| Conundrum |
 |
Does
municipal land research have to be a major undertaking?
The issues can
range from controversial real estate developments and major environmental
reviews to a simple request for a permit to add a small addition
to a home. The common thread is that municipal decision makers
want to know all there is to know about the land involved.
In many municipalities, that still means accumulating a large pile of maps
and support documentation.
There might be
a general map and separate maps for water lines, sewer lines, storm
drains, underground cables and the like. The pile will also include
engineering plans for repairs and improvements to the property
and public records such as notices of zoning variances, deeds,
tax liens and police and fire reports.
Even as a top priority effort, pulling all this information together can take
weeks. More than a few attorneys have built lucrative careers around their
abilities to ferret out most if not all of these documents.
| Conventional Solution
|
|
There's no getting
around the fact that working with paper-based municipal maps, engineering
drawings and supporting documents is an inherently time-consuming
process fraught with potential frustrations.
These materials
are constant candidates for getting lost, misplaced or damaged.
It is also next to impossible to keep them up-to-date. It not only
entails a tremendous amount of work to make the changes, you must
also make and distribute copies to all departments that might need
them. And don't forget about getting rid of the old copies.
In some municipalities,
engineers create an identifier number for every improvement in
the municipal infrastructure. The number will then be cross-referenced
to the appropriate location to every pertinent map and drawing.
On a map, the engineers will maintain a key that can be crossed
referenced to a list of improvements. They will do the same when
referencing support documents from the municipal council.
In an ideal world, maps and drawings would be updated within 24 hours of a
change. In the real world of dealing with paper-based documents, conscientious
engineering departments will set aside a week every six to twelve months to
bring everything up to date.
| 21st Century Solution
|
|
The City of Savage,
MN, has dramatically reduced the time needed to pull together comprehensive
packets of information about parcels of land with a double shot
of technology.
Savage now creates,
revises and reviews its maps on computers with a Geographical Information
System (GIS). To leverage its investment in GIS, Savage's communication
department recently integrated it with a document management system
containing images of engineering drawings, deeds and other official
documents pertaining to each parcel of land on the maps. The GIS
is from ESRI in Redlands, CA. The document management system is
from Laserfiche.
"We've
combined the best elements of two powerful software applications
to create a one-stop land research library," says Blake Crandall,
Savage's GIS technician and coordinator of the program's implementation.
"The GIS
application is terrific for creating and revising maps," he
says. "Our document management system is terrific at locating
information. The integration gives us instant access to documents
that pertain to points on the map. Conversely, it will give you
instant visualization of the location of a parcel of land described
in an official document.
"We are saving enormous amounts of time. It translates into greater productivity
at every stop within municipal government and equally valuable time savings for
the public. For residents, it can also mean considerable savings in fees paid
to outside engineers and attorneys."
At this point, the GIS/document management integration provides seamless access
from maps to about 120,000 documents including deeds, permits and City Council
minutes that might mention the property. The Engineering Department is adding
scanned images of all current utility drawings to the system.
Soon, Crandall expects the city to make the maps
and documents available to field workers via wireless
network and to the public over the Internet. "We
have progressed another step into Information Age," said Crandall.
Interesting Links:
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