Northwest Washington GIS User Group Agenda
June 15, 2007
Tetra Tech Office
10101 271st St. NW, Stanwood, WA
(See Map, Directions & Abstracts Below)
To change or add an email address for meeting announcements, contact stefan
9:00 – 9:45 Round Table
9:45 – 10:00 Break
10:00 – 11:50 GIS User Needs Assessments
Chris Hansen, Tetra Tech/KCM
Skagit County’s Crime Map
Geoff Almvig, Skagit County GIS
Cooking in the Cartographic Kitchen
Chris Behee, City of Bellingham Planning Dept.
11:50 – 12:00 Wrap-up
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Map / Directions
Interstate 5 (from the South)
o Take Exit 212 (Hwy 532, Stanwood)
o Go West on Hwy 532 about 4 miles into Stanwood
o Turn Right at the 5th light onto 102nd Ave NW (Bank of America on corner)
o Turn Right at the second street onto 271st St. NW (at Glass Tech)
Interstate 5 (from the North)
o Take Exit 221, Lake McMurray/Conway
o Turn right onto Pioneer Hwy – travel south for about 5 miles
o Turn right onto Old Pacific Hwy – south for about 3 miles into Stanwood
o Turn left onto 271st St. NW (at Glass Tech)
Park in the public parking lot on the right hand (south) side of 271st St. NW
o Tetra Tech is on North side of 271st St. NW (big green church w/white trim)
o If you get lost, call 360-629-0242
ABSTRACTS
GIS User Requirements and Needs Assessments for Public Agencies, Chris Hansen, Tetra Tech/KCM
The development of a GIS needs assessment for an agency or organization begins with understanding the business workflows and requirements for use of spatial data. Recommendations for building or streamlining an organization's GIS may include several dimensions, including prescriptions of hardware/software, modifications of business workflows, improvements in communication, staffing and budgeting issues, data stewardship, and the commitment of leaders. Chris Hansen of Tetra Tech will show examples of data assessments done for two local agencies in Washington and one in Oregon, discussing the problems, challenges, and issues to overcome in creating their Enterprise GIS.
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Skagit County’s Crime Map, Geoff Almvig, Skagit County GIS
In 2005, Skagit County ranked "Number 1" in the State of Washington for the highest crime rate. Law enforcement agencies were faced with an overcrowded jail, limited resources, and citizens who were not aware of the severity of the problem. To help educate the public of this growing concern, Skagit County's Sheriff, Rick Grimstead, commissioned the County GIS Department to create an Internet map service to display crime related 911 incidents.
Released in June of 2006, Crime Map is making a difference in workload at the Sheriff's office. Calls from Skagit County citizens for questions like "What was that patrol car doing in my neighborhood?" are now being answered by Crime Map, thus reducing the call volume at the County Sheriff's Office.
Geoff Almvig, Skagit County GIS Manager, will provide a presentation on Crime Map which will cover the business need, development team, challenges, a brief demonstration, products used, system integration,
future goals, and current project results.
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Cooking in the Cartographic Kitchen, Chris Behee, City of Bellingham Planning Dept.
Highlighting recipes for better labeling using ArcMap's label engine; an advanced shaded relief technique from our ever-inventive friends in the Alps; and making smarter topo contours your customers will really enjoy (as previously presented/seen at WAURISA - 2007).