Athens County
Cooperative Land Administration and
Information Mapping system
December 31, 1999
Athens County Commissioners
15 South Court Street, 2nd Floor
Athens, Ohio 45701
RE: Monthly GIS Progress Report
Commissioners:
EmergiTech and Digital Information Systems are progressing with our
E-911 project. This project is on schedule and is now 95% complete.
The completion date for this project is January 31, 2000.
The 1 day Ames Township Pilot Project GIS classes were held December 9th
and 10th at ILGARD. Participants were well satisfied with the classes and
excited to begin GIS operations. I wish to thank J.B. Hoy and ILGARD for
teaching and hosting this im portant step in the development of our GIS.
We have decided to have a fourth pilot project. This Spring we will
arrange for a dedicated GIS ArcView Internet Map Server at ILGARD to make
available over the Internet a sample of our local GIS data. Data such as
parcels, roads, streams, etc. will be viewable on a read-only basis through
a server-based view applet to anyone who comes to the web site.
We have agreed upon a contract with ILGARD for 2000 to continue our parcel
data conversion work. We anticipate completion of the initial conversion
process and a good portion of updating the initial data with the split
information that has occurred over the two-year conversion process.
I attended an introduction to ArcInfo 8 seminar in Columbus last month.
The initial release of ArcInfo 8 will be the 1st quarter of 2000. It will
support two primary geographic data models and the georelational model
(i.e. coverages, and shapes with attributes) and a new object-oriented
model called a geodatabase and will include only the linear portions of
the new geodatabase storage function. A 1st quarter 2001 release is
intended for the more complex functions (i.e. Regions, grid, and 3-D
modeling). Meanwhile, ArcInfo 8 retains all previous functions (i.e. ARC,
ArcEdit, ArcPlot) as well as the new desktop functions of ArcMap,
ArcCatalog, and ArcToolbox.
With ArcCatalog you can create and manage spatial databases. Thumbnail
sketches are incorporated into the ArcCatalog filing structure enabling
much faster file identification. Editing and viewing of metadata is also
supported.
With ArcMap you can edit, display, query, and analyze map data.
In addition, it contains a scientific charting and graphic system,
an object-oriented editor, and a full report writer.
With ArcToolbox you can perform the geoprocessing operations provided by
ArcInfo such as data conversion, overlay processing, buffer creation, and
map transformation.
In ArcInfo 8, the georelational data model is extended into an object-
oriented model whereby an object is represented by a row in a relational
database management system, attributes are represented by columns, an
object class is represented as a table, features are rows with a geometry
column, and a feature class is a table with a geometry column. This object
approach enables rules, behavior, relationships, and properties to be
included by the user as part of the database itself, rather than as
separate spatial files.
A new function "ArcSurvey" will eventually replace COGO. A new function
"ArcParcel" will eventually be included and may be an alternative to
NovaLIS Parcel Editor.
The product is designed as a Component Object Model (COM), with
interchangeability with other component based software products.
Any component object model (COM)-compliant programming language can
be used to customize and extend ArcInfo 8.
Our next GIS Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for January 20, 2000
at 10:00 a.m. in the Facilities Management Conference Room.
A summary of GIS work accomplished during 1999 follows:
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.
A GIS Progress Review Report was completed by Farragut Systems and
distributed.
We researched and evaluated several alternative parcel editing software
packages, and selected NovaLIS Parcel Editor software for our parcel
maintenance workstation.
The Auditor's tax plat maintenance computer workstation was enabled with
ESRI ArcView, ARC/INFO and NovaLIS Technologies Parcel Editor software, and
the tax plat draftsman and others were trained by ESRI staff in NovaLIS
software.
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.
The Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development
(ILGARD) completed one-half of our parcel data conversion project.
We continued work to develop a County Intranet and to be networked with the
City of Athens, Ohio University, and others.
The County Planning Office implemented an ESRI ArcView capability and
developed GIS applications for subdivision assessments and floodplain
administration.
We were successful in winning an ESRI local government software grant
valued at over $26,000.00.
Our orthophotos were compressed using "Mr. Sid" software. This technique
speeds the data transfer and reduces the storage requirements, and is being
used extensively by several of our GIS installations.
We thoroughly researched ESRI SDE, ArcIMS, and ArcExplorer software
opportunities for our GIS.
We started placing our GIS progress reports on the Internet and also
offering e-mail delivery.
We decided to call our GIS "ACCLAIM". ACCLAIM is an acronym for Athens
County Cooperative Land Administration and Information Mapping system.
We thoroughly researched the concept of public access GIS by placing maps
and information on the Internet through a dedicated GIS web site.
The County Engineer's Office upgraded computers to Y2K standards, and
upgraded the Internet bandwidth with a GTE "ADSL" line to enable faster,
GIS class communications.
A Project Assessment, Recommendations, and Procedures Report was developed
by ESRI and distributed.
ArcView software, Mr. Sid orthophotos, and our Ames Township Pilot Project
were installed on our County Clerk of Courts computer.
Thank you for allowing me to coordinate this important aspect of Athens
County's future, and for your usual cooperation.
Archie Stanley
GIS Coordinator