This GIS position already exists, but now it will be funded half by Parks and half by the municipality. The municipality funds its half of the GIS position through the land rent it pays to Parks, said Christine Nadon, the municipality鈥檚 communications and IT manager.
The joint GIS position is 鈥渟omething that came out of the services and structural review, but that we started working on before the review came out,鈥� she said.
鈥淭he biggest advantage for us to do this jointly with Parks is that they have software and technical expertise, and they already have someone in that position.鈥�
GIS uses hardware and software to capture, analyze, manage and display geographical information. This data can be interpreted to reveal patterns and relationships and can be displayed in the form of maps and charts.
Cost-sharing is also beneficial because maintaining GIS software and training can be expensive, said Cardiff.
The municipality doesn鈥檛 have land use planning and development, which is why GIS expertise wasn鈥檛 developed in house, said Nadon.
鈥淲e had a need for it and for better information and better access to information. Before, we relied on Parks to provide that service to us,鈥� she said.
GIS will be beneficial for keeping tabs on underground infrastructure like water and sewer lines. Since Jasper became a municipality in 2001, it 鈥渋nherited all that infrastructure from Parks and there鈥檚 a need to consolidate all the information that we have on that matter,鈥� said Nadon.
鈥淭he idea is to use a system [so that] when our crews perform some work on those things, we can document the condition and when the valves were last exercised.鈥�
That will help with asset management, she adds. 鈥淒eveloping a better system for GIS will allow us to really know what鈥檚 where, and in what condition, and to keep track of it.鈥�
The GIS employee鈥檚 time will probably be divided 50/50 between Parks and municipal needs, said Cardiff. 鈥淲e recognize that there will be some ebb and flow and we鈥檙e definitely going to accommodate those needs.鈥�
Centralizing GIS capacity will provide a common database between Parks and the municipality, and will provide better means for asset management. 鈥淎s a municipality we have a legal obligation to report or be aware of the state of our assets and developing GIS is certainly a step in that direction,鈥� said Nadon.
Included in the services and structural review was a recommendation that the municipality create an infrastructure maintenance plan that will help it to determine when maintenance and replacement is necessary for all of its infrastructure. This new position will put the municipality in a position to follow through on that recommendation.
