Act No. 345
Public Acts of 1990
Approved by Governor
December 21, 1990

Filed with the Secretary of State
December 21, 1990

STATE OF MICHIGAN
85TH LEGISLATURE
REGULAR SESSION OF 1990

Introduced by Senators Ehlers, Cropsey, Dingell, Geo. Hart and Cherry

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 380

AN ACT to create a state survey and remonumentation commission and to prescribe its powers and duties: to provide for the appointment of an executive director; to provide for a contract for the services of a state geodetic advisor: to create the state survey and remonumentation fund and to provide for its use: to coordinate and implement the monumentation and remonumentation of property controlling corners in this state and coordinate the establishment of geographic information systems; and to provide for certain powers and duties of certain state and local officers and agencies.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "state survey and remonumentation act".

Sec. 2. As used in this act:

(a) "Commission" means the state survey and remonumentation commission created in section 3.

(b) "County plan" means a county monumentation and remonumentation plan under section 8.

(c) "Executive director" means the person appointed to that office under section 7.

(d) "Fund" means the state survey and remonumentation fund created in section 11.

(e) "Property controlling corner" for a property means a public land survey corner or any property corner which does not lie on a property line of the property in question but which controls the location of 1or more of the property corners of the property in question.

Sec. 3. (1) The state survey and remonumentation commission is created in the Department Of Commerce.

(2) The commission shall consist of 5 members who shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate as follows:

(a) One member shall represent the general public.

(b) The remaining 4 members shall be land surveyors licensed pursuant to article 20 of the occupational code. Act No. 299 of the Public Acts of 1980, being sections 339.2001 to 339.2014 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. 1 of whom also shall be serving as a county surveyor for a county in this state. The 4 members appointed under this subdivision shall be residents of the following areas of this state:(1) One shall be a resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 1 shall be a resident of the area of the Peninsula of Michigan that is north of the survey-township line lying between survey township 16 north survey township 17 north, and 1 shall be a resident of the area of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is south of the survey township line lying between survey township 16 north and survey township 17 north. (2) One shall be a member at large, and shall be a resident of any area of this state. (3) Of the 5 members first appointed to the commission, 1 shall be appointed for a term of 1 year, 1 for a term of 2 years, 1 for a term of 3 years, and 2 for terms of 4 years each. At the expiration of the term of each member, the governor shall appoint a successor, who shall hold office for a term of 4 years and until his or her successor has been appointed and qualified. A vacancy in the office of a member of the commission shall be filled by appointment by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, for the unexpired term. (4) Members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary per diem expenses in accordance with standards established annually by the legislature for similar boards or commissions that are reimbursed from the general fund.

Sec. 4. At the commission's first meeting, 1 member of the commission shall be selected by a majority of the commission members to be chairperson. The commission shall meet at least 4 times each year, at a time and place agreed upon by the commission. The chairperson may call special meetings at a time and place determined by the chairperson.

Sec. 5. (1) The business that the commission performs shall be conducted at a public meeting of the commission held in compliance with the open meetings act, Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976, being sections 15.261 to 15.275 of the Michigan Compiled Laws. Public notice of the time, date, and place of the meeting shall be given in the manner required by Act No. 267 of the Public Acts of 1976. (2) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by the commission in the performance of an official function shall be made available to the public in compliance with the freedom of information act, Act No. 442 of the Public Acts of 1976, being sections 15.231 to 15.246 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

Sec. 6. The commission shall do all of the following:

(a) Coordinate the restoration, maintenance, and the preservation of the land survey records of vertical and horizontal monuments; the public land survey system, and the property controlling corners established by the United States public land survey and by the National Geodetic Survey within this state, including, but not necessarily limited to; all pertinent field notes, plats, and documents; and coordinate the restoration, establishment, maintenance, and preservation of other boundary records otherwise established by law, or considered by the commission to be of importance.

(b) Establish, maintain, and provide safe storage facilities for a comprehensive system of recordation and dissemination of land information records.

(c) Coordinate the extension, densification, and maintenance of the horizontal and vertical control networks initiated by the federal government through the national geodetic survey and the United States Geological Survey.

(d) Coordinate the collection and preservation of information obtained from surveys made by persons or organizations authorized to establish monuments or land boundaries. and to assist in proper recording of monuments or land boundaries by county surveyors or registers of deeds.

(e) Foster, encourage, and promote the establishment of remonumentation programs in every county in the state.

(f) Establish and maintain a data base of information on approved monumented horizontal and vertical control in the state.

(g) On or before October 1, 1993, and biennially thereafter, submit a report to the legislature. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(i) A summary of the commission's activities regarding administration of this act.

(ii) An assessment of the progress of the implementation of county monumentation and remonumentation plans throughout the state.

(iii) A statement regarding the amount of money that was received and disbursed from the fund.

(iv) An assessment of how much money is necessary to carry out monumentation or remonumentation of the entire state.

(v) An assessment of whether the money received in the fund is adequate to implement this act.

(vi) Recommendations including, but not limited to, the level of funding that is necessary to implement this act.

(h) On or before October 1, 1993, submit a copy of the initial report that is prepared pursuant to subdivision (g) to the county board of commissioners of each county of this state.

(i) Establish and administer a grant program to counties to implement this act.

Sec. 7. (1) The commission shall appoint an executive director. The executive director, under the direction of the commission, shall carry out the routine duties of the commission, as delegated to the executive director by the commission. The executive director shall retain employees, including at least 1 licensed surveyor and adequate secretarial staff, as the executive director considers necessary. The employees shall be classified civil servants. (2) The commission shall enter into a contract with a geodetic advisor qualified to perform the duties described in section 6(c).

Sec. 8. (1) Each county shall establish a county monumentation and remonumentation plan. Not later than 1 year after the effective date of this act, the commission shall create and distribute a model county plan, which may be adopted by a county with any changes appropriate for that county. Not later than 3 years after the effective date of this act, each county shall have submitted a county plan that is approved by the commission. (2) A county plan shall provide for all of the following:

(a) The monumentation or remonumentation of the entire county, within 20 years, under the guidelines of the manual of instructions for the survey of the public lands of the United States, 1973, prepared by the bureau of land management of the department of interior, technical bulletin 6, or subsequent editions.

(b) The provision of copies of all survey monumentation information produced by the county plan to the county surveyor and the commission.

(c) The filing with the county surveyor and the commission of copies of all monumentation or remonumentation documents required to be recorded with the register of deeds pursuant to the corner recordation act, Act No. 74 of the Public Acts of 1970, being sections 54.201 to 54.210d of the Michigan Compiled Laws, or recorded with the register of deeds pursuant to Act No. 132 of the Public Acts of 1970, being sections 54.211 to 54.213 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.

(d) A perpetual monument maintenance plan that provides for all corners to be checked, and if necessary remonumented, at least once every 20 years.

(e) Any other provisions reasonably required by the commission for purposes of this act.

(3) Two or more contiguous counties may submit a multicounty plan, which shall meet the same requirements within each member county as are established for a county plan under this act.

(4) If a county fails to establish and submit a plan that is approved by the commission within the time required under subsection (1), the commission shall initiate and contract for the implementation of a county plan in that county pursuant to section 10.

Sec. 9. The county surveyor in each county in this state shall be the county representative for all surveying projects approved by or initiated through the commission. In a county that does not have a county surveyor, a licensed surveyor shall be appointed and shall perform the duties described in this section.

Sec. 10. (1) Any monumentation or remonumentation conducted by the commission shall be pursuant to negotiated contracts. The commission shall prepare specifications for each contract negotiated by the commission. and shall monitor the field work and notes of all work done under each contract to ensure compliance with those specifications.

(2) The commission shall pay the cost of any contracts under this section from the fund.

Sec. 11. (1) The state survey and remonumentation fund is created in the state treasury as a separate fund. The fund shall be administered by the commission.

(2) Money deposited in the fund, and all interest and earnings generated by the fund, shall not lapse at the end of a fiscal year, but shall remain in the fund to be expended as provided in this act.

(3) The fund may accept funds received as gifts or donations, or funds received from individuals or corporations to be used for purposes of this act.

(4) The commission may direct the department of treasury to establish restricted subaccounts within the fund as necessary to administer the fund.

Sec. 12. (1) Money in the fund shall be used by the commission for the following purposes:

(a) Annual grants to the various counties to implement their county plans. excluding the perpetual monument maintenance plan described in section 8(2)(d).

(b) Annual grants to 2 or more counties to implement their multicounty plan, excluding the monument maintenance plan described in section 8(2)(d).

(c) The implementation of county plans that are initiated and contracted for by the commission pursuant to section 8(4).

(d) An annual grant to each county that has a county plan or to 2 or more counties that have a multicounty plan to implement the perpetual monument maintenance plan described in section 8(2)(d). The commission shall make not less than 5% of the total amount of the fund available for grants pursuant to this subdivision.

(e) The payment of contracts that are entered into by the commission pursuant to section 10.

(f) Other activities necessary, incidental, or appropriate for the implementation of this act.

(2) Of the money collected and remitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the fund pursuant to section 2567a of the revised judicature act of 1961, Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961, being section 600.2567a of the Michigan Compiled Laws, the following shall apply:

(a) An annual grant to a county pursuant to subsection (1)(a) or to 2 or more counties pursuant to subsection

(1)(b) shall be in an amount that is not less than 20% of the aggregate amount of money collected in that county or those counties, as applicable, pursuant to sections 2567(2) and 2567a of Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961, being sections 600.2567 and 600.2567a of the Michigan Compiled Laws, during the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the grant is made.

(b) If the commission initiates and contracts for the implementation of a county plan for a county pursuant to section 8(4), the commission shall annually spend an amount that is not less than 20% of the aggregate amount of money collected in that county pursuant to sections 2567(2) and 2567a of Act No. 236 of the Public Acts of 1961, being sections 600.2567 and 600.2567a of the Michigan Compiled Laws, during the Calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the expenditure is made, to implement that county plan.

Sec. 13. An application for an annual grant authorized pursuant to this act shall be made on a form prescribed and furnished by the commission. The commission may require the applicant to provide any information reasonably necessary to allow the commission to make a determination required by this act.

Sec. 14. (1) The commission shall not make a grant pursuant to section 12(1)(a) or (b) unless all of the following conditions are met:

(a) The applicant files an application for the grant on or before December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the grant is made.

(b) The applicant has established a county plan or a multicounty plan that has been approved by the commission on or before December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding the year in which the grant is made.

(c) The applicant demonstrates to the commission the capability to carry out the county plan or multicounty plan.

(d) The applicant demonstrates to the commission that it has not completed the monumentation or remonumentation of the county, or of the several counties in a multicounty plan.

(2) The commission shall not make a grant pursuant to section 12(1)(d) unless the applicant demonstrates to the commission that it has completed the monumentation or remonumentation of the county, or of the several counties in a multicounty plan.

Sec. 15. (1) A recipient of a grant made pursuant to section 12(1)(a), (b), or (d) shall obtain authorization from the commission before implementing a change that significantly alters the approved county plan or multicounty plan.

(2) The commission may revoke a grant made by it pursuant to this act or withhold payment if the recipient of the grant fails to comply with the terms and conditions of the grant, or with requirements of this act or the rules promulgated pursuant to this act.

(3) The commission may withhold a grant until the commission determines that the recipient is able to proceed with the implementation of the county plan or multicounty plan.

Sec. 16. (1) The commission, upon request, shall provide copies or certified copies of records in its possession to the public, other state agencies or officers, or local governmental agencies. The commission may charge a reasonable fee for providing the records.

(2) A certified copy of a record provided by the commission is admissible in court as evidence, without further identification, if the substance of the record is properly admissible in the proceeding.

Sec. 17. The department of commerce shall promulgate rules pursuant to the administrative procedures act 1969, Act No. 306 of the Public Acts of 1969, being. sections 24.201 to 24.328 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, to implement this act. In doing so, the department shall consider recommendations provided to them by the commission.

Sec. 18. This act shall take effect January 1, 1991.

Sec. 19. This act shall not take effect unless Senate Bill No. 381 of the 85th Legislature is enacted into law. This act is ordered to take immediate effect. Secretary of the Senate. Clerk of the House of Representatives.