October 6 , 2004

Arkansas State Land Information Board
October 6, 2004 9:25 am – 12:45 pm
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Don Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development
Room 460
Little Rock, AR

MINUTES


Members Present
Ms. Phyllis Smith, UALR, Chair
Ms. Suzanne Wiley, Higher Education, Vice Chair
Ms. Mary Kay Sullivan, Director of Operations, Benton County 911
Dr. Fred Limp, Director, CAST (Proxy by Brian Culpepper)
Judge David Hudson, Sebastian County
Mr. Bob Stanley, Grandeur Fastners
Mr. Russell Gibson, City of Fort Smith
Mr. Randy Jones, First Electric Cooperative

Board members not Present
Mr. Yancey Reynolds, Reynolds Realty
Mr. Earl Smith, Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission
Mr. Bill Bush, State Agency

Arkansas Geographic Information Office (AGIO)
Mr. Shelby Johnson, State Geographic Information Coordinator
Ms. Kimberly Bogart
Mr. Vince Guillet

Guests
Mr. Bill Sneed, USGS

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Phyllis Smith called the meeting to order and passed out corrected minutes from the previous meeting.

Approval of Minutes

Russell Gibson moved to approve as amended the minutes from the previous meeting of July 21, 2004. Suzanne Wiley seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Report from State Geographic Information Coordinator

Shelby Johnson gave a report on the activities of the AGIO.

New Staff
Shelby introduced the AGIO’s new staff member, Kimberly Bogart. She will be working half time on the Arkansas Centerline File (ACF) program and the County Assessors Mapping Program (CAMP), and half time on the FEMA FloodMap Modernization Program.


FEMA FloodMap Modernization
The AGIO has been working with the Arkansas Soil & Water Conservation Commission (ASWCC) Floodplain Management Division over the past year to develop the state’s GIS resources to support the FloodMap Modernization program. Over the next five years, all of the maps used by the National Flood Insurance Program will be updated and converted to digital format on a county basis using local-level GIS data. A grant from FEMA will fund the project which includes inventory and cataloging of high-resolution elevation data and orthoimagery from local sources, the development of metadata, and loading the data into GeoStor in accordance with LIB data loading policy. There are currently FloodMap Modernization projects underway in six Arkansas counties: Benton, Columbia, Craighead, Pulaski, Union, and Washington. AGIO is proactively assisting Benton and Washington Counties with high-resolution imagery and elevation data development projects.

FDHS ITEP Grant
The AGIO had previously submitted a proposal to the Federal Department of Homeland Security’s Information Technology Evaluation Program to support the development and update of centerline data around three assets critical to homeland security. The proposal was unsuccessful; however, the AGIO believes that the proposal is thorough and well-written and will consider it for resubmission next year or for submission to a different granting agency. Shelby noted that three of the 10 projects funded through ITEP grants were GIS-related.

FGDC CAP Grants
The AGIO submitted two successful proposals to the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s Cooperative Agreements Program. The first grant awarded funds to facilitate intensive follow-up training, tentatively scheduled for early November, for the county assessors’ offices participating in CAMP. A second CAP grant was awarded for CAST to development an interactive web mapping site drawing road centerlines, boundaries, and cadastral data from GeoStor. This demonstration project will be available through an Internet browser when completed.

CMRS Grant
The AGIO submitted a proposal at the LIB’s request to the Commercial Mobile Radio Service Board to facilitate development of centerline data for all Arkansas counties. At its August meeting the CMRS Board voted not to fund the proposal.

Wireless 911 Booklet
The public service booklets describing the mapping requirements and phases of FCC Wireless E-911 has been widely distributed to legislators; municipal police chiefs; and the judges, sheriffs, and E-911 officials of each county. They were produced by the AGIO and funded by the Arkansas GIS Users Forum.

Presidential Library
The AGIO recently engaged in securing map resources of the region surrounding the William J. Clinton Presidential Center. They were needed for security personnel unfamiliar with the area. Digital Globe orthoimagery for all of Pulaski County was procured through a partnership with the Pulaski Area GIS, Pulaski County, USGS, Metroplan, the Arkansas National Guard, and the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. Under Digital Globe’s restructured licensing agreements the data will be accessible in GeoStor sometime after the Center opens.

Fire Station & Emergency Operations Database Survey
The AGIO is teaming with ADEM and the Forestry Commission to complete a comprehensive Fire Station survey that will be used for homeland security purposes. Existing fire station coordinate data from the Forestry Commission along with station level details are to be surveyed and verified. All emergency operations centers in the state will also be located. The anticipated completion date is early 2005. AGIO is increasingly supporting the homeland security activities of ADEM and is scheduled to attend National Incident Command System training in October.

The President's High Growth Job Training Initiative
The President's High Growth Job Training is a strategic effort to prepare workers to take advantage of new and increasing job opportunities in high growth/high demand and economically vital industries and sectors of the American economy. In September the Department of Labor announced it would award $4.5 million for geospatial worker training in its first round of grants through the initiative. The AGIO met with staff from the Arkansas Workforce Investment Board to discuss submitting a proposal for Arkansas. The Workforce Investment Board anticipates the next round of grants through this program will be announced in early 2005. The AGIO goal would be to increase the availability of geospatial worker training specifically for county personnel in the County Assessor offices and county workers involved in road centerline data development. For more information about the President’s initiative go to http://www.doleta.gov/BRG/IndProf/Geospatial.cfm.

State GIS Personnel Position Description Update
The AGIO finalized Office of Personnel Management job audit forms in support of the Board’s effort to get GIS job positions described within the state personnel framework. The draft classifications include the following position classes: GIS Technician, GIS Analyst I, GIS Analyst II, GIS Analyst III, and GIS Coordinator. At this time the AGIO does not know when these would be finalized.

The National Map Project in Fort Smith
Bill Sneed and Shelby Johnson traveled to Fort Smith for a project wrap-up meeting on this project funded by the US Geological Survey. The project received significant local press coverage and is a great example for a municipality to take advantage of GIS technology in economic development.

Arkansas Cadastral Mapping Standard Adoption
In August the AGIO issued a press release through the Arkansas GIS Users Forum listserve announcing the first availability of county assessor mapping data through the CAMP program. This marks a major milestone for GIS in Arkansas. The first three counties loaded in GeoStor are Boone, Cross, and Van Buren counties. Randolph and Clay counties are expected to be loaded in the very near future.

Graphic of the Month
Shelby drew the Board’s attention to the Graphic of the Month on the AGIO website (http://www.gis.state.ar.us/AGIO/Map_gallery.htm). This month’s graphic features storm water sewer system data from Springdale.

Education Facilities Task Force
The Education Facilities Task Force of the Arkansas legislature’s Joint Committee on Educational Facilities is in the process of assessing all public school facilities in Arkansas. AGIO has been asked to develop an online application through which legislators will be able to access facility assessment data by clicking on school locations. The application is due to be released to the legislature in November and should include much of the data used to formulate the school report.

School District Boundaries
The AGIO worked closely with the Arkansas Public Service Commission to develop a press release delivered to all regulated utilities conducting business in Arkansas. The release announced the availability of the new school district boundary data for the utilities to use in the tax calculations by district.

Report on GeoStor and Related Projects
Shelby provided the Board with a GeoStor Usage Status Report outlining GeoStor usage since the rollout of GeoSurf 4.0 in July 2004 and since the inception of GeoStor in December 2000. He also drew attention to the more than 500 new users who have been added recently and attributed at least part of the increase to the news release that went out to utilities about school districts.

Old Business
ADOP II
An RFP for ADOP II was posted to the AGIO website on September 30th, with a 30-day deadline. Evaluation of submissions will begin in early November, along with continued solicitation of funds.

Advisory Council Members Meeting

Randy Jones stated that First Electric Coop would host the upcoming Advisory Council meeting and provide lunch. Suzanne reviewed the Advisory Council’s three major functions: addressing the GIS needs of the state, identifying and prioritizing appropriate GIS projects, and lobbying. Suzanne moved that the Board move forward on planning an advisory meeting. Judge Hudson seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Replacement for Mike McGibbony (DIS Representative)
Phyllis stated she had not received any notification that the Governor had appointed a replacement for Mike, who is no longer with DIS.

Travel Reimbursement
Shelby talked to legal counsel from the Bureau of Legislative Research on the matter of travel reimbursement. The LIB can follow the same procedure as other boards, and vote to authorize for travel reimbursement at its first annual meeting.

Other Old Business
Phyllis stated she will be doing some editing to the LIB brochure and a draft will be presented at the next meeting.

New Business

AGIO Budget Hearing Resolution/Letter of Support
Shelby informed the Board that the budget hearing for the Office of Information Technology is October 21st. The AGIO would like to approach the budget hearing with a strong demonstration of support from users, stakeholders, and supporters, particularly from the LIB and its constituency. Judge Hudson moved that the Board draft a letter of support. Suzanne seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

AGC STATEMAP Proposal
The Arkansas Geological Commission has been participating in the STATEMAP program, the state component of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, which is aimed at creating better geology data each of the states. AGC is making a proposal again this year, and the AGIO will be assisting AGC with finalizing metadata and getting the data into GeoStor. Judge Hudson moved that the Board send a letter to the state geologist in support of its STATEMAP proposal. Suzanne seconded the motion. The motion passed. The AGIO will draft a letter of support for Phyllis to the send to the state geologist to show the Board’s support in their proposal.

Watershed Delineation for Arkansas
Shelby brought the Board a project budget and financial plan for the watershed delineation project, which is aimed at providing information about the natural resources in the state. The effort is to create 1:24k-res watershed boundaries statewide (currently available data are at 1:100k statewide, with some higher-resolution areas).He pointed out that this is a good example of cooperative development of data. Individual agencies contributing to the watershed delineation project include ADEQ, AG&F, AGC, and ASWCC in addition to NRCS and USGS. Bill Sneed reminded the Board that NRCS’s data certification program requires that the data for the entire state has to be complete before it can be certified and released.

Oil & Gas Commission (OGC) Online
Shelby told the Board that Mr. Scott Bruner, the interim director of OGC, has been working towards spatially enabling OGC’s existing online data. Shelby is strongly encouraging OGC to utilize GeoStor.

Elevation Data Update
Shelby stated he had covered most of the elevation data update during the discussion of the FEMA project. Brian said that the raw LIDAR data for northwest Arkansas will be delivered Friday to begin vertical accuracy assessment.

Online Arkansas
Phyllis said that the UALR GIS Lab created an internet mapping service, Online Arkansas (http://argis.ualr.edu/frontpage.htm ), for the Secretary of State’s office. The service provides a 4 page demographic profile for each of Arkansas’ legislative districts, cities, and counties. Other layers have been added to the site such as all census geographies, school districts, fire districts, hospitals, schools to mention a few..

Comments from Guests

Bill Sneed’s Comments

  • He is now in the National Geospatial Programs Office;
  • He met with Benton County to discuss a web mapping service to bring them into The National Map;
  • He will be meeting with the ADEQ about getting their statewide high-resolution 1:24k hydrology data; and
  • He told the Board that the development of elevation data is a high priority.

Other Business

Suzanne asked for an update on the NSGIC conference. Shelby suggested that the Board go to Directions Magazine (http://www.directionsmag.com/) for coverage of the conference (http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=660&trv=1). NSGIC hosted a week-long conference of 47 states working on GIS coordination. It included representatives and regional staff from many major federal programs, including the FGDC, FEMA, and the Census Bureau regional staff, among others. Next year’s conference will be held in Rochester, NY. Shelby encouraged all Board members to attend, and mentioned that the conference focuses not on software or techniques but on coordination activities, which are the goals of the LIB and the AGIO. The 2006 NSGIC conference will be hosted by Arkansas.

Adjournment

Judge Hudson moved that the Board adjourn. The motion was seconded by Russell Gibson. The motion passed unanimously.