Nebraska GIS Steering Committee
1:00 PM, Thursday, July 1, 2004
Main Auditorium, Nebraska Department of Roads

Minutes

Roll Call Present were (authorized to vote *):

Complete Meeting Agenda

MAJOR MEETING TOPICS

ROLL CALL:  Vice Chair Steve Schafer called the meeting to order and requested a roll of members present.  Ten duly authorized members were present and therefore the Steering Committee had a quorum of its members present and could conduct business. 

NOTICE OF MEETING: A public notice of the meeting, pursuant to Section 84-1411 R.R. S. 1943, had been published in the Lincoln Journal Star on June 28^th.

INVITATION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT FROM ATTENDEES:  Steve announced the open period available for public comment from those non-members attending the meeting.  No comments were offered from non-members.

APPROVAL OF 5/6/04 MINUTES:  Steve Schafer noted that the minutes of the 5-6-04 meeting incorrectly indicated that he had been at the meeting.  With that change, he invited a motion to approve the minutes as distributed.  Rex Gittins also noted that the minutes showed both he and Kim as voting and it should only show Kim.  Lash Chaffin moved approval of the minutes of the 5/6/04 GIS Steering Committee meeting, with those changes to the distributed copy.  Paul Yamamoto seconded the motion.  Steve called for a voice vote and the motion carried unanimously.

NEBRASKA GEOSPATIAL DATA CENTER AND NATIONAL MAP UPDATE:  Kim Menke, NDNR reported that a consultant had been hired to work programming for the front end of the geospatial clearinghouse. The hiring of the consultant was made possible through a grant received from the State Records Board.  Ultimately, this clearinghouse front end will allow for individuals to sign on and enter, via an online form, metadata-lite information to describe available geospatial datasets.  A metadata intake form will also allow users to upload existing metadata and have it automatically checked by validation software.  Kim also reported that much new has been done of the Nebraska node of the National Map since the last GIS Str. Cmte. meeting.  

Grant Efforts Update:

State Records Board Grant.  Kim Menke, NDNR, noted that at the last meeting it was reported that NDNR applied for a statewide grant of $25,000 and received it.    As she noted on the agenda item before, these funds are being used primarily to develop a front-end for metadata for our Nebraska Geospatial Data Center so other agencies can start entering metadata.  

USGS Partnership Fund Application.  Larry noted that at the last GIS Str. Cmte. meeting it was reported that he and NDNR were working on a grant application to the USGS Partnership Fund to support Nebraska National Map related activities and the development of the Nebraska Geospatial Data Center at NDNR.  A grant application for $60,000 was submitted that focused on acquiring and serving the FSA NAIP imagery and on the development and serving of a statewide street centerline-address database to the National Map.  Unfortunately that grant application was not funded by USGS.  

FGDC Cooperative Agreement Program.  Larry reported that NDNR and he have also worked on and submitted a grant application to the FGDC for $53,900 in grant funds and $65,000 in in-kind funding.  This grant was also focused on National Map-related activities and has a similar focus to the USGS Partnership Fund application.  Larry reported that they have not yet heard back on whether the application would be funded.  He did note that the FGDC had used a new electronic grant submission process, which unbeknown to them required an advance application for user ID and password, a process that took several days to complete.  So, when they went to actually submit the application (on the next to the last day of course), they were not able submit it electronically due to the absence of a pre-approved user ID and password.  Paper copies of the application were however submitted and it was our understanding that they would be accepted, but marked as late.  If funded this grant will provide resources for processing the FSA imagery and several other datasets to prepare them for National Map access, some storage hardware, $25,000 for street centerline-address work, and coordination and management efforts. 

Conservation and Survey - UNL Metadata Intern.  Larry Zink, noted that at the last meeting, Les Howard had reported that Mark Kuzila had committed funding for an intern to work on metadata for CSD and other agencies.  It was also originally our hope to apply for an FGDC grant to further support this metadata internship position.  Since then several things have happened such that this project did not move forward.  First, end of the year money became tight at CSD and so some of the funding had to be pulled back.  Then Les made a concerted effort to advertise for and find an intern to take on this position.  Despite advertising fairly widely only two people expressed an interest in the position and neither of them finally worked out.  Because of the problem of finding an interested and qualified applicant, it was decided that we should not pursue an FGDC grant for a metadata intern at this point.  Both Les and Larry indicated that they thought that there was the possibility of finding funding, if we could find a person willing and able to take on the position.  Les indicated that after the beginning of the new fiscal year, that there might be new funding available at CSD.  Larry also indicated that Andy Bishop, USFWS, might also have some funding available to support this work.  The challenge is finding someone to do the work.  The UNL Library was identified as one place to go to explore possible interns for this work.  Other folks were also invited to share any ideas or leads they might have in this regard. 

DRAFT MOU WITH NDNR FOR THE OPERATION OF A NEBRASKA GEOSPATIAL DATA CENTER: Larry reported that he and Rex Gittins had been working on developing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources and the GIS Str. Cmte. for the operation of an enterprise-wide Geospatial Data Center at NDNR.  Larry noted that the draft MOU is in the meeting handouts and was attached to the agenda for advance review.  Larry indicated that the MOU is drafted in a way to provide a general operating framework, without a lot of specifics, but should provide the basis for the cooperative development and operation of an enterprise geospatial data center as envisioned in the "Facilitating Geospatial Data Sharing in Nebraska" Advisory Committee recommendations that were adopted by the GIS Str. Cmte. back in 9-5-02.  Larry indicated that he had developed the initial draft based on discussions with Rex Gittins, NDNR. Larry noted that NDNR folks, had made some suggested revisions and that John Miyoshi and Steve Schafer had reviewed and approved the draft MOU as revised by NDNR.  Rex confirmed his understanding that NDNR management and legal staff had reviewed and approved the revised draft.   Larry indicated that he felt the MOU was ready for adoption and signatures by the respective entities.  Following a brief discussion, Scott McIntyre moved that the Chair of the GIS Str. Cmte. be authorized to sign the MOU with NDNR for the Operation and Governance of a Nebraska Geospatial Data Center.  Dick Genrich seconded the motion.  Steve Schafer called for a roll call vote and the motion carried.   

Fsa imagery update:  Larry reported that the 2003 FSA NAIP statewide color uncompressed imagery has been finally ordered and delivery is expected the week of July 20th.  Larry noted that while it did take some time and effort to solicit the interagency funding to make this possible, the biggest hurdle was arranging the actual interagency pooling of funds and ordering the imagery.  Larry also reported, that in the end, he received more commitments for funding that the $44,000 that was required.  Larry said that after consulting with John Miyoshi and Steve Schafer, he arranged to utilize the interagency funding commitments as was indicated in the meeting handout.  For some agencies that made funding commitments to this project, their resources will be diverted to support other aspects of the project beyond the actual purchase of the data.  Those activities include re-projecting the data from UTM to State Planes and providing storage and online service for these huge files.  

Chris Chalmers asked when the FSA imagery would be available.  Larry indicated that as far as he knew, copies of the data in its current form could be available shortly after they were received on the week of July 20th.  However, it will take some time to re-project the data and prepare it for online service.  Kim Menke also noted that the even the uncompressed data is in county groupings and so where a DOQQ overlaps two or more counties there will be multiple copies of that DOQQ.  Larry indicated that he would try to arrange a meeting of DNR and CALMIT/CSD folks in the near future to plan and arrange for the re-projection of the imagery to State Planes.  The merits of the Public Service Commission contracting out some of the re-projection to private vendors is also something that needs further discussion.

Larry also noted that once this immediate FSA imagery related project is a little further along towards completion, he will try to arrange a meeting of interested parties to discuss a possible on-going collaborative partnership with FSA for future imagery.  

A related discussion followed about the need for imagery for the more urban areas.   Duane Stott noted the interest in the Scottsbluff area for new imagery.  It was noted that while partnerships with FSA for enhanced imagery for defined areas was a possibility, the leaf-on aspect might be a problem.  Another possibility would be to explore a partnership with NPPD.  Chris Chalmers also expressed an interest within HHSS Bioterrorism for enhanced imagery for the urban/populated areas.  

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON LAND RECORD STANDARDS:  Larry reported that this was one of two currently active Advisory Committees.  This committee has meet twice and is looking at possible standards for both cadastral maps and related attribute information.  The committee is also looking at two possible scenarios: a) the passage of legislation that would provide new funding to local governments related to land record modernization; and b) no new funding, but is there a minimal set of standards the still make sense.  At this point, some draft ideas for standards have been developed but not finalized.  The committee has looked at spatial accuracy standards.  The committee has also proposed that we in some manner ensure that the boundary corners of counties be found and accurate coordinates determined.  The committee feels this is necessary to successfully pull together land bases into a statewide database from multiple counties or regions.  

Larry was asked about the representation and/or participation on the advisory committee.  He reported that it included representation from Lancaster, Douglas and Scotts Bluff Counties, NPAT, SSO, and the two major private vendors in this type of work in Nebraska.   He indicated that he had solicited involvement from the Reg. of Deeds, but so far no one has participated from that group.  Meeting notes and other information related to this advisory committee can be found on the web. 

TRANSPORTATION -STREET ADDRESS DATABASES:

Advisory Committee Update. Larry reported that this is the other Advisory Committee that is currently active.  This committee has also met twice and is working on defining responsibilities and data standards for developing and maintaining a statewide street centerline - address range database.  Larry noted that at this point, it appears that NDOR is willing to take on the responsibilities for the development and maintenance of this core database.  Dick Genrich confirmed that assessment.  The evolving situation appears to be one in which portions or pieces of this dataset will be developed and maintained by several sources, and to varying standards and formats.  Major players in this development will be the Public Service Commission (PSC), local governments, NDOR, and the Census Bureau.  A major gap in this scenario is that at this time no agency, other than possibly NDOR, is planning on taking on the responsibility of integrating and maintaining a statewide database based on these separate initiatives.  This scenario is the basis upon which the advisory committee is focusing its efforts.  At this time, the committee is looking at what a standardized statewide street addresss centerline - address range database might look like and we will then look at how we can achieve and maintain such a database from this separate development and maintenance efforts.  Notes from these advisory committee meetings are available on the web.  

Great Plains One-Call Service.  Steve Schafer introduced Tony Hrbek, from the Great Plains One-Call Service and noted that in addition to other groups, the One-Call folks have a significant interest in a quality street address database.  Tony gave a brief overview of the One-Call service, which provides notification to underground utilities about the intent of various parties to dig in a specified area.  Tony noted that they provide this service statewide.  Tony also reported that they now have buffered geospatial coverages for many of the utilities that they serve and that this helps them to more accurately determine when there might be a problem, and for whom, with a proposed dig.  

Tony indicated that much of their requests for service comes in to them with a street address reference.  They have found that much of the available geospatial street address data is not reliable and they are seeking ways to improve this situation.  Tony indicated that they have purchased private vendor data from GDT, but found it to be not very reliable for Nebraska. Tony also expressed concern that GDT did not seem to be responsive in terms of updating and/or correcting their Nebraska data based on feedback on errors reported by One-Call and others.  Tony indicated that GDT has been purchased by another firm and they do not seem to be interested in investing in improving Nebraska street address data.  Chris Chalmers, HHSS, indicated his agreement with this assessment of GDT.  Tony noted that in many states the One-Call service has evolved to be a major player in developing and maintaining a street address database for all to use.  He indicated that if funding was available, they were also open to considering this role.  They are also open to partnering with others in developing alternative ways to develop and maintain this data.  Tony highlighted one of the concerns was the need for a way to provide feedback on errors found in the databases, with a reasonable expectation that those errors will be corrected and the corrections included in revised versions of the database.

Larry Zink inquired as to how much of One-Calls work was centered in Douglas and Lancaster Counties.  While not giving a percentage, Tony indicated that their work really is statewide in nature and a high percentage of their calls for service were outside of the Lincoln/Omaha areas and that therefore they really needed access to a statewide database.  Tony indicated that they had recently initiated a dialogue with the City of Omaha about getting access to its street address database.  

Larry noted that in the short-term, probably the best data available for Tony would be the composite statewide street address data that he worked with CALMIT to develop for Homeland Security purposes.  Larry noted that data is available on the CALMIT website.  Beyond that, in the medium term, the proposed effort by NDOR to on-goingly collect and integrate the "best available" street centerline and address data from multiple sources is probably the next best bet.  However, Larry noted that the proposed NDOR system is not going to work very well to respond to and integrate errors found in the existing databases.  Larry noted that NDOR is apparently willing to commit itself to integrate data produced by others, but he didn't think they are interested in becoming a central location for fielding and resolving database errors from multiple data developers.  Those issues probably need to get bounced back to the local government or private vendors who are creating and maintaining the data.  Larry suggested that the level of complexity for enabling that feedback will vary depending in part on the number of vendors who contract with PSC to develop and maintain this data.  Larry noted that the evolving approach for maintaining this data on a statewide basis through NDOR is a pretty decentralized approach relying on data developed by many and to varying standards.  Developing a tighter system that could be relied upon to provide a central contact point to resolve found errors would probably require some policy directives form the administration.

The Str. Cmte. expressed an interest in working with Tony to further explore how the One-Call needs might be addressed and in the meantime urge him to get involved in the Advisory Committee working on this issue. 

DESIGNATING DATA STEWARDS FOR FRAMEWORK DATABASES:  Larry called the Str. Cmte.'s attention to a draft MOU between the Str. Cmte. and the NDOR.  Larry indicated that this was an initial draft that he developed outlining a possible Memorandum of Understanding between the Str. Cmte. and NDOR regarding NDOR's willingness to take on the responsibility of developing and maintaining a "best available" street centerline - address range database for the state.  Larry indicated that this was an initial draft and that NDOR had not yet had the opportunity to review and revise the draft and so he was not bringing it to the Str. Cmte. for adoption.  Rather, he was hoping to get feedback on the Str. Cmte.'s feeling about such an agreement with NDOR and about this approach in general.  Larry also noted if the Str. Cmte. was supportive of this approach, there were other databases for which the outlining of a data stewardship MOU might be useful.  Larry indicated that the meeting handout included a sheet that outlined some of the needs and/or possibilities for data stewardship MOUs.

Dick Genrich indicated that he had not yet had the opportunity to get feedback from the NDOR administration on the proposed MOU, but that from his initial review, he didn't anticipate much of a problem.  

Steve Schafe asked members of the Str. Cmte. what they felt about this approach.  The general feedback was postive regarding the concept of defining a MOU with NDOR for the street centerline - address database.  Larry was asked about what he had in mind with the other databases.  Larry indicated that he thought he would first try to complete the NDOR MOU and then engage the Str. Cmte. in a discussion of what made sense with the other databases.  Larry noted that for some databases, the agency of choice is obvious (i.e. NDNR for National Hydrographic Dataset), but for others it was not so obvious and in some cases it may or may not be worth the effort.  Scott McIntyre suggested that in some cases designing a city or county might be appropriate for data stewardship of various local datasets.    

Nebraska GIS/LIS Association:  Jim Langtry reported that the GIS/LIS Association had meet most recently in Fremont and that they have begun their planning for the 2005 Nebraska GIS Symposium to be held in Lincoln.  

Agency Reports:  Due to broken tape recorder, notes on the various agency reports are not available.

"P"=present, "A"=absent, "+"=voting for, "-"=voting against, "NV"=not voting