Interlocal Mapping and Geographic Information Network of Escambia—IMAGiNE

Escambia County Chooses GIS Solution for Efficient Data Sharing

Five nations have laid claim to Escambia County, Florida, since it was mapped more than four centuries ago—France, Spain, Britain, the United States, and the Union of Confederate States. Escambia County is located in the northwest of Florida, has a population of approximately 300,000 people, and encompasses 420,480 acres, with an additional 64,000 acres of water area. Today the ancestors of these diverse peoples are working together to deal with the County's critical need for accurate maps to manage activities ranging from hurricane flood control to land use planning and permitting.

Recognizing their common interests, officials from four Escambia County governmental agencies began laying the foundation for efficient data exchange and maintenance by collaborating on the IMAGiNE (Interlocal Mapping and Geographic Information Network of Escambia) project. Their common goal was to share spatial and other related data between the departments, while ensuring that each of their individual uses would still be accommodated.

In 1996, the four Escambia County agencies, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC), the Utilities Authority, the Property Appraiser's office, and the City of Pensacola, embarked on a search for a GIS solution that would meet their needs. After careful evaluation, Escambia selected an Esri solution including ArcInfo and ArcView GIS. This decision was based on a need to maximize data utility, as well as quality of available Esri expertise and support. For parcel map maintenance, the IMAGiNE project participants chose NovaLIS Technologies' Parcel Editor.

"The Esri platform allows us to standardize our processes while providing capabilities to expand into a fully managed data environment," says BCC's GIS coordinator, Phillip Veazey. "Parcel Editor most closely matched our list of editing and maintenance requirements, while providing us with a clear migration path to ArcInfo 8."

The IMAGiNE project was organized in two phases. The first involved installation of geodetic control, capture of aerial photography, design and implementation of a pilot project, and preparations for data conversion. The second stage, which began in January 2000, involves complete data conversion and construction of the parcel fabric. The County has been divided into 12 work sets of about 10,000 parcels each. Beginning in January, one work set is being delivered each month, with a project completion date set for December 2000.

The IMAGiNE architecture links all partners to the same data source, while enabling each department to manipulate the data independently. The basemap is maintained by the BCC GIS Division. The Utilities Authority will be responsible for maintaining water and sewer utility locations, as well as operating routing applications for solid waste disposal. The City of Pensacola plans to use the map for a number of applications in coordination with the County office. Finally, the Escambia County Property Appraiser will maintain the parcel fabric.

The impact of ArcInfo and Parcel Editor is already being felt in the property appraiser's office. The Legacy data was converted into ArcInfo coverages and is now being maintained by Parcel Editor. A data conversion vendor is now taking that data, converting it to comply with IMAGiNE's Project Plan, PDM, Graphics Standards, and Data Source Matrix, and creating seamless tile coverages for use with ArcInfo LIBRARIAN.

"We've recently taken delivery of about 1,000 maps that we plan to maintain using Parcel Editor," says Deputy Property Appraiser Enoch Leatherwood. "Parcel Editor is by far the best front end on ArcInfo we've seen. We're getting comfortable with it, and it's the tool we plan to grow with."

Escambia is also taking full advantage of Parcel Editor's interactive features. For example, Parcel Editor is being used to update zoning polygons, and its coordinate geometry (COGO) function is being used for adding new streets and rights-of-way. The Spatial Adjustment Wizard (SAW) is being utilized to incorporate new and revised data from sources such as GPS Point Files, COGO data, deed descriptions, existing coverages, CAD imports, and sketches.

Director of Information Resources for the BCC, Bob Jacobson, says, "IMAGiNE needed a solution that would enable the property appraiser's office to maintain the parcel fabric in an accurate and timely manner in order to support other Business functions. We needed something that would allow the property appraiser's office to quickly transition from a CAD perspective to a GIS perspective of data. Parcel Editor is the foundation of IMAGiNE's solution for maintaining current, accurate parcel maps and related land base data."

Jacobson says the project is on schedule and safely within the $1.8 million budget. He adds that the benefits of the project are incalculable.

"It's difficult to put dollar savings on making life safer for our citizens through things like faster ambulance and police services that GIS mapping will provide," continues Jacobson. "The impact of this project is only limited by our imaginations—that's why we called it IMAGiNE."

The chief factor that influenced IMAGiNE's decision to go with NovaLIS was that Parcel Editor's flexibility supported the project's current methodology and provided users with a very easy-to-use interface. This, combined with the fact that Parcel Editor provides a safe migration path to ArcInfo 8, clinched their decision.

"The participants have invested considerable time and effort in this project and the processes required to support our goals," says Veazey. "Parcel Editor's map maintenance features and ability to migrate to ArcInfo 8 without changing these processes is extremely important to us. We're on our way to a successful multiparticipant project. I'm very pleased with what we've been able to accomplish."

Jacobson agrees. "This project is a good example of how multiple government organizations can work together to benefit the citizens of a county," he says.

The next stage for the IMAGiNE project is to bring in and inform end user committees. Additional data requirements will be recorded and prioritized. As the basemap reaches completion, the project team will start work on customized applications to meet these needs.

For more information, contact Gina Stack, NovaLIS (e-mail: gstack@novalistech.com, tel.: 902-423-1800, ext. 285).

ArcNews home page