September 7, 1999

Attendees

Mr. William Bush, Arkansas Geological Commission
Ms. Susan Cromwell, Department of Information Systems
Mr. Randy Jones, First Electric Cooperative Corporation
Mr. Duane Reel, City of Jacksonville
Ms Shirley Sandlin, Benton County
Mr. Phil Schoettlin, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce
Ms. Phyllis Smith, UALR
Mr. Jubal Smith, Entergy Corporation, Inc.
Mr. Jim Wells, Wellsco Graphics Solutions
Ms. Suzanne Wiley, UAM
Mr. Shelby Johnson, State Land Information Coordinator
Ms. Karen Howard, Liaison, AR GIS Users Forum

Guests

Mr. Rick Miller, Kansas State GIS Coordinator
Dr. Fred Limp, CAST, UAF
Mr. Jim Farley, CAST, UAF

Not Attending

Ms Cathie Matthews/Cecil Davis, Department of Arkansas Heritage

----------------------

The meeting was called to order at 6:15 PM at the Inn of the Ozarks in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Suzanne Wiley, chairperson, called for the approval of last month's minutes. Shirley Sandlin made a motion to accept the minutes of July 22, 1999 as posted on the web. Bill Bush seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously.

Reports

Shelby Johnson, State Land Information Coordinator, gave a brief report on his activities since the last meeting. Each of the five SLIB Committees gave brief reports on their activities during the past month. A member from each committee was asked to serve as chair and were appointed as follows: 

  • Funding Committee- Phyllis Smith

  • Communication Committee - Jubal Smith, Legislation Committee

  • Jim Wells, Audit and Inventory Committee 
    Co-chairs Shirley Sandlin and Randy Jones

  • Strategic Planning Committee - Susan Cromwell

Old Business

Suzanne reported that she had spoken with Melinda Pyle, Director of Boards and Commissions. Ms. Pyle reported that the Governor's Office had no response to their notification to Dr. Robert Bennett regarding excessive absences from SLIB meetings. Since he has not responded within the 20 days allowed, he has been removed from membership of the Board in accordance with the provisions of the law and the Governor's policy. The Governor's office will appoint a new member to represent higher education on the Board.

Shelby Johnson announced that the SLIB is on the agenda of the Joint Committee on Advanced Communications and Information Technology for October 12, 1999. A presentation will be given to update them on the upcoming legislative efforts and needs of the State Land Information Board.

Suzanne and Shelby announced that they have arranged for a meeting among interested parties to coordinate efforts to purchase statewide satellite coverage. This meeting is scheduled during the Conference on Thursday, September 9th at 4:30 PM. The SLIB will host this meeting and act as facilitator in order to "develop strategies that result in coordinated, cost-effective programs for digital data" as is mandated by Act 914.

New Business

Shelby introduced Rick Miller, GIS Coordinator for the state of Kansas. Rick talked briefly about his state and how they got where they are and what he thought Arkansas could do to make progress toward coordinating GIS and data in our state.

Randy Jones announced that Arkansas One Call has adopted a new policy requiring latitude/longtitude to be used as a reference for all locations. He pointed out that this was a real problem because most clients do not understand location directions using latitude and longitude. He asked that Shelby speak with them. Susan Cromwell suggested that Clarence Durand be involved because of his work with network connectivity around the state.

Rick Miller indicated that it is important to establish a relationship with the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). Fred Limp reported that the Arkansas Geospatial Clearinghouse was funded with a FGDC grant and that CAST is an official node of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). In addition, a Seamless Warehouse for Arkansas GeoData (SWAG), was honored with an award in the Education and Academic category of the Computer World Smithsonian Awards Program for its visionary use of Information Technology.

Karen Howard asked how much state money had been allocated to CAST for SWAG. Fred Limp reported that first year funding through the Governor's AR Telecommunications and Technology Fund consisted of $298,985. He pointed out that much progress had been made, but that second year funding was necessary to finish the project. Shirley Sandlin moved that the SLIB endorse this research effort and express their support in a letter to the Governor for second year funding. The motion was seconded by Phil Schoettlin. The motion passed unanimously. In a second motion, Shirley moved that the SLIB act as a sponsor for the SWAG effort, joining the Department of Information Services, Federal Geographic Data Committee, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Open GIS Consortium and various other cooperators. The motion was seconded by Susan Cromwell and was passed unanimously.

Suzanne announced that the next meeting would be held in Little Rock on October 14th from 9am to noon at the Union Building, pending room arrangements. Susan volunteered to follow up on room availability. It was agreed that the Audit and Inventory Committee and the Legislative Committee will meet that afternoon, following the Board meeting. There are no overlapping memberships on these two committees.  (note:  the meeting has been changed to October 7)

Dr. Fred Limp and Jim Farley then gave a presentation on The Seamless Warehouse of Arkansas GeoData, a Status Report prepared at the request of the SLIB. Questions were addressed after the presentation.  

The meeting was adjourned.