HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-17-1998 - 9aORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 17, 1998
Action Agenda
Item No. 4-13
SUBJECT: Purchase of GIS Server and Work Stations
DEPARTMENT: County Manager /IS /Land Records PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) .t
BUDGET AMENDMENT: (Y/N)
ATTACHMENT(S):
3/6/98 Land Records Director Memo
3/9/98 IT Committee Chair Memo
Capital Project Ordinance
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Rod Visser, ext 2300; Roscoe Reeve, ext 2500;
Dick Taylor, ext 2276
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Hillsborough
732 -8181
Chapel Hill
968 -4501
Durham
688 -7331
Mebane
227 -2031
PURPOSE: To consider appropriating funds for the purchase of replacement geographic
information system (GIS) equipment for the Land Records Department.
BACKGROUND: One element of the Strategic Automation Plan developed in Spring 1997
involved the replacement of older GIS equipment in the Land Records Office. Purchase of a server
and two PC workstations will permit faster and more accurate processing of parcel records and
allow County staff and citizens to take wider advantage of the benefits of the County's GIS.
At their February 24, 1998 meeting, the Information Technology Committee recommended that the
County proceed with the remaining phases of the short term IT Plan implementation, which
includes $48,000 for a new GIS server, two NT workstations, and associated installation. Staff are
seeking the Board's approval of the GIS equipment only at this time - a request for funds for the
remainder of the short term IT plan implementation will be presented at a subsequent Board meeting
in April. Funds for the outright purchase of this equipment are available in the Information
Technology reserve account set aside by the Board in the 1997 -98 budget. The revised Information
Technology Capital Project Ordinance would transfer $48,000 from this reserve and authorize the
purchase of the requested GIS equipment.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board approve purchase of the
requested GIS equipment and adopt the attached capital project ordinance.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Rod Visser, Assistant County Manager
FROM: Roscoe Reeve, Land Records/GIS Director~_
RE: GIS Server and Work Stations
DATE: March 6, 1998
Land Records/GIS has three UNIX workstations used for performing GIS work that were obtained
in 1992. By the early Spring of 1997 they began to have trouble processing parcel updates to keep
the new GIS maps current and accurate. The machines were evaluated by IBM and our GIS software
vendor, ESRI, and they determined that all three machines were at over 96% capacity in both
memory and disk. None of the three machines could be upgraded to add more memory or disk.
Replacement workstations were requested for 1997-98 and were approved in the budget process.
To take advantage of improvements in workstations, the plan was to obtain a server to store the
massive data files associated with GIS maps and photo images, and two PC NT's which are low in
cost but three times more powerful than the existing workstations. The money requested and
approved was $48,000 but it was retained with the other automation funds pending review by the
Information Technology Committee.
In order for the old workstations to work at all (they were frequently freezing-up and work
performed was being lost), a number of data files were removed and the map data was distributed
over all three machines. Any significant data entered had to be matched by data being removed,
and each procedure to enter or replace data took long periods of waiting on the part of staff. No
single map of the County's updated parcels could be displayed on one machine. When one of the
workstations would not function at all with the map maintenance application, a workstation was
borrowed from the Assessor which had sufficient memory and disk to perform map updating well,
and space was borrowed on the County's mainframe server to assemble the maps together when
needed. Obtaining the new server and PC NT workstations will increase the efficiency and time-
saved in doing map updates by 900%. It may eliminate the need to outsource all the parcel update
backlog of Chapel Hill Township saving the County more than $20,000 because all workstations
will be able to efficiently remove and replace data on the new server simultaneously.
The proposed new server would be a UNIX IBM Risc6000 H50 with fast Ethernet connections,
with either 512mb or lgb of memory, and over 12gb of disk. It will cost about $37,000. The two
PC NT workstations will cost about $11,000 and will have 64mb of memory and 4.Sgb of disk. The
old workstations will still be used to either process other GIS data or to serve as citizen query
terminals (workstation that displays maps from the new server but stores no data internally) at the
front of the Land Records/GIS office. Even the one abandoned existing workstation can be used as
a query terminal and provides page-size maps for citizens by reading from one of the other
workstations.
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3
Date: 3/9/98
To: Change County Commissioners, z ~ .//
From: Jehn $. Smith, Chair ~ !~ ~t+.•~~
Information Ta:hnolog ommittee
Subject: Remaining Jtems on FY 97.98 RCqucst to
Uppradc County InfotTnatiun Technology Infrastrr,Cture
The Qrange County tnforrnation Technolo;y Committee has discussed the items rernaining on the 1•Y 97-
98 rcyuest, originally submitted to the commissioners in December, 1997, and subsequently updated. Upon
contplction of the Southern Center upgrade, we recommend funding the remaining items on the plan as
updated on 3/9198.
This request includes $i26,l96 to complotc the upgrade of tho county network connecting all county
offices; $235,294 to replace 85 dcyktnp computers, completing the first phase of the planned life-cyclo
upgrade policy for these machines; and 58.165 to implement a county Web server to improve citi~cns and
commissioners' access to county information. '1:'hcse three: categorieY of items total $369,654.
Short Term Remaining Request
Short Term Remaining Request
http:,';www.co.orange.nc.us~'Oran~e, [TCishortbud.hah
SHORT TERM PLAN
REQUEST -REMAINDER
OF FY 97-98
ao oa ao oo
1. Complete Upgrade of
County Network o
~ a
~ a
~ ooooo
~~~~~
A. Order and install new network
service and premise equipment
B. Order and install Netware
network operating system upgrades
C. Order and install network server
replacements
D. Order and install network wiring,
cabling and data communications
equipment
E. Order and install network remote
access equipment and modem
lines
F. Groupwise E-mail software
upgrade ~
~
~
~ ~
~
~
~ 0
~
~
~
$74,898
~~~~~
~~~~Q
$9,604
~~~~Q
$17,196
$13,500
$2,480
~~~~~
$8,518
Q Q Q O Q Subtotal Q $126,196
2. Phase 2 Upgrade of
Desktop Systems ~ ~ ~ ~ 0 ~~~
A. Upgrade and replace desktop
hardware
~
~
~
0
~
~~ $164,750
D. Add desktop/mainframe
integration software ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~
$22,544
-~ E. Upgrade GIS server and map
maintenance workstations
~
~
~
~
~
~~ $48,000
O Q 0 0 0 Subtotal Q $235,294
5. Provide Citizen and
BOCC Access ~ ~ ~ 0 ~ ~~ ~
A. Implement WEB Server Q Q Q Q Q 00 $8,165
Q O Q Q Q Subtotal Q $8,165
a a o a o oao
a o o o o o00
Q Q Q O Q O Q $369,654
Gast Updated on 3/9/98
By Dick Taylor
1 of 1 3/12/98 1:12 PM
Information Technology
Capital Project Ordinance
Project Number 61-491
Be it ordained by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners that pursuant to
Section 13.2 of Chapter 159 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, the following capital
project is hereby adopted.
Section 1. The project authorized provides funds to implement the first phases of the short
term plan under the County's Information Technology Plan. This project will be
financed with proceeds from the County's portion of the one-half cent sales taxes,
State grant funds for the Department of Social Services, and intergovernmental
revenue from the Town of Chapel Hill's participation in the aerial photography
component of the plan.
Section 2. The officers of the County are hereby directed to proceed with the project within
the budget contained herein.
Section 3. The following revenue is anticipated to complete this project:
Transfer from General Fund (1997-98)
Intergovernmental -State of NC
Intergovernmental -Town of Chapel Hill
Total Revenue
Section 4. The following amount is appropriated for this project:
Aerial Photography
Technology
GIS Server & Workstations
Total Appropriations
$228,139
$28, 749
$3,900
$260, 788
$51,900
$160,888
$48,000
$260, 788
Section 5. This ordinance supersedes all previous Information Technology Capital Project
Ordinances.
Section 6. This ordinance, originally adopted December 1, 1997, shall be in effect until June
30, 1998.
Adopted this 17th day of March 1998.
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