Athens County
Cooperative Land Administration
and Information Mapping system
June 30, 2000
Athens County Commissioners
15 South Court Street, 2nd Floor
Athens, Ohio 45701
RE: Monthly GIS Progress Report
Commissioners:
In our April Progress Report I listed GIS Success Factors quoted in the
URISA Journal. My application of the Second Factor "Long-term upper
management commitment to the project" to our GIS is included as two extra
pages to this report.
Mike Canterbury, President of the SEOEMS Board and Eric Kuhn, SEOEMS
Executive Director have expressed interest in implementing a GPS tracking
application for Athens, Jackson, and Lawrence counties. Doug Bentley is
requesting a quote for providing GPS tracking in Athens County. We are
ready for this next step because we have already implemented logical
addressing, orthophotos, road centerline digitizing, structure digitizing,
and attributing and addressing assignment. Research is underway to
determine the extent of readiness for such a project in the other two
counties. Our advice will be to not embark on a GPS tracking application
until the above steps have been taken.
We met with Columbia Gas of Ohio representatives regarding the potential
acquision of their Athens Facility by Athens County. This option could
among other benefits, be an instantaneous solution for a GIS Office
location. An appraisal is being performed, and possible tax credits (that
might be available if Columbia Gas could give Athens County the facility)
are being researched. We hope to meet again next month.
Our ILGARD parcel data line work conversion is progressing. Things are
coming along nicely this summer with the students. We have all of the
digitizing done in Alexander and now the sections are being assembled and
line adjustments coming thereafter. York is assembled and is going through
the last fitting. PIN assignment will follow. Athens city is nearly
compiled (90%). Athens township is very close to being completed and then
the city will be appended. That leaves us with cleanup on several
townships and Canaan, Lee, Lodi, and Carthage to contend with. Things look
good. We have received the new ArcIMS software and a new dual processor
Pentium 550 server and have Microsoft 2000 server software loaded.
We estimate that we will hav e several township parcel files running
on the new server and ArcIMS software by this Fall.
Bob Eichenberg hosted a GIS program at the Alexander Middle School at Shade
for the Athens County Regional Planning Commission. J.B. Hoy and I made
GIS presentations that seemed to be well received by the RPC members.
Good news for GPS users! As of May 2, 2000, the U.S. government removed
Selective Availability (SA) from the GPS signal, instantly boosting GPS
receiver accuracy by as much as ten fold. And things are going to get even
better. In a few years, the first satellites with C/A-code on L2 will be
launched, and a couple of years later satellites with a third civil
frequency. In addition to these spacecraft hardware improvements,
a number of other upgrades to GPS are being implemented, which will
further improve GPS accuracy.
Ron Lucas and I met with Kent Park of Analytical Surveys, Inc. for a
demonstration of two applications they market. The first is a GPS
controlled stereo photolog program using a van for data creation and a
stereo CAD software package for viewing. The software enables accurate
measurements to be taken to objects (i.e. signs) and coordinates assigned.
The second is a Light and Distance Ranging (LIDAR) technique to take
accurate terrain measurements from an aircraft (digital photogrammetry).
The technique can provide contours to 2 feet intervals. Both applications
are very nice, but we do not presently have funding available.
I presented GIS concepts to the P.M. Kiwanis group. They were very
attentive and asked great questions for 45 minutes after the presentation.
Our GIS show is scheduled for September 20th at the O.U. Inn Ballroom.
Please mark your calendars for this show. The poster session will be open
from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the program presentations from 6:00 p.m. to
9:00 p.m. Our Planning Committee met; Howard, J.B., and Ron are
progressing on their presentations and planning assignments. Our next
planning session is following our 10:00 a.m., July 20, 2000 Steering
Committee meeting at the Facilities Management conference room. Please
mark your calendars now, and plan to attend this planning session.
Our next GIS Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for July 20, 2000
at 10:00 a.m. in the Facilities Management conference room.
Three articles are attached: Building a Community from the Ground up Using
GIS; Mountain House is the first new town (a new community built according
to a comprehensive plan) charted by the State of California in forty years.
Digital Photogrammetry ; These new geographic imaging techniques may be the
beginning of 3D GIS! Sweeping Impact; Hand held GPS experience
participating in FEMA's "Project Impact" (a nationwide initiative to
minimize and prevent damage from floods and other natural disasters)
by Portland, Maine.
Thank you for allowing me to coordinate this important aspect of Athens
County's future, and for your usual cooperation.
Archie Stanley, GIS Coordinator
555 East State Street - Athens, Ohio 45701
Phone (740) 593-5514 - Fax (740) 592-4616
E-mail: astanley@frognet.net
====================
The following factors for successful GIS implementation were documented
in the URISA Journal, Volume 12, Number 1, Winter, 2000, and reported
here last month.
"Overall, researchers have concluded that successful implementation of
a GIS in local government is dependent on a number of well-documented
factors. They include:
* Evaluation of user needs;
* Long-term upper management commitment to the project;
* Sufficient allocation of resources;
* Adequate staffing;
* Timely and sufficient training;
* Someone, called a "GIS champion," who will shepherd the project
from acquision to use; and Organizational communication or diffusion
to smooth the transition to full utilization"
These factors, noted by leading experts, will be continually reviewed and
applied to our GIS project. I have applied the second of these factors to
our GIS project development as an evaluation and report on our efforts to
date:
Long-term upper management commitment to the project;
The Athens County Commissioners have implemented GIS workstations, and
provided financial support for GIS development. They have agreed to fund a
General Fund GIS Operations Budget beginning in 2001. The Commissioners
have also agreed to fund 50/50 with the County Engineer a GIS facility
addition to the County Engineer office.
The Athens County Auditor has developed applications for tax plat
maintenance linked to the County Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA)
database, and Current Agriculture Use Valuation (CAUV), and provided
financial support for GIS development. Also, the Auditor has agreed to
partner with the E-911 Director and Commissioners, and the Engineer in
funding a data maintenance budget of $10,000 each, per year beginning in
2001.
The Athens County E-911 Office has developed dispatch map display and
automated house numbering applications, and provided financial support for
GIS development. Also, the E-911 Director has agreed to partner with the
Auditor and the Engineer in funding a data maintenance budget of $10,000
each, per year beginning in 2001.
The Athens County Health Department has developed several GIS applications
for site planning, subdivision review, complaint management, and
inoculation mapping to name but a few.
The Athens County Planner has developed GIS applications for subdivision
review, floodplain, and utility location.
The Athens County Engineer has developed GIS applications for Bridge
location, inventory and inspection, project site planning and GPS
applications, and provided financial support for GIS development. The
Engineer has agreed to partner with the E-911 Director and Commissioners,
and the Auditor in funding a data maintenance budget of $10,000 each, per
year beginning in 2001. Also the Engineer has joined with the Soil and
Water Conservation Office in a cooperative funding contract for ODNR to
provide a new more accurate soils layer and new land use/cover maps.
The City of Athens has developed several GIS applications for police
activities, utility location, fire department functions, project site
planning, and ice and snow control routing.
Ohio University has developed GIS applications for facilities management,
flood level modeling, utility mapping, GPS, and through ILGARD has assisted
several agencies, including Athens County, with GIS training and
development. They have provided financial support for GIS development
through the Office of Facilities Management.
The Soil and Water Conservation Office has joined in a cooperative funding
effort with the County Engineer to contract with ODNR to provide a new more
accurate soils layer, and new land use/cover maps.
After a year of thorough research into GIS software, we chose ESRI
software for our GIS. All potential partners in our GIS have endorsed the
choice and agreed to use ESRI software as the standard for their
applications.
Several County, City, and University officials have traveled to GIS
installations in several counties across the State. As we develop and
implement our GIS, we are doing so with the benefit of knowing the
problems, solutions, and lessons learned by others.
I believe that we have positioned our GIS very well for successful
implementation by long-term upper management commitment to the project.
555 East State Street - Athens, Ohio 45701
Phone (740) 593-5514 - Fax (740) 592-4616
astanley@frognet.net