|
Pinpointing Saline County Property |
|
|
Tuesday, 23 June 2009 |
 Assessor Jim Crawford, left, and Gary Ballard, head of the Geographical Information Systems department, show how the Saline County Map Viewer operates online.
The Saline County Map Viewer is now online at http://beta.geostor.arkansas.gov/G6/apps/app_saline. Gary Ballard, who is in charge of the county’s Geographic Information Systems, said those with the URL, or Internet address, for the development map should delete it. The beta version, address above, is ready for public use, he said.
GIS falls under Assessor Jim Crawford’s office.
Crawford noted that Saline County has around 70,000 parcels of land mapped on the online service. It is useful to those looking to compare what others pay in taxes. The program is also useful to abstract companies searching for titles.
“It’s a valuable tool,” Crawford said, noting that Saline County is one of four or five in the state to have started using this ArcGIS Server program.
Ballard said the master parcels list began being developed in early 2006. That was the crux of the project, he said. The search engine has been available for about a month.
“We want people to try it out and use it and see if they find things that don’t work,” Ballard said.
Having the online map set up helps Crawford’s office run more efficiently. Before, maps of plats were drawn by hand. The electronic mapping provides for a much more accurate scope.
“This is cleaner and more descriptive,” Crawford said.
Ballard added that there is a graphical search engine and a text search engine on the site. There are about seven or eight layers, meaning one that shows just roads, boundaries and the topography of the land — to name a few.
The data generated also is used by the county’s 911 service, which is important when locating a property in the event of an emergency.
Ballard noted that computers must have Adobe Flash installed and a high speed Internet connection is necessary to use the online service.
He said the viewer displays the current map of Saline County parcel polygons over a base layer containing roads, county boundary and city limit boundaries. Other layers (aerial imagery at 1 meter resolution, USGS 24K topography and relief) can be turned on as well.
The map centers on Saline County but can be zoomed out to show the road map of the entire state, Ballard added.
The polygons will only turn on at third closest zoom extent which is 1:10,000, he said. Parcel polygon ID numbers turn on at the closest extent (1:2,000).
“The toolbar is somewhat intuitive and robust,” Ballard said. “Search, markup, draw functions are included. For those who have a use or need for the map, the GIS office will schedule training on an as needed basis.”
The link above is to a beta version of the viewer and will change in the near future when functionality and data refresh procedures are fully tested, Ballard said.
“Please use the map or forward the link to any party you feel would benefit,” he said. “It is our wish that as many people as possible begin using the viewer as an additional method of testing.”
The project is a cooperative effort between the Saline County GIS office and Arkansas Geographic Information Office. “Many thanks to AGIO employees Learon Dalby, Adrian Clark, Maria Owen and Glen Rhea for their assistance on this project,” Ballard said.
For more information, call the county GIS office at 303-5633.
|
Razorbacks
