SCIGN Site Reconnaissance Information

To decrease the cost per site, SCIGN people are doing site reconnaissance and permitting. Our goal is, by November 1, 1997, to have looked at 100 sites and to have 25 sites ready for the contractor. To do this, we are trying to get "master permits" from organizations that have many facilities. Examples are counties, cities, big school districts, fire districts, etc. Many such organizations need geodetic control, and want SCIGN stations for their own purposes. Also, we may not need to obtain building permits for sites on county or city property. We will try to match suitable facilities with locations from the Dots-II map. However, it will probably be necessary to relax the bounds around the dots.

Bill Young, Bob Packard, and Bob Reader (retired surveyors) are contacting organizations about master permits. Recon crews from USGS-Pasadena and Scripps (led by John Galetzka and Yehuda Bock, respectively) will inspect possible sites. The USGS and Scripps recon crews are called the A Team and the B Team, respectively. Nancy King receives and distributes information from all groups and coordinates the recon effort. As suitable sites are found, a new Dots committee (Duncan Agnew, Frank Webb, and Nancy King) will match possible locations with dots. The Executive Committee will be kept informed about progress.

Status of Site Reconnaissance as of Fall 1998

We didn't make our goal of 25 permitted sites by November 1, 1997. After doing this for more than a year, we have learned these lessons:

It is surprisingly easy to find suitable sites, even in the LA Basin. However, compromises are sometimes necessary. For example, sky view is rarely perfect at urban sites. On the other hand, rural sites with great sky view sometimes cost more because it is more expensive to bring in utilities.

Schools, city and county facilities, and water districts are eager to have SCIGN sites. The surveying community has provided invaluable help.

Permitting takes weeks to months. Once a permit reaches the real estate department of the organization, we simply have to wait. All our attempts to expedite the process have failed.

While permitting takes longer than we hoped, the permitting organizations rarely turn us down.

The "master permit" idea from Summer 1997 didn't work as well as we hoped. Large organizations do have many sites, but also have big bureaucracies that make permitting extra slow.

Status of Site Reconnaissance as of Spring 1999

The Siting Committee has finished its work and no longer exists. On May 21, 1999, the SCIGN Coordinating Board voted to accept the Siting Committee's site list. See List of accepted, backup, and rejected sites . Nancy King will maintain this list as some sites inevitably end up being replaced or dropped. However, these decisions will now be made by SCIGN's Network Coordinator (John Galetzka) and Executive Committee. See John Galetzka's recon page
for the most detailed information.

Site recon photos and information from John Galetzka (SCIGN Network Coordinator)