Appendix A. City of East Lansing Interview Report

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Bertina Lindsey
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1 Department: City Clerk Meeting Participants: Sue Donnell, City Clerk Data Provider: The City Clerk s office maintains and updates all voting and election data. These data include legislative, school, and county commissioner district maps (hard copy), voter registration information, and election records (e.g. voter turnout and absentee ballets). The City Clerk s office is also responsible for maintaining liquor licenses. Much of this data is held within the Occupational Module of GMIS, but information pertaining to specially designated merchants and distributors is kept in a separate Quatro Pro database. Data User: The City Clerk s office uses a variety of address and parcel based data to manually perform mandated notifications before zoning updates and selected City Council Public Hearings. 1. Digital versions of all voting district maps these will be easier to maintain and update than the current hard copy maps and will be available for use in spatial queries. 2. Digital map of liquor license locations this can be created from the address base layer and the current address database information. 3. Access to digital base layers (addresses and parcels) to perform buffer analysis for mandated notifications. 4. Seamless access to other departmental data the City Clerk s office is often the first line of contact for residents FOIA requests. Access to other departmental data will allow this office to better serve the East Lansing community and answer spatially relevant queries. 1. Seamless access to the Qualified Voter File, the statewide database of voters. 2. GIS routing capabilities to better manage and organize the distribution of election material. 3. If a community or web based GIS were to be developed for the City of East Lansing, voting district maps should be included. Department: Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Conservation Meeting Participants: Howard Asch, Director Annette Irwin, Housing Data Provider: The Department of Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Conservation maintains and updates information pertaining to signs, building permits, rental housing (licensing, inspections, violations, etc.), and neighborhood associations. These data are i

2 currently stored in several modules of the GMIS database and on hand drawn and manually updated maps. Data User: The Department of Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Conservation utilizes base data such as parcel and address locations to manually perform spatial queries. 1. Access to digital base layers (addresses and parcels) for spatial distribution queries and development of supplementary maps (see #3). 2. Digital map of neighborhood associations this will be easier to maintain and update than the current hard copy maps and will be available for use in spatial queries. Supplementary data needs to include whether the association is business or residential in nature. 3. Development of useful digital data layers by attaching various address information from the GMIS database to the GIS address layer, many supplementary data layers can be created (e.g. locations of rental housing, rental housing that has received violations, building permits, sign permits, P.A.C.E. violations, etc.). These supplementary layers can be quickly developed using a GIS and would be useful for spatial analysis performed by both the Department of Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Conservation and other City of East Lansing Departments. 4. Ability to access spatial and database information by address/business name, owner/legally responsible party, and/or management company. 1. Much of the data maintained by the Department of Code Enforcement and Neighborhood Conservation has some community appeal. If a community or web based GIS were to be developed for the City of East Lansing, data such as the boundaries of neighborhood associations, locations of rental housing, etc. could be employed. Department: 54 B District Court Meeting Participants: Nancy Moylan, Administrator, was unable to attend the GIS Needs Assessment meeting. Notes: Currently, the courts do not have any data to contribute to a GIS, nor would they be likely users of the GIS. If this assessment were to change, Nancy Moylan indicated that she would be happy to contribute. ii

3 Department: Finance, Assessing, and Treasurer Meeting Participants: Gary Murphy, Director of Finance Robert Johnson, City Assessor Connie Larkin, Treasurer Data Providers: The Departments of Finance, Assessing, and Treasurer update and maintain a variety of tax, budget, accounting, and assessing databases. Most of these databases are tabular in nature and do not possess a strong spatial component. These offices also monitor water meters, residential parking permits and vacant properties in the City of East Lansing. Data Users: The Departments of Finance, Assessing, and Treasurer utilize base data such as parcel and address locations, combined with other housing or assessing information, to manually perform spatial queries and buffer analyses. 1. Access to digital base layers (addresses and parcels) these layers could be combined with individual household assessment information to perform neighborhood assessments (e.g. Are similar houses in the same neighborhood receiving similar assessments?). 2. Digital maps of historic districts, neighborhood associations, rental housing, and vacant properties (this becomes increasingly important as the City of East Lansing annexes new lands) some of these maps will be created as supplementary data by other departments. 3. Seamless access to other departmental data to perform spatial queries and buffer analyses for mandated notifications. This information is essential for both internal analyses and resident based FOIA requests. 1. The Departments of Finance, Assessing, and Treasurer may be able to use GIS to strengthen and justify their decisions (e.g. Is the current allocation of residential parking permits appropriate for the size/population of a particular neighborhood?). 2. If a community or web based GIS were to be developed for the City of East Lansing, some form of non sensitive assessing data could be employed. Department: Fire Department Meeting Participants: Phillip Vorlander, Fire Chief Data Providers: The Fire Department updates and maintains detailed address based information pertaining to the number of emergency vehicles deployed, response time, and the type of situation encountered. Response time data is currently recorded by dispatch iii

4 and is not reliable upcoming changes to the system should remedy this situation in the near future. Fire related incidents are currently stored in a digital database. All EMSrelated incidents will be stored digitally within the next few months. The fire department is also responsible for commercial and rental property fire inspections the data is maintained in digital format. Data Users: The Fire Department is not currently using data from other City of East Lansing Departments. 1. Access to digital base layers (addresses and streets) for deployment analysis and spatial distribution queries. 2. Seamless access to other departmental data such as sewer and natural gas line locations (if available), building footprints, and prior histories (police reports) by address. 1. Future digitizing/gps projects may include hydrant locations and hazardous material locations. 2. Automatic Vehicle Locating (AVL). Due to the size of East Lansing and the current response rates, there are no plans to move toward a GPS driven AVL program at this time. However, in the future, GPS locators on trucks or personal units may be warranted. Department: East Lansing Public Library Meeting Participants: Sylvia Marabate, Director, was unable to attend the GIS Needs Assessment meeting. Notes: The East Lansing Public Library is an asset to the city and should play a role in the GIS. Like other assets, it should be mapped within the context of its location to bus routes, school districts, neighborhood population densities, etc. Digital address files of library members could also be mapped. Department: Planning and Community Development Meeting Participants: Jim van Ravensway, Director Robert Owen, Planning and Zoning Carolyn Bennett, Economic Development Data Providers: The Department of Planning and Community Development updates and maintains historic district and zoning boundaries (currently in hard copy format, soon to be in AutoCad via Public Works/Engineering). This department also maintains site plans iv

5 at an engineering scale (some of these plans are provided in digital format). Data pertaining to the city s parking lots, including vacancy rates, permit distribution, and daily utilization figures, are stored in a spreadsheet format. Data Users: The Department of Planning and Community Development utilize base data such as parcel and address locations, combined with other housing, assessing, and/or natural resource information, to manually perform spatial queries and buffer analyses. 1. Access to digital base layers (addresses and parcels) to perform buffer analyses for mandated notifications. 2. Seamless access to other departmental data, including housing, assessing, and licensing information from the City Clerk, in order to assist with decision making. 3. Access to a variety of Natural Resource related data, including land use/land cover, topography, hydrology, soils, and wetlands, in order to strengthen development decisions. 4. Access to a variety of socio economic data for the City of East Lansing in order to strengthen development decisions. 5. Digital maps of historic districts and zoning boundaries these may be developed through GIS or in AutoCad through the Public Works/Engineering Department. 6. The ability to link digital engineering scale site plans to parcel information. 1. In order to promote economic development in East Lansing, it would be useful to have a spatial database of vacant industrial and office space. Development and maintenance of this data would be time consuming, but it would be an asset to economic development endeavors. 2. An inventory of businesses in the City of East Lansing the databases held in the Department of Assessing may be useful to this process. 3. The Department of Planning and Community Development is responsible for city s Community Development Block Grant Program. GIS may be useful for future planning and management of this program. 4. Digital map of East Lansing s public parking lots this data may be available through Tri County Regional Planning. Department: Parks and Recreation Meeting Participants: Tim McCaffrey, Director Wendy Wilmers Longpre, Landscape Architect Data Providers: The Department of Parks and Recreation is a relatively new department in the City of East Lansing. At this time, there is not much digital or hard copy data v

6 pertaining to the parks and recreational areas in East Lansing. Facility scheduling is maintained in a database format. Data Users: The Department of Parks and Recreation would like to use a variety of base data (addresses and parcels), as well as supplementary data from other departments to assist in planning and maintenance. Currently, this department is not accessing outside data sources. 1. In order for GIS to be useful to the Parks and Recreation Department, data must first be compiled through a comprehensive park inventory. This inventory should include location, size, amenities, relationship to bus lines and pedestrian paths, age and condition of equipment, and landscaping and natural features for each park. 2. In order for GIS to be useful for future park planning, access to base data, socioeconomic figures, and natural resource information would be useful some of this data can be attained from other City of East Lansing departments, some would need to be created. 3. Aerial Imagery of the East Lansing area. 1. A Municipal Tree Inventory that identifies all trees in a developed park. A tree inventory has been completed for the City of East Lansing, but its accuracy and digital availability has not yet been determined. The City of East Lansing may be able to partner with Michigan State University to update and maintain this inventory. Department: Police Department Meeting Participants: Captain Thomas Wibert, Commander Administration Captain Louis Muhn, Commander Operations Data Providers: The Police Department s 911 center services East Lansing, Meridian Township, and the MSU community. All data is stored by address in the CPLIMS database, which is conversant with GMIS. Data Users: The Police Department is not currently using data from other City of East Lansing departments. GIS Needs: 1. The East Lansing Police Department would like to strengthen their community policing program through spatial analysis. The ability to monitor crime through spatial and temporal analysis would allow officers to be pro active and conduct vi

7 targeted patrols. In order to do this, the Police Department would need access to address base layers, which could be joined to CPLIMS database information. 2. Seamless access to other departmental data, such as code, fire, and license violations. 1. GIS based crime information is becoming more prevalent throughout the mid Michigan area. Data sharing with the City of Lansing, and throughout Ingham County would be useful. 2. If a community or web based GIS were to be developed for the City of East Lansing, some form of non sensitive crime maps and statistics should be included. vii

8 Department: Public Works and Environmental Services Meeting Participants: Peter Eberz, Group Manager John Matuszak, Engineering Angela Mayben, Public Services Data Providers: The Department of Public Works and Environmental Services provides the City of East Lansing with the digital parcel data (the data has an estimated accuracy of +/ 3 feet, was digitized from scanned 1:200 maps, and is stored in AutoCad). This department also has access to a digital version of the East Lansing tree inventory originally created in 1986 and updated in a DOS format in 1996 (specifics of the database are unknown). Data Users: The Public Works and Environmental Services Department is not currently using data from other City of East Lansing departments. Portions of the parcel map were obtained from Clinton County and the Michigan State University Campus Parks and Planning Department. 1. It is hoped that the AutoCad Parcel map will serve as one of the primary base layers for the City of East Lansing GIS. In order for this to occur, it must be registered to a real world coordinate system. Each parcel must also be assigned a unique parcel id value, so that other East Lansing departments supplementary information can be attached. 1. Development of additional base layer information including the location and condition of sewer and water lines, valves, utility lines, street centerlines, sidewalks, and street signs some of this data may be available through the utility companies and other outside resources. Department: Senior s Program Meeting Participants: KellyArndt, Coordinator Data Providers: The Senior s Program is currently conducting a detailed housing survey for all senior living complexes the data will be stored in spreadsheet format. The Senior s Program also maintains an address database of its participants, class enrollment, mobile services, and meals program. Data Users: The Senior s Program is not currently using data from other City of East Lansing departments. 1. Access to digital address layers to perform spatial analyses. viii

9 2. Seamless access to other departmental data, including demographic information and local resources (e.g. parks, bus lines, library facilities, etc.). ix

10 1. In the future, it is hoped that GIS will help the Senior s Program better meet the needs of the East Lansing community. This could be accomplished by improving resources and better accessing volunteers. x

GIS Needs Assessment. for. The City of East Lansing

GIS Needs Assessment. for. The City of East Lansing GIS Needs Assessment for The City of East Lansing Prepared by: Jessica Moy and Richard Groop Center for Remote Sensing and GIS, Michigan State University February 24, 2000 Executive Summary At the request