GISAC MINUTES

New Mexico Geographic Information Systems Advisory Committee

November 12, 2003

State Records & Archives Center

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Chair: Jim Hirsch Recorder: Amy Budge Called to Order: 9:40am

Agencies and Private Companies Represented: UNM-Department of Government Research, New Mexico Department of Game & Fish, UNM/EDAC/RGIS, City of Albuquerque, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Taxation and Revenue Department, New Mexico Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources, Spectrum Mapping LLC, Bohannan & Huston Inc., New Mexico State Land Office, New Mexico Department of Transportation, Bernalillo County, Taos County, Office of the State Engineer, and US Forest Service.

Highlight Corner – Karl Benedict (EDAC, UNM) was the guest speaker, presenting plans for enhancements to the RGIS Clearinghouse. Dubbed RGIS V2, Karl unveiled goals and an implementation plan that should be completed in early 2005. Currently, RGIS offers a web interface to a database repository with limited information about each data layer. Karl discussed two primary goals for upgrading the Clearinghouse. First, is to enhance its existing capabilities, including: 1) extending current text-based data discovery tools to provide spatial queries; 2) providing live previews of all available data layer; 3) developing full FGDC-compliant metadata in XML format for all data; and 4) providing loosely compressed data. Second, is to create new functionality such as interactive mapping applications and dynamic data delivery that provide tools for sub-setting, re-projection, and format selection. The implementation plan is a phased approach that will culminate in version 2 by early 2005. Toward this end, a prototype application using census data is being developed to test the enhancements to RGIS. The Bureau of Business and Economic Research at UNM is collaborating in the prototype.

A suggestion was made during the ensuing discussion that the statewide enterprise GIS could be the RGIS version 2 site.

Approval of Minutes and Agenda: The October minutes and current agenda were approved

OLD BUSINESS

Statewide Data Acquisition Committee - Mike Inglis & Gar Clarke

Ø  Mike Inglis and Gar Clarke were not present. No report was given.

Statewide Parcel Base Map and E-9-1-1 County Road Centerline Data Sets – Glenn Condon

Ø  Stephen Jerge from the Taxation and Revenue Department (T&R) reported that their web-based application is moving forward. He requested a meeting between several GISAC members and the information technology (IT) personnel at T&R to establish a relationship as a basis for future communication regarding GIS and parcel mapping, and to ensure that the IT group is on the right track for realizing the statewide plan. One of the first steps is to focus on a statewide plan for automating parcel mapping in New Mexico. Glenn Condon, John Phillips, Gar Clarke, and Bill Baillargeon will represent the GISAC team. Stephen also reported that a person has been interviewed and selected for their GIS coordinator position. After an offer has been made formally, it is hoped to have this person onboard in a few weeks.

ESRI Enterprise Deployment License – Jim Hirsch

Ø  The effort to develop a 3-year forecast for ESRI products is ongoing. Kevin Hodson (ESRI’s representative for New Mexico) is examining the procedures for developing deployment licenses. This work was initiated by the previous representative, Nancy Bohac. However, Kevin is seeking more guidance and direction from ESRI headquarters on this topic.

NEW BUSINESS

FEMA Flood Plane Mapping Meeting – Jim Hirsch

Ø  Bill Borthwick is New Mexico’s State Flood Plain Coordinator. A meeting has been scheduled by Bill for November 20th to assemble stakeholders from state agencies to address a strategic plan for modernizing the current flood plain maps. Invitations to the meeting were sent to Jim Hirsch, Gar Clarke, Glenn Condon, Bill Baillargeon, and Mike Inglis.

Evaluation of Environment Department’s C2 Request – Jim Hirsch

Ø  The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) forwarded a C2 request from the Environment Department to GISAC for review and comment. The request is for the Environment Department to expand their GIS program and make it more integrated. Jim asked that a GISAC subcommittee be formed to respond to the C2 request. A recommendation was made from the floor that the subcommittee look at the OCIO guidelines and requirement to determine if the request lies within these guidelines. Otherwise, chances are good that it would be rejected. Rick Koehler recalled that GISAC had a similar subcommittee for an earlier evaluation of another C2 request. He suggested that the same subcommittee be reinstated for the current request. Members of the earlier subcommittee included the RGIS representative, the previous chairs of GISAC, and a representative from the OCIO. It appears that there is no deadline for responding, though Jim will verify that. Jim also will assemble the subcommittee.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Information Technology Commission (ITC) – Neil Meoni

Ø  The new OCIO representative to GISAC is Neil Meoni. Neil was not able to attend the meeting and no report was given.

National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) – Amy Budge

Ø  New Mexico did not meet the deadline for completing a survey conducted by NSGIC during October. The survey, called the Model State Survey, was focused on GIT coordination criteria in each state. New Mexico does not have a GIS/GIT coordinator nor an office dedicated to such responsibility, and therefore did not respond to the survey. After some discussion, it was determined that Amy will complete the online survey if NSGIC still is accepting input. The second item reported by Amy concerned a “Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement,” a multi-state agreement that, among other things, makes it easier to administer taxes. According to an email from Learon Dalby (Arkansas NSGIC representative), the goal is for individual taxpayers to have the ability to inquire online (via the Internet) the total tax levied for any given address in a state. They would enter an address and receive the tax rate for city, county, and state taxes for a given property. There is a GIS component to the system. States would participate with other member states to develop an address-based system for assigning taxing jurisdictions. The system must meet the requirements developed pursuant to the federal Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act (4 U.S. C. Sec. 119). The governing board may allow a member state to require sellers who register under this Agreement to use an address-based system provided by that member state. If any member state develops an address-based assignment system pursuant to the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, a seller may use that system in place of the system provided for in subsection (f) of this section. More information can be found on the website at: http://www.streamlinedsalestax.org/index.html.

Western Governor’s Association (WGA) – Rick Koehler

Ø  Rick Koehler participated in the WGA Geographic Information Council teleconference call on October 16th that focused on carbon sequestration. The main topic of the discussion was the carbon sequestration effort that has been underway since early 2003. It has been a moving target, since partnerships have been somewhat rearranged, etc. There were 6-8 proposals submitted from the West, four of which were funded. These include the Southwest, West Coast, Upper Rocky Mountains, and the Great Plains. Not everyone will receive funding. New Mexico is in the Southwest partnership with Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma, although there are differences between incarnations of which states are included in each group. The DOE site has a web page for the various partnerships, which can be accessed at: http://fossil.energy.gov/news/techlines/03/tl_sequestration_partnershipselections.html. There was a kick-off meeting in Sacramento recently, and there will be another in Albuquerque during the week of October 27th during which time the Southwest Group will meet. Brian McPherson is the lead for New Mexico in the Southwest Partnership and the technical lead for New Mexico is Glen Jones at the NM Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.

Ø  Rick also reported on the Cadastral Forum, which is nearing publication. No BLM money is targeted for state by state efforts. Discussion turned to the possibility of using Homeland Security funds, but after a meeting with BLM this option was not viable. Cadastral/parcel products are considered a “business product” that should be marketed as such rather than just another GIS layer. Banks in Montana are routinely using Montana’s website for cadastral data when they process or analyze loans.

Ø  It was learned during the teleconference call that the “National Road Show” concept never materialized. Other topics included the National Map and liaisons between federal agencies and the WGA.

Resource Geographic Information System (RGIS) Clearinghouse – Mike Inglis as reported by Amy Budge

Ø  Other than the presentation given by Karl Benedict on the vision for enhancing the Clearinghouse, there were no updates regarding RGIS.

New Mexico Geographic Information Council (NMGIC) – Bart Matthews

Ø  Bart Matthews, NMGIC president, announced that the program for the fall NMGIC meeting has been slightly altered due to the inability to secure presentations from the National Map, GeoSpatial One-Stop, and the Open GIS Consortium. These topics will be covered at a later date. The fall meeting will be in Albuquerque on Thursday November 20th, followed by a free workshop on the Minnesota MapServer, ArcIMS, and other web server tools on Friday November 21st. The program and speaker abstracts are posted on the NMGIC website at: http://nmgic.unm.edu. The title for the meeting is “GIS: What’s the Bigger Picture? Part I: Adventures on the Web.” Presentations will be made by users of web technologies.

Geodetic News – Bill Stone

Ø  Bill Stone was not present. No report was given.

Agency/Membership Reports

Bernalillo County – Jon Phillips

Ø  Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque will go live with their 911 mapping this month.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be the 9th of December 2003 at 9:30 am – New Mexico State Records and Archive Center

Adjourned: 11:30 a.m.

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