Friday, November 16, 2012
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick
...Delaware County GIS Director, Kyle Johnson, was the winner of the Chamber’s Excellence in Public Service Award. Johnson has substantially improved and added functionality for Delaware County’s GIS services. The Beacon website for property retrieval information has become an impressive resource for economic development, government and the general public. Johnson also provided custom maps and data for businesses and contractors working with government... http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=50502
Thursday, October 13, 2011
“The use of the internet to streamline local government permitting workflow”
Local agencies across the county have been looking for ways to reduce frustration and automate the permitting process as the permit moves between different government agencies and individuals. In this webinar we will look at and talk about how using the web as your interface communities will be able to streamline their workflows and customers will be able to track their permits 24/7, eliminating the need to guess where their permit stands in the permitting process. This process also allow each local office to know where in the workflow each permit sits and the next actions needed.
Details:
In just 45-minutes our expert speakers can showcase web based permit technology and provide real world examples of permitting practices in local communities and how they decided to use the internet to save time, reduce cost and increase services.
Topics to be covered include:
· Control each step of the permit workflow
· Automatically generate email notifications when a permit request is made to all affected offices
· Share and pull information from local customer, CAMA and tax roll datasets
· Allow multiple user types to track and input data about permits
· Integration with existing data and GIS services
· Track the permitting progress 24/7 internally and externally
· Make payments online
· Accelerate the permitting process
Online permitting can be used to process any type of permit, including but not limited to:
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Monday, October 3, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Ripple
If you value your time and are looking for ways to quickly synchronize or compare our Assessor, Auditor, Treasurers and other databases, ripple™ is for you and your organization. Our ripple™ application is simple quality control technology that allows you to improve the integrity of your land records management. Communicating with each of your offices land records systems (Tax, CAMA, GIS, etc) ripple provides quality control tools that help local offices find missing or incorrect property data across county offices.
For example, have you ever had a parcel that is in your Assessor’s database but not in your Auditor’s? Ripple can quickly compare the data in your offices to each other to identify if any parcels exist in one but are missing in the other. It will also compare the parcels in your GIS to the deeded acreage in your CAMA system and flag any records that fall outside your user-defined tolerance level.
Do you need help with your workflow? Ripple also incorporates Parcel Number Management technology and employs drag-and-drop functionality to move new parcel numbers from the database to the records eliminating typos and other errors that prevent your systems from being in sync.
Quick Facts:
¡ Identify missing parcels for one system to another (Tax, CAMA, GIS, etc.)
¡ Look for duplicate parcel numbers
¡ Identify parcel acreage differences
¡ Check to see if your parcel number is formatted correctly
¡ Assign a new parcel number to a newly created parcels
¡ Quality control rules are user-configurable
¡ Available as a site license so that each office can use it at no additional fee
¡ Find blank parcel numbers
¡ Works in multiple offices at the same time
¡ Components that work inside and outside of third party applications.
Ripple™ For more information on pricing and how to ripple or to schedule a free demonstration please Contact: Andrew Harrison, GISP aharrison@schneidercorp.com
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Help avoid the pitfalls - The Federal Highway Administration's Sign Program
The Schneider Corporation is currently working with communities to help avoid the pitfalls of the Sign Program that The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has mandated. Highway agencies must comply with new sign retroreflectivity requirements as outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Sevices (MUTCD). Important deadlines are approaching. The deadline to establish a sign maintenance program is 2012. The deadline for complying with the retroreflectivity requirements is 2015 for most signs and 2018 for street name signs.
To stay compliant, agencies must act today and it’s important to know there maybe funding to help with the inventory and replacement of signs in your community. Currently in Indiana there is a resource that has $50,000 for inventory and $100,000 for replacement of signs but not every State has access to these resources.
Below are ways our Engineers have shared that can ensure your agency meets the deadlines:
1. Know the MUTCD. This manual details all the requirements for traffic signals, pavement markings and highway signs. Certain states have produced supplements with additional requirements above and beyond the FHWA version. The MUTCD is updated every few years with changes based on highway research.
2. Don’t ignore MUTCD requirements. As announced in a 2007 addendum to the 2003 FHWA MUTCD, highway agencies must comply with new sign retroreflectivity requirements as outlined in the manual. Penalties for non-compliance are unknown; however, government agencies leave themselves open for litigation in the event of a crash in areas that are non-compliant.
3. Don’t think that this is not your problem. Any agency that maintains roads and road signs for the traveling public is responsible for complying with the MUTCD. This includes cities, towns, counties, state departments of transportation, and even owners of shopping malls or other large developments with roadways that are open to the public.
4. Make a sign inventory. Without an inventory, it is impossible to keep track of whether or not signs meet FHWA requirements. In addition, without an inventory an agency does not know the number and types of signs that they own. That makes budgeting for the required sign upgrades difficult. Also make sure you know how the inventory has to be completed. We have spoken with communities that will have to re-inventory signs because of missing data.
5. Use all sources of funding to upgrade your signs. In addition to local funding sources, federal funding may be available to help defray the costs of meeting the new requirements. Availability varies by state.
6. Don’t update signs without first evaluating whether the signs are placed appropriately. Regulatory signs are subject to certain requirements, such as an ordinance establishing a posted speed limit, or an engineering study to justify a four-way stop. Warning signs also have certain guidelines for appropriate use. Some signs have been researched and found not to affect driver behavior. Such signs need not be replaced, saving money. A qualified engineer with experience in traffic or roadway design can evaluate signs for appropriateness.
7. Don’t wait to get started. Even though it may appear that you have plenty of time to meet the sign program requirements, you need to get started today! There are many time-consuming tasks at hand that you won’t be able to be put off till the last minute.
8. Don’t always buy the cheapest sign materials available. While everyone’s budgets are tight, studies have shown that higher-grade sheeting, which is more expensive up-front, can be more cost-effective in the long run.
9. Continue your sign program after you have your plan in place. Retroreflectivity levels are an ongoing requirement, and signs will have to be replaced regularly, about every 10-12 years, to keep up with the standard. Plan your budget now to accommodate future sign replacements.
10. Be sure to ask for help. The Schneider Corporation has experience with all aspects of a sign program, from funding application completion, cost estimates, inventory, contract documents, and more. Contact me to see how we can help with your program.
To learn more:
Please let me know if you would like a learn more and I’ll send you a registration link to our
online seminar or if you like I can connect you directly with our engineers to answer your questions.
online seminar or if you like I can connect you directly with our engineers to answer your questions.
Monday, May 16, 2011
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore – GIS as a Core County Service
MN GIS/LIS NEWS
The Newsletter of the Minnesota GIS/LIS Consortium
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore – GIS as a Core County Service: A commentary
By Chuck Forss, GIS Project Manager, Technology Services, Morrison County
Last week the Morrison County Auditor’s Office closed their customer window, sending any foot traffic to the combined Auditor-Treasurer’s Office or the Recorder’s Office. Impacts from a GIS system?… Maybe.
I thought empty hallways here were from the recession….maybe not. Empty hallways and rising use of the county’s online land-records viewer are evidence that technology has provided an alternative to the drive to the Government Center. You could claim it to also be evidence that GIS’ers, and others involved in building the data, have the busiest customer-service counter in the building, or at the virtual counter anyway.
Traditional processes used by many departments now start with GIS technology. Instead of digging for the dog-eared plat book, FIRM flood maps, DOQQ printouts or other paper, county customers use online land use permit programs, Next-Generation 911, and scanned images of most land and personal documents, and they pay with credit cards.
We have imagery so close and clear you can read a delivery truck’s logo. This could be leading to possible future legislation allowing a visit to the current electronic imagery and permits as an acceptable “site visit” by County Assessors. Elevations available are so accurate even FEMA accepts them. And of course there’s always the open source GeoMoose v2.2 to build a website application if you can’t afford an ArcGIS Server license.
GIS technology and process innovation are moving so fast that counties with a smaller tax base have difficulty keeping up not only with the fiscal demands that GIS presents but they also can’t expand staff due to the slumping economy and its effects on potential revenues. Many GIS departments are wrangling for a bigger piece of the county’s budget, charging for various products and lobbying for a portion of the other available legislated funds, competing with others for the same.
GIS has moved to the mainstream. County departments now take the technology for granted as their (and taxpayer) expectations for products and performance grow. Recent analysis of the usage reports generated from our online land records viewer (Beacon) was a surprise not only to me, but also a wake-up call to those not on board with the technology. January 2011 usage showed 31,135 map requests, 9,188 report requests, and 6,782 searches, using 35 of the 37 GIS layers available on Morrison County’s site. I didn’t look at the online requests for imaged documents, but the paid subscriber count now is crossing the 400 mark. No wonder it’s quiet in the hallways. But at my desk, it’s busier than ever.
GIS is included now more than ever in the decision-making process for local governments. It also factors into accuracy standards, hence the need for disclaimers.
Questions…
A few questions I struggle with daily are below. If you have any solutions, let me know.
How do we (an average rural county)
share the data for the public good
recoup the extraordinary development/maintenance costs
weigh the commercial value in today’s world
Fees:
engage GIS staff as sales people or
fund the technology through the general levy?
The truth is, we (the public) can’t get along without it anymore!
It’s true, we’re not in Kansas anymore and yes there is no place like home. But the future sure looks different in 2011.
Morrison County is located in north central Minnesota, between two regional centers, St. Cloud and Brainerd. It is home to Camp Ripley, the State’s National Guard Training Center. Its population is approximately 33,000, the county seat is Little Falls, and the county area is 737,686 acres.
For more information, contact Chuck Forss, Morrison County, GIS Project Manager, Technology Services at Chuckf@co.morrison.mn.us or 320-631-0834, and see the “GIS Information” menu on the Morrison County website.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
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Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Crawford County, IN Gives Public Access to Tax data and GIS
Residents of Crawford County now have an easy way to access local government data without visiting the county courthouse by visiting http://beacon.schneidercorp.com where citizens have access to property information through the beacon™ web portal. Beacon™, which is also endorsed by the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT), streamlines how the public interfaces with its communities by providing property and infrastructure information in a transparent and consistent fashion. By consolidating searches of multiple sites and datasets into one simple system with easy access 24/7. The result is a more efficient way to obtain up-to-date information on property and assets in the community, by providing simple searching, reporting and printer-friendly features. beacon’s basic features include the ability to search property owners by name, address or parcel number.
Other features include:
· Data Summary/Results Reporting
· Statewide Property Record Reporting
· Land Improvement Data
· County Assessor Assessment Valuation
· Tax History
· Aerial Photos Mapping
· Report Printing and Email Links
Friday, March 18, 2011
Carroll County Indiana goes High Tech
Picking up source data for the Carroll County, IN GIS creation. It
always exciting to start a County's GIS from researching over 100 year old documents.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Blogger Buzz: What’s New With Blogger
Blogger Buzz: What’s New With Blogger: "Posted by Chang Kim, Product Manager 2010 was a big year for Blogger. We cemented ourselves as one of the largest blogging platforms and t..."
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