Present were (* authorized to vote):
| * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Rod Armstrong Mahendra Bansal Jim Brown Dennis Burling Lash Chaffin Blaine Dinwiddie Dick Genrich Val Goodman Erik Hubl Mele D. Koneya Terry Kubicek Tom Lamberson Yvonne Norton Leung Jim Merchant John Miyoshi Jon Ogden Scott E. Richert Steve Schafer Ethel Skinner Duane Stott Cliff Welsh Larry Worrell Paul Yamamoto Larry K. Zink | State Information Technology Coordinator Natural Resources Commission State Surveyor's Office Department of Environmental Quality League of Municipalities Omaha Public Power District Department of Roads Legislative Research Lancaster County Assessor's Office Game and Parks Natural Resources Commission Department of Environmental Quality Governor's Policy Research Conservation & Survey Division Lower Platte NRD Department of Roads Lancaster County Assessor's Office DAS-Intergovernmental Data Services Property Tax Division Scotts Bluff County Surveyor Keith County Commissioner Lancaster County Surveyor Department of Environmental Quality Coordinator, GIS Steering Committee |
NOTICE OF MEETING. A public
notice of the meeting, pursuant to Section 84-1411 R.R.S. 1943,
was published in the Lincoln Journal-Star on Thursday, January
8, 1998.
ROLL CALL. Chairperson
Jim Brown called the meeting to order at approximately 1:05 p.m.
and requested a call of the roll. Eleven duly authorized representatives
were present. Therefore, a quorum was present to conduct business.
MINUTES. Chairperson Jim
Brown asked for the approval of the November minutes. Lash Chaffin
moved for the minutes of the November 13, 1997 Steering Committee
meeting to be approved as distributed. Jon Ogden seconded the
motion. Larry Zink called roll and the motion passed (see vote #1 on the attached Voting Record sheet).
LONG-RANGE PLANNING FOR GIS STEERING COMMITTEE
(loose ends from the planning session).
Larry Zink reported on the results of the Steering Committee's
long-range planning session from the day before (January
15, 1998). Attached to the agenda were
Larry's notes summarizing the session.
At the planning session, members of the GIS Steering
Committee decided upon the following seven concept statements
as priority areas for future committee work:
Larry reported in his summary that the Steering Committee
did note its understand that these concept statements were in
a rough form and potentially overlapped in some areas. The Steering
Committee also agreed to forward these seven priority statements
to the Planning Committee for further refinement. The Planning
Committee, which includes Dennis Wilson, John Miyoshi, and Erik
Hubl, was also invited to:
Also included with the agenda were 'Timeline Considerations
for Priority Areas' and 'Other Issues Raised' from the planning
session. Dennis Burling pointed out that one item was missing
from the 'Other Issues Raised' and believed it had received about
five votes from the straw poll vote taken at the planning session.
Larry also remembered it as a point that Yvonne Norton Leung made
concerning integration of layers, sharability, and compatibility.
Larry noted that it was unintentionally left off the list. Terry
Kubicek asked Larry for a corrected copy that included the missing
item (see attachment #1).
The Steering Committee took a few minutes to review
the notes from the planning session. Jim Brown asked for any discussion
regarding Larry's notes. Hearing none, Jim asked for a motion
to refer the priority items. Jon Ogden made a motion to refer
the interim results of the previous day's long-range planning
session to the interim planning committee for refinement. Lash
Chaffin seconded the motion. The motion passed (see vote #2 on the attached Voting Record sheet).
John Miyoshi asked about the Steering Committee's
discussion [from the planning session]
about meeting every month as opposed to every other month. Jim
Brown explained that under the current GIS Steering Committee
budget, the committee was not able to support the travel costs
involved with meeting every month. Larry Zink added that to date,
all the funds had been allocated to pay for two member's travel
costs for six meetings a year. Yvonne Norton Leung commented that
it may important for the committee to meet every month between
now and June, because the Legislature was in session and new committees
were currently being proposed [such as
NITC, LB 924]. After
the legislative session was over the committee could reconsider
meeting less often in the fall.
Jim Brown reminded the committee about the Professional
Surveyors Association of Nebraska (PSAN) funds that had been donated
to the GIS Steering Committee. Although these funds had been designated
for GIS educational outreach programs, Jim thought these funds
might be used as a last resort to help cover travel expenses.
Duane Stott asked if there were any state vehicles that might
be available outstate. Tom Lamberson noted that there were State
motor pools in North Platte and Scotts Bluff. Yvonne Norton Leung
also suggested using video conferencing as one way to meet and
reduce travel costs.
After further discussion, Jim Brown suggested a motion
to add a February meeting to the Steering Committee's schedule.
Jim commented that this would take the committee through to March.
Then, at the March meeting, the committee could further review
its budget and decide on future meetings. Yvonne suggested that
the budget be reviewed as soon as possible. Tom Lamberson moved
to hold a regular business meeting in February. Val Goodman seconded
the motion. The committee decided on Thursday, February 19, at
1:00pm. The motion passed (see vote #3 on the attached voting record sheet).
Tom Lamberson brought up the four timeline issues
that came out of the long-range planning session and were to be
discussed at the business meeting. These four issues were as follows:
Originally, Tom thought it might be necessary for
the committee to pass a motion to approve the $120,000 in legislation
to provide increased support for GIS Steering Committee programming.
However, Tom noted his understanding that this issue had already
been addressed and approved by the GIS Steering Committee at the
November 13, 1997 meeting and did not need any action from the
committee today.
Tom then moved on to the second discussion item:
reconsideration of the State Surveyor's initiative on technical
assistance for cadastral mapping. From the discussion at the
planning session, Tom felt that this initiative was something
that made sense, but also noted that there had been a request
for a white paper. Tom raised this issue, because he felt it was
a loose end that needed to be resolved. Jim Brown explained that
he had a request from Jim Merchant to hold the discussion of this
item until he was able to participate. Jim Merchant was teaching
a class and expected to join the Steering Committee meeting around
10:00am. Jim Brown did not feel this would be a problem, because
this particular item was on the agenda as item #7 (Nebraska Technology
Coordination Initiative and GIS). None of the committee members
had a problem with delaying discussion of the item until that
time.
Moving on to the third item (Nebraska GIS Symposium),
Tom did not feel that he could address the issue. Therefore, he
moved on to the fourth timeline issue to be considered (Expanding
GIS Steering Committee membership). Tom explained that at
the planning session, there had been some discussion about LB
924 which recommended the appointment of three new members to
the GIS Steering Committee. This discussion led Tom to believe
that if the Steering Committee had any recommendations about agencies
or entities that the committee felt was appropriate to be on the
Steering Committee, then these recommendations should immediately
be given to either Rod Armstrong or Yvonne Norton Leung, because
the legislative bill had already been introduced and was about
to be heard. One suggestion was the Nebraska Department of Water
Resources. Tom was not advocating any particular entity, but felt
that if the Steering Committee had any strong feelings, they should
be expressed at this time.
Yvonne added that the GIS Steering Committee was
an advisory committee and it was appropriate for the committee
to make recommendations for this particular legislation (LB 924).
She also explained that when Rod Armstrong and others looked at
the possible expansion of the Steering Committee's membership,
they looked at the skill sets or needs that were not currently
being represented. One was the federal government. The Property
Tax Administrator was also suggested to help address the policy
issues involved with tax and the use of GIS. The Nebraska Game
& Parks Commission was also recommended, because it brought
in a recreational and proprietary mode which could help market
GIS in the State of Nebraska. Other entities had been discussed,
but these seemed to have three very different kind of focuses
that were not currently being represented on the committee.
Terry Kubicek also offered a couple of suggestions:
NEMA (Nebraska Emergency Management Association) for disaster
response mediation; the Nebraska Forest Services for interface
with private industry when looking at using databases to assist
in targeting areas for logging or for timber products; the Nebraska
State Patrol to automate 911 and the use of GIS databases and
GPS functions; and the Nebraska Department of Water Resources
for all their modeling and the criticality of the litigation of
the Platte, the Republican, and potentially the Blues. Terry offered
these four, because he felt they would also offer unique skill
sets.
Jon Ogden added that when looking at the issue of
marketing GIS, the committee could also benefit from Economic
Development for a policy perspective on how to move into the marketing
arena. All of these were good suggestions. However, Jon did not
feel they all needed to be an actual member of the committee,
but should be included in a subcommittee structure. Rod Armstrong
agreed with Jon and asked the committee if they felt it was important
to make specific reference in the law to those agencies or groups.
Rod also noted that County Assessors and other local officials,
as well as Federal agencies, had also been suggested.
Discussion about the expansion of the Steering Committee
continued. Yvonne noted that the Steering Committee had seriously
discussed the possibility of moving more actively into an operational
committee structure. Therefore, some of the proposed entities
may serve better on a task force or subcommittee, rather than
statutorily defined. Yvonne's initial thought was to keep the
Steering Committee member numbers relatively small, but to also
include a technical committee component. Terry added his observation
that by including them on the Steering Committee, even though
there was the risk of the committee becoming larger and more unyielding,
it would help facilitate the use of the application and the development
of GIS and the data sharing that otherwise the committee may not
get. Terry felt that by trying to target unique skill sets, as
Yvonne had suggested, this would also add to the committee's discussion
and widen the committee's perspective.
Jim Brown voiced his concern about adding state agencies (Jim would also add the Dept. of Education which is also a user of a GIS system), it would over balance the committee toward state government. Tom Lamberson explained that it was not his intent to make a motion to propose specific entities at this time, but did feel that the discussion was beneficial. Jon Ogden commented that when the Steering Committee did begin to look at how the committee would operate in the future, the committee may also want to consider how to get more people involved. Assigning certain agencies or local government officials to formal subcommittees or even getting them to attend more Steering Committee meetings would be beneficial. Rod Armstrong thought it would be useful for the Steering Committee to go on record as saying that as work continues on LB 924, the committee recommended the involvement of certain agencies, etc., and to further to authorize the Executive Committee to work with those working on the bill, not as an endorsement to any specific approach, but in terms of how the issue would get captured in the legislative language.
Terry Kubicek ask if a federal agency could be appointed
or would it need to be invited. Yvonne noted that it would be
invited. Larry Zink suggested that the Steering Committee try
an approach that is used in a number of other states where they
use a federal representative on their council as a way to encourage
the federal agencies to get together as a group within the state
and then recommend someone within their group to represent them.
Terry thought that Larry's suggestion was a different sense of
invitation vs. appointment. Rod agreed that this was a fair question
and noted there were a number of other issues in the bill that
would need to be clarified, as well. Rod added that he would like
to see the Steering Committee have a voice, probably through the
Executive Committee, in some of the discussions of the bill. Then,
since the committee was going to meet in February, it would have
the opportunity to review and approve any possible amendments
to the bill at that time.
General discussion about membership and subcommittees
continued. Lash Chaffin asked what leverage the committee might
have to ensure further involvement by others and what vision everyone
had regarding the subcommittees. Yvonne added that the committee
was evolving in sort of a real-time, GIS and the rest of the coordination,
in terms of the State of Nebraska. Yvonne did not think anyone
knew how everything was going to evolve, nor was the Steering
Committee present to resolve all these problems at today's meeting.
Yvonne did feel that if there was a particular need for participation
by a state agency, then that agency would be asked to participate
and it would become part of their job. However, there was no leverage
over county, city, or other local government entities. Lash thought
he could help with city officials. Jim Merchant arrived and added
that if the some of the subcommittees could meet outside of Lincoln,
there might be more involvement or participation.
Further discussion about the structure of the GIS
Steering Committee and possible subcommittee structures continued.
Yvonne explained the structure of the Information Resources Cabinet
(IRC) and its technical committee. Terry Kubicek asked Yvonne
for clarification about the relationship between the GIS Steering
Committee and the (IRC). Terry wondered if the Steering Committee
would propound policy to go through the IRC that will then refine
it and enunciate information resources policy statewide. Yvonne
noted that the discussion was moving toward agenda item #7, but
added that Terry was on the right track. Rod asked Jim Brown for
unanimous consent for the committee to take up agenda item #7
for procedural purposes. There were no objections from the committee.
NEBRASKA TECHNOLOGY COORDINATION INITIATIVE AND
GIS. Rod Armstrong reminded everyone that
at the last Steering Committee meeting [November
13, 1997], he had given a presentation
on the Nebraska Information Technology Commission and its three
councils for Education, Government, and Community which resulted
in LB 924. The bill also proposes the creation of the office of
a Chief Information Officer (CIO) which is something that the
Legislature and the Appropriations Committee, in particular, have
been discussing for some time. The CIO would be a policy type
position reporting directly to the Governor, as opposed to run
operations inside of state government. A couple of funds are also
proposed in the bill to provide financial incentives for collaboration.
One is a Government Collaboration fund and the other is a Community
Collaboration fund. These two funds are envisioned to be made
available through the Government and Community Councils. No funds
were specified for an Education fund since lottery funds and NEBSAT
dollars were already going in that direction. However, the assumption
was the same, these councils and the commission would have some
say in how these funds would be directed.
Rod noted that the Steering Committee had already
discussed possible changes to the Steering Committee. At this
time, the items contained in the funding recommendations that
were previously approved by the Steering Committee [$120,000
for increased support for GIS Steering Committee programming]
were still a part of the Governor's consideration for implementation
of the bill. Another part of the bill is to rename the Department
of Administrative Services-Central Data Processing Division (CDP)
to the Information Technical Services Division. Rod noted that
this was in large part due to Tom Conroy's, the Director of CDP,
efforts to move the nature of the division toward more of a service
organization.
The primary sponsor of LB 924 is Senator Joyce Hillman
who has also made it her priority bill. The bill was originally
referred to the Government Committee, but was re-referred to the
Appropriations Committee. There are five members of the Appropriations
Committee who have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, including
Senator Hillman and Senator Wehrbein who is the Chair of the Appropriations
Committee. Other co-sponsors include: Senator Coordsen, Senator
Bohlke, Senator Raikes, Senator Keele, Senator Brown, and Senator
Don Peterson. Rod noted, as Yvonne had mentioned, that all of
this was work in process and the bill will likely be modified
in a number of ways. Terry had already pointed out one issue which
was the constitutionality of appointing a federal official to
a state board. Rod commented that he would continue to work with
Yvonne and her office [Policy Research
Office], the Budget
Office, Fiscal Office, and Legislative staff representing the
co-sponsors of the bill, and others from the administration within
the next few weeks prior to the public hearing of the bill to
resolve a number of issues. Rod noted that there was a strong
sense of support for the general concept of the bill with the
understanding that there were still some details that needed to
be worked out.
Tom Lamberson commented that copies of a summary
page regarding the bill had previously gone out to the legislative
liaisons. Dennis Burling made copies and distributed them during
the meeting. Yvonne added her thoughts that the focus of the bill
was on coordination and not to create another level for someone
to report to. Yvonne also noted two points of importance that
Rod had not dwelled on. One was the inadequate number of skilled
technology workers in Nebraska. The bill included a commitment
to put a training program in place by identifying state employees
and also by working with the welfare to work group to put people
through a training program called "grow your own." Another
point was one of the funds that Rod had mentioned, clearly focuses
on the Steering Committee's concern that in some cases there may
be a single source for running a project. It may be a single agency,
but everyone benefited from it. These funding sources would allow
coordination and to appropriately pay through a grant mechanism,
not just through a budget mechanism. Then, the funds and the resources
should go where they need to be. Yvonne felt that these two funds
-- a community based fund and a state agency coordination fund
-- were important to the Steering Committee in terms of being
able to access it.
Both Rod and Yvonne explained the structure of the
Nebraska Information Technology Commission (NITC). The commission
is to be chaired by the Governor or his/her designee. In this
case, the Lt. Governor. Other members include representatives
from Higher Education, K12, and the community (Greg Adams, Mayor
of York). There are also five members from the general public
with expertise or experience in setting strategic direction and
making decisions which include: U.S. Senator Bob Kerry; Eric Brown,
General Manager of KRVN in Lexington; Gary Cock, CEO of Centurion
International in Lincoln; Joyce Wrenn, CIO of Union Pacific in
Omaha; and one vacancy. Yvonne again noted the three councils.
The state or government council would be the IRC which is chaired
by Yvonne and is currently looking at several statewide issues.
Local governments will be a component of the Community Council
and the Education Council will be K12 and Higher Education.
Rod noted the NITC's Web site: www.nitc.state.ne.us
Membership of the NITC,
meeting agendas and minutes, and reports can be found at this
site, as well as a link to the IRC Web site. The sites for the
community and education councils are still under construction.
John Miyoshi asked what the Steering
Committee's relationship would be to the NITC. Yvonne explained
that there was a line being added to the bill that basically says
it does not change anything that the existing groups do, but would
coordinate with the NITC. Rod noted that the actual language read
"report to." Rod commented that not everyone knew exactly
what that meant and it would be subject to a great deal of discussion
over the next several weeks.
Lash Chaffin offered to change the
subject and moved to reconsider the vote at the November 13, 1997
meeting on the proposed changes to the State Surveyor's statutes
to provide technical assistance for cadastral and geo-referencing
of maps. Rod Armstrong seconded the motion. Jim Brown opened the
floor for discussion.
Tom Lamberson asked Yvonne to address
the issue that was raised at the last meeting about the code-agencies
voting on recommended legislation without first following procedures
as established by the Governor's office. Yvonne explained that
there was an ongoing issue that agency directors, that are appointed
by the Governor, need to make sure that anything they are working
on or might possibly support, particularly in terms of legislation,
need to have received some kind of coordination through the Governor's
office. Yvonne thought Rod might say that it needed approval.
Yvonne noted that there were fine lines with "need to have
approval," but the agency directors certainly needed to have
touched base with the Governor's office before they support
or recommend legislation. All agency directors, which happen to
be code agency directors, must check with the Governor's office,
which in this case happens to be the Policy Research office, before
they vote or make a decision about legislation that is moving
forward.
Yvonne also explained that since the
discussion at the last meeting, this particular piece of legislation
had been reviewed and was now a part of the Governor's initiative.
Yvonne thought the original question was what would be the role
of the code agencies be in terms of participation, but this particular
issue had been approved and was moving forward.
Rod Armstrong asked if reconsideration
meant that the legislative proposal was put back on the table
and the committee could take a second vote to approve it. Lash
confirmed that this was the intent of his motion. In the discussion,
Terry Kubicek asked Yvonne whether or not Dayle Williamson hadn't
asked for a white paper. Yvonne noted that Dayle had made such
a request, but explained that the problem was how to get it back
in front of the GIS Steering Committee before the bill moved forward
and no one intended to supersede the committee. Yvonne noted that
Dayle's suggestion was that if there was this issue then maybe
a white paper might be useful to help make the decision. However,
Yvonne didn't think there was anything specific, but noted that
from the perspective of the Policy Research Office and the Governor's
office, there had been internal discussions, it had been reviewed,
and they were ready to go this way without a white paper as such.
Yvonne also asked that if anyone had any questions then they should
be asked, but there had been internal discussions and PRO and
the Governor's office was ready to move forward.
Duane Stott noted that the original legislation which created the GIS Steering Committee specifically says that the committee is to recommend legislation. Duane asked Yvonne how this impacted the committee's ability to make recommendations. Yvonne noted that it was pretty much standard procedure for those who have special expertise to still make reports and recommendations to the Legislature. However, those representing code agencies still needed to check with the Governor's programs before they make their decision. This was a part of their job that they have to go through these hoops before they can come back to the group to discuss it. Terry Kubicek noted that it was simply a matter that the code agencies directors must be given enough time prior to consideration by the GIS Steering Committee for them to go through their own agency, or in this case, the Governor's approval or review process.
Yvonne explained that this has not
been a problem in the past, but the Steering Committee had suddenly
found themselves in a political maelstrom. However, these issues
have been resolved and the committee needed to move forward with
a somewhat different mechanism. Jim Brown added that there had
been, in this particular instance, an extremely short timeline.
Through this process, Yvonne felt that the GIS Steering Committee
had also been raised to a higher level of participation and visibility
that it didn't have before. From the introduction of the legislative
package, the committee had been more recognized. Yvonne also noted
the importance of learning how the GIS Steering Committee fit
into the long-term scheme in the development of the information
technology component for the State of Nebraska. Some of the discussions
that are currently taking place were dealing with short-term issues
such as who's where, who reports to whom, and what's happening.
Yvonne felt that it was important to deal with this legislation
in the broader context of information technology for the state.
Yvonne also clarified that the GIS
Steering Committee would report to the IRC (the Government Council
of the NITC) and not directly to the NITC itself. However, Yvonne
explained that since GIS was so comprehensive, the committee would
likely work with and make recommendations to both the Commission
and all three councils. Rod saw this as an opportunity for the
Steering Committee to raise its issues to a higher level, to potentially
educate policy makers, and to possibly get some funding.
Jim Brown asked for any further discussion
before roll was called. The motion was to bring the proposed language
for technical assistance by the States Surveyor back to the table
for consideration. Larry Zink called roll and the motion passed
(see vote #4 on the attached voting record sheet).
Lash Chaffin moved to endorse the State
Surveyors legislative initiative for technical assistance as originally
distributed and discussed at the last Steering Committee meeting.
Larry Zink noted that the original language of the proposal was
also attached to the agenda. Jim Merchant seconded the motion.
Jim Brown opened the floor for discussion.
Terry Kubicek expressed his concern
over the term 'shall.' "The surveyor shall also
provide technical assistance, support, and advice to the various
counties, cities, and other governmental bodies in Nebraska in
their endeavors to produce and maintain cadastral or other geo-referenced
maps." Terry felt that the term 'shall' put the State
Surveyor's office under obligation to provide anybody who does
GIS advice in any content. Whether they requested it or not, the
State Surveyor's office would have to provide it. The current
language required the State Surveyor to provide assistance
and Terry was concerned because the States Surveyor's office may
or may not have the necessary experience, GIS hardware/software,
computer peripherals, wiring issues, etc. Terry felt that 'shall
provide' was a bit overdrawn.
Yvonne felt that the term 'shall' did
not necessarily mean that the State Surveyor's office was required
to do so, but rather they would provide by contracting it out.
In whatever manner that the assistance was provided, the key was
that the State Surveyor's office be the coordinating the element.
Yvonne also felt that there should be a financing component to
this. In that context, Terry felt it might be more appropriate
to use a specific line agency that was dealing with a certain
GIS component that way it would not require the State Surveyor's
office to enter into it. Terry noted that it says 'shall,' then
it means that the State Surveyor must also provide assistance
to a K12 in North Platte, for example. Terry felt that in some
ways it was creating a central data processing within the State
Surveyor's office. John Miyoshi did not think the language said
that. Lash Chaffin also shared his opinion that he didn't think
the language preempted any others from doing that. Terry did not
say it preempted it, but that it mandated it by using the word
"shall."
There was some further discussion regarding
the issue. Yvonne expressed her understanding of Terry's concerns.
However, she stated that the issue was a reasonably narrow area
and it meant to provide which could also mean to hire, but it
also could mean that the State Surveyor's office might solicit
specialists in the area, one who coordinates or identifies, or
even one who can do and sets out to help. It provides a single
place that already is a connector between all of the various elements
(city, county, state) and is already a known entity and already
had connections. It was a single place that people can at least
go to figure out where to go next. Yvonne explained that this
was her understanding of the intent of the language.
Tom Lamberson called the question to
vote on the motion made by Lash and seconded by Merchant for the
GIS Steering Committee to express their support for the proposed
changes to the State Surveyor's statutes to include the proposed
language as distributed with the agenda. Larry Zink called roll
and the motion passed (see vote #5 on the attached voting record sheet).
Tom Lamberson made a motion to authorize
the Executive Committee to provide advice and assistance to the
Governor's Office, Rod Armstrong, Yvonne Norton Leung, etc., on
matters relating to the GIS initiatives being considered as part
of the Governor's IT initiative (LB 924). Rod Armstrong seconded
the motion. The Executive Committee includes: Dayle Williamson,
Jon Ogden, John Miyoshi, Lash Chaffin, and Jim Brown.
Jim Brown asked for discussion. Lash clarified his understanding that the motion was to enable the Executive Committee to respond to any questions that Rod or Yvonne might have. Tom noted that this was correct, because there were likely to be issues/questions that would come up between now and the February 16 Steering Committee meeting. Jim Brown asked for further discussion. Hearing none, Jim asked Larry Zink to call the roll. Larry called the roll and the motion passed (see vote #6 on the attached voting record sheet).
Rod Armstrong made a motion to authorize
the Steering Committee chair or his designee (probably Lash Chaffin)
to appear before a Legislative committee to testify in support
of the provisions of the Governor's IT initiative as related to
GIS and funding for provisions (as already considered by the Steering
Committee). Tom Lamberson seconded the motion. John Miyoshi made
a request for the Steering Committee to receive any written testimony
before it was given. Blaine clarified his understanding that the
motion would limit the Steering Committee to just those discussion
items relevant to the Steering Committee as discussed at today's
meeting. Both Rod and Yvonne confirmed this. Larry Zink called
the roll and the motion passed (see vote #7 on the attached voting record sheet).
Larry Zink made a suggestion for the
Steering Committee to strike the words 'in July' from the statute
referring to the Annual Report. Because the Legislature convenes
in January, it would be beneficial to have the annual report completed
and distributed to the legislative body in November or December.
Rod Armstrong added that many state agencies are busy with fiscal
year-end budgetary issues and having an annual report due in July
cause some conflicts. John Miyoshi stated his preference to continue
to designate some specific month in statute. Otherwise, everyone
gets busy and it can be easily overlooked. Jim Brown suggested
that the committee take up Larry's proposal to strike the words
'in July and then, if there was interest to take up a motion by
the Steering Committee to specify the month.
Rod Armstrong made a motion to support a change of statutory language to remove the reference 'in July' referring to the due date of the Steering Committee's Annual Report to the Legislature. Jon Ogden seconded the motion. Larry Zink called the role and the motion passed (see vote #8 on the attached voting record sheet).
Jim Brown turned the discussion back
to item #3 (Nebraska GIS Symposium) of the timeline discussion
items that were to be discussed at today's meeting. It had been
brought to Jim's attention that if the group wanted to have a
Nebraska GIS Symposium, then the committee needed to begin work
on the project. Previously, the Steering Committee had discussed
the possibility of having a Nebraska GIS Symposium in 1999, since
it was an off year from the Mid-American GIS Symposium. Jim Merchant
noted that the committee should also address some of the issues
relating to funding. Jim Brown mentioned that he and Larry Worrell
would be attending a Board of Directors meeting for the PSAN following
this meeting and he would be willing to take any questions or
issues with him and present the to the board. Jon Ogden was interested
in knowing whether or not the PSAN might be interested in giving
the Steering Committee their support again. Jim Brown said he
would bring the issue to their attention and report back at the
next Steering Committee meeting. Jim Merchant proposed holding
the symposium in May 1999 at the Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln,
Nebraska.
The group took a short break.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON STANDARDS
FOR MULTI-PURPOSE LAND INFORMATION SYSTEMS.
Erik Hubl handed out a copy of a draft version of the first section
of the Standards for Multipurpose Land Information Systems. Erik
noted that the draft document was being submitted to the Steering
Committee for initial review and consideration. Erik used overheads
to show what the committee felt was an ideal outline for a Nebraska
Guidebook (see the Table of Contents in the draft document) or
GIS standards for Nebraska. Erik explained that the committee
first drafted the two sections that they felt were the most important
or were the heart of what they believe standards should be for
Nebraska. Section V, Fundamental Elements of Multipurpose Land
Information Systems, was a one page draft document, and Section
VI, Geographic/Geodetic Control, was a ten page draft document.
Erik noted that the Section VI itself could be broken down into
four basic, fundamental recommendations (these were included in
the draft document and were set apart by being indented, bolded,
and in italics,):
Erik explained that the document was
heavily footnoted and specifically organized to show support and
documentation of information that has already been developed from
various other local and national publications. These footnotes
were the committee's attempt to provide the reasons for this information.
Attached to the agenda was a suggested
timeline for the GIS Steering Committee to review the two initial
draft sections. The Advisory Committee requested written comments
and feedback from the Steering Committee by February 13, 1998
(see changes below). The Advisory Committee would then
discuss and review the feedback and mail a revised version of
the two sections with the Steering Committee's agenda for the
March 12 meeting. Jim Brown acknowledged that the Advisory Committee's
timeline was indeed short. However, Jim wasn't sure it was short
enough, because the Property Tax Division had requested some suggested
standards by October 1998. Erik noted that the Advisory Committee
was aware of this, discussed it, and recognized its importance.
Jim Merchant asked if the Steering Committee was going to pay
for its publication and how would it be distributed. Jim Merchant
also explained that other states publish their standards in a
loose leaf notebook so it can be published one section at a time
and can be easily updated. There was some general discussion about
the publication, distribution, and selling of the document.
Larry Zink explained the Advisory Committee's
understanding that the Steering Committee wanted to review all
documents before they were distributed to a broader group of interested
parties for review. However, Larry suggested that if the Steering
Committee was proposing to speed up the timeline, then it might
want to reconsider this two step process of review. After some
further discussion, Erik asked how the Steering Committee felt
about the draft document being distributed outside of the Steering
Committee without its prior review and approval. Jim Brown didn't
think it would be a problem as long as it was clearly marked as
a "draft." Terry Kubicek felt that it needed to be distributed
to get as many comments as they possibly could and to refine it,
since it potentially made it a better document.
Jim Brown asked the Steering Committee
to send their written comments to the Advisory Committee in time
for Larry to mail them out before the next Steering Committee
meeting on February 19. Jim suggested that the date due for written
comments from the Steering Committee be February 6th.
Jim also asked that the Advisory Committee to continue working
on other sections as they are waiting for the feedback. After
some discussion, the Steering Committee asked that the revisions
be returned to them in legislative style (typed out, underwritten,
etc.).
PLSS PILOT PROJECT.
Jim Brown gave a report on the status of the PLSS Pilot Project.
Jim reported that Adams County was moving along fast and anticipated
having their GPS finished by the end of the month. Dawson County
was running about on schedule. They have most of their data inputted
and are using their own GPS equipment. Hall County was just about
on schedule and their GPS was already finished. Jim was not able
to report on Merrick County, because he had not recently spoken
to them. Jim noted he was learning that the pilot projects seemed
to move along at the same pace as the level of interest and participation
that was given at the county.
FRAMEWORK DATA SURVEY.
Larry Zink reported that a proposed recipients list for the Nebraska
Framework Data Survey was attached to the agenda for the committee's
review. Jim Merchant noted that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
was accidentally left off the list. Larry was still in the process
of calling some of the larger agencies to see exactly who would
be the most appropriate person to receive the survey. Larry expected
the survey to be mailed out sometime by the end of January. Dennis
Burling suggested adding water and sanitation to the list that
included other utilities. Lash Chaffin mentioned the Nebraska
Rural Electric System. Terry Kubicek felt that Nebraska Municipal
Power Pool should also be added to the list. Lash commented that
most of the city clerks would pass the survey on to the appropriate
parties.
1999 NAPP AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY FLIGHTS.
Terry Kubicek reported that the current DOQ and DEM initiative
is on schedule and under budget. Mahendra Bansal handed out copies
of a map showing the status as of January 12, 1998. Terry explained
that the bottom third of the state had been essentially completed.
Northeast Nebraska is in process and has been slowed down a little
bit in tagging in the rough terrain of the Sandhills, but Terry
felt they were through the worst of it. Once completed, Nebraska
will have statewide DEM and DOQ coverage 1:12,000, national standard.
The information will available to others on NRC's Web site.
Mahendra also handed out copies of
a letter from Terry to Max Etheridge, U.S. Geological Survey in
Rolla Missouri. This letter requested an analysis of the cost
of the next generation of DOQs. NRC would like to see 1:4,800,
color infrared photography with simultaneous GPS control in the
aircraft. Terry noted that at this point, there were no key decisions
to be reviewed other than the fact that NRC has requested information
of what the next generation will be and what it will cost Jim
Brown noted that many groups, including local governments, would
be interested in the low level flight information. After some
discussion about the 1999 flight and its uses, Jim asked Terry
to keep the committee posted about its status, because of possible
joint ventures. Terry agreed to keep the committee informed as
discussions progress.
Larry Zink noted that one of the reasons
this item was placed on the agenda was that he had been informed
by Darryl Williams, USGS in Rolla, MO, that at the current time
Nebraska is scheduled for NAPP flights for the spring of 1999.
To firm up this timeline commitment, Nebraska would need to offer
a 50% cost share agreement (probably in the neighborhood of $250,000).
Without such a cost share commitment, there is a good chance that
the Nebraska flight might get bumped to the spring of 2000. Larry
noted that in the past, Nebraska has not provided a cost share
for these flights. Larry indicated that he wanted to bring this
issue to the Steering Committee to see if the 1999 flight timeline
was critical for any agency or interest, and if anyone was interested
in pursuing the cost share arrangement. Following a discussion,
no one expressed an interest in pursuing a cost share arrangement
on the NAPP flights.
FGDC MEETING. Larry Zink attended the FGDC meeting in Washington, D.C. on January 12 and 13.
At the first day's meeting, the FGDC partners met
to discuss what they would discuss and recommend to the FGDC.
They presented their recommendations to the FGDC, chaired by Sec.
Babbitt, on the second day. These recommendations were attached
to the agenda. Also attached to the agenda was a copy of a draft
document for Information Access and Information Policy which was
sent to the FGDC for endorsement. Larry explained that this issue
was tabled for one month so the FGDC could review it, but Larry
felt that it would likely be endorsed.
Larry noted that also attached to the agenda was the announcement and application/requirement for the annual FGDC grant programs. Larry indicated that at this time, given the priorities and programs underway, he wasn't proposing that the Steering Committee apply for any of those grants, but wanted the committee to be aware of them. Larry also noted that attached to the agenda were summary sheets related to a just released report from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) on the future of geographic information coordination at the federal level. The report makes a number of recommendations related to public management issues created by developments in geographic information. The FGDC has expressed an interest in state coordinating council feedback on the recommendations in the report. They have requested such feedback by the middle of March. Larry has one copy of the fat full report and additional copies are available for $30.
EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS. Nebraska
GIS Update Newsletter. Jim Merchant reported that three newsletters
would be published in February, June, and October. Jim Merchant's
office would pick up the mailing costs and the Department of Roads
may pick up some of the printing costs. Jim also noted that a
new listserver had been created which was open to the public and
included everyone from the old list, plus new members. The new
Nebraska GIS News Listserver is at: "neb-gisnews@calmit.unl.edu".
Mid-America GIS Symposium.
Jim Merchant reported that a brochure about the symposium had
been mailed in mid-December. They were still looking for speakers,
etc., and if anyone was interested to let Jim know.
Metadata Video. Larry
Zink reported that awhile ago, NSGIC had a metadata training session
and has made available a video of that session. Larry Zink did
have a copy in his office, but had not yet reviewed it. If anyone
was interested in the video, they were to contact Larry.
STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS UPDATES.
Terry Kubicek reported that the Nebraska Forest Service intended
to touch base with the U.S. Forest in Minnesota to have preliminary
discussion about how they might use the DOQs and other coverages
in the next forest inventory.
Larry Zink reported that he had received a letter
from NEMA inviting the GIS Steering Committee to be an exhibitor
at their next conference in Kearney on April 17-19. Duane Stott
noted that the GIS booth was well received last year. Duane also
commented that the DOQs were becoming extremely valuable for statewide
emergency response effort. Duane would also like to see someone
from NRC to get them acquainted with the DOQs. Terry felt it was
appropriate to be there to talk about DOQs and would look at assigning
staff to be there. Larry indicated that he would get the information
about NEMA to Terry.
The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will
be Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 1:00 pm.
| Roll call | LR Pln #1 | Feb mtg #2 |
Reconsider St.Surv. #3 | Supp. St. Surv #4 | Exec Cmte #6 | Leg. Testimony #7 | July Annl. Rpt #8 | |
| DAS - Rod Armstrong . | A/P | . | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| DEQ - Tom Lamberson Dennis Burling | P | NV | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| CSD - Jim Merchant Les Howard |
A/P | . | . | + | + | + | + | + |
| NRC - Dayle Williamson Terry Kubicek | P | + | + | + | NV | + | + | + |
| PRO - Yvonne Norton- Leung | A/P | . | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| DOR - Jon Ogden Dick Genrich |
P | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| St.Surv - Jim Brown . | P | + | + | + | NV | + | + | + |
| LRD - Val Goodman . | P | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| John Miyoshi . | P | + | + | + | + | + | + | - |
| Blaine Dinwiddie . | P | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Cliff Welsh . | P | + | + | + | + | + | . | NV |
| Larry Worrell Jim Langtry | P | + | + | + | + | + | + | . |
| Lash Chaffin . | P | + | + | + | + | + | + | . |
| Duane Stott . | P | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| Dennis Wilson . | A | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| TOTALS | 11-P 13-P | 10 + 1 NV | 13 + | 14 + | 12 + 2 NV | 14 + | 13 + | 10 + 1 - 1 NV |
The next meeting will be Thursday, February 19, 1998 at 1:00 pm