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Cass County and the City of Fargo

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Project Goal

Cass County and The City of Fargo, North Dakota joined forces in 2000 to develop a collaborative approach to GIS. The initial goal was to provide a customized desktop mapping solution for City and County employees. This was achieved by the establishment of a contract with Pro-West & Associates, Inc.

The ESRI Map Objects application, CC-GIS, enables users to perform multiple functions such as the ability to view, query & create reports, to create mailing labels and perform other functions with multiple data layers. After seeing the value and success of this application the next logical step was to provide similar functionality to citizens via the internet. This was achieved by implementing an ArcIMS solution to deliver our geographic based data on the World Wide Web. The site enables citizens to search for parcel data and print reports, view aerial imagery and multiple data layers relevant to Government business.

The City and County ArcIMS sites were further enhanced in 2004 with the addition of a map service displaying our AutoCAD basemap section and township drawings. Cass County added a precinct locator to assist with the 2004 General Election.

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Business Problem Solved

Once the City-County GIS desktop application was adopted by County and City staff there was a realization that an increasing amount of the calls and drop-in requests from citizens could be solved by utilizing this application.

One of the primary goals of government is to provide the best possible service to its citizens. Implementing the GIS data on the Internet was one way to achieve this goal and has led to a decline in drop-ins at both City Hall & the County courthouse. It also made it more convenient for citizens to access information at any time of the day or night.

Citizens are now able to search for information about a parcel using address, parcel identification number or city/township and view a map of the property or generate a report containing legal information, property valuation, tax billing information & general information. Other layers that can be viewed on the ArcIMS site are Orthophotography, emergency zones, school districts, garbage pick up days, precincts, water districts and township and section map data. With the addition of a precinct locator for the 2004 elections citizens are now able to search for their address and locate their polling location and voting precinct.

Technology Implemented

The County & City try to cost share as much as possible on GIS hardware & software. The GIS platform of both organizations is built on ArcView 3.x, ArcView 8.x., ArcInfo 9.0, ArcIMS, ArcView Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst Extensions, Windows XP workstations, AS400 mainframes and SQL severs. The City of Fargo houses an ArcIMS server that is utilized by both organizations for the Internet Mapping Service. Dedicated GIS servers in both City & County are mirrored, so that staff in each jurisdiction are always viewing and accessing the most recent datasets.

Development Team Biography

Staff from Cass County GIS & IT, City of Fargo GIS and Pro-West & Associates, Inc. were involved at various stages of the project development.

Cass County GIS Coordinator – Kay Anderson
City of Fargo GIS Coordinator – Brad Anderson
City of Fargo GIS Technician- Daryl Masten
City of Fargo GIS Technician – Wayne Lorshbough

Pro-West & Associates, Inc.
GIS Consultant – Kendis Scharenbroich
Senior Systems Programmer – Josh Marsh
Senior Systems Programmer - Galen Neste
Sr. Vice-President, Director of Operations - Greg Proper
Programming Unit Manager - Rose Erickson