Let’s say you need to know where water and sewer lines exist relative to property about to be developed on the edge of town. You could trudge down to the city engineering office and request drawings, possibly at a cost or a delay.
Or if you’re in the City of Manhattan, Kan. (Riley County), you could punch up the information on your desktop from a public web site. Working together and sharing costs, the city and county have put 36 GIS layers on a web site (http://gis.rileycountyks.gov) to make it available to all city and county employees and the general public, as well.
“When we realized the cost of individual GIS software packages for all employees, it became apparent that the web site was the way to go,” says Dan Oldehoeft, GIS coordinator for the city. Now everyone has access to a myriad of utility, zoning, property, floodplain, tax and other information, as well as aerial photographs of the entire area.
Open approach
Manhattan has come a long way since the area was settled in 1855. This fast-growing and progressive community was once recognized by Money magazine as one of the nation’s top 10 places to retire.
When it comes to GIS, “Our approach is a bit different,” explains Oldehoeft. “We started about seven years ago, before a lot of other communities were doing this. At first, we envisioned a private site, but it became obvious there was a lot of interest from homeowners and developers who wanted to see the data.”
Realizing no one on staff had the know-how required to create the web site, the city-county team hired ESRI to help. While the county hosts the site, ESRI remains involved, helping build new code when new layers of GIS data are added.
Startup costs were about $63,000. Grants from Project Impact and Core covered some of that. The two units of government split the remainder. The city and county continue to share operating costs today, paying for licensing and maintenance out of a technology fund generated from recording fees for real estate documents and deeds.
A city-county GIS steering committee monitors use and sets policy. John Cowan, GIS director for Riley County, maintains the site at his office. All GIS coverage and overlays are countywide. As city zoning, utility, and other information changes, Oldehoeft sends Cowan the new data for uploading.
“We update the site regularly, as data changes occur,” says Cowan. “All data is reviewed at least once every six months, and zoning, parcel data, and utilities layers are updated more frequently as necessary.”
An analyst and technician assist Cowan (two intern positions are unfilled at the moment). Originally the team used in-house software, plus ArcIMS from ESRI, to deliver maps, data, and metadata to many users on the web. The team is considering a move to ArcGIS Server, an integrated server-based GIS that enables distribution of maps, models, and tools to others and lets staff query accurate, up-to-date data with minimal training.
Popular tool
The web site has really caught on with city and county employees. “Every day, every department uses GIS in some form,” says Oldehoeft. The list includes public works, engineering, water and sewer utilities, and finance, all the way up to community development and even the city manager’s office.
“The city manager uses GIS as a recruiting tool, sending out maps and information about schools, housing, and shopping to prospective employees,” says Oldehoeft. Community development staff members often download and send property and utility information to companies and businesses thinking about locating in the community. And in a recent annexation procedure, aerial photos on the GIS site helped position a new water tank needed to supply a golf course in the annexed area.
Indeed, utilities comprise the biggest use of GIS: It includes data on water and sewer mains and trunks, pipe diameters, valves, subsoil grades, water towers, hydrants, rights of way, and more.
“Street construction is a major application, since GIS shows where utilities are and what’s available,” says Peter Armesto, city assistant director of public works for water. “If a 6-inch line needs to be a 10-inch line, we can see that. If we’re lining a sewer, we’ll tag that in GIS, and we can see where we’ve been and what the next steps are.”
Oldehoeft adds, “Anytime we draw up plans, we import data from GIS and build off that.” Field crews use the system as well. They can download and print out maps and aerial photos of a project and take the documents into the field with them. They also have a computer and copy of the GIS software onboard. Working with that and a robotic camera, they can tag themselves at a manhole and then do the TV inspection work.
To keep things simple, Oldehoeft has made modifications to the software to enable field crews to access only the GIS layers they need. “We developed a stripped down tool that shows just the water and sewer lines,” he says.
Training tool
Armesto uses GIS for training. “With GIS, our water plant operators can see the distribution lines and storage tanks, the pressure zones, and our four booster pump stations,” he says. “That helps them develop an understanding of the whole system.”
GIS helps the city identify and solve problems, particularly those bothering customers. The city used to get numerous “red water” calls — complaints about rust-colored water that would discolor laundry. “With GIS, we have been able to identify sources, map the problem areas, and then fix them,” Armesto says. “We don’t get those calls anymore.”
GIS facilitates capital project requests and bid invitations. “It helps make the case when we can show the need to expand from a 2-inch line to a 6-inch line in order to serve a new development, and how it’s feasible to hook up,” Armesto says.
GIS can also supply prospective contractors with bid documents, maps, and aerial photos to illustrate the job. In another instance, GIS was instrumental when the city set up a hydraulic model of its water distribution system, and a flow model of its sanitary sewer collection system. “With GIS, we already had the base information in hand. That saved us time and money,” Armesto says.
The city and county are not standing still with their GIS. They plan to add stormwater overlays next, and they are contemplating going to ArcGIS Server in the near future to distribute maps, models, and tools to others in the organization in a way that fits well into their workflows.
They are also starting to use ArcPad software for mobile GIS and field mapping applications. Pocket-sized, color-screen hand-held units allow field crews to catalog and record data, which is immediately transferrable into GIS.
Not easy going public
Oldehoeft and Cowan recount that it was not easy to convince city and county fathers to make the GIS information public, especially after the Sept.11 terrorist attacks. In fact, the debate delayed implementation of the site for nearly a year.
“We kept stressing how useful the site could be and that the payoff would exceed any risks in making the information accessible to the public,” says Oldehoeft. “It helped that some other communities had started doing this without any problems.”
In time, fears subsided, Oldehoeft and Cowan believe, and people now realize the importance and usefulness of the web site. “Like cell phones, you didn’t see the value until you had them, and now you couldn’t get along without them,” Oldehoeft says. “The outcry would be even worse if we took the information down now.”
Further, Oldehoeft sees how GIS has helped communications and teamwork within the city employee force. “No data is 100 percent accurate,” he says. “But with this system, we’ve moved “from 70 to 75 percent accuracy to probably 95 percent accuracy. The field crews and others using the system help me make the data more reliable, and that makes their lives easier. We help each other.”
