Title
Accept an oral presentation from the Department Heads' Geographic Information Systems Committee.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Accept an oral presentation from the Department Heads' Geographic Information Systems Committee that provides a status report on Monterey County' Geographic Information Systems applications.
SUMMARY:
The Department Heads' Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Committee in conjunction with the Geographic Information Systems Strategic Planning Group strives to develop a Monterey County Enterprise GIS capability to promote efficient and collaborative applications of GIS technology to intra- and inter-departmental mission concerns. Toward that end on September 11, 2011 the Department Heads' GIS Committee requested approval from the Board of Supervisors to authorize Information Technology staff to implement the County of Monterey GIS-based Internet Mapping Access Policy. The Board of Supervisors granted this authorization and the Information Technology staff is currently working toward implementing these applications.
DISCUSSION:
In response to an increasing demand from the general public, members of the local business community and local service providers for GIS data in the possession of the County. Department Heads for County of Monterey with an interest in the GIS data have met to consider an equitable, efficient, and appropriate course of action.
A public mapping website approved by the Board of Supervisors on September 11, 2011 will soon be implemented. In most respects, the public mapping website is very similar to the internal mapping website used by County staff. The major differences are:
· The identity of property owners has been removed from public site to protect privacy.
· A few additional map layers have been included to the public site that the public may find useful.
The Department Heads' GIS Committee in conjunction with the GIS Strategic Planning Group are considering creating an additional mapping website for use by other governmental organizations and/or agencies that have an identified need for access to protected data such property ownership information. This would benefit the public by allowing these agencies to reduce time spent gathering these data from less efficient means, and instead focus on the goals of their primary mission statement. Other governmental organizations include:
· Municipalities
· Fire Districts/Public Safety
· Water Districts
· Air Pollution Control District
· Mosquito Abatement and Vector Control
It is envisioned that a Memorandum of Understanding could be signed with such agencies, which allows for greater accountability than is possible with anonymous usage through the public website.
In cases where data sensitivity is not an issue, it will behoove the County to make GIS data layers available to GIS users throughout the public. This will serve to foster an air of cooperation between the various GIS using communities, will help to minimize redundancy at several levels, and will encourage the likelihood that other entities will be willing to share their GIS data back with the County.
Ideally, data users will be able to download the County's available GIS data from an internet website. This will provide the greatest level of ease-of-access to the public, and simultaneously reduce County staff time spent preparing individual data requests.
Examples of data that cannot be shared include:
· Data that allows persons to be identified/located by name or place.
· Data that identifies sensitive locations, such as archeological sites.
Recipients of County GIS data will need to acknowledge the same limited liability/nondisclosure agreement as seen on the County Mapping website. This provides the County with the added benefit of increasing the public awareness of the limited liability/nondisclosure agreement, thereby helping to limit the potential damage caused by inappropriate data use. The County of Monterey is currently waiting on the outcome of a California Supreme Court decision before moving forward with data distribution to the public.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Staff of the Information Technology Department worked with the Department Heads to develop this proposal.
FINANCING:
There is no impact to the General Fund resulting from this Board action.
Prepared/ Approved by: Stephen L. Vagnini, Chair Department Heads' GIS Committee, ext.5803