In the near future, residents will be able to access a high-tech, detailed map of the entire town online, as the town is investing nearly $20,000 in a geographical information system that will make certain information accessible to the public.

With the new GIS system, the highway and water departments, as well as the assessor’s office and development office, will also have full access to help with their day-to-day activities. Highway Supervisor Jim Fletcher said that the system will be especially useful in emergency situations for locating pipes, drains and curb stops, which can be hard to find when buried under snow.

“Instead of using metal detectors, we’ll be able to go out with a GPS,” Fletcher said.
The department will be provided with two handheld units for location purposes. The GIS system can provide detailed information on the depth and measurements of pipes, which would be useful for future project planning, Fletcher said, adding that the service will hopefully be implemented by spring of 2011.

The town had $40,000 budgeted for an imaging-services purchase in 2010. This decision needed to be made before the end of this year — otherwise, the funds would no longer be earmarked for the purchase. The Town Board sat through presentations for two different service providers, settling on the system that uses a collaboration of services from Systems Development Group, Fountain Spatial and Way Point Technology for $19,700, said town assessor Don Collins. An additional $1,000 will need to be paid annually for service and maintenance, he said.

Collins said the service will have information on every parcel of land, from measurements to zoning. It’ll be up to each department what information it would like to release to the public, Collins said — currently, deed, acreage, zoning and assessment information already is made available through the town’s website. A current GIS system provides outlines of properties, but the new system will have satellite imaging.

Typically, GIS can be difficult to navigate for the layperson, Collins said, but this system is user-friendly to the point that the public will be able to use it.

“We would have control over what we release to the general public, and between the departments we would have more information than we presently.

Source:-http://www.mpnnow.com/ontario_county/x2135337852/Town-of-Canandaigua-to-purchase-advanced-mapping-software