October 13, 2000
Attendees
Mr. Chris Boudreaux, Conway Corporation
Mr. Bill Bush, Arkansas Geological Commission
Ms. Susan Cromwell, Department of Information Systems
Mr. Cecil Davis, Department of Arkansas Heritage
Mr. Randy Jones, First Electric Cooperative Corporation
Mr. Fred Limp, CAST
Ms. Shirley Sandlin, Benton County Assessor
Mr. Jubal Smith, Entergy Corporation, Inc.
Mr. Phil Schoettlin, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce
Ms. Suzanne Wiley, U of A Cooperative Extension Service
Not Attending
Ms. Phyllis Smith, UALR
Mr. Jim Wells, Wellsco Graphics Solutions
Special Representatives
Mr. Shelby Johnson, State Land Information Coordinator
Mr. Learon Dalby, GIS Program Manager
Mr. Mike Mitchell, GIS Users Forum
Guests
Rusty Myers, West Arkansas Planning & Development
District
Mike Garner, Westark Community College
Merrill Keith, Van Buren Chamber of Commerce
----------------
The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. in the 17th Floor Conference Room, Union Building, in Little Rock. Minutes from the last meeting of the August 23, 2000, meeting were unanimously approved with minor corrections.
Suzanne Wiley introduced Mr. Chris Boudreaux of the Conway Corporation as a new member of the Board. She also expressed her thanks for the hard work the members put in regarding the Stakeholder's Presentation in September, which was very successful.
Report from the State Land Information Coordinator
Economic Fund Development Commission
Shelby Johnson announced that the Land Information Board and State Land Information Coordinator's Office were awarded $800,000 by the Economic Development Fund Commission towards completion of the state DOQQ project.
State Mapping Workshop
Shelby invited Learon Dalby to talk about his attendance at the State Mapping Workshop put on by the USGS in Rolla, Missouri. Learon explained that the USGS is in the process of changing from a multi-disciplinary agency to a single agency, that they will be focusing their funding on imagery elevation and hydrography. He explained that Ray Fox will no longer be the representative for Arkansas and the new representative will be Mark Coppersmith. Learon commented that he learned other states are watching the Pixxures and the color infrared photography project here in Arkansas. He also described how Arkansas will be asked to be more involved in MAGIC in the future.
Shelby said that a presentation was given on the National Digital Ortho Program (NDOP) in which it was stated that Arkansas is the only state with an innovative partnership, but that this hasn't actually been confirmed by the USGS at the time of the State Mapping Workshop.
NSGIC Meeting
Shelby said that he attended the recent NSGIC meeting where representatives from the Executive Office of the President's Office of Management and Budget expressed interest in the technologies and framework project. Also, the FGDC has sponsored projects in the past to finance NSDI with focus of federal money on framework issues. The OMB will be revising the A-16 circular to reflect changes. Shelby added that NSGIC will be working with each state and its coordinator to achieve goals and then will go to federal agencies to coordinate for state needs.
Shelby explained that NSGIC has adopted a resolution to get the federal government to implement NSDI as no one is accountable for other layers nationally. Shelby commented that he had a chance to network and learned that Arkansas is ahead of other states in terms of coordination of GIS issues in some areas and behind other states in other areas. He has returned from the conference with new ideas to consider for use in Arkansas.
Shelby added that the NSGIC conference next year will be in St. Louis and recommended that all the Board members try to attend.
Suzanne Wiley added that Ray Fox of the USGS is organizing a federal GIS users group for the state and will be setting up an email discussion list for those interested in joining.
Old Business
Color Infrared Photography Project
Shelby Johnson discussed his trip to Ohio to view the films being processed. He explained that two issues have been raised regarding the photography project:
1. Late flights
· NAPP specs set last flights at March 31 and some of the films were taken up to three days later, raising leaf-on issues
· The NAPP representative, Pixxures & Shelby review those films and the leaf situation was seen to be no problem
· There were some flightlines too dark and they will be rejected
2. Water - how does the USGS evaluate flooding?
· The NRCS and FSA prefer completely dry land but this is impossible
· If it is impossible to find the boundaries of a field due to water, the film will be rejected
Shelby said that there are a full 20 rolls for diapositives to be processed. Lafayette County will be the first with film being sent to the USGS and the diapositives being sent to the scanning contractor. Planning is in the works for the next flight to finish the incomplete areas from the previous flights.
NAPP
Shelby explained that the USGS has approved one-half of the NAPP flight costs under the innovative partnership arrangement. The paperwork will be completed next week. Funding will be $203,194. The workshare agreement is signed but there is no delivery yet of government materials.
Plat Filing Project
Bill Bush said that he has visited with Ted Mullinex regarding the Surveyors Association Plat Filing project. Ted is preparing legislation for the Association which will be sent to the Governor's Office. Susan Cromwell, Suzanne Wiley and Randy Jones will meet with Mr. Mullinex about these plans on October 19th.
Advisory Panel
Shirley Sandlin said that she needs some instructions and help regarding local government representatives on the advisory panel. Susan commented that Mayor Stewart Nelson of Morrilton supports the Board in all efforts. Suzanne Wiley brought up the possibility of expanding the list of panel representatives to include other specific areas such as natural resources, two- and four-year schools and K-12 schools, transportation, surveyors, engineers and land develoment. Shirley Sandlin said that she has had feedback from city and county stakeholders requesting separate representation on the panel. Discussion followed and it was decided that 12-15 members was a workable number of members for the panel and that the members should represent interest groups, not special interests. Suzanne Wiley will write a letter to prospective panel members and will set up a meeting.
Legislation
The most recent draft of 914 legislation edits from a previous board meeting was reviewed and discussion ensued. Shirley Sandlin made a motion to accept the revised version with the deletion of Section 28, (e)(4) and Section 29 (a)(4), along with slight modification of Section 29 (g) and (j). The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
New Business
GIS Day
The upcoming GIS Day was discussed and Bill Bush made a motion to request that the Governor issue a proclamation observing this event for the state, as he did last year. Shirley Sandlin seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved by the Board. Bill Bush will fill out the forms and send them to the Governor's Office.
There was further discussion regarding the possibility of exhibits or some kind of presentation at the Capitol on GIS Day.
Presentation
Guests Rusty Myers of the West Arkansas Planning & Development District, Mike Garner of Westark Community College, and Merrill Keith of the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce were introduced. Rusty spoke at length about the efforts being made to coordinate GIS projects in their part of the state. He explained that they were approaching the Board for advice and direction in the development of community-wide GIS. Rusty said that Shelby Johnson and Learon Dalby of the State Land Coordinator's Office have been of assistance. Rusty will be establishing a local chapter of the state GIS Users Forum and is working with Phyllis Smith regarding this. He said that he is excited about the color infrared photography project and the GeoStor project and that he is recommending that local legislators support LIB funding for these two important projects.
Mike Garner spoke briefly regarding Westark Community College's planned GIS program and that they are in the process of doing an assessment as to course curriculum. This will be a two-year program with an additional one-year certificate program.
Suzanne Wiley asked Rusty if they could document the development process in their area in order to share it as a model with other areas of the state.
Bill Bush made the motion that the Board send a letter to show support for the GIS coordination efforts being made by Rusty, Mike and Merrill; Fred Limp seconded the motion and the Board approved the motion unanimously. Suzanne Wiley will draft a letter for this purpose.
Technology Summit
Susan Cromwell reminded the members of the upcoming IT Summit to be held in Little Rock on November 8th. She explained that the Governor will address the conference. She also said she will arrange for the Board to receive invitations to attend.
Future Meetings
It was decided the next meeting will be held on November 1 from 1:00 to 5:00.
The meeting was then adjourned.
