Back to SAG Winners 2002

City of Norman

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Design, implement and maintain comprehensive current geographically enabled computer databases to support the needs of the city’s policy makers and citizens.

Business Problem

Allow staff to work more effectively by providing timely data on which to base decisions, and constantly maintain the data so that it does not become obsolete. The first data collected from aerial photography included street centerlines, building footprints, fences, trees, streets, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots, and topography. From legal documents the City acquired information about property and zoning. While contractors collected the previously mentioned data, the city collected in-house the wastewater collection system, water distribution system, easements, and many specialized jurisdictions including CDBG neighborhoods, historic districts, police beats, fire districts, airport height restrictions, and recoupment areas.

Upon the core data rests many applications which support the City’s daily business activities including building permitting, work order tracking, waste water modeling, pavement management, accident tracking, computer aided dispatch, crime analysis and support for Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s Statement 34 (GASB34).

GIS has become important resource for in the effective management of city resources. A recent success story is the passage of a utility rate increase. In Norman, raising utility rates requires a vote of the citizen. GIS and wastewater modeling played an integral role in both determining and effectively communicating the scope of the problem.

Technology Implemented

Currently the City of Norman maintains 4 licenses of ArcInfo, 40 licenses of ArcView, a deployment of ArcIMS, and ArcExplorer is also utilized by users who only need very general query access. In addition to in-house programs and extensions, the city uses CityWorks from Azteca, DHI Software, and SQL Server. All applications are currently implemented on the Windows NT platform.

Development Team Biography

Joyce J. Green, Manager of GIS Services Division
Larry Knapp, GIS Analyst II
Scott Woodruff, GIS Analyst I
Rick Hoffstatter, GIS Technician

and many interns from the University of Oklahoma.