GIS Steering Committee

“Where People Count” MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1000 Civic Center Drive, Niles, Illinois 60714 Telephone (847) 588-8000 Fax (847) 588-8050 GIS Steering Committee Meeting Summary Minutes October 22, 2009 Co-Chairs: Andrew Przybylo – Trustee George Van Geem – Village Manager Persons in attendance: Bob Callero Mayor Steve Cusick MIS Dept. Mousa Nazzal Engineering Dept. Chuck Ostman Community Development Dept. Bob Pilat Public Services Andrew Przybylo Trustee Bill Shaw MIS Dept. George VanGeem Village Manager Andrew Vitale MIS Dept. Rich Wlodarski Community Development Dept. The meeting was called to order at 8:02 a.m. G. Van Geem turned the meeting over to A.Vitale. Agenda Item #1 – Old Business – Project Updates Atlas -Rebuild of Server A.Vitale reported that Atlas has had some problems with speed, reliability and performance. B. Shaw, S. Cusick and A. Vitale took the service down and rebuilt it, working on the server and the map interface. We are now clear to go back on Atlas, as its performance is more stable and smooth. A.Vitale will send an email announcing that Atlas is back up.  -Field Visibility A.Vitale reported that we removed the feature that provided the option to turn off the visibility of certain fields. Atlas now runs faster and performs better. Sensitive layers are still hidden for security reasons. -Planimetric Data A.Vitale spoke with members of Community Development and other frequent Atlas users regarding the planimetric information and how we want the interface of Atlas to first appear. We currently see the air photo, parcels and addresses. Based on the findings of the sub-committee, our planimetric data will be available to our users, but it will not come up by default. GPS Project A.Vitale reported that the last GPS point was taken on October 15, 2009. We have now finished the initial field portion of the GPS data gathering effort, capturing 15,034 billable points. All parkways were walked, as well as manufacturing and industrial areas. The challenge now is to capture other needed pieces of information, such as catch basins and manholes in side and rear yards. He asked for suggestions, keeping in mind a balance between the accuracy needed and the time and cost it will take. C. Ostman recommended that, once a month, we try to identify what manholes, etc. we are missing and rent a device and capture them ourselves. It would be good to get into the habit of going out every month or two (less in the winter) to keep the information up- to-date. B. Shaw asked if we have the right to go onto private property to capture these points. Response from the group: Many of these points will be on easements, where we do have the right. But many easements are part of fenced-in yards, many points are on fenced-in private property, and there are dogs to consider. A solution is to notify residents in advance that we will be entering their yards. Our employees should wear Village of Niles identification. Mayor Callero summarized: 1) We can collect points from the maps that we have. A.Vitale will compare the paper sewer maps to the new map, and can then identify what is missing. 2) We can utilize employees’ personal knowledge of what needs to be plotted, including new construction sites. 3) Each employee should make a list of these areas and submit it to Andrew, and routinely update these lists. Monument Re-calibration M. Nazzal has been gathering proposals for the re-calibration of our monuments. The method is to use at least two monuments – one in Evanston and one in Glenview – and try to determine how much our monuments are off. This is necessary because our monuments are off vertically by 6 to 8 inches, and GIS, our previously gathered survey information, and all construction are tied into these monuments. We would like to do this as soon as possible. It is believed that the 23 monuments in the Village of Niles are correct between each other. C. Ostman disputed this. R. Wlodarski talked with someone from an engineering firm who happens to be doing a project in Niles. This person said that monuments #1 and #3 were off 3 inches vertically between each other. C. Ostman suggested that we ask a firm such as Gewalt-Hamilton to look at our current specifications to see that they’re written properly and are correct. We can explain the current situation and ask for their recommendation. We will do further research before taking any further action and report back at our next meeting. Agenda Item #2 – Departmental Projects Public Services – Water & Sewer Mapping / Development A.Vitale reported that he has almost completed moving our water assets to the locations indicated by the GPS points. The initial draft movement through the water layers is up on Atlas. Work on water and sewers is continuing. A. Vitale’s goal is to finish the water mapping portions and complete the water layers just after the holidays, and begin printing paper atlases during the winter. MMS / GIS – Maintenance Management B. Shaw reported that Maintenance Management will not be just a tool, but a series of tools that will allow us to maintain the GIS attribute information for all the different layers. Atlas has many layers of data. We will build the Maintenance Management system with multiple layer functionality so it will be able to handle all the different layers as we load them into the system. Then, any future additions will be easier and faster. Mayor Callero asked when we can expect work on Maintenance Management to begin. B. Shaw responded that we should be working on it by mid-November at the latest, barring some other major change in priority, and should see results by the first of the year. Agenda Item #3 – New Business Cook County Data Sharing A.Vitale reported that Cook County has changed the way that they share information. In the past, he would have to submit a resolution to the Board and then solicit the Cook County Assessor’s office for access to GIS data layers as well as the current assessment tables, which would represent the currently billed tax year information. Now, he deals with the Cook County Assessor’s office strictly for the table on new assessment information, and he deals directly with the Cook County GIS office for all data layers, for which he has already started the process. A.Vitale should get new data layers very soon, and new assessment information (parcel layers) in December/January. Soon after getting this information, he will make it available so we will be on the most current parcel layer and ownership table. The key is that we will not have to maintain these layers. Public Services – Sign Database & Inventory A.Vitale reported that he and Bob Pilat have discussed rebuilding our sign database. His goal is to use the Maintenance Management system to maintain and keep current the attributes of these signs as well as their locations. B. Pilat stated that the purpose of a sign database is to help us comply with new federal standards regarding the retro-reflectivity of signs. Through the database, we can record information such as when a sign is installed, inspected, and replaced, as well as whether or not a sign meets set standards. This can help protect us from litigation and liability. We have until 2016 to be in compliance with these new standards. We are only obligated to maintain Village of Niles signs on state roads. This database will be part of the Maintenance Management system and will include an inventory of all Village-owned signs. There will be a field to records a sign’s visibility. We can initiate a program based on this information whereby personnel will routinely inspect signs for obstructions. Mayor Callero requested that such inspections be conducted from the start. ***** A. Vitale closed the meeting by asking if there were any questions about the projects and issues that were discussed. G. VanGeem referred to an email that Chuck Ostman sent asking if this committee should set some measureable goals. We should define what we are trying to accomplish and in what timeframe. B. Shaw asked that everyone make a list of the things they would like to see us achieve other than what we already have on the table. Mayor Callero commented that the reason we put this committee together in the first place with all the different departments is that each department has different priorities. With a list in place, we can determine what is most important and shift the tasks if necessary. He asked Andrew to work on a long-range plan, using a yearly timeframe. Agenda Item #5 – Schedule the Next Meeting The next meeting will be Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. in the 2nd floor main conference room 218. The meeting was adjourned at 9:26 a.m. Steering Committee Members Andrew Przybylo Trustee atp@vniles.com George Van Geem Administration gvg@vniles.com 847-588-8002 Bill Shaw MIS wfs@vniles.com 847-588-8015 Andrew Vitale MIS ajv@vniles.com 847-588-8022 Steve Cusick MIS src@vniles.com 847-588-8018 Moses Nazzal Engineering mhn@vniles.com 847-588-7924 Scott Jochim Public Services snj@vniles.com 847-588-7901 Bob Pilat Public Services rmp@vniles.com 847-588-7926 Chuck Ostman Community Development cfo@vniles.com 847-588-8041 Rich Wlordarski Community Development rjw@vniles.com 847-588-8085