Needs Assessment, GIS and GPS - Oak Grove, Missouri
Like many smaller communities around the Kansas City area, Oak Grove is growing rapidly. Subdivisions are being platted with 400 lots in a town that a few years ago had less than 3,000 residents.  The public works staff recognized the benefits of accurate, complete infrastructure mapping and had previously contracted with Bartlett & West to locate, inspect and map the sanitary sewer system.  The City was impressed with the project and turned to Bartlett & West to advise them on the potential for a full-fledged Geographic Information System.  The project began in April, 2007 and includes migrating data from CAD mapping to ArcGIS, field locating water and storm sewer features using hand-help GPS units, and integrating the data available from Jackson County and the Mid-America Regional Council.  The Oak Grove GIS will be hosted at Bartlett & West on ArcServer with accessibility via the internet.

Bartlett & West has developed a hosting structure that takes advantage of recent improvements in GIS technology.  Many entities do not have the technical staff or funding, yet they can benefit greatly from an enterprise GIS.  The Bartlett & West model gives them the ability to develop and oversee their GIS system with various levels of access without having to worry about the hardware and software and staff necessary to maintain the system.

Needs Assessment and GIS –  Standing Rock Water System –  Ft. Yates, North Dakota

Bartlett & has been selected to complete a GIS Needs Assessment for the Standing Rock Water System.  To complete this assessment, we will utilize a four step method that we have developed that allows clients to reach their goals.  
 

The cycle begins with the organization and assessment of the business processes, or Needs Assessment phases.  This is often followed with defining the appropriate and applicable systems needed and setting standards for these systems.  Once this has been established, the implementation phase is instigated.  This phase of the process assists our clients in defining and developing the strategy to implement appropriate services including enterprise systems, individualized applications, consulting service or other needs.
 

For the Standing Rock Water System, we outlined the steps below so that all of the information needed to plan the development of an enterprise GIS is included. 
 

·         Required GIS functionality. – The Standing Rock Water System requires certain functions, such as spatial analysis, querying data, displaying data, uploading/downloading data, editing data, and possibly advanced analysis requiring special programming. The Needs Assessment will identify the functionality required by the different agencies involved in the project.
 

·         Necessary GIS data. – The agencies involved use different types of data, which may include PLSS data, parcel boundaries, facility locations, aerial photography, and many more that will be incorporated into the GIS. This data may already exist in a GIS format. However, some data are hard copy maps or tabular data sets. The Needs Assessment will identify how this information will be used by GIS applications.

·         Customized GIS Applications needs. - In evaluating the responsibilities and workflow within agencies, certain tasks are identified that can be done more efficiently or effectively in a GIS. These tasks will form the basis of GIS applications. As part of the Needs Assessment, application descriptions will be prepared to describe these tasks.

·         Procedures for maintaining GIS data. - The Needs Assessment will determine the responsibility for data creation, updates and maintenance by evaluating the workflow and processes within agencies.

Needs Assessment and Project Information Management System - Topeka and Shawnee County, Kansas
Bartlett & West conducted a needs assessment for Topeka and Shawnee County’s project data management system. Our assessment process focused on identifying needs so that input, access and reporting requirements could be defined and, eventually, implemented in the new system. To gain this information, workshops were conducted with stations to focus on specific topics.

At each station, participants were asked to explain existing processes and make suggestions for improvement of those processes. After the assessment process was complete, Bartlett & West developed the application that will provide the City of Topeka and Shawnee County with a project management system with accessibility to view and query data by many users and a direct link to the GIS. The application consists of a custom built web-based application running on SQL with GIS functionality. Access is made available to internal staff as required through the use of a web browser and login. Public access via topeka.org will use ArcIMS with an interactive map.

Geographic Information System (GIS), Mid-Dakota Rural Water System –  Miller, South Dakota

The Mid-Dakota Rural Water System is an entity that provides drinking water to communities and rural users in Central South Dakota.  The 3,800 mile system has approximately 5,000 customers including 28 towns or community water systems in 14 counties in the east-central portion of South Dakota.

The process of developing a GIS for the Mid-Dakota Rural Water System began in 1996. The primary focus was put on the creation of a base map and the system datasets. As the system was constructed, survey grade GPS technology was used to record the physical location of the pipeline routes and facilities of the Rural Water System. The data was then used as the system data layers.

Bartlett & West developed the first version in late 2000. The initial version included base map datasets as well as GIS datasets of the pipeline and facilities. Bartlett & West continued updating the GIS datasets and adding customized applications such as quick navigation tools, hotlinks, One-Call functions, and an interface to Mid-Dakota’s accounting software.

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