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February 9, 2009 Comprehensive GIS Status Report
Archie Stanley Athens
G.I.S. Coordinator County
Cooperative
Land
Administration and
Information
Mapping system
February 9, 2009
Athens County Commissioners:
Mark Sullivan
Larry Payne
Lenny Eliason
Commissioners:
As my final GIS progress report as Athens County GIS Coordinator, I am pleased to provide you this comprehensive, current status report of the development and operation of our Athens County GIS. I will deliver all GIS software and authorization codes to your office over the coming two weeks and gradually excuse myself from the duties as Athens County GIS Coordinator as of February 23, 2009.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Athens County GIS
Comprehensive Status Report
Development and Operation
February 2009
On December 31, 1996 the Athens County Commissioners with great vision and forethought formally decided to develop and operate an Athens County Geographic Information System (GIS). Investing in the future of Athens County, the Commissioners and I entered into a contract for assistance in establishing a County-wide GIS for County Departments and Offices.
I began work as the Athens County GIS Coordinator on January 1, 1997. My vision and mission for the Athens County GIS were presented in “A Proposed Plan to bring G.I.S. to Athens County” reprinted here for reference.
January 1, 1997
A Proposed Plan to bring G.I.S. to Athens County
The following pages offer a vision of Athens County G.I.S. possibilities, outline a general developmental research strategy, document progress to date, and establish an annual program of quantified objectives providing for a staged implementation of basic G.I.S. foundations leading to the long-term vision.
A Vision of Athens County G.I.S. Possibilities
A Geographic Information System (G.I.S.) is a computerized mapping and information storage and retrieval mechanism which is used to describe and depict places and objects on or very near the surface of the Earth. Data is collected for a certain theme of objects and locations, and is stored in the computer as an electronic layer of information. For instance, you may imagine a scaled drawing of Athens County with only the outlines of the townships shown as a base layer. Next, imagine a scaled drawing of Athens County with only the roadways shown. This second layer is on a transparent sheet and exactly overlays the base layer. Next we could add a layer which shows the streams in Athens County; a layer of the forest locations; a layer showing the cities and villages; a cemetery location layer; and a layer depicting interesting and historic places. With all overlays in place and adjusted to a common view of the Earth’s surface, we would have a base map and several theme overlays which when viewed as one is our Athens County Map.
Then, we could transfer the above collection of layers electronically into a computer by scanning or other digital means such that any combination of the layer themes could be electronically called to duty and custom electronic maps assembled and displayed on the computer screen or printed out for use as a conventional map. We could collect or copy additional data and add more layers such as water lines, sewer lines, school district jurisdictions and bus routes, pipelines, deep mine shaft/rooms locations, topography contours, soil types, political boundaries, industrial parks, and many, many other layers as they become needed. Some data might be scanned in directly from existing maps, other data may need to be “digitized” into the computer by tracing a pointer around each line of a drawing. Other data such as tax cards, deeds, pictures of homes, etc. could be scanned as images into the system, while still other data such as utility pump specifications could be typed directly into memory. Finally, utilizing new satellite surveying technology, data may be collected very accurately directly from the surface of the Earth using satellite radio wave transmissions processed and entered into the system.
So with only the limits of one’s imagination, a multitude of theme combinations are possible with G.I.S. technology. More importantly, the speed of producing these customized maps is almost instantaneous. “Queries” can be easily accomplished whereby a person may wish to input criteria for sorting the available information. For example, a developer may wish to know how many tracts of land are currently available for sale that are at least 35 acres, with water, sewer, electricity, and natural gas available, that have no deep mines underlying, and are located within ½ mile of a paved road. This type of information can be gathered in a matter of minutes on a G.I.S., as opposed to several days or weeks with a manual mapping and records system.
G.I.S. technology can help make sense of any interdependent network of services, systems, buildings, and people linked by geography and related information. It offers the potential for a quantum leap in the quality, accuracy, accessibility, and timeliness of information used by employees, business, and citizens throughout Athens County. Anytime local government has better, more accessible information, the private sector and general public benefit as well. Athens County has numerous, diverse uses for G.I.S., including maintenance of property records, tax assessment and collection, dispatch of emergency service vehicles, facilities, planning, public works and utilities, road and bridge maintenance, soils delineation, school-bus routing, voter registration and precinct delineation, delivery of public health programs, economic development, disaster relief planning and response, map production, police operations, natural resource delineation, policy analysis, geological formation identification, deep shaft mine location and hydrological mapping. In fact, G.I.S. offers benefits to virtually all functions of local government. Cooperation among Athens County, Ohio University, Hocking College, cities, villages, townships, schools, utilities, state and federal governments, and the private sector will offer a synergism that will touch the life of every Athens County citizen. It is an exciting thing this G.I.S.
A General Strategy for Developing an Athens County G.I.S.
The idea is to bring G.I.S. technology to Athens County by following a practical, systematic approach of assessing the current status of related efforts being accomplished by local offices and agencies; researching other county G.I.S. programs and private consultant facilities including hardware and software being used; identifying potential funding sources locally as well as federal and state grants; resolving legal issues; and ultimately implementing a project plan.
Assessing the current status of G.I.S. type efforts, computerized or manual, already in progress in Athens County is very important to identify potential participants, avoid duplication among agencies, and plan for future compatibility. Personal interviews and detailed inventory of each agency’s system capabilities will provide necessary knowledge upon which a solid foundation can be built to include each participant. Federal, state, county, city, township, village, school, college, university, utility, private, and other agencies will each bring important expertise, data, and participation to a mutually beneficial geographic information system. At the same time, a balance must be observed between including enough participants to achieve the benefits of a G.I.S. and keeping the project small enough to be manageable and affordable. The needs and problems of each department and agency will be identified through this process.
Researching other county G.I.S. programs and private consultant facilities will be important to search out and bring to Athens County the best technology and ideas already experienced by others. Difficult decisions must be made about what methods and systems are being used, and what hardware and software work best under what circumstances. There are others who have had bad experiences and those who have experienced great successes. We must design our system with the best ideas from others who have gone before us and be a role model for those who come after us. The most useful information is likely to come from sites that are similar in size, project scope, applications, budget, and staff technical expertise to us, although there is much to learn from the larger systems as well.
Identifying existing potential funding sources should allow us to implement a system within our existing budgets. Most probably a staged implementation will be necessary with a basic set of data tested through pilot projects and one that will demonstrate benefits soon recovering the setup costs. Once a basic system is put into service county-wide, we will need to consider each newly proposed theme as an addition to the core operation. A decentralized system could provide for each agency to continue to be the custodian of their own data and fund their own portion of the program. Grants are available that we must seek out and pursue to assist our efforts. Decisions will have to be made to consider how to charge private organizations for any profitable use they would make from our system.
Resolving legal policy issues such as access, security, sales, privacy, liability, and copyright are necessary early in the process to avoid delaying the smooth operation of the G.I.S. system. Laws and regulations address these issues and protect the rights of data owners, the public, individuals, and organization security. Our G.I.S. policies must protect the system as well as the users of the system.
Implementing the G.I.S. project plan will be accomplished in a staged, decentralized fashion so that each participating office or agency may become part of the system based upon their needs, fund their portion of the program based upon benefits to be realized, and be the sole custodian of their data. The Project will be developed as much as is possible with in-house people.
On January 1, 1997, a series of GIS Progress Reports was started. Those reports to the County Commissioners have been increasingly widely distributed via U.S. Mail and email, and are published also on the GIS portion of the County website. These reports chronicle our GIS experience, and reference to these reports is incorporated here for reference.
Early on we established a GIS Steering Committee consisting of representatives from Ohio University, municipalities, townships, and county offices. Meeting every other month, this Committee has been the forum for introducing new agencies to GIS, sharing information and ensuring that redundancy does not happen in each others work.
Following is a summary by year of the advancements made on our Athens County GIS:
1997:
· Set 31 First Order Control Monuments all across the County
· Flew aerial photography
· Global Positioning System Base Stations Project completed with Ohio University.
· Orthophotography developed County-wide at 400 feet to the inch and distributed to local participating agencies.
· GIS pilot project for parcel mapping developed, evaluated, and further fitting of the parcel data to the orthophotography planned.
· GIS Implementation Plan draft developed and reviewed.
· GIS Steering Committee formed and meeting regularly.
· 22 GIS sites visited/ researched throughout Ohio and surrounding states.
· 13 local agencies interviewed to establish GIS needs.
· 13 GIS consulting firm facilities visited.
· 12 GIS classes/schools/conferences attended.
· Worked closely with City of Athens; County Auditor, E-911 Office, Emergency Management; and Ohio University to develop GIS projects.
· Applied for on behalf of all local agencies in the County, a grant for photologging and GPS centerline tracing for all highways and streets.
· Researched 67 GIS books or reports.
· Researched and evaluated 6 GIS software packages.
· Auditor’s tax plat maintenance computer work station acquired.
· Ohio University 50 feet to the inch orthophotography project initiated.
· Proposal for automated house numbering and E-911 dispatcher on-screen mapping developed.
1998:
· A GIS Implementation Plan was completed and presented to our GIS Steering Committee.
· The Auditor’s tax plat maintenance computer workstation was put into operation and the tax plat draftsman was trained in AutoCAD software. A large 17” x 22” ink jet printer was acquired.
· A contract was approved and work has begun on our Automated House Numbering System and E-911 Dispatcher On-Screen Mapping System.
· Ohio University 50 feet to the inch orthophotography was completed and delivered.
· The Health Department hired a part time GIS person and has developed applications using Census Tiger data as a geo-coded base-map for mapping complaint locations and septic tank installations.
· An AutoCAD users group was formed and is meeting regularly.
· The City of Athens hired a full time person to work on GIS applications for project mapping, utility data input, digitizing streets, building and house outlines, and linking code inspection data. They purchased a flat bed scanner and have allowed us to scan property maps to use in our parcel conversion work. They acquired ESRI ArcView and AutoCAD software. They arranged to have 100 feet to the inch orthophotography developed.
· We developed a second pilot project for Trimble Township based upon our experience using the first Pilot Project developed last year. We had to develop a better method for fitting the parcels to the orthophotography.
· We begun a dialog with CLT regarding applications in the Auditor’s Office. This has proven to be a slow process and implementation of our automated tax plat maintenance has been delayed at least three months as a result.
· We arranged for the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development (ILGARD) to accomplish our parcel data conversion.
· We started research into alternative parcel maintenance software, based upon ESRI ArcInfo and ArcView. CLT prefers that we utilize ESRI software to interact with the CAMA database.
· We initiated work to become networked with the City of Athens and Ohio University.
· We have begun to research the possibilities of GIS applications through Internet web sites.
1999:
· GIS workstations were enabled in the Commissioner’s Offices through purchase of new PCs. ArcView GIS software, orthophotos, and the Ames Township Pilot Project were installed and are in use.
· The Auditor’s CAUV operation was enabled as a new GIS application with a new PC, ESRI ArcView software, Soils Data, orthophotos, and the Ames Township Pilot Project.
· Our contract was 95% completed on our Automated House Numbering System and E-911 Dispatcher On-screen Mapping System.
· The Health Department hired a full time GIS person and has developed several GIS applications using orthophotos, Ames Township Pilot Project, and census data.
· The City of Athens purchased 100 feet to the inch orthophotography, developed an image catalog and several new GIS applications, and hired a second GIS staff person as well as a GIS intern.
· We developed a third pilot project through ILGARD, to test and evaluate our parcel conversion work, and held two classes on use of the data.
· We successfully linked CLT CAMA data to our parcel maps. After working unsuccessfully for one year with CLT, we gave up on them and developed a procedure in-house with the existing CLT version 2.5 software.