January 14 , 2004

Arkansas State Land Information Board –
MINUTES
January 14, 2004
Union Building 17th floor conference room, Little Rock, AR
09:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.


Board Members Attending
Ms. Phyllis Smith, U of A at Little Rock
Ms. Suzanne Wiley, Higher Education
Mr. Randy Jones, First Electric Cooperative Corporation
Mr. Earl Smith, Ark Soil & Water Conservation Commission
Mr. David Hudson, Sebastian County Judge
Mr. Russell Gibson, City of Fort Smith
Ms. Mary Kay Sullivan, Benton County 911
Dr. Fred Limp, Director, CAST
Mr. Bill Bush, State Agencies
Mr. Jubal Smith, Entergy Corp (Proxy by Tandee White)

Board Members Not Present
Mr. Mike McGibbony, Deputy Director of DIS
Mr. Jim Wells, Wellsco Inc.

Arkansas Geographic Information Office (AGIO)
Mr. Shelby Johnson, State Geographic Information Coordinator
Mr. Learon Dalby, GIS Program Manager
Mr. Joakim Jörwall, GIS Systems Analyst

Guests
Ms. Carolyn Walton, Executive Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology
Mr. Joseph T. Clements, Arkansas Board of Registration professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
Ms. Tracy Moy, GIS Coordinator, Arkansas Game & Fish Commission
Mr. Robert “Cotton” Green, Arkansas State Land Surveyor, State Surveyor’s Office
Mr. Bill Sneed - USGS

1. Approval of the minutes of the last meeting
The meeting was called to order by interim Board Chair, Suzanne Wiley at 9:05 am. After review, Suzanne called for a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of November 10, 2003. Bill Bush moved that the minutes be accepted as posted on the LIB listserve. Earl Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

2. Carolyn Walton, Executive Chief Information Officer
Carolyn provided an overview of the state’s direction for information technology
(See Attachment 1)

In order for all Board members to better understand the future legislative funding issues relevant to AGIO and GeoStor support, the Chair charged the AGIO with bringing figures on current revenues, sources and needs to the next Board meeting.

3. Resolutions
Suzanne Wiley thanked Bill Bush and Karen Walls for their invaluable assistance in preparing certificates and resolutions recognizing outgoing Board members. Bill Bush moved that the Board adopt resolutions recognizing the many years of service provided by former members Susan Cromwell, Shirley Sandlin, and Chris Boudreaux . Phyllis Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and all Board members signed the resolutions.

Shelby Johnson announced to the Board that Jim Wells will resign his Board appointment due to personal reasons. Suzanne asked Board members to suggest candidates who might be recommended to the Governor’s office as a possible appointee to finish the rest of this term.

4. MidAmerica GIS Symposium – April 18-22, 2004
Suzanne Wiley reminded Board members of the upcoming Symposium. Phyllis Smith and Learon Dalby encouraged those present to consider attending this event because of its many GIS educational opportunities from very basic to very sophisticated. It was further emphasized that the symposium includes many levels of participation and is composed of curricula and tracks to meet various needs.

5. Report from State Geographic Information Coordinator
Shelby Johnson reported that Vince Guillet and Richie Pierce of the AGIO staff were unavailable for the meeting due to their field work in western Arkansas to test the centerlines in Polk, Scott and Sebastian counties. He stated for the purpose of the report he would cover their program areas as well as other highlights (See Attachment 2). He stated further that GIS and the ECIO are now included as explicit components in the new State Homeland Security Proposal, with emphasis on the importance of completed state centerlines and the crucial role of GeoStor as the state GIS data clearinghouse.

6. Report from other AR Geographic Information Office (AGIO) staff
AR Centerline File Program (ACF) – Vince Guillet – (See Attachment 2)
County Assessors Mapping Program (CAMP) – Richie Pierce (See Attachment 2)
Cooperative project funding for AR Digital Ortho Program (ADOP), distributed funding model proposal – Joakim Jörwall (See Attachment 2)

7. Report on GeoStor and related projects
Status of GeoStor development and usage – Fred Limp
Fred Limp reported that GeoStor had been intermittently unavailable during the past few days as a result of Internet outages. He cited highlights from the regular report that showed usage of the system continues to grow. The aerial imagery continues to be the top downloaded file types, and the system has recorded in excess of 208,000 total downloads. He reminded the Board that this is comparable to a much larger number of files in other systems because of the seamless delivery of data by GeoStor. Fred pointed out that the system now has over 3,300 registered users. He further mentioned that CAST had received funding from NASA, to enable migration onto Linux based systems. This would lower the systems costs substantially.

National Map pilot effort – Fred Limp
Fred reported that the National Map pilot project was proceeding well.

8. Old Business
Interim Study Committee - Timeline
Shelby reported that the SLIB has only 20-25 weeks to complete a plan/study by May. He suggested that regular Board conference calls should be scheduled to assess the available options.

Tasks for Board and AGIO/SLIB pre-session promotion
Following discussion of the Interim Study, Suzanne asked for volunteers to serve on a Task Force for Legislative Action. Bill Bush, Russell Gibson, Suzanne Wiley, Phyllis Smith, Randy Jones and Judge David Hudson offered to serve on this committee.

AR Digital Ortho Program (ADOP) II
Funding sources / strategies
Digital Ortho Standard
A project to update 2000-2002 aerial photography was discussed. It is hoped that stake holders can be brought on board and that new photography can be acquired in 2005. Shelby Johnson reported that the AGIO had not been able to devote the time necessary to begin research on a statewide digital ortho standard.

FEMA Floodmap Modernization Strategic Plan
Shelby Johnson reported to the Board that the state committee developed to respond to the FEMA flood map modernization had developed a draft report. He reported that this committee is composed of Jason Donham, Johnny Mullens, and Mike Borengasser, all representing Arkansas Soil & Water Conservation Commission, and Conrad Battreal, representing the Arkansas Flood Plain Managers Association. Shelby further mentioned that federal FEMA funding is available and that FEMA is able to match funds provided by cities or counties. Thus, the previous Digital Ortho Program provides data that are considered matching, resulting in real financial benefit to those areas participating in flood map modernization.

State GIS position descriptions
Discussion centered upon the lack of formal GIS position descriptions within state government. Tracy Moy from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission pointed out that this creates a challenge for managers in state agencies who must place GIS personnel in positions that do not accurately describe their functions. This results in the employee being misclassified. Bill Bush stated he agreed with the assessment and that agencies that have GIS employees designate these positions by working title only. Bill mentioned that if the Board knew the number of GIS employees in state government it might sway the Office of Personnel Management to pursue formal descriptions. If there were only five or ten GIS personnel they might not pursue a formal effort. But if there were 80 or more, the OPM would be inclined to develop these descriptions. Judge David Hudson asked if there was not a job audit process by which an agency could develop a description.

Suzanne suggested that this issue be kept on the agenda and that a draft of descriptions be put together to move forward on the issue. She asked the AGIO to provide descriptions from other states. Bill Bush and Earl Smith, state agency representatives on the Board, volunteered to serve on a committee to pursue this matter. Suzanne suggested that Mike McGibbony, also a state agency representative, might provide additional support.

9. New Business
Watershed Boundary Delineation – Earl Smith
Earl discussed new Nutrient Surplus Area legislation, management plan requirements and background status of the available hydrologic unit data. He stated that the USGS, NRCS, AGIO and ASWCC were making progress in finding a solution to defining accurate boundaries for these areas, but that some issues with coverage resolution and accuracy exist. The cost of 1:24,000 8-digit watershed updates and certification by USGS and NRCS is estimated at $32,000. He further stated that currently no certified state 1:24,000 hydrologic boundaries exist.

Board Committees – revise and reassign
The usefulness and membership of existing committees were examined and evaluated. The Electronic Plat Filing/Parcel Mapping Committee and AR Spatial Data Infrastructure Policies Committee were deactivated. The Funding Committee responsibilities will be assumed by the Task Force. New committees include the Task Force for Legislative Action and State Agency GIS Position Descriptions. See membership assignments below.

Advisory Council membership and participation
Suzanne stated that she would like to see the Advisory Council more closely involved with the Board. She welcomed the participation of Tracy Moy and Joe Clements at this meeting. She also suggested that the Board should revisit membership of the Council, as several representatives are no longer available to participate.

Elections
Suzanne Wiley reminded the Board that it was time for annual elections and opened the floor for nominations for Chair. Randy Jones nominated Phyllis Smith. Bill Bush moved that the nominations cease and that Phyllis be elected by acclamation. Earl Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and Phyllis Smith was elected Chair of the Board. Nominations were then opened for Vice-Chair. Phyllis Smith nominated Suzanne Wiley. Bill Bush moved that nominations cease and that Suzanne be elected by acclamation. Judge David Hudson seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and Suzanne Wiley was elected Vice-Chair of the Board.

10. Future meeting dates - February / March
The Board set February 18th and March 17th as the tentative meeting dates for the next two months. Board members are to check calendars for conflicts. Shelby will set up conference calls for the Task Force on Legislative Action in the interim.

11. Adjournment
Following the conclusion of business, a motion to adjourn was made by Phyllis Smith and seconded by Randy Jones. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 12:15 p.m.

COMMITTEES:
Strategic Planning – Fred, Bill, Suzanne
Communication/Public Relations – Jubal, Phyllis, Mary Kay
Task Force for Legislative Action – David, Russell, Bill, Randy, Suzanne, Phyllis
State Agency GIS Position Descriptions – Bill, Earl, Mike