Town of Chapel Hill

Technology Committee

 

GIS Strategic Plan

 

February 2005

 

  1. Introduction

The Chapel Hill Technology Committee wishes to address the Town Council on the strategic development and use of GIS (geographic information system) by Town staff. GIS is a highly developed and complex set of computer software tools that provide both the ability to create or display maps and analyze geographic features. It is often called a “thinking map” or a “decision support system” reflecting its analytical capabilities

GIS has been used by municipalities to monitor development impact, direct or dispatch emergency vehicles, map crime incidents including pinpointing crime “hot spots”, route public services such as garbage pickup, map park or other facility locations, and assign geo-coded property addresses. Municipal governing boards have brought GIS into their meetings to display topic site locations, analyze site conditions, and calculate environmental impacts of  policy decisions.

  1.  Current Use

The Town currently uses GIS in various ways:

1.      map & calculate impervious surfaces for storm water management;

2.       map site locations for development review;

3.      map crime incidents and “hotspots”,

4.      emergency response and special event planning,

5.      assign and maintain property addresses.

  1. Next Steps     

a.       Focus on developing GIS skills in three departments: Engineering, Planning, and Police.

                                                               i.      The Engineering Department will continue its support of GIS for other Town offices and its current maintenance of Town addresses on the Master Orange Address Database (MOAD);

                                                             ii.      Developing GIS in Planning requires additional software licenses in ArcView and ArcGIS (version 9.0.1) and additional training of staff in how to use the software. Projected costs are $12,000 for software and $4,000 for training;

                                                            iii.      Continue and develop the conversion of police incident data into strategic map views for field officers and command planning.

b.      Prepare budget justification for programmer/analyst.

Significant progress in extending GIS to other uses and Town departments will be most practically accomplished with the hiring of a GIS programmer/analyst for the IT Department. This person can develop GIS applications and train staff in their use. Any other specific need (i.e., special project like a park site or land use study) for GIS without a GIS programmer would require hiring a consultant. A programmer/analyst will cost $50,000 or higher per year, a consultant budget for a project might cost a minimum of $20,000 per year.

c.       Provide GIS at every Council meeting with staff support.

GIS needs to be available at all Council meetings with various staff trained to bring up location views on agenda items under discussion.

4.   The Town will continue its cooperation and collaboration on GIS with the County, Carrboro and the University.       

  1. Future Uses.

“Orange County One Map” - The Town will develop with the County, Carrboro and the University an on-line GIS capability to provide citizens with a one-place access to all GIS and land data including the display of special maps such as RCD, Parks & Athletic Fields, municipal service boundaries, current development reviews, municipal facilities, greenways and trails, etc.

The Town will extend GIS capabilities to other offices such as Public Works, Inspections, Parks & Recreation and Library.

 

 

 

 

 

Recommended to the Town Council by unamious vote of the Technology Committee on February 15, 2005.