Lesson: Don t Wait For the Storm Developing a GIS for Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana Presented by: Daniel Mellott, GISP Burk Kleinpeter, Inc.
Where is Plaquemines Parish?
1998 GIS Feasibility Study User Needs Analysis Existing Organization Existing Data and Systems Existing Network Infrastructure Proposed Data, System, and Network Improvements GIS Implementation Scenarios Cost Benefits Analysis
Plaquemines Parish
Original Parish Courthouse December 2001: Built in Courthouse 1890 Fire
December 2001: Courthouse Fire Lost 50% of Clerk of Court Records Lost 80% of Tax Assessor Records Lost 100% of Council Records (Ordinances)
August 29, 2005:Katrina
The Critical Path
Katrina Aftermath
Katrina Aftermath
Katrina Aftermath
Katrina Aftermath Lost 100% of Records Stored at Satellite Courthouse Building Plans Permits Zoning Maps Land Use Maps
FEMA Response FEMA: Send us your GIS data. Plaquemines Parish: We don t have any. The GIS was never implemented from the 1998 Study
Consequences to the Parish Loss of countless numbers of historical plans, plats, and other critical Parish records Manually field verify the location of every address in the Parish Try to find underground utility locations and information from scattered sources Manually calculate the loss of property to obtain FEMA funding
Ordinance 07 138 New Orleans RPC flew color 6 resolution aerial photography in January 2006 Parish received photography June 2006 In March 2007, the Parish began looking to once again implement a GIS The Parish signed Ordinance 07 138 on June 14, 2007, paving the way for a Contract for Consulting Services A contract for GIS consulting services issued August 22, 2007
Phase 1: Completed Dec. 2007 Updated Feasibility Study Project Background Current Business Overview Business Requirements Business Options Project Implementation Plan
Priority Matrix Developed Based on the User Interviews with All Departments Parish Defined Implementation Priorities Implementation Divided into 4 Additional Phases
Project Implementation Phases Phase 2: Develop most critical GIS data before the next hurricane season Phase 3: Develop high priority GIS data and make information accessible to Parish personnel Phase 4: Develop medium priority GIS data and integrate work order management with GIS Phase 5: Develop low priority GIS data and consider public access to GIS information
Document Scanning Program Assessor Maps Survey Plats Ordinances Utility Drawings
Phase 2: Completed Apr. 2008 Initial Base Map Development Road Centerline Data Address Point Data Landmark Data Start Parcel Data Development Benefits Serve E911 personnel with most current information Location information for emergency response
Phase 2: Data Sources Road Centerlines: Existing Parish data adjusted to aerial photography and address ranges corrected from address points Address Points: Existing CAD data converted to GIS and adjusted to aerial photography Landmark Data: Started with ESRI data, added points using local phone directory, and adjusted to aerial photography Parcel Data: Started with existing scanned tax assessor maps which only covered about 4.3% of the Parish
Challenges Tax Assessor Maps All in Paper Outdated Incorrect Map Codes Covered Only 4.3% of the Parish Address Point Maps in CAD Format Units of Measure and Projections Arpents State Plane Feet NAD 27
Phase 3: In Progress High Priority GIS Data Parcel data integrated with the tax assessor database Develop planemetric GIS data (e.g. structures, paved areas, waterways) Develop levee GIS data Develop wastewater infrastructure GIS data Provide General Access to Parish Personnel Install and implement ArcGIS Server software Benefits Allow anyone within the Parish firewall to access the GIS data including tax assessor information, parcel boundaries, and structure locations
Phase 3: Data Sources Parcel Data: Used a combination of 3 sources 114 Original tax assessor maps 1,968 Scanned plats and ordinances Tax assessor database legal descriptions Planemetric Data: Digitized straight from aerial photography Levee Data: Input from COE surveys Wastewater Data: Input from available contract drawings and aligned using aerial photography where visible
Challenges Survey Plats Older Plats Difficult to Read Minor Rotation Required for Edge Matching Planemetric Feature Development Large Area of Destruction Distinguishing Shifted Structures Identifying Building Slabs Unreliable Utility Data
Phase 4: Projected Start Aug. 2009 Medium Priority GIS Data Water infrastructure Storm Water infrastructure Sign data Implement a Work Order Management System Integrated with the GIS Benefits Complete asset management Access to information for all Parish assets
Phase 5: Projected Start Aug. 2010 Develop Any Remaining GIS Data Setup Public Access to GIS Data Develop Custom Toolsets for Parish Personnel Implement Document Management System Develop and Implement Facilities Management Data
After 2 Years E911 has integrated GIS with their Computer Aided Dispatch System Smart Boards with access to the GIS have been installed in the Parish Emergency Operations Center The Tax Assessor is beginning to reconcile Assessor data to the GIS Parcel data GIS is being used on a regular basis by about half of the Parish departments ArcGIS Server technology has been implemented to make GIS data available to anyone within the Parish firewall
Lessons Learned If you can t do it all at once, determine the most vital information and develop a little at a time (some data is better than none) Prepare for disaster sooner than later (data backup) An ounce of prevention saves a lot of time, money, and History later on (document scanning) Disasters are inevitable