joaquin County Public Works Director, Kris Balaji, said it is easy to see why Warren Smith received the award.
“No one is more deserving of this statewide recognition than Warren,” Balaji praised. “He has been a tireless champion of survey monument preservation and has gone above and beyond in the education of San Joaquin County staff, contractors and members of the public on the importance of preserving the historical framework of our region’s boundary monumentation.”