Legal Issues for Texas Civil Engineers and Land Surveyors
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Before undertaking any on-demand effort, you should review the rules of your licensing/certifying entity.
It’s your responsibility to determine whether this on-demand course meets your continuing education requirements.
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**Any on-demand programs that qualify for AIA or LACES credit will require an additional 2 business weeks for processing.
**AIA credit is not available in USB format.
Streamable MP4/PDF
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Click the link which appears at the end of the video to be taken to the course quiz.
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**Any streamable on-demand programs that qualify for AIA or LACES credit will require an additional 2 business weeks for processing.
USB MP4/PDF
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Please contact HalfMoon Education if you have any questions during the process of taking this course. (715) 835-5900 or qchapman@halfmoonseminars.org
**Any USB on-demand programs that qualify for LACES credit will require an additional 2 business weeks for processing.
**AIA credit is not available in USB format.
Agenda
Webinar instructions will be emailed before the date of the webinar.
Please log into the webinar 15 – 30 minutes before start time.
Log into Webinar
7:30 – 8:00 am CDT
Morning Session
8:00 am – 12:15 pm CDT
Break
12:15 – 12:45 pm CDT
Afternoon Session
12:45 – 5:00 pm CDT
Land Use Law N. Meade
Understanding land use law
Governmental power and authority to zone
Governmental bodies with the power to zone
Comprehensive land use planning
Finding existing land use laws and regulations
Seeking zoning variances or rezoning
Participating in zoning administrative appeals
Participating in land use litigation
Locating Land Boundaries on Paper (And on the Ground) D. Bowles
Interpreting land descriptions
• Metes and bounds
• Lot and block
• Dos and don’ts for writing descriptions
Applying principles of boundary location
• Collecting and evaluating all types of boundary evidence:
documents, physical evidence, people, surveys
• Locating the described land on a map
• Locating the described land on the ground
Understanding and using geographic information systems (GIS)
Solving land description and boundary location problems
Handling Ethical Issues in Civil Engineering J. Stuckey
and Land Surveying Practice
Promoting health and welfare vs. managing risk:
complimentary or conflicting duties?
Protecting the environment: meeting or exceeding legal requirements
Watching the bottom line: identifying and balancing economic
pressures in design and construction
Integrating new technologies: identifying and balancing the benefits and risks
Surface Water and Groundwater Rights and Regulation A. Smith
Understanding the basics of Texas water rights law
Who has the right to access and use Texas surface water?
• Riparian rights
• Restrictions on access and use
Who has the right to access and use Texas groundwater?
• Well drilling
• Restrictions on use of Texas groundwater
Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law A. Smith
Understanding eminent domain powers
• Source of eminent domain powers
• History of the exercise of eminent domain powers
• Types of eminent domain “takings”
Participating in the condemnation process
Appealing a condemnation decision
Understanding regulatory “takings” and inverse condemnation
Webinar Instructions
All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited.
Certificates of completion can be downloaded in PDF form upon passing a short quiz. A link to the quiz will be sent to each qualifying attendee immediately after the webinar. The certificate can be downloaded from the Results page of the quiz upon scoring 80% or higher.
Webinars are presented via GoToWebinar, an easy-to-use application that can be run on most systems and tablets. Instructions and login information will be provided in an email sent close to the date of the webinar. It is highly recommended that you download, install and test the application before the webinar begins by clicking on the link in the email.
GoToWebinar App requirements:
Windows 7 – 10 or Mac OSX Mavericks (10.9) – macOS Catalina (10.15)
Web Browser:
The two most recent version of the following browsers:
Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge
Internet Explorer v11 (or later) with Flash enabled
Internet connection: Minimum of 1Mbps Hardware: 2GB RAM or more
For more information, visit the Support section at www.gotowebinar.com
Credits
Texas Professional Land Surveyors
8.0 Continuing Education Hours,
Including 1.0 Rules/Ethics Hours
Texas Civil Engineers
8.0 PDHs, Including 1.0 Ethics hour
Continuing Education Credit Information
This webinar is open to the public and offers 8.0 continuing education hours, including 1.0 Ethics hour to Texas civil engineers and land surveyors. Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors no longer preapproves courses for land surveyors. Educators and courses are not subject to approval for Texas engineers.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the webinar for those who attend the entire course, respond to prompts and score a minimum 80% on the exam that follows the course (multiple attempts allowed).
Speakers
Deward “Karl” Bowles
Independent professional land surveyor and owner of B&B Surveying Company in Houston
Mr. Bowles began working in the field of land surveying in 1978 and is certified as a registered professional land surveyor in the State of Texas. Mr. Bowles has given seminars to lawyers, real estate professionals and other land surveyors on land surveying principles, practice and codified standards. He has been an expert witness in a number of legal actions centering around boundary disputes and land surveyor negligence claims. Mr. Bowles has given expert testimony regarding boundary resolution, minimum standards and minimum content regarding land surveys. He is a member of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors and a former member of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.
Micah King
Micah King Senior Associate at Husch Blackwell
Mr. King’s practice focuses on land use and real estate development, as well as governmental affairs. He is passionate about the built environment and physical
world, and enjoys having a connection to growing the community. He regularly represents clients before city councils, boards, planning and zoning commissions,
and other governmental bodies. As a former Assistant City Attorney for the City of Austin, Mr. King has built relationships and gained valuable experience dealing with
politically sensitive issues.
Nikelle Meade
Attorney & Partner at Husch Blackwell
Ms. Meade represents clients in all aspects of local government and real estate with an emphasis in land use and real estate development, public-private partnerships, procurement, and governmental affairs. Her work includes zoning, permitting, land use planning, development application processing and representation before local city councils. She also works on business development, relationship management, and with economic development, zoning boards of adjustment, planning commissions, local governing bodies and state and local agencies. Ms. Meade helps clients navigate real estate development projects through governmental approvals. She also has vast experience in commercial transactions including purchases and sales, leases, public financing and general contracts. Ms. Meade received her J.D. degree from the University of Texas School of Law where she was an Endowed Presidential Scholar.
Alecia Mosadom
Alecia Mosadomi Associate at Husch Blackwell
Ms. Mosadomi’s practice focuses on land use, real estate development and governmental affairs. As a former Assistant City Attorney in Austin, Hutto and Georgetown, Texas, she understands how development plans evolve from ideation through approvals and into reality for developers and investors. Adept at uniting developers, builders, architects, engineers and the community along the way, she is valued for her ability to streamline complex land use issues. Ms. Mosadomi is skilled in guiding real estate developments through the maze of ever-changing egulation with precision. She attributes this skill to developing and maintaining working relationships
with key stakeholders throughout the development process.
Audra Smith
Attorney & Founder at Audra Smith Law, El Campo, TXMs. Smith is an attorney based in Wharton County, Texas. Her practice focuses on a wide variety of agricultural issues, especially those involving cattle. She additionally spends a significant portion of her time on oil and gas title examination, farm and ranch transactions, and real estate litigation. Ms. Smith also assists clients with estate planning, probates, and business planning needs. Ms. Smith is a graduate of El Campo High School. She received her bachelor of science degree in Agricultural Science from Texas A&M University in 2009, and received her doctor of jurisprudence degree from South Texas College of Law in 2014. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2014 and is also admitted to the Southern District of Texas. Ms. Smith is a member of the Wharton County Bar Association, formerly serving as president, and she is a member of the Texas Bar College.
Joe W. Stuckey
Attorney at Law in Rosharon
Joe W. Stuckey practices primarily in corporate, real estate, and environmental law, including transactional work and litigation. He has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University and J.D. and L.L.M. degrees from the University of Houston Law Center. Mr. Stuckey is admitted to the practice of law in all Texas courts, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Claims Court. He is also licensed in Texas as a professional engineer and a registered public land surveyor.