Tucson Area GIS Cooperative

Meeting Notes

City Information Technology Dept. Pueblo Room

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Present:

Present: Laura Pinnas, TEP; Jack Avis, Town of Marana; Bill Marum, City of Tucson Development Services Department (DSD); Christine O'Connor, COT IT; Dee Korich, COT Environmental Services (ES); Larry Cassen, COT ES; Linda Coon, PC DSD; Donald Ijams, TPD; Mike Rose, Planning Center; Manny Rosas, PAG; Robert MacArthur, UofA; Autumn Figuroa, COT DUPD; Blanca Espino, COT DSD; Bret Canale, Town of Marana; Melisa Hardinger, COT Water; Mike Helies, COT ES

GIS Cooperative Chairman Larry Cassen presiding.

IDT "ePlans" portal - Bill Marum, Christine O'Connor, Larry Cassen

Bill Marum has accepted the position of "Administrator" for the IDT portal project (for acceptance of electronic development plans for review purposes) - Many thanks, Bill. Christine O'Connor is also working some behind the scenes magic, so if there are any questions concerning some of the technical facets of this project, please ask them. Many thanks to Christine as well.

City of Tucson Procurement has said yes to the Portal purshase process. The Cooperative will be putting up $5K for the pilot project (1st year). A draft IGA is being worked on by City of Tucson legal, IT and Cooperative Staff, that would enable the costs of getting the portal up and running to be shared. Other participants are encouraged to sign up and ask for help if needed.

Inclusion into the portal will need to be signed by each respective municipality or jurisdiction.

Laura Pinnas has requested a meeting sometime next week with users and possible users of the portal project. Please email her at: LPinnas at tep.com for more details.

Budget Requests and Available Balance - Larry Cassen

The fiscal year 2004-05 GIS Cooperative budget balance is $76,792; however the following items have not been reported as deductions yet:

COT-sponsored GIS education/training classes may be utilized by outside agencies provided at least one-half of the class is composed of COT employees.

The GIS Cooperative suggests using at least some of the funds for education/training purposes and software maintenance.

Arizona Professional Land Surveyors Geospatial initiative report - Jack Avis

An electronic approval process has been developed for those wishing to join the APLS as professional geospatialists.

An electronic GPS collection methodology and QA/QC document is being developed by the APLS.

A GIS data classification document is also being developed by APLS. This document will list data types and distribution information.

Emergency Response Subcommittee Report - Larry Cassen for Joe Gullota and Teri Schultz

Tucson Fire Department GIS needs are still being examined. Hardware purchases for new TFD computing equipment are still months away. Rig-based PCs are being evaluated and a specific product will be recommended when the final contract is awarded.

An internal Fire Captain will be hired for coordinating GIS activity. Vendors are being requested to submit mapping capabilities for the Fire-MDT bid process. An intern may need to be hired for data management.

GIS Cooperative Open Membership Issues - Members

An InterGovernmental Agreement among municipalities and jurisdictions is being examined as a temporary solution to expanding membership in the Cooperative.

Non-profit organization status for the GIS Cooperative has been discussed, but may take fom two to five years to develop and implement, if members of the Cooperative agree to such action. Suggestions were made to open membership to surrounding regional agencies (Cochise County, Greenlee County, etc.). A suggestion was made that membership and financial responsibilities of an expanded Cooperative be examined.

Pictometry Project - Manny Rosas and Larry Cassen

$12,000 for the PAG Regional Oblique Imagery Pilot Project (Pictometry Project) was approved by the members at the meeting. A letter was sent off 1/10/05 to PAG's Executive Director notifying him of the Cooperative's intention to support the project. This money covers project management, technical specification development, scope of work development, and data management and distribution.

$8,000 was approved by Fran Lasala of COT ES to support the Pictometry project. Closer contact with the U of A on this project was suggested. A smaller scope project was suggested by Manny Rosas if funds couldn't be secured (covers the Empowerment Zone within Tucson).

Pima Association of Governments Orthophoto Project of 2005

PAG is now in the last part of the contract approval process for the 2005 orthophotography effort. The flight is now anticipated by the end of April 2005. The Tohono O'odham nation will be participating in this effort through the acquisition of 43 DEMs (covering the Sells drainage project).

COT Human Resources GIS Reclassification Study Announcement - Larry Cassen for Tameron Collins

Human Resources reported that it has received only 6 Job Description Questionnaires so far. Please complete yours and turn it in ASAP.

Open Floor - Members

The next SCGIS meeting will be at 4003 E Speedway Blvd., Ste. 110 (TerraSystems Southwest) on February 2 at 5:30 PM. Contact Mike List at 520.622.3861 x.3468 for more information. Listserv: Melisa.Hadinger at tucsonaz.gov.

Don Ijams will be retiring in July 2005. We wish you luck, Don. Don has requested that efforts begin to recruit someone to take over the GIS website after he leaves. Suggestions are very welcome.

Pima County DSD has requested a new PC for the GIS Cooperative intern. Amount may total from $500 to $700, depending on the standard model bought.

As a way to assist members by reducing the amount of duplicate emails they receive from the Coop, the Chairman is suggesting (and thanks to those of you who suggested it as well) submitting everybody's email address to the geowiz listserv. You would only be receiving one GIS Cooperative email, instead of multiple emails of the same thing. If you have objections to me doing this, please let me know, and I will email you directly instead. The geowiz listserv will not be used spam, malicious email, or personal email efforts - it's just for the GIS Cooperative - Thanks, Larry.

One last request - if you know of anyone or any organization that could benefit from membership in the GIS Cooperative, please let me know, along with contact information (if possible): I can be reached at Lawrence.Cassen at tucsonaz.gov.

Next Meeting:

Tuesday, February 15, 2005 / 3:00 P.M / City I.T. Pueblo Room