Agenda - Council - 05/24/1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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HISTOR___~Y Back in December of 1987 John Flora from the city of Fridley asked a number of cities within Anoka County, a number of Utilities and rep- resentatives from the County to get together and discuss Geographic Infol-mation Systems. (Please see exhibit A for an generaI descrip- tion of a uses of a GIS system). A few of the cities wanted to proceed immediately tc purchase a Geo- graphic Information System but agreed to participate in some further study of the issue in the interest of having a coi~mon system among all those interested in obtaining such Systems. Given the signifi- cant amount of dollars and staff resources which are involved in de- veloping a Geographic Information System the County strongly urged that additional study, including the use of a Geographic Information System consultant, be considered, before deciding whether to proceed with a Geographic Information System. After a series of ~eetings a basic compromise was reached, the in- terested cities agreed to further study a Geographic Information System and the County agreed that it would be an expedited study. All agreed that the widest possible participation by the County and the cities would be best. As a result, this informal Group would like to invits all of the cities to jo~n in a Joint Powers Agreement to determine the direc- tion of a Geographic Information System in Anoka County. Please understand we are asking your Community's participation in- this task force to get your needs and your input into a Request for Proposals. Your decision as to whether or not your city would actu- ally purchase equipment and software is up to your individual City or Townskip. The purp_ose of the 'task force is to establish standards so that geo- graphic information can be easily shared between the cities and townships. An example which has been stated a number of times is that it is important that Trunk Highway 65 meets at the boundary of each city it passes through. The same should also be true of any facility or property which is on the borders. In addition the task force wants to take advantage of any group discounts which may be available. Each co~unity can decide on its own when and to what extent it wants to become involved in Geographic Info_--r, aticn Systems with the knowledge that it ~i!! be able to exchange information with neighboring comtnunities as they work on concerns which cross their boundraries (ie. roads, water management issues, etc.)