State GIS Board

Meetings and Minutes

Members

Advisory Panel

Legislation

Standards

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June 23, 1999

Attendees

Mr. William Bush, Arkansas Geological Commission
Ms. Susan Cromwell, Office of Information Technology
Mr. Cecil Davis, Alternate, Dept. of Arkansas Heritage
Mr. Randy Jones, First Electric Corporation
Ms. Cathy Mathews, Dept. of Arkansas Heritage
Mr. Duane Reel, City of Jacksonville
Ms. Shirley Sandlin, Benton County Assessor
Mr. Phil Schoettlin, Chamber of Commerce, Fayetteville
Mr. Jubal Smith, Entergy Corporation
Ms. Phyllis Smith, UALR
Mr. Jim Wells, Wellsco Graphics Solution Center
Ms. Suzanne Wiley, U of A at Monticello

Not Attending

Dr. Robert Bennett, Arkansas State University

Guests

Mr. Darrell Allen, City of Hope
Ms. Tracy Ford, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
Mr. Shelby Johnson, State Land Information Coordinator
Mr. Joe Bob Penor, GIS Users Forum
Mr. Greg Short, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
Mr. Greg Stanton, US Geological Survey

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The meeting was called to order.

Election of New Chairperson

Chairman Bush called for the election of new officers and opened the floor for nominations for chairman. Randy Jones nominated Jim Wells. Shirley Sandlin nominated Suzanne Wiley. Mr. Wells respectfully withdrew his name due to time and travel constraints. Susan Cromwell then nominated Randy Jones. Mr. Jones also with drew his name also due to time and travel constraints. Jim Wells then moved the nominations be closed and this was seconded and carried. Bill Bush then called for a motion to accept Suzanne Wiley by acclimation, which was moved and seconded. The members then voted unanimously to elect Suzanne Wiley as Chairperson for the coming year.

Nominations for Vice Chairman were then opened. Suzanne Wiley nominated Jim Wells and Shirley Sandlin nominated Susan Cromwell. Suzanne Wiley moved the nominations close and the motion was seconded and carried. The nominees requested a show of hands, and Jim Wells received six votes and Susan Cromwell received two votes. Jim Wells was elected Vice Chairman for the Board for the coming year.

Report by the State Land Information Coordinator

Bill Bush then called for a report from Shelby Johnson, the State Land Information Coordinator. Shelby handed out a report to the members. He explained that he had spent a day with the Board of the Arkansas Society of Professional Surveyors in order to learn about what they are doing and to try to bring them and the GIS users of the state more in tune with one another. He explained that one of the things the ASPS is working on is the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping Year 2000 Conference, which will be held in Little Rock. Shelby said that he also shared with the group information regarding the GIS conference in September 1999. Another item he mentioned was the Arkansas Technology Summit in Little Rock on July 1 and 2. Shelby explained that there will be a lot of GIS showcasing with exhibitors from various programs around the state and that this will be an excellent opportunity to educate legislators. Shelby went on to describe a master purchase agreement that has been made between the state and ESRI that will offer discount purchasing of software.

Shelby then discussed the Information Technology Infrastructure Project, which is to see what needs to happen in the state to get more networking and bandwidth and telecommunications services out to cities, counties and communities. He pointed out that as part of that project, consultant Frank Knott has asked Shelby to research a plan for building a GIS picture that would reflect the technology infrastructure of the State of Arkansas. Susan Cromwell added that the theory is that once you know what is available in the state, it will be possible to study some shared-use networks amongst network providers.

DEMs and DOQs Report

Bill Bush then reported on the status of DEMs and DOQs. He explained that he had been in contact with Ray Fox with the USGS and that the National Digital Orthophoto Committee has authorized payment for 75% of the remaining DOQs in the state this spring. This means, though, that the remaining DOQs will not be cooperatively funded. Mr. Bush has been working on trying to get more federal money to complete some of these programs. Mr. Fox also told Mr. Bush that in the Year 2000, the National Aerial Photography Program (NAPP) is scheduling Arkansas to be flown for new aerial photography and it will be paid for with federal money.

GIS Users Forum Conference

Phyllis Smith was then invited to talk about the GIS conference in Eureka Springs planned for September 8-10, 1999. She explained that the featured speakers were lined up and that she is seeking a state legislator to speak to the conference. Pre-conference workshops are planned for September 7, and the final announcement should be out next week. Attendance is expected to be around 200 people. Phyllis said also that they are still seeking white papers for presentation at the conference.

Joe Bob Penor from the GIS Users Forum invited the LIB members to participate in Forum working groups that will be forming to address specific GIS issues for the state.

New Business

At this point, Chairman Bush passed the meeting to the new chairperson, Suzanne Wiley. The Board expressed their thanks to Mr. Bush for serving as Chairman for the past year.

Suzanne Wiley asked that the members look at the mandates presented to the Board by legislation and try to prioritize goals for the coming year. Discussion followed and following goals were listed:

• A system of distributed date - Arkansas Spatial Data Infrastructure Development

• Continue to develop a strategic plan for the Board

• A legislative package for next session

• Investigate grants and alternative funding methods

• Technical specifications and standards

• Address communication between cities and counties

• Implement ongoing education programs

• Follow FOIA activities of Electronic Records Study Commission

• Inventory of state digital data

• Organize advisory board/legislative committee for support of LIB activities