MassGIS'
Public Workshops on Plan for Creating
Statewide Standardized Electronic Assessor Maps
Workshop Schedule (THESE WORKSHOPS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED IN
2010)
(All workshops 9:30–11:30 AM)
May 4th,
Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (1 Fenn Street, Suite 201,
Pittsfield, MA)
May 20th, Pioneer Valley Planning
Commission (60 Congress Street, Springfield, MA)
May 25th, Auburn Town Hall, 2nd
Floor (104 Central Street, Auburn, MA)
June 3rd, 100 Cambridge Street, 2nd
Floor Conference Rooms, Boston, MA
June 7th, Lawrence Heritage State
Park (One Jackson Street, Lawrence, MA)
June 10th, Hampton Inn, 184 Shelburne Road,
Greenfield, MA
June 15th, Wareham Town
Hall (54
Marion Road, Wareham, MA)
Explanation
The Commonwealth’s
geographic information system (GIS) office, MassGIS
was recently awarded a grant by a federal mapping agency, the USGS, to
develop a plan for creating and maintaining standardized assessor’s
parcel maps in electronic (or digital) form for all Massachusetts
communities. This plan should be of interest to town managers,
assessors, planners, public safety officials, conservation agents and
other municipal staff and officials. This project is one part of
implementing the 2007 Strategic Plan for
Massachusetts Spatial Data Infrastructure.
Many communities already
have available a digital version of their assessor property maps.
Assessors may use this digital map in their computer assisted mass
appraisal (CAMA) software; other municipal staff may use it with
geographic information system (GIS). Some communities have not had the
resources to create a digital assessor map or have a version that is
poorly done or out-of-date. The first step in the planning process is
to identify these situations and gather information about the status of
assessor parcel mapping through a series of workshops across the state.
These workshops gave
MassGIS and its partners the detailed information they need for
budgeting and prioritizing the work. Once the plan is completed,
MassGIS will rely on funding from a number of state agencies, notably
the state 911 Department (see below) to carry it out. This means
creating digital assessor maps for communities that do not presently
have them and bringing existing mapping up to the statewide standard.
Having digital assessor parcel mapping available will also allow
MassGIS, regional planning agencies and others to do much more to
support both state and local government operations with on-line mapping.
The state Executive Office
of Public Safety and Security is committed to funding this project as
part of building the “next generation” of E-911. The new 911
capabilities will provide a much more exact location, usually building
specific, for the origin of a call. This will enable 911 dispatchers
and emergency personnel to respond more quickly and accurately.
Workshop Objectives
The objective of the
workshops was obtaining input from local and
regional stakeholders. Workshop topics included:
- How
digital assessor parcel maps are created
- The
importance of standards and an overview of the MassGIS parcel standard
- The
status of assessor mapping
- How
assessor maps will be used, along with field work and other data
sources, in mapping address locations.
This were followed by an
open discussion of the challenges and related issues. For this planning
process to be successful it is very important for MassGIS to obtain
input from end-users and all those with an interest in assessor
mapping, addressing, or public safety.
Workshop Presentation
View the presentation
made by Christian Jacqz and Neil
MacGaffey at the workshop. The file you will
see includes notes
that were the basis for most of the narration for each slide. If
you have any additional observations on or questions about what you saw
in the presentation, please send email to Paul Nutting at paul.nutting@state.ma.us.
|
