GIS Steering Committee

“Where People Count” MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1000 Civic Center Drive, Niles, Illinois 60714 Telephone (847) 588-8000 Fax (847) 588-8050 GIS Steering Committee Meeting April 21, 2010 Co-Chairs: Andrew Przybylo – Trustee George Van Geem – Village Manager Persons in attendance: Bob Callero Mayor Steve Cusick MIS Dept. Mousa Nazzal Engineering Dept. Bob Pilat Public Services Andrew Przybylo Trustee Bill Shaw MIS Dept. George VanGeem Village Manager Andrew Vitale MIS Dept. Rich Wlodarski Community Development Dept. The meeting was called to order at 8:05 a.m. The minutes to the March 18, 2010 meeting were approved. Agenda Item #1 – Old Business – Project Updates Monument Re-calibration A.Vitale reported that the monument re-calibration project is complete. M. Nazzal said that after making minor corrections, it will be 100% done by next week and will then be posted on the website. Old data will be kept. A.Vitale found that the new readings are no more than 2” off from EDI’s GPS measurments, which is well within tolerance of the GPS equipment that EDI was using when measuring the monuments. He has confidence in the data, and does not foresee any problem such as what we’ve had in the past. We picked up three new monuments because of this project. It was clarified that the monuments are buried markers that can be found using x,y,z coordinates. They can be traced with a metal detector, but they do not emit a signal. GIS Consortium Data Sharing Agreements The Village of Skokie is willing to share their water and sewer data, and a data sharing agreement is in place. A. Vitale received their data last week, and has included it as part of our regular production data and is planning to post it on Atlas early next week. Cook County Data Sharing (Assessment Data) A.Vitale has finally received the assessment data from Cook County. (A. Vitale discovered that Cook County had sent the data to the wrong email address. They now have the correct address.) He will update the assessment data in Atlas along with R. Wlodarski’s new parcel data and other such planimetric data. Agenda Item #2 – Departmental Projects Sewer & Water Mapping Update A.Vitale reported that M. Nazzal has turned in all of the water sheets that were checked by the Public Services field crews; he has also received some additional sheets for other private projects that have been completed recently such as Civic Center Plaza and private condo developments - all of which will be included in our paper atlases. He has made all of Public Services’ comments part of our record. After clearing up a few final issues, he will print water atlases for Community Development (C. Ostman has asked for one copy) and for Public Services (A.Vitale and M. Nazzal will determine how many copies are needed for the offices and for the field crews.) They are very close to completing the water side. As for the sewer side, A. Vitale has only gotten back two sheets from Tom Polcyn’s crews. He has made a few changes and is looking forward to getting back more sheets. At this point, he has only received back four sheets out of sixty-six. R. Wlordarski commented that the information we have now on Atlas is impressive in that we are now able to show residents the sewer system around their area. A. Vitale noted that what is on Atlas is as good as, if not better than, the paper atlases. But he wants to verify what is out there. Mayor Callero verified that this is the information that the Stormwater Commission will use. He asked when this project will be finished. M. Nazzal responded that whenever Tom’s crews have free time to go out in the field and check the sheets. A. Vitale said hopefully by the end of the summer. He added that the information we have can be used by the Stormwater Commission for our modeling purposes right now; he is confident in the water mains that are greater than 16” in diameter. R. Wlodarski agreed that the information is very accurate. A. Vitale said that we are simply trying to rectify any disagreements or field inaccuracies between what is on the paper and what might be out in the field. B. Shaw asked B. Pilat and M. Nazzal if they, or perhaps Scott Jochim, could impress upon Tom Polcyn’s crew the importance of marking and returning the sheets so that we can have the most accurate sewer information. A.Vitale reported that, aside from what Tom’s crew gives him, he has also received Notre Dame High School’s sewer work as well as as-builts for some other private sewer networks that he will also put in. Trustee Przybylo asked about a water problem for Notre Dame-area residents relating to what Notre Dame did on the south end of their property. R. Wlodarski responded that when Notre 2 Dame put in a new football field, they put in more sewer lines that divert a lot of water, making the situation better for the residents. Mayor Callero added that the next problem will be when they put a field house on the north end of the field. *** Trustee Przybylo spoke of another similar situation at Bethany Terrace Nursing Centre. He asked if changes to that property will present water problems for the residents. M. Nazzal and Mayor Callero responded that safeguards are in place to prevent such problems. *** Inclusion of Planimetric Data A.Vitale reported that he and S. Cusick have included the last layers of the planimetric data into our production data, and have finished the last work on our buildings layer. Atlas will be updated with this information at the same time as new parcel data, water and sewer data, and assessment data. R. Wlodarski asked about the procedure for submitting new residential information relating to planimetrics to the GIS Department. S. Cusick suggested that there be a separate meeting to discuss this process of updating address/building changes. Maintenance Management System (MMS) B. Shaw reported that there is nothing to report. He and S. Cusick have been primarily focused on fiscal/end-of-year renewals, preparing budget information, and changing rates, processes and formulas. We should be back on track within 30 days. Agenda Item #3 – New Business Atlas Training A.Vitale reported that no training dates have been set. He and T. Spadoni have not yet approached the individual departments as to who is interested in training. B. Shaw added that we are on the training waiting list at the Fire Department (Marty Feld is the schedule coordinator) and should hear from them sometime this month, and that he has conversed with Police Chief Strzelecki regarding training his staff without incurring overtime. Mayor Callero repeated his directive that he wants everyone trained, not just those “who want to be trained.” If they don’t use Atlas beyond the training, at least they will know what Atlas can do and hopefully will become accustomed to using it in the future. Mayor Callero wants the training to include himself and the Board of Trustees. A.Vitale noted that he keeps a list of the employees who ask Atlas-related questions. He tells them that there will be training, and they do express an interest. S. Cusick added that we should think about providing an advanced class for those employees who use Atlas extensively, such as employees from Community Development and Public Works. B. Shaw commented that we have not pushed for immediate Atlas training because there are many changes about to hit – county data, planimetric data. Mayor Callero countered that there 3 will always be changes. B. Shaw responded yes, but the planimetric data is a very large, brand new set of data and will require an adjustment period. Mayor Callero stated that he would like to have the first of all training done by October 31, 2010. After that, those interested can pursue advanced training. The MIS Department agreed. Digital Data Submission Policy A.Vitale reported that on Wednesday, April 21, he and M. Nazzal went to Algonquin to assess their digital data submission policy. While their policy is geared toward large sub-divisions and much larger projects than we would deal with here at the Village of Niles, he found many things he liked and felt that we can use it as a model. Their system works very well, with clearly defined rolls, steps and criteria. If we had a policy like this in place, it would make his job easier for including as-builts and for keeping our infrastructure up-to-date. Determining who is responsible for what step, etc. could present a challenge, but he feels it will be worth the effort. He would like to meet with M. Nazzal, C. Ostman and R. Wlodarski in the next month to review how the policy might be applicable here. Mayor Callero clarified that a submission policy is how data is submitted to the Village (Public Works). Stormwater Commission Data Collection A.Vitale reported that M. Nazzal has concerns about the data collection as a result of the Stormwater Commission work. M. Nazzal asked if we are planning to hire summer help to capture invert elevations for manholes. A. Vitale said that some of the consultants said they want to do this as part of the Stormwater Commission work. Previously, we had talked about hiring summer help to gather this data. We could do them complementary; we could hold off on summer intern help until we find out what the vendor wants to do. We have not discussed this in this committee in at least two or three months. G. VanGeem asked about cost and number of hours. B. Shaw responded that there is $75,000 put aside in the Water Fund, but was not sure if that amount includes the GPS device or if the device was accounted for separately. B. Shaw and B. Pilat / M. Nazzal will look at their budgets and report their findings at the next meeting. B. Shaw noted that we have three choices: outsource the project, outsource it as part of the Stormwater project, or do it in-house. He said that we have been very successful with outsourcing in the past, because the entire responsibility for the equipment, labor and accuracy falls on the company. To do it in-house would take much of A. Vitale’s and M. Nazzal’s time, which is very valuable, and would take them away from other projects. We need to determine which method will give us the “biggest bang for our buck.” Mayor Callero noted that this issue is more related to the Stormwater Commission and that we both don’t need to be talking about this. A. Vitale wanted this committee to be aware of the fact that the Stormwater Commission will be talking to Hey [& Assoc. – the firm for stormwater planning and analysis] about it and, depending on what they choose not to gather, we may want to supplement that. Hey is coming in this afternoon to meet with the Stormwater Commission. Mayor Callero asked A. Vitale to talk to Steve Vinezeano before 2:00 p.m. today to see which committee – GIS Steering or Stormwater - will handle this matter. 4  *** B. Shaw suggested that, at the next meeting, we bring more details to the table and perhaps create a sub-committee to design a plan to advise GIS of the changes made to addresses/buildings and planimetrics. He would like A. Vitale to draft a workflow process, recommending changes we would have to make in CityView, etc. R. Wlodarski commented that it shouldn’t be that complicated; we pretty much do that on a daily basis. B. Shaw responded that such a policy would efficiently take us from project to notification in a timely manner. *** G. VanGeem stated that when we first rolled out Atlas, we issued a press release and a notice on our website to introduce Atlas to the whole community. He thinks it is time to do that again because so much has changed. He asked A.Vitale for ten data points that he could include in a press release, including points on how the resident can use Atlas, how Atlas helps the Village of Niles work more efficiently, how we’re saving money because of Atlas, etc. o R. Wlodarski offered that Community Development receives 95% fewer phone calls from realtors because of Atlas. o S. Cusick suggested that G. VanGeem talk to Bev Kinowski at the Senior Center for ways that she uses Atlas to help the community. o B. Shaw noted that Atlas is a continuing help to Bob Tornabene of the Police Department. o B. Shaw reported that T. Spadoni has been working on a PEG channel spot for Atlas – a 10-15 minute video that will introduce the public to Atlas. G. VanGeem will send an email to department heads to solicit their thoughts on Atlas. *** A.Vitale’s goals for this month: o To finish all work on the water atlases and have the final atlases printed for Public Services and Community Development o Add changes to sewer sheets as they come in from Tom Polcyn o Continue working with the Stormwater Commission o Add new data to Atlas o Begins scheduling Atlas training Agenda Item #5 – Schedule the Next Meeting The next meeting will be Thursday, May 20, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. in the 2nd floor main conference room 218. The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 a.m. 5 Steering Committee Members Andrew Przybylo Trustee atp@vniles.com George Van Geem Administration gvg@vniles.com 847-588-8002 Bill Shaw MIS wfs@vniles.com 847-588-8015 Andrew Vitale MIS ajv@vniles.com 847-588-8022 Steve Cusick MIS src@vniles.com 847-588-8018 Moses Nazzal Engineering mhn@vniles.com 847-588-7924 Scott Jochim Public Services snj@vniles.com 847-588-7901 Bob Pilat Public Services rmp@vniles.com 847-588-7926 Chuck Ostman Community Development cfo@vniles.com 847-588-8041 Rich Wlordarski Community Development rjw@vniles.com 847-588-8085 6