Michael Pulley, PLS is the President and co-owner of Points West Surveying. Mr. Pulley has over 27 years of experience in the field of surveying. He has performed engineering design surveys and construction staking for the multiple phases of the Mad River Parallel Pipeline project for the City of Eureka, the construction staking for the Martin Slough Interceptor and Horizontal Drill projects, over 70 separate topographic, boundary and utility surveys for the Resort Improvement District #1 ranging from water intake sites, water tank locations, sewer line installations to overhead and underground electric installations; topographic surveys for Humboldt State University running track and Laurel & B Street intersections, and a topographic and boundary survey of the entire length of Front Street for the City of Crescent City.
Mr. Pulley will be the primary contact for this work, will coordinate projects and be responsible for individual projects as a Project Manager. He will perform office calculations and field work, research, boundary calculations, and other tasks needed for the various survey projects required. At the conclusion of each project, he will provide Quality Control and Assurance. Mr. Pulley graduated from Rice University with a degree in History. This background has served to make Mr. Pulley an expert at researching historical records including those involving old sloughs (Waters of the State), Patents, and Railroad Right of Way Mapping.
Mr. Pulley has been an expert witness in multiple court cases and as a court appointed referee in a partition case. Mr. Pulley is active in the California Land Surveyors Association (CLSA) and has served as Past President of and is currently the State representative for the local chapter of CLSA. Mr. Pulley has worked throughout the northern portion of the state on a variety of projects in Amador, Humboldt, Del Norte, Shasta, Trinity, Siskiyou, and Mendocino Counties.
Jesse Buffington, PLS is a Licensed Land Surveyor and Vice-President at Points West Surveying. Mr. Buffington has 16 years of land surveying experience, 14 of those years being with Points West. He has managed complex boundary surveys requiring the restoration of historic monuments for McKinleyville Community Services District and in the City of Trinidad. Mr. Buffington has managed the field, mapping and construction staking for many of the Storm Damage Sites as part of the Points West On-Call contract with the County of Humboldt. In 2020 Mr. Buffington competed a large boundary survey for the McKinleyville Community Services District of their newly purchased Pialorsi Ranch property. This project involved substantial historic research to survey property lines which had not been surveyed since the original GLO survey in the 1870’s.
For Points West Surveying Company’s current On-Call contract with the County of Humboldt, Mr. Buffington has managed many of the projects from field to finish. This includes all aspects of the project from the initial boundary and GPS planning, easement retracement and preparation, field topographic survey, office mapping and construction staking.
Mr. Buffington is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree in Regional Development. His career began at the Humboldt County Building Department, followed by four years as a planner and project manager for Omsberg & Company. He is active in CLSA and has been President of the Humboldt Chapter for the past four years. He was born and raised in Humboldt County and that local knowledge proves an asset when working in this unique area.
David Crivelli, PLS is the former President and co-founder of Points West Surveying Company. Mr. Crivelli has 37 years of experience in the survey field. He was the lead surveyor for the Mad River Water Parallel Pipeline water project which involved all aspects of surveying: GPS Control, Aerial Surveys, Boundary and easement retracement, topographic mapping, right of way, and construction staking. He has performed numerous boundary surveys for public and private clients. Mr. Crivelli has performed numerous construction surveys for highways, airports, hospitals, schools, commercial buildings, condos, townhouses, sewer and water plants, and subdivisions. Typical projects include the City of Arcata Foster Avenue Project and the Arcata-Eureka Airport Improvement Project. in land surveying. Austin is familiar with a variety of survey total stations and data collection software including robotic total stations and GPS equipment.
Bill Pool is the primary CAD drafter for Points West Surveying. Bill has an Associate’s Degree in Architectural Drafting from Denver Institute of Technology. Mr. Pool is proficient in all aspects of engineering and survey drafting with 25 years of experience. Mr. Pool is very skilled at artful presentation of surveying and engineering data; maps produced by Mr. Pool are accurate, clear, and concise. Mr. Pool is skilled at creating accurate DTMs which truly reflect the site being mapped to allow for accurate design work and eliminate changes during construction.
Ryan Baxter is a field and office surveyor for Points West Surveying. Mr. Baxter has been in the survey field for 16 years. He is experienced with a variety of survey total stations and data collection software. Mr. Baxter works as a chainman and party chief utilizing robotic total stations and GPS equipment and in office performing drafting and pre-calculations. Mr. Baxter is very skilled in construction surveys and methods to clearly convey stakeout data to contractors.
Austin McChesney is a field surveyor for Points West Surveying. Austin’s background in construction and architectural drafting contribute to his value to our firm; he understands the need for highly accurate work and paying attention to the details involved in land surveying. Austin is familiar with a variety of survey total stations and data collection software including robotic total stations and GPS equipment.
Loren Blodgett, LSIT is a field and office surveyor for Points West. Mr. Blodgett has 12 years of survey experience prior to being hired by PWS in the summer of 2021. He brings valuable boundary experience and can assist the licensed surveyors in the office with boundary research, drafting and legal descriptions. He is experienced with GPS and robotic total stations and works in the field as a party chief and in the office doing boundary calculations and finish drafting.
Staff Qualifications
All staff at Points West Surveying Company are members of the California Land Surveyors Association and regularly attend continuing education seminars. This enables us to stay on top of the rapid changes in survey technology. We employ the latest equipment including robotic total stations and survey-grade GPS equipment. Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) utilizing Autocad Land Desktop and Civil 3D Software and a photo quality HP wide format plotter allows us to produce accurate and clear survey products.
Awards
David Crivelli and Michael Pulley received a CELSOC Honor Award for City of Eureka’s Mad River Pipeline Survey, February 2004. The Award recognized innovative use of cutting edge technology in retracing 60-year old pipeline easement through an environmentally sensitive habitat. The project included topographic mapping of the 6 mile long project corridor, preparation of easements for additional right of way acquisitions, and GPS control. Construction of a $4 million parallel pipeline over a portion of the project was successfully completed in September 2003.