Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Information Systems Department

To:     Dave Corliss, Assistant City Manager

From: Bryce Hirschman, GIS Analyst

CC:     Ron Hall, Director of Information Systems

Date: March 2, 2006

RE: March 7, 2006 City Commission Agenda

Please include the following information to the City Commission for Air Photo update and elevation data acquisition planned for this year.  Attached to the staff memo is the cooperative agreement between Douglas County and City of Lawrence for joint funding of the project.

Project Description.

GIS data update, to include: county-wide elevation data; county-wide color digital orthophotography; and planimetrics within specified areas of Lawrence that have significant development activity since the last update (2003).  The project contains two phases.  Phase I will have elevation capture using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology sufficient to meet FEMA specifications for floodplain mapping.  Phase II will have updated digital orthophotography, surface development from LIDAR data, and planimetric update.  Attachments include: statement of work (SOW); Memorandums of Agreement (MOA) and Support Agreements (SA) between Douglas County and United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); and a memo for consideration by Douglas County for entering into agreement with USGS and USACE.

Project Description/History.

Douglas County and City of Lawrence have common interest in possessing high-quality GIS data for various uses within both organizations.  Expansion of the Urban Growth Area (UGA) for City of Lawrence makes necessary the acquisition and development of 60% more surface information than we currently have.  Douglas County has no surface information, thus cost-sharing by expanding project limits over a larger area can result in a cost savings.  The digital imagery portion of this project will include color photography at the high-resolution (6” pixels) county-wide, as opposed to past projects with mixed pixel values ranging from 6 inches to 2 feet and grayscale only.  No funds have been spent thus far on this project.

Project Status.

Specifications have been developed in conjunction with USGS and USACE for the project area.  Douglas County, with more money budgeted and larger project area, has assumed the point of contact role for this project for formally entering the MOA and SA documents with USGS and USACE.  The formal bid process at the County has been waived by the County Commission and the contract services of both USGS and USACE will be used, instead.  Contract services for both agencies use a competitive system for awarding contracts and offer safeguards for a project this detailed.

Project Funding

Phase I of this project has USGS, Douglas County, and City of Lawrence sharing cost for data acquisition.  Phase II has Douglas County and City of Lawrence sharing cost for data acquisition.  Funding for the City’s portion of this project is from Utilities Department and Stormwater Division of Public Works Department budgets, as accepted for year 2006 expenditure. 

Action Request

Authorize City Manager to enter into cooperative agreement with Douglas County for funds expenditure related to the GIS data acquisition project, year 2006.