Join Community GIS
The Community GIS Project relies on economy of scale to provide a
reliable, high-quality project to you for very low cost. Community
GIS is based on a membership concept. Any municipal government
located within the Southern Tier West region of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus,
or Allegany Counties is eligible for membership. By becoming a
member, your municipality will have continual access to GIS data from
anywhere via the internet.
Becoming a member can be accomplished in a few easy, but important and
necessary steps:
- Your
community must have a use for the system. You must understand the
basic premise behind GIS and be able to demonstrate how you will use the
system in your community. Practical uses include economic
development, infrastructure management, planning, assessment, code
enforcement, and public safety.
- Your community must commit
financially to the project. Southern Tier West offers several
options on how to take advantage of Community GIS. They are
described under "Fee Structure" below.
- Ensure that whomever will be
utilizing the system has reliable internet access and a web browser;
preferably Internet Explorer 6.x. High-speed access is not
required, however higher speeds will greatly improve performance.
- Work with Southern Tier West staff to develop a viewer to best suit your community needs in terms of data, tools, and the interface.
With basic CAP membership, Community GIS can be purchased separately for a fee of $400 (all work to be provided within the current calendar year). This includes 16 hours of technical assistance, which can include data collection. The STW Information Services Department is currently providing FULL GIS capacity (software, data, expertise) to local governments on a case-by-case basis for a fee. Sixteen hours of technical assistance is available through the GIS option - - 6 more hours than a non-CAP member receives for the same fee.
Benefits of Being A Member
Being a Community GIS member has many benefits. Community GIS will allow you to utilize GIS tools to become more effective as a government in economic development, planning, public safety, etc. This tool set will be available to you wherever you have web access.
Training
You will receive training on utilizing GIS and the functionality of the Community GIS Viewer. This training will be offered for all municipal employees. Sessions will be scheduled at various times on several days to accommodate all schedules. You will also be offered training on the use of GPS for data collection, and at times you may be offered other pertinent training.
Data Collection
Data collection is the most daunting task to creating a
good GIS. To aid in this task, Southern Tier West will provide access to
sophisticated Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment that can be used for
data collection. This GPS system is capable of providing locational
accuracies of less than 1 meter of error instantly. The GPS is an accurate,
efficient way of collecting point (fire hydrants, D.I.'s), line (water
lines, streets), and polygon (parcels, building footprints) data. Again, you
have the option to be trained to collect your own data with these GPS Units.
These units are available to CGIS members only on a first come-first serve
basis.
Data Maintenance and Access
As an active CGIS Member, Southern Tier West will
update any GIS Layers that you submit updates for. This is only for GIS
layers that are created for the specific member. As a member, you also get
access to several other GIS layers that Southern Tier West has access to
like county parcel layers, DEC wetlands layers, STW regional layers, and NYS
Aerial Imagery. Southern Tier West automatically updates any of these layers
when they are available from the source.
User's Group
The Community GIS User's Group is your forum for
improving the system, learning from others, and sharing experiences. The
group is an invaluable opportunity for all users to learn more about the
system and how your peers in other communities are using it. Learn more on
the User's Group by visiting the User's Group page in this site.
Professional Expertise
The Southern Tier West staff is always here and ready
to help Community GIS members. Our staff has combined experience of over 20
years with GIS and computers. This is a resource that is made available to
members.
Contact John Buzzard at (716) 945-5301 ext 208 or jbuzzard@southerntierwest.org