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Allen County approves Maumee Township contract to inventory, perpetuate section corners
Summary
The Allen County Commissioners approved a contract with Foresight Consulting LLC to perform phase 1 and 2 of a section corner perpetuation assessment in Maumee Township, covering an assessment of roughly 130 corners and perpetuation of 49 identified 'low-hanging fruit' monuments for up to $104,200.
Allen County Commissioners on Feb. 21 approved a contract with Foresight Consulting LLC not to exceed $104,200 to perform phase 1 and phase 2 work on the county’s section corner perpetuation project in Maumee Township.
The work approved includes a phase 1 assessment — historical and field research by a registered land surveyor to determine the condition and presence of physical monumentation for section corners — and a phase 2 scope to perpetuate the easier targets the study identifies. Commissioners and county staff said the contract will cover an assessment of about 130 theoretical corners in the township and perpetuation work for 49 corners under this agreement.
“This is a contract for Maumee Township, as you can see up there, for phase 1 and phase 2 for Foresight,” Mike Frucci, Allen County surveyor, told the board. Frucci said the county is trying to meet a state requirement to perpetuate roughly 5% of section corners annually: “State law says that I'm to do 120 or 5%,” he said, adding that the county has been catching up after years with little or no work on corners.
Frucci said the program is funded from a portion of recording fees deposited into the county’s section corner perpetuation fund; he estimated the fund receives about $25,000 per month in recording-fee revenue. He told commissioners that while the program has in some years completed larger numbers of corners (he said more than 200 in a year when he began), the work must be calibrated to the fund balance and that this contract represents a sustainable step forward.
A commissioner asked how many corners the county expects to address this year. Frucci said the statutory target is about 120 but the actual number will depend on available funds; he said the county may be able to do “maybe 150 or 180 or 200” if funds allow but that he would monitor the fund carefully.
The motion to approve the contract was made and seconded by commissioners and approved by voice vote.
Why it matters: Section corners are the legal basis for land surveys and property descriptions. County surveyors are responsible under state law to perpetuate (document, repair, or replace) section corner markers on a recurring schedule; gaps in that work can complicate surveying and property transactions.
What happens next: County staff will execute the contract with Foresight and return to the board with future contracts and updates as the program progresses.
