Agencies awarded technology grants
Ten local and regional government organizations received grants to support the use of GIS and GPS technology from Torrance, Calif.-based Leica Geosystems and Redlands, Calif.-based ESRI. The agencies were selected for demonstrating a thorough understanding of GPS and GIS technologies and for committing to provide matching funds, budgets, staff and complementary systems for their projects.
The two companies are providing on-site training and $19,000 worth of software and hardware to each of the groups that were selected. The companies donated the equipment to demonstrate that local governments can collect data or deliver government services to residents more efficiently by using GIS and GPS. The following agencies were recipients of the one-time grants:
– The Greater Richmond (Va.) Transit Co. (GRTC) will collect data on more than 2,500 bus stops, shelters and benches. The data will be used to create detailed maps of routes or sections in the GRTC service area.
– The Miami (Ohio) Conservancy District will implement a groundwater preservation program that will enhance the collection and analysis of data collected from its groundwater elevation, precipitation, river stage and groundwater geochemistry monitoring system.
– Larimer County, Colo., will use GIS for its Wildfire Risk Alleviation and Prevention Update project, which updates maps to provide critical data for use in suppressing and fighting wildfires, floods and other natural disasters.
– The Riverside County, Calif., Transportation and Land Management Agency plans to create a GIS/GPS assessment application. The project will augment the existing GIS by collecting and displaying data on landscape maintenance areas, streetlights and street-sweeping routes to identify and assess property owners who benefit from specific services.
– The Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, based in Oklahoma City, will begin a regional travel time and delay study. The GPS/GIS equipment will be used to collect travel time data in 12 key congestion corridors.
– Cobb County, Ga., will standardize the large amount of water-quality data compiled by a variety of sources in different formats into a single, spatially enabled database of the county’s streams and waterways.
– Kalamazoo, Mich., will collect traffic sign data to determine sign locations that are prone to vandalism or accidents and plan an efficient sign replacement schedule.
– The Planning and Development District III, Yankton, S.D., has planned the South Dakota Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation. A GIS database will help the district reduce the potential environmental impact from concentrated animal feeding operations. Information such as type of feedlot, animal head-count and digital photographs will be gathered at each site.
– The Arizona Department of Public Safety will begin the Arizona Auto Theft Investigative network. The network will provide a one-stop vehicle theft investigative data center for offering work-ups, case histories, modus operandi data, suspect personal history and location information.
– Multnomah County, Ore., will inventory its streetlights and collect data on buildings, preservation sites and roadways to regulate scenic areas. The county also will collect and analyze data on roadway infrastructure to support the Integrated Road Information System, which is used for road maintenance, planning and budgeting.
