Survey requirements for local government units and nonprofit organizations are generally similar in scope to survey requirements for State land acquisitions. The primary differences are that for surveys for local governments and nonprofits:

• Intermediate line markers on lines longer than five hundred feet are not required (although they are recommended for monitoring purposes). Adjoiner and agency notifications are not required.
• Certification block for the Municipal Clerk is not required.

There are other minor differences in the details of the work.

• In completing the Surveyor’s Certification and Summary Form and the plan’s Legend of Acquisition, the Project Number does not begin with “SA” (which designates “State Acquisition”).
• While Green Acres will have interests in any properties for which it provides acquisition funding, it is not the Using Agency for the land acquisition. Instead, the identified Using Agency is the local government unit or nonprofit organization through which the surveying contract was issued and which will assume ultimate financial, legal, and management responsibility for the property.

Green Acres reviews all surveys for which its funding will be requested, and therefore, because of this funding participation and reimbursement to the local unit or non–profit of up to one half of the survey cost, we are one of the Ultimate Users of these surveys and must be included in the certification. As in reviews for State land acquisitions, surveys for local governments and nonprofits are reviewed against a checklist derived from the standard Scope of Land Surveying Services.

Green Acres checks for inconsistencies between plans, descriptions, and digital files, while assessing if the survey work reveals any title or land use problems that must be discussed with the local government or nonprofit and resolved prior to releasing funds or participating in the acquisition in any manner.

Two sets of plans and deed descriptions (with a reduced plan copy stapled to each description copy) are required for final approval of deliverables, along with digital files as outlined in Green Acres’ standard Scope of Land Surveying Services.

Please visit our Standard Scope of Survey Work page for full details of the standard requirements for surveys reviewed by Green Acres, as well as a summary of minimum requirements.