GIS Cooperative Meeting Notes

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

In Attendance: Dave Koss, Charlie Ruoff (ZEH Software), Chris Mack (Marana), Donald Ijams, Fran LaSala, Bob Czaja, Michael Liberti, Jim Ebert, Chris Kelleher, Steve Smith, Teri Schultz, Leticia Bermudez, Christine O'Connor, Patrick Kraatz (ZEH Software), Robin West, Linda Carrillo, Kathy Tessier, Linda Coon, Terri Bunting, Casey Townsend and Ron Platt.

Ron Platt presiding.

ZEH Software, Inc

Charlie Ruoff from ZEH Software, Inc. gave a short intro to the plotting software TDOT is testing for 30 days. It is a server side software system that handles requests for printing GIS and CAD projects, thus freeing up the client and plotter from memory cache and buffer problems. Some GIS Coop members expressed satisfaction with ESRI's ArcPress software. TDOT has not had success with ArcPress and has opted to test the ZEH software due to the size of plots which include color orthophotography and many layers with text. The Water Department was invited to test the software also and may be contacting Mike Hicks at TDOT to make arrangements for network connections.

Metadata - Ron Platt

Currently Pima County has developed a very functional metadata system which utilizes the MARS library and a web application. The metadata can be researched here. It is a one-stop location if used properly. The general goal would be for any group that has unregistered data that may be considered useful by people other than the creator of the data, to take advantage of the MARS directory. In order to do so, the data creator should be responsible for adding and updating metadata information. The web application designed by Pima County is strictly controlled via appropriate username and password.

At his time John Dickinson has allowed me access to add and update the metadata TDOT is responsible to maintain. Bob Czaja from the Water Department and Fran LaSala from Environmental Management are interested in participating in a process to add/edit metadata via the web application while adding new data layers to MARS. I indicated I would contact John Dickinson at Pima County Technical Services to investigate the possibility of adding these two new people to the metadata application.

Education - Ron Platt

GIS education was discussed in the context of we really do not have enough of it. Training for power users is needed, as well as more basic GIS classes held at regular intervals. Don Ijams suggested we dust off the GIS Concepts course and maybe revise it to some degree. Bob Czaja, Don Ijams, Leticia Bermudez, Michael Liberti, Steve Whitney and Ron Platt will be meeting June 4th to discuss getting the program back on a regular track.

Christine O'Connor suggested we utilize the City's Intranet to advertise GIS educational offerings.

Better Communication - Ron Platt

Attendees at GIS Cooperative meetings sometimes find that a GIS project has already been designed, built, decided or struggled with by other City or area GIS workers. If everyone always came to every meeting with the idea that the Cooperative was the place to fully describe new GIS ideas or projects, our communication needs might be met. Reality suggests we need something in the middle of meetings … something that happens every day. Don Ijams suggested a City GIS listserv might facilitate more complete communication. I have contacted Mark Taylor at IT and Mark has set up a service. I will be working in the next few days to get it operational.

GIS Coop Intern - Don Ijams

Don indicated that the term for Terri Bunting, our GIS Intern assigned to researching address errors, was ending. We have funding for next year and Don suggested we continue with the program. The Coop agreed. After the meeting there were numerous emails sorting out and trying to arrange for Terri to stay on as GIS Intern. It appears that we may be successful in maintaining Terri is this important post.

Parcel Landbase Changes - Michael Liberti

We were reminded to ask Steve Whitney about a previous idea generated in regards to some process for automated notification to paregion users when parcel geometrics are changed. I have contacted Steve regarding this and he is still agreeable to finding a solution. Steve also said "that will be the last meeting I miss!"

Water Department's ArcView 3.2 License Redistribution - Bob Czaja

Bob Czaja reported on requests for ArcView 3.2 licenses so far, saying that there will be plenty to go around. He asked me to issue one more call to the Coop which I did. He did indicate there is still a process to go through with ESRI, to finalize the transactions which may take a couple more months.

Next Meeting:

Tuesday, June 17, 2003 / 3:00 P.M / City I.T. Pueblo Room