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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-04-2003-9aORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 4, 2003 Action Age da Item No. -0_ SUBJECT: Process for Acquiring Updated Aerial Photography and Digital Orthophotos DEPARTMENT: Land Records PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: 1/8/03 Land Records Manager Memo Roscoe Reeve, ext 2501 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 PURPOSE: To endorse County staff plans for acquiring updated aerial photography and digital orthophotos for use with the County's Geographical Information System (GIS). BACKGROUND: In January 1998, the Board of Commissioners approved a contract between the County and Atlantic Technologies, Inc. to conduct aerial photography of the entire County, to produce digital orthophotos based on that photography, and to produce other related electronic database elements that are central to the County's GIS. Some of these products were made available to the Towns under interlocal agreements that reimbursed the County for some of the expense of the Atlantic contract. As it has been five years since the most recent aerial photography was carried out in February 1998, it would be extremely beneficial to have updated aerial photography available to the many County departments that rely on GIS for their daily work activities. This time, the Town of Chapel Hill has elected to take the lead in the process, and is expected to award a contract for this work shortly following receipt of vendor proposals on January 10, 2003. Orange County Land Records Manager/GIS Director Roscoe Reeve served on the Town's vendor selection panel. The Town proposes to contract with Sanborn, Inc. of Charlotte to provide these services. Staff envisions the creation of interlocal agreements similar to those fashioned pursuant to the 1998 Atlantic contract, under which the Town's vendor will fly the County and take photos at the scale requested by County departments and subsequently produce updated digital orthophotos. There would be a number of significant enhancements to this set of products compared to those obtained through the 1998 contract. Aerial photography this time will be in color, and the scale to be flown throughout the County's jurisdiction will allow for significantly greater photographic resolution. The cost to the County for this upgrade would be approximately $70,000. This cost is dramatically lower than the $650,000 cost of the 1998 Atlantic contract for a number of reasons, including: • some base work performed under the original Atlantic contract need not be replicated • updates to some of that base work can now be done in house • advances in technology have led to significant drops in the price of services • the partnership among the County and Towns leads to appreciable economies of scale and resulting lower per unit costs from the vendor Staff requests that the Board approve this approach in concept, to include plans to include funding for digital orthophotos and related GIS products in the FY 2003-04 CIP. Staff will be prepared to present a brief visual demonstration of the capabilities and benefits available to support the Board's decision-making process that stem from the availability of digital orthophotos and the overall GIS. FINANCIAL IMPACT: An allocation of $30,000 for aerial photography is already available through funds previously appropriated by the BOCC under the IT Plan Capital Project Ordinance. The County's "fair share" cost for color aerial photography and associated technical services will be fully covered by that appropriation. The cost to the County for the production and delivery of digital orthophotos will be approximately $40,000 more. Funding for the acquisition of digital orthophotography would be considered for inclusion for next fiscal year in the recommended 2003-2013 Capital Investment Plan to be presented to the Board this spring. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board endorse the plans outlined in the agenda materials for acquiring updated aerial photography and digital orthophotos. An interlocal agreement between the County and Town of Chapel Hill covering the terms and costs of acquisition would be brought back for BOCC approval within the next several months. DRAFT Orange County Land Records GIS P O Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 January 8, 2003 MEMORANDUM To: Rod Visser, Assistant County Manager From: Roscoe Reeve, Land Records/GIS Director Subject: Orthophoto Project In 1984 and 1998 the County obtained orthophotos (computer rectified aerial photography) to serve as an accurate base for its property maps. The 84 orthophotos were on mylar and the 98 orthophotos were digital. They have proved to be a valuable resource for government offices, land professionals and citizens. In both projects the municipalities, OWASA and UNC participated in a Fair Share cooperative effort contracting with the County through inter-local agreements to obtain enhanced orthophotos (larger scale) and other GIS products. By financial contributions of the participants the cost to the County was reduced and because of wide participation a better price was obtained from vendors. In 2000-2001 we began to prepare for the next updating of the orthophotos to keep its value current as a resource for the main offices that use photography: Planning, ERCD, Assessor, EMS, Environmental Health and Land Records/GIS. Important projects such as school site search, addressing and development impact have been greatly enhanced by the use of orthophotos on GIS. Funds were approved in the CIP for aerial photography but funds have not been approved for orthophotos. In November of 2002 the Town of Chapel Hill decided to go ahead with the Orthophoto project to obtain new orthophotos for their area. They developed, with my participation, an RFP with options that would allow the County to obtain aerial photography and orthophotos if it desires, taking advantage of a larger scope project. If the County does not wish to participate, after reviewing the vendor responses, the Town hopes we will contribute to the aerial photography for the Town project.