New York State Office of Cyber Security
Geographic Information Systems Clearinghouse
A Compendium of
Community Models
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Municipality: Town of Colonie
Project Description:
In 1996 the Town of Colonie recognized the benefits and importance of
a GIS system and implemented a program to evaluate and collect data
in the Department of Public Works. Parcel data, road centerlines, water
and sewer data was collected. In 2000, the Town established a full-time
GIS Coordinator to oversee and direct all GIS activities in the Management
Information Services (MIS) Department. The GIS has grown to include
maps and layers for most Town departments including Dept.of Public Works,
Planning, Parks, Police, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services.
Project Status and Schedule: Now that the GIS system contains so much valuable data, the number of projects and uses for GIS is almost unlimited. In 2001, GIS was introduced and made available to the public via an online mapping application located on the Town’s home page at www.colonie.org. The public can quickly and easily view geographic data, obtain parcel information, search for property or locate information on school/fire/election districts, zoning and land use.
An asset management system will soon be implemented to track and maintain detailed asset infrastructure for DPW, water, sanitary, and highway departments. The application will be integrated into our existing GIS. This system will issue and track work orders, facilitate the inventory of physical assets, track maintenance history, assist in creating reports, and support inspections and tests including TV inspections, hydrant inspection, valve inspection, and hydrant flow tests. The asset management system will greatly assist in reporting for GASB34 – a new federal finance regulation for the reporting of assets by municipalities.
Other GIS goals include development of a highway tracking program that will allow the Town to electronically track road repairs, paving schedules, etc.
GIS has also been used for numerous project studies including airport noise, tracking pesticide use for West Nile virus, park expansions, and planning projects.
The system also provides town departments with the ability to print updated maps on demand, an invaluable tool that saves money, time and provides much improved and more accurate information.
Barriers and Impediments/How Overcome:
Initially GIS was viewed as a tool for the DPW departments with very
limited broad range appeal. Once the scope of the system was broadened
and GIS became more accessible to other departments, the benefits and
advantages of this system were realized. The GIS Coordinator developed
and conducted numerous in-house training programs to help department
employees become comfortable with the system.
In the beginning of the data collection effort, serious thought was not given to the collection of metadata. As a result, much of the metadata had to be reconstructed.
Resources/Funding Sources:
GIS has been primarily funded through the Town’s budget. In the
beginning of system development, the IDA also provided some start-up
funding. A SARA grant was also secured to obtain some of the initial
software licensing.
Involved Agencies:
Most Town departments are involved in the continued development and
maintenance of GIS. Outside agencies, such as the Industrial Development
Agency, the Planning Board, etc. use GIS for ongoing planning activities.
Supporting parties are:
It was imperative that the Town leadership, including the Town Board
and Supervisor, recognized the benefit of a GIS system. Without their
support, GIS would not have been developed.
Benefits to Community/cost savings:
All Town departments can access GIS from their locations and most paper
maps have been eliminated. Residents can also access parcel information
and other geographic information online. Accurate, updated information
is available on demand.
The Town has not yet conducted a cost savings study. However, the DPW has streamlined UFPO (Underground Facilities Protective Organization) responses. The town’s water, sewer and highway departments have historically each dispatched an employee to an excavator’s UFPO location requests to mark locations of their departments infrastructure (hydrants, manholes, catch basins underground pipes, etc.). These field inspections had not previously been coordinated, tripling the number of visits to the site and increasing the amount of time necessary before excavation can take place at the site. There were 5,300 UFPO requests in 2001. In 2002 the town began to use GIS to streamline this process when possible (due to the ongoing development of the Town’s digital infrastructure systems). UFPO requests are mapped with all pertinent feature information. The current goal is to task one town employee to mark all infrastructure features where previously it necessitated three personnel. The combination of the water, sewer and highway data will eliminate more than 10,000 estimated trips. This will conserve considerable gas and staff time. The streamlining of the UFPO process constitutes a substantial economic benefit for the Town of Colonie’s as a result of its GIS.
Member of Data Sharing Cooperative: yes
Collaborative Effort:
The Town maintains general parcel data for the Villages of Colonie and
Menands.
Model Features:
Benefits to the Town and community are a very strong feature. The Asset
Management Program could be a model for other municipalities with large
budgets for management of infrastructure and reporting. Overall planning
and implementation of a successful GIS, with limited staff and within
2 years is a good model.
Keys to Success:
Good planning along with leadership support, adequate funding, partnering
when needed contributed to a good program. Moving GIS away from DPW and
into the MIS Department broadened the appeal for additional uses. Having
a strong GIS Coordinator who provides effective training programs and
clear goals also contributes to success.
Demographics:
Location: Capital District, Albany County
Population: 80,000
Contacts:
GIS Coordinator
Robert Mateja
(518) 857-8178MIS Director
Lisa Travis
(518) 783-2895