FAYETTEVILLE -- The Washington County assessor is leading the way to develop mapping software that could mean easier access to information for residents, county departments and other counties in Arkansas, Assessor Russell Hill said.
"It's something that could benefit the whole state -- we're just leading the way on it and pushing it," Hill said. "We're constantly in the pursuit of making things more efficient, more effective and more accurate."
OneMap by DataScout will integrate a database the office already uses to create easy-to-use, geo-referenced material field appraisers can access, Hill said. The system could be expanded to departments countywide, but some county employees already have said they are leery about a new system that is not part of the geographic information system the county has used for years.
During a county meeting Oct. 31, employees said the county already has the ability to create maps, but the mapping information online is limited, the website shows. The county will roll out a new website in December, but that might not affect the maps, county officials said.
Senior Planner Courtney McNair said during the meeting the Planning Department might not want to put all of its information out to the public. Hill said information going into maps might need to be limited to prevent confusion from too much information. Some information, including the location of water pipelines, also is not open under the state Freedom of Information Act.
Hill said employees may not be comfortable with his plans with DataScout, but the planning and road agencies plan to increase their data, county records show. The move should improve maps released to the public, said Juliet Richey, planning director.
The Quorum Court recently approved the departments to hire a shared employee to input data into the departments' databases. The new employee will start next year at about $15 an hour, said Charles Ward, road department superintendent.
The Planning Department creates some maps for the Road Department and its own needs, but the department has not had a dedicated person or the manpower to input data, Richey said. The new employee will put information into the database to build multifaceted mapping that can, for example, identify road maintenance issues and prioritize road needs.
"The idea is to have more accountability of our roads," Ward said.
The mapping will use geo-referenced information to show rights-of-way, stormwater issues, curbs and gutters on site and water lines, Richey said. That means bidding jobs will be easier because information is readily available, and planners might need fewer site visits during the planning process, which will save money and time, she said.
The new position also will inventory signage, county property, bridges and information about those bridges, among other things, according to a prepared position summary submitted to justices of the peace.
Hill said he plans to implement the new mapping system in his office to help DataScout develop the program, which may be a cheaper alternative for smaller, poorer counties.
After that, Hill said he plans to present the software to other departments next summer. Ideally, the software could pull all the county's information into a format anyone can use and be in one location. The result could make information easier to share among county departments, cities, other counties and the state.
Washington County for years has used mapping through Esri, an international supplier of geographic information system software, said John Adams, county director of information systems. Hill said he wants to try the new program because it is supposed to be easier to manipulate and could be cheaper.
The annual fee to use Esri is about $20,300, and the county has spent about $143,000 for Esri since 2011, county records show. The OneMap program through DataScout will cost Hill about $6,500 next year, according to an Oct. 20 contract. Costs for continuing to use the program have not been determined.
Other companies offer a similar service, but Hill said the county will get a discount for using DataScout and helping develop it.
The county's current software is used individually by departments and is specialized, Adams said.
Hill said he visualizes new maps through DataScout that integrate emergency routes, road plans, development and assessment information in one spot, Hill said. The maps would be available to the public, he said.
The majority of Arkansas counties use GIS mapping to some degree, Scott Perkins, communications director for the Association of Arkansas Counties, wrote in an email. The benefit is great. Mapping can be used for property assessment, easements and public utilities, boundaries for elections and improvement districts.
"Applying these diverse data sets to geo-coded mapping capabilities is a dynamic tool for counties," Perkins said. "As more data is gathered and created, the mapping applications will only continue to increase as well."
Using software to bring all the information to one spot could save the county money by reducing the need for overlapping software, said Richie Pierce, senior GIS analyst at the Arkansas GIS Office. The software the county is looking at also is considered user-friendly, which means Washington County won't need highly trained employees to run it, he said. Pierce said he is not recommending any particular company.
Other counties might use mapping software, but Pierce said he didn't know of another county considering centralization, as Hill is. Washington County is leading the way, Hill said.
"With technology, it's constantly changing and advancing. We want to be on the forward edge of that," Hill said.
Metro on 11/15/2016