January 26, 2000

Attendees

Mr. William Bush, Arkansas Geological Commission<
Ms. Susan Cromwell, Department of Information Systems
Mr. Cecil Davis, Department of Arkansas Heritage
Mr. Randy Jones, First Electric Cooperative Corporation
Mr. Fred Limp, CAST
Mr. Duane Reel, City of Jacksonville
Ms. Shirley Sandlin, Benton County
Mr. Jubal Smith, Entergy Corporation, Inc.
Ms. Suzanne Wiley, UAM

Not Attending

Mr. Phil Schoettlin, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce
Ms. Phyllis Smith, UALR
Mr. Jim Wells, Wellsco Graphics Solutions 

Special Representatives

Mr. Shelby Johnson, State Land Information Coordinator
Mike Mitchell, GIS Users Forum

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The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. in the 17th Floor Conference Room, Union Building, in Little Rock. Minutes from the last meeting of December 9, 1999 meeting were unanimously approved.

Reports

Report from the State Land Information Coordinator

Shelby Johnson reported that the Request for Bids announcement for the CIR project were finalized on December 9, 1999. He gave a long presentation on December 15 to the Electronic Records Study Commission regarding how GIS is affected by the electronic records issue, and there was a lot of discussion about county offices and databases at the county level. He highlighted for them how important their decision making will be and how it will affect GIS. Shelby described how he tried to impress the ERSC with the costly nature of GIS systems as a counterpoint to the popular idea that records should be free for public access and hoped that they would weight their decisions carefully.

Shelby also met with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to work toward coordination on a county pilot project with Baxter County to exchange data. This will be highlighted at a future meeting with the county judges.

Shelby explained that he has hired a student intern and that she will be working on the GIS audit project. He is looking to run the audit internally instead of seeking outside sources. The audit will be sent to everyone in Arkansas that has anything to do with land management, both public and private, and he plans to have the survey accessible for on-line submission. He explained that his intern is also working on the state profile for FGDC and NSGIC.

Another activity that he is working on is the technology mapping project which involves collecting government locations and the structure of the fiber network across the state. He has worked with the Department of Health assisting them in looking at how the DOH utilizes GIS and how they can utilize it better.

Color Infrared Photography Project

Shelby next spoke regarding the funding effort for the CIR project. He explained that he had met with the Arkansas Municipal League and that they are now supporting the effort. The Municipal League will use their magazine and communications resources to advertise this project with their member cities. He also met with the Arkansas Electric Cooperatives and they are very supportive of the project. Another meeting was held with key executives at the Arkansas Farm Bureau and he feels that their support is forthcoming.

Last week Shelby met with Arkansas One Call and he encouraged the LIB to foster a relationship with them as an organization who is very concerned with the mission of the Board. He explained that they have a lot of resources at stake and are very interested in the project. Shelby pointed out that Arkansas One Call represents over 330 member utilities in the state and that they all stand to benefit from the success of the LIB in the CIR project.

Shelby went on to describe that the Governor's Office has directed the LIB to work with the Department of Economic Development and also to seek out, with their guidance, the Economic Development Fund Commission funding. Since the last meeting, he had met with the chair of that commission, Jim Pledger. Shelby gave him an outline of what the Board is about and what the Board was trying to do, the D I S role, and asked Mr. Pledger whether the CIR project was a viable project for funding by their group. He told Shelby to bring it before the Commission for consideration. Shelby also explained that the Department of Economic Development will assist the Board in preparing the proposal to take before the Fund Commission. He explained that the Economic Development Fund Commission will meet on March 20, which gives about one month to get some additional fund support on the grant application to the Commission. He has upcoming meetings with the Forestry Association Board, all the county judges, some representatives at the federal level at the Digital Delta Conference, and the Arkansas Flood Plain Managers Association. Shelby will be meeting in Denver at the Geographic Information Technology Association where he will give a presentation about the technology mapping project.

Delta Project

Suzanne Wiley next spoke about the President Clinton's memo on December 10 to the heads of many government agencies regarding the Arkansas Delta Circuit Rider Pilot Project, similar to the large Delta Project but just for Arkansas. He is expanding his administration's efforts in Arkansas Delta communities by creating this program to provide a concentrated, coordinated effort by 14 federal agencies to address needs in areas such as housing, economic development, transportation, tourism, environment, cultural resources, infrastructure, technology, education, and health care. President Clinton has directed agencies to coordinate their efforts by March 1, 2000.

Ray Fox from the USGS has approached the Board regarding GIS data for Arkansas that the participating agencies will need by March 1. He has indicated that the USGS will put additional staff on to help with the QAQC for the CIR project and that there is a good chance for some funding. Suzanne said that the draft IP from the vendor will be sent to Ray and he has offered to do some editing and corrections to get it in order.

The CIR vendor, Pixxures, has indicated that the FSA, USFS, USGS, the Corps of Engineers, and other large agencies are very interested in type of project in regards to the whole United States, and that if that goes through it will reduce the cost for Arkansas data substantially.

Old Business

Advisory Council/Steering Committee

Suzanne Wiley brought up the subject again of developing a steering committee for the LIB. This type of committee would help provide input and legislative support for efforts and would also provide a way for the Board to interact with agencies and groups around the state in a formal manner. She recommended that a committee be organized before the next legislative session.

Randy Jones asked if the Board could issue a letter of appreciation to Michael Hipp regarding Shelby Johnson's hard work and excellent results in his pursuit of various GIS projects.Suzanne Wiley agreed to write a letter to that effect.

Committees

Suzanne Wiley pointed out that the Board committees need to continue in their efforts. She praised the efforts of Darla Chappell, Shelby's intern, regarding her work on compiling a database for the GIS audit and inventory project. Suzanne explained that strategic plan is still a high priority and that the Board needs continue work on that effort.

Year-End Report

Bill Bush said that he completed the LIB year-end report and filed it prior to the deadline.

Financial Reports

Suzanne reminded the members that their financial report needed to be filed with the Secretary of State's Office by January 31, 2000.

New Business

Board Member Expiration Dates

Suzanne Wiley explained that she was made aware that all the members' appointment dates expire at the same time in 2001. She checked on this and learned that the legislation which created the board set up all terms to expire on the same date. Susan Cromwell explained that Act 914, which created the Board, will most likely have changes proposed in the next legislative session. Susan said that it would be a good time to propose changes to the members' terms of service in order to stagger the expiration dates to provide continuity within the Board.

Action Items

Suzanne Wiley listed the following action items that need attention over the next six months:

  • CIR project/Delta Project

  • Legislation plans

  • Progress from the LIB subcommittees

  • Follow legislation being developed by state surveyors prevent conflicts

She added that the MidAmerica GIS Conference will be held in Missouri in May. She pointed out that it would be a good thing for the Board to be a co-sponsor, which would include the registration of a participant and booth space. It is a regional meeting and she said it would be a good way to promote the Board and its work.

Next Meeting

The next meeting was proposed to fall on the same day as the next Nortel training session, which will be announced. The March meeting will fall during the period of March 19-22, 2000, to coincide with the meeting of the ACSM meeting in Little Rock, to allow the members to participate in the conference. The date and location will be announced.

The meeting was then adjourned.