With a GIS program, local governments are able to save time and money by managing their data centrally and then exporting it for use in other in-house database applications. From Public Works to Public Safety, nearly every department in the Village of Glenview has a program that is efficiently maintained using the master address and base map data stored in GIS. Some updates are simple. For example, the Public Works department uses a program called TreeKeeper to manage their tree inventory data. On an annual basis, GIS is tasked with updating both the address database and the base map in this program so that the arborists have correct reference data when making updates. The process takes a matter of minutes, but the benefits last throughout the year.
Another example of GIS data being repurposed is in a program called New World Systems, which provides mapping and record-keeping functionality for Fire, Police, and Dispatch. Any time an address is added, changed, or deleted from the master GIS database, it is quickly and efficiently loaded into the New World system for everyone to use. Emergency responders get the information they need when they need it, which could make the difference between life and death. In addition to efficient data maintenance, in-house GIS data replaces the need to purchase pre-formatted datasets for each program. Outside vendors charge thousands of dollars to collect and share this information, and would have to be repurchased on a regular schedule or manually updated in each system. Thanks to the versatility of GIS data, the Village of Glenview is able to avoid this added expense and hassle.
All municipal governments face the challenge of how to prioritize infrastructure maintenance work. Everything from road repairs to sewer lining to water main upgrades have to be itemized in the annual budget, and as such tend to be managed as unrelated projects. Unfortunately, this method can result in inefficient project planning because a particular component might be repaired in one year, only to be dug up again the next year to complete a different project.
GIS is well-suited to assist local governments with this challenge, as the Village of Lincolnshire can illustrate. First, the Village paid outside contractors to collect data on its road infrastructure and a portion of its sanitary sewer. Next, it used GIS to conduct an in-house analysis of the spatial distribution of water main breaks. Finally, GIS was used to combine all of the findings to pinpoint locations where multiple problems are occurring. Some clear patterns emerged, which made it easy for the Village engineers to prioritize their project plans for the coming year.
This analysis led to a larger discussion with the Village board about infrastructure management. Using maps and statistics, Village staff members were able to demonstrate to the trustees how the road and sanitary surveys augmented their decision-making abilities. Further, the presentation justified the planned studies on storm water retention and more of the sanitary system. Once all of the studies are completed, GIS will be used to aggregate the data and look for spatial patterns throughout the Village. The findings allow for a holistic approach to infrastructure management, avoiding needless waste of time and resources in areas that have multiple issues to address.
One convenience of having GIS is the ability to quickly visualize different scenarios for planning purposes. The Village of Lincolnshire recently leveraged its GIS data to do just that in response to a bill under consideration by the Illinois House of Representatives. HB 30, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, would allow the sale and possession of small amounts of marijuana to people “diagnosed by a physician as having a debilitating medical condition.” Should the bill become law, Lincolnshire officials would be faced with the possibility of medical marijuana organizations renting or purchasing commercial space within the Village.
In its current form, the bill states that no medical marijuana organization may be within 2,500 feet of a “public or private preschool or elementary or secondary school or day care center, day care home, group day care home, or part day child care facility.” Decision makers in the Village were interested in the proximity of Lincolnshire’s three business districts to child care facilities. To determine this, GIS was used to identify the property lines for all child care facilities and then measure out 2,500-foot buffer zones in all directions. These were added to a map of the three business districts, which highlighted areas where medical cannabis organizations would not be allowed to set up.
Given the controversial nature of this proposal, Lincolnshire’s decision makers were eager to get extra lead time to discuss how they would respond. By providing a quick spatial analysis of two disparate data sets, the Village has an efficient and powerful tool to aid their discussion and decision making.
In 2010, the Village of Glenview started subscribing to a foreclosure data-delivery service from Sullivan’s Law Directory. This information is loaded into a GIS database, which is then used to generate reports and reference maps. Village officials have used these weekly reports to dispel myths about the community’s rate of foreclosures, monitor properties proactively for code violations, and keep an eye out for any patterns in criminal mischief.
Recently, GIS mapped this data in new ways to get different perspectives on the impact of foreclosure rates. One project came from Economic Development, which requested a map that symbolized foreclosures according their primary usage. This map gave the Village planners a snapshot of how foreclosures have impacted the local business community. The map also provided a breakdown of percentages in each category, showing that the proportional impact was low.
Another recent project was a spatial analysis of foreclosures for the entire three-year period. By using an advanced tool called “kernel density analysis,” GIS was able to simplify a large amount of information by darkly shading areas where foreclosure rates have been the highest. This analysis helped to pinpoint specific multi-unit residences that have been particularly hard hit since 2010. These ongoing projects highlight the power of tracking information with GIS. Within minutes, the same information was analyzed from different perspectives according to the end user’s needs.
Spatial patterns that are not apparent in a text list become obvious when displayed on a map. While everyone hopes to see foreclosure rates drop significantly in the near future, it’s great to know that the Village has a versatile tool for proactively managing the ongoing impact.
In 2012, the Village of Glencoe and the Glencoe Park District kicked off a shared services pilot program to reduce internal costs. The two entities agreed to work together to accomplish routine maintenance tasks in-house rather than hiring contractors when equipment or human resources ran short. For example, the Park District has taken over grass mowing while the Village handles routine tree maintenance.
GIS was asked to support this initiative by creating a database of tree locations that the two entities could share. Using the new custom overlay for public option in MapOffice™, GIS was able to share the Park District’s tree inventory and associated data in an easy-to-use format. Each tree’s unique ID number is displayed on the map, which gives staff members an easy way to communicate about a specific location without having to do a site visit. To view additional information about a particular tree, such as its species, overall condition, or planned maintenance work, the user simply clicks on the tree to bring up an information box. As trees are pruned, removed, or replaced, this data is updated to show the completed work. If a supervisor needs to send a crew out to do work on a particular tree, he or she can mark up and print out a map to send out in the field for reference.
The shared services initiative has already saved the Village roughly $100,000 in maintenance expenses. Thanks to its membership in the GIS Consortium, Glencoe didn’t have to turn around and spend any of that money on new software to share data with its new partner.
In 2011, Infrastructure Management Services (IMS) collected a community-wide inventory of the Village of Glenview’s road signs. As a result, Public Works now has an inventory of just over 9,000 signs mounted on 5,500 posts throughout the Village. Yet this is only the first step in the process. Public Works is now responsible for maintaining this database so that it continues to be an accurate, reliable source of information. Plus, they want to be able to share this information with other staff members quickly and easily. Since the inventory is in a format easily consumed by GIS software, the logical first step was to load it into MapOffice™ Advanced.
In this easy-to-use web-based program, the sign inventory is available to all Glenview staff by turning on a custom overlay. Sign locations are represented on the map by a point, which is symbolized according to the sign’s function (regulatory, warning, guide, or other). To get details on an individual sign, the user clicks on the point to pull up an information box. For locations with multiple signs on the same post, the user simply clicks a link in the information box to toggle through all of the options.
While a final decision on how to maintain the sign inventory has not been made yet, one option for Public Works is to use the “Request an update” tool in MapOffice™ Advanced. This tool allows the user to send updates directly to the GIS staff, along with a map and any markups that the requestor draws in. With its easy-to-use interface, MapOffice™ Advanced allows people of any technical skill level to help maintain a complex inventory with ease.
In October, the Village of Lincolnshire staff held a table-top discussion on its emergency management plan. To test how well everyone knew local procedures as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing plan, selected supervisors were given a practice scenario and had to explain how they would respond. GIS was enlisted to assist with this by creating a map showing the extent of the damage from a hypothetical tornado strike. On the day of the drill, the supervisors received a copy of the map and discussed the challenges that this situation would present to the various responding departments.
GIS was also asked to briefly present on how this technology could be used to support response and recovery operations for the Village. As a member of the GIS Consortium, Lincolnshire has access to a 24-hour hotline number to request GIS support on an emergency basis. When an after-hours issue arises, a GIS specialist can be paged to come on site and help with information collecting, tracking, and sharing. Having a central source of information will allow the various departments to communicate more effectively in the hours and days after the disaster; maps can be quickly generated and distributed to share findings from different sources as they come in. Additionally, as internet access becomes available, GIS can be used to provide information to the public about the recovery efforts, the location of resources such as food, water, and shelter, and other critical spatial information that would help those affected by the emergency.
Lincolnshire is a picturesque village in Lake County, well known for its mature trees, numerous parks, and attractively landscaped open spaces. One of the best ways to enjoy the scenery is to walk or bike around town using the wide local streets and recreational paths that connect them. To encourage non-motorized traffic in the Village, GIS was asked to update the hiking and biking trail map to highlight existing routes as well as key points of interest. In addition to showcasing area parks and retail shopping, visitors to Lincolnshire can also quickly identify free parking and public drinking fountain locations. Local schools are also marked so that parents can identify safe routes for their children to use.
The end product is provided to the public in two formats, print and interactive. The printable version is an 11-by-17 inch map that visitors and residents can print out and keep as a general reference. Anyone looking for greater detail can access the interactive version online to determine precise locations of particular attractions or the proximity of their homes to existing facilities. Both products can be viewed on the Village’s website at http://www.village.lincolnshire.il.us/village-maps.
During the past year, Glenview’s GIS program has been working closely with Capital Projects staff to develop a comprehensive inventory of its roads. In the past, GIS has assisted by weighing a range of criteria that influence the priorities for annual resurfacing and reconstruction projects. This annual project created opportunities for a careful review, reorganization, and expansion of the existing GIS data. In turn, Glenview reached a point this summer where it was able to easily share the inventory with the rest of the Village staff.
In August, GIS released a new custom overlay for MapOffice™ Advanced called “Road Inventory.” When staff members turn on this layer, they get a quick view of the relative age of every road in the Village. Warm colors (reds and oranges) represent older roads in the Village, while cool colors (yellows and greens) depict roads that were constructed or reconstructed more recently. If users want more information, they can click on a specific road segment to pull up its surface and overall ratings (as assessed in 2011by Infrastructure Management Services) as well as a known history of work completed.
The next step for Glenview is to integrate data on its Minor Area Resurfacing Strategy (MARS), pavement patching, and crack sealing projects. The staff also plans to make this data available to the public via MapOffice™ to increase transparency in how the Village manages its more than 167 miles of roadway.
Glencoe is known through the north shore as a picturesque village with abundant parks, attractive beach access, and remarkable architecture. Tourists and potential residents alike enjoy driving the village streets to see its beautiful private homes and public buildings. What they may not know, however, is that a significant number of these structures have historically significant architecture. The styles range from 19th century Victorian Gothic to 20th century English Tudor to the passive solar architectural innovations of George and William Keck. The Village’s Historic Preservation Board currently has a list of about 100 homes along a walking tour route for visitor enjoyment.
In summer 2012, the Village hired a sustainability and historic preservation consultant to conduct a community-wide survey of its architecture. After completing extensive archival research, the consultant turned up a list of nearly 400 structures that, if still standing, could be historically significant. To confirm this, the consultant’s next step was to visit every address on her list. GIS was able to lend a hand in this process by mapping out every location and determining the most efficient route for completing field checks. Not only did this increase efficiency by spatially organizing the data, it also reduces the likelihood that the consultant will miss structures on her list and have to return to the same streets on multiple days. Once the consultant is finished with her survey and is ready to present her findings, GIS will also assist by creating an interactive map for the public that showcases her findings in an easy-to-use format.
Despite having state-of-the-art GIS technology at its fingertips, the Village of Glencoe still faces situations where access to electronic data is limited. One example of this is when emergency response personnel are involved in water rescues at Skokie Lagoons or the shores of Lake Michigan. When officers are using Public Safety watercraft, they do not have access to the same mapping technology that is available in the squad cars and other emergency vehicles. Fortunately, GIS is still able to provide support through print media, which can be stored on board for quick reference in an emergency.
One product recently added to the Public Safety watercraft cache is a map that highlights areas that are not traversable by watercraft. This map combines recent aerial photography with overlays to point out hazards such as spillways and shoals that are not immediately visible at ground level. This map will also be useful to incident command, should a significant rescue operation need to be planned in a waterway.
The Village of Lincolnshire recently unveiled its newly redesigned website with improved organization of information. New features include a bolder color scheme, a citizen support center, and a revamped Village Maps page. One of the key improvements to the maps page was the addition of “My Lincolnshire Property Search,” an easy-to-use property search tool that improves accessibility to MapOffice™ Public. Rather than going directly to the MapOffice™ interface, residents can simply type their address into a text search box. The search function opens a new window that zooms to the property and provides a summary of relevant information to that location. My Lincolnshire Property Search takes away the “intimidation factor” for novice computer users by bypassing the map interface and offering an easy-to-understand interface as an alternative.
In the future, Lincolnshire envisions using the Village Maps page as a central location for a variety of maps that are designed for use by the public. Additions will include maps of recreational trails, school district boundaries, and more.
All eyes were focused on the city of Chicago in mid-May when world leaders converged for the 2012 NATO Summit. Because of the importance of this organization on the world stage, many people plan demonstrations to call attention to their causes and concerns. Unfortunately, past demonstrations at NATO meetings have turned violent, putting lives and property at risk. While the heart of security concerns rested on McCormick Place in Chicago, many of the nearby suburbs made preparations in case the activity spilled over the city’s boundaries, as has happened in previous years at other world locations.
Recognizing the value in collaboration and mutual support, the Village of Glencoe’s Public Safety department joined with a group of north shore communities to create a regional incident command center. While most of the advanced preparations and planning was kept confidential for security reasons, GIS was able to support the cause by providing the command center with a map of the Glencoe area. Recent aerial photography provided the base map, and GIS added in labels for every street, major thoroughfares, and significant locations within the Village. Copies of this map were also distributed to key personnel in the Village, and will be used for reference in future disaster management planning as well as emergency response. GIS provided Glencoe an efficient and cost effective way to share information with its neighbors, as well as create an end product for long-term use.
Last October, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) branch of the US Environmental Protection Agency instituted a new permit requirement to protect our waterways. This application requires public entities to request permission to apply pesticides, which could end up in the groundwater or nearby bodies of water. To be in compliance, the Village of Lincolnshire Public Works department had to submit for the first time an application prior to conducting its annual treatment program.
One of the application requirements is to identify the geographic locations that will be treated, as well as what pesticides will be applied in each place. GIS was able to assist the parks superintendent by generating a map of all of each treatment area, color coded by the type of treatment planned. Without this site map, the applicant would have to write out a lengthy description of each site that was detailed enough for the NPDES reviewers to identify themselves. This would have taken a significant amount of time to complete, whereas GIS was able to create a professional-looking illustration in an efficient way.
For more information on the new application process, please visit the information page on the NPDES website, found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=410.
The Village of Glencoe is home to three ravine systems that drain into Lake Michigan. The property owners along each ravine enjoy scenic views of wooden areas with free-flowing streams at the base of steeply sloped bluffs. These bluffs are at risk for degradation if careless development by a private landowner occurs. Recognizing the inherent risk to life, property, and the local ecology, the Village proposed a new ordinance in the fall of 2010 to encourage best practices in steep-slope development. The “steep slope ordinance,” as it came to be known, encouraged the use of building techniques that would reinforce and stabilize the ground. However, many property owners felt that the ordinance would infringe on their personal property rights. In response to their objections, the Village board tabled the ordinance indefinitely.
To address resident concerns, GIS is being used to illustrate the impact of the proposed ordinance on a property-by-property basis. Once the map is complete, Village staff will meet with the affected residents individually and use a custom overlay in MapOffice™ Advanced to show the ordinance’s impact on each property. This overlay will show that the proposed ordinance will not limit private property development any further than the current geography already does. Dashed lines are used to depict the approximate limits: the orange line shows the threshold for using caution when developing, and the red line indicates the point where any proposed development will be required to use specialized building techniques that mitigate the risk of landslides. This use of GIS should help educate the public so that the ordinance can be enacted to protect the local ecology as well as life and property.
For a small-town central business district, there are few things more important than encouraging pedestrian traffic along the store fronts. A proven method for doing this in downtown areas is to have ample on-street parking available, which encourages shoppers to park near their favorite store and then enjoy strolling along in front of the shops. Recognizing this, the Village Manager’s office recently used its GIS data to inventory and create maps of its parking spaces. These maps, now available on the Village’s website, give visitors a quick way to find parking that best meets their needs.
Thanks to a previous GIS base mapping project, Glencoe already had a visual inventory of the available spaces all over town. This data was quickly documented in a map book, and the manager’s office intern took these pages into the field to mark up parking restrictions in each area. When the field-collected data was entered into GIS, it was easy to create color-coded maps that clearly indicated the differences between short- and long-term parking. Plus, with the data in GIS, it was easy to create custom maps that appealed to different audiences, ranging from commuters to local business customers. To see the finished products, please visit the Village of Glencoe’s website at http://www.villageofglencoe.org/about/villagemaps.aspx.
It’s a buyer’s market right now for entrepreneurs and developers. Communities of every size and demographic are competing against each other to attract new and relocating businesses to their area. GIS provides a cost-effective and efficient way to promote available commercial space on an interactive map that integrates seamlessly with the popular website Google Maps. Many GIS Consortium communities, including the Village of Lincolnshire, are taking advantage of this technology to quickly share information with prospective clients.
On a monthly basis, Lincolnshire’s Department of Community Development submits an updated spreadsheet of available properties to GIS. This spreadsheet includes important details such as building square footage, rental/sale prices, and realtor contact information. GIS geocodes the locations (a process in GIS that assigns an address to a location on a map) and then exports them into a file format that is used by Google Maps. This updated file is uploaded to the Village’s website, and in a matter of minutes, a fresh map is available for public consumption. The end product not only provides relevant details to a potential renter or buyer, but places these details in the greater context of the Village’s geography. Potential clients can then view aerial images and labeled maps of the overall site area to get a richer picture of the sites that interest them.
You can see the end product live on the Village’s website by visiting the available site inventory page, http://www.village.lincolnshire.il.us/business/sites.php.
Most cell phone users have experienced the frustration of being in a “dead spot,” or a location where their phones are unable to connect to a network and provide communication with the rest of the world. Because this disconnect is closely tied to geography, the negative feelings generated from a lack of connectivity are transferred to the person’s physical location. Whether a fair association or not, the presence of dead spots can cause people to perceive a community as a less desirable place to visit or live in.
In response to the demand for greater connectivity, the Village of Lincolnshire is documenting its existing infrastructure as well as identifying options for expanding its coverage. GIS tracks this information and assists in the decision-making process for any additions. In the map above, existing towers are shown with a red dot, and a 50-foot “do not built” buffer is added on to show the least logical locations for new towers. The blue and purple areas are locations on private and public land (respectively) that have been identified by the Village planners as possible spots for new towers. The fading buffer zones ranging from 100 to 500 feet are used to give the Village more flexibility in selecting the exact location of any additions.
As an added benefit to using GIS for this project, the Village can repurpose this data easily to analyze its existing and potential revenue generation. Private providers have to pay rental fees and local taxes to install and maintain each tower, so it is important that the Village confirms that it is receiving the appropriate amount of income from existing and new enhancements.
One of Glencoe’s many attractions is its location along the shores of Lake Michigan. Most people visit the Village’s coast at Lakefront Park, a public recreation area with concession stands, boat rentals, and plenty of room for sunbathing, swimming, and more. Unfortunately, the lure of the beach can create problems. Several streets in Glencoe dead-end at the beach, creating public rights-of-way that are legally available for pedestrian traffic. Recently, a group of underage drinkers started using these access points on a regular basis, putting them at risk for injury because the land is unimproved. Plus, adjacent property owners complained about the noise and litter created by the teens. In response, the Village announced plans to fence off these locations, but several members of the public did not approve.
Based on resident concerns about limiting beach access, the Village Manager’s office created a Street-Ends Task Force to review the options for managing this land. GIS was called upon initially to create site maps of every street end for reference. However, the real benefit to this project came through Glencoe’s membership in the GIS Consortium. Since several of its neighboring communities are GISC members, Glencoe had immediate access to their parcel data. The on-site specialist used it to identify comparable street-end locations in neighboring communities and then created a custom driving tour of the north shore’s public-owned access points to Lake Michigan. The committee visited and photographed each location, efficiently creating an inventory of comparison data for use in its work.
By leveraging the data-sharing model available through the GIS Consortium, the task force obtained a large sample of comparison information quickly and efficiently.
As a part of its disaster preparedness process, the Village of Glencoe has been working with GIS to build a repository of maps to meet a variety of needs. One of the recent projects was the creation of an evacuation route map to distribute to the public during an event. The letter-sized map clearly highlights the main roads that lead in and out of the Village. By having copies on hand during an emergency, community staff will be able to quickly direct people to safety, even if they are unfamiliar with the area.
Without GIS, emergency planners would either have to hand-draw and copy a map or hire an outside vendor to create these maps at a considerably higher cost. Plus, as the Village continues to change over time, GIS can be used to update these maps without taking up valuable staff time. Even the initial creation of the map was efficient because existing data was used as the basis.
Without a doubt, the biggest challenge facing municipalities across the country is a dwindling supply of revenue. Communities are continually pressured to do more with less, and tough choices are always on the horizon. Fortunately, GIS offers a cost-efficient way to audit existing revenue streams to ensure that all forms of income are maximized in these budget-lean times.
The Village of Lincolnshire recently took advantage of its access to this technology to conduct an audit of its billing records. GIS was used to compare the Village’s address database to finance records for water and sewer billing to find discrepancies. Once the differences between the two sets were identified, GIS generated a spreadsheet of issues and then mapped them across the Village. These two products allowed Finance and Public Works personnel to review the mismatches quickly and determine if there were any customers in the Village who were being improperly billed. As a secondary benefit, both address databases were reviewed for accuracy to ensure that the community is using the most accurate and up-to-date information available.
Without GIS, the Village would have had to manually compare the address lists or hire an outside auditor at considerably greater expense.
One of the many benefits to investing in a quality GIS program is the ability to repurpose that data to support other in-house computer applications. One example of this comes from the Lincolnshire Police Department, which uses the Village’s GIS address database in its dispatching software. Both the 911 and computer-assisted dispatch (CAD) software consume locally maintained address data, which has a higher validity and reliability standard than what is offered in commercial products. Further, address changes can be integrated quickly, leading to less confusion between dispatchers and officers in the field.
Budget-conscious staff members also appreciate the use of in-house GIS data. By asking the GIS specialist to update this data, the Police Department is able to avoid paying several thousand dollars in annual maintenance contracts. As local governments are increasingly pressured to do more with less, they are finding that cost offsets like this one highly valuable.
The Village of Glenview is responsible for the maintenance of nearly 167 miles of roadways within its municipal limits. Each year, Capital Improvements reviews its inventory to determine which streets are in the greatest need of repair. This is a challenging task because it’s rarely as simple as picking the roads with the most visible damage. The road’s overall age, surface and sub-surface condition, and proximity to aging utility infrastructure all play a role in determining the best use of limited funding.
GIS provides the ideal platform for this project because it allows the user to compare this disparate data quickly and accurately. Further, it allows the user to play around with different criteria to see what results come from different cutoff values. By using GIS, Glenview was able to weigh in many more factors, and in turn make better fiscal decisions based on this empirical data. In the coming years, GIS will incorporate even more variables into this process. Data such as locations of repetitive watermain breaks and storm water flooding will be added in so that road repairs done in one year are not torn up the next year to deal with below-ground issues. In the future, GIS will also be used to provide the public with an explanation of how specific roads were selected for resurfacing in a given year. This increased transparency will help residents understand why roads that appear to be in terrible shape seem be ignored.
Comprehensive planning is a critical component in the long-term health of a community. The process of creating a five-year plan for a municipality can be daunting, but recording and sharing this vision provides “big picture” guidance to all stakeholders.
In the Village of Lincolnshire, GIS assists with clear communication by illustrating goals in an easy-to-understand way. One of the many exhibits under development is an overview map showing the future land use plans. Landowners throughout the Village are always concerned with what developments might occur around their properties, so this map quickly explains what will (and won’t) be allowed in the next five years. While this map is still a work in progress, it can already be used to support conversations throughout the planning process.
GIS makes the development of illustrations like this one quick and easy. The Village does not have to pay an outside vendor to create this custom map, and changes are easily illustrated and linked to existing Village data for easy comparison.
Electricity provider ComEd has come under intense fire throughout the North Shore for its management of multiple lengthy power outages. Many communities have been overwhelmed by complaints from residents who are not getting the level of service that they want. In turn, numerous municipalities have met with their local ComEd representatives to ask pointed questions about how service interruptions can be minimized as well as better managed.
Glencoe decided to leverage the power of GIS to explore the data provided in ComEd’s annual reports. By symbolizing the approximate locations of all 15 circuits according to the number and length of outages, GIS provided a striking illustration of problem areas within the Village limits. In the map shown, dark-shaded areas experienced a high number of power outages, and areas with large red circles experienced the longest outage times. (Please note: the circuit identification numbers have been obscured for proprietary reasons.) GIS was also used to generate a circuit-by-circuit analysis of the outage causes, ranging from equipment failures to tree-related damage to planned service outages for maintenance work. This information will be shared with ComEd engineers to prioritize areas in need of immediate attention.
Without GIS, Glencoe officials would have a much harder time making a compelling case for ComEd to prioritize its time and invest its resources in this area. This data gives them the ability to point out specific areas for improvement so that residents get the help and support that they need.
Glencoe hosted several summer events that attracted many out-of-town visitors to the Central Business District. From the regular Friday-night movies on Wyman Green to the Glencoe Grand Prix bike race, the Village offered something for everyone to enjoy. The increased foot traffic also meant more potential customers for local businesses. To help make these connections, the assistant manager had the GIS specialist create a business directory to post in the kiosks around town. This directory showcases Glencoe’s unique businesses, ranging from art galleries to restaurants to specialty gift stores.
GIS streamlined the process of creating this directory by quickly mapping locations using the business license database over existing maps of roads, buildings and parking lots. Without the in-house GIS program, the Village would have spend significantly more time and money to vet and hire an outside vendor for the task.
Summer provides the public with a wealth of opportunities to explore their neighboring communities. Festivals, races, sidewalk sales and parades are as abundant as the warm sunshine. While these special events offer the chance to relax and have fun, they also create a lot of work for those who are charged with managing them. Fortunately, GIS provides staff members with an efficient way to track spatial data and customize it to meet the needs of multiple departments. As an example, the Village of Glencoe recently put GIS to use in its planning process for the Fourth of July parade. The Village Manager’s office requested an easy-to-understand map of the parade route to distribute to the participants. The GIS specialist also added it to MapOffice™ Advanced, which made the parade route available to any member of the Village staff. As shown in the snapshot, MapOffice™ Advanced allows users to view the parade route on a map or an aerial photo, depending upon their needs. When a Public Safety supervisor saw the map, he was inspired to request another special event map. This one displayed both courses and all of the stations in the Glencoe Grand Prix bike race. Since the parade route map met the size and design specifications of Public Safety, the GIS specialist was able to quickly meet this new request by switching out the necessary information. Finally, the Glencoe Grand Prix plan was added into MapOffice™ Advanced so that Dispatch had a visual reference to enhance its ability to communicate with people in the field. Without GIS, the time and resources needed to create each of these custom maps would have been cost-prohibitive.
The Village of Lincolnshire recently finished its application renewal documentation for the FEMA Community Rating System (CRS). When municipalities analyze their land use within the floodplain and submit their findings, they are rewarded on a sliding point scale that translates into discounted flood insurance rates for their residents. Lincolnshire originally submitted a flood plain assessment in 2001 and is currently a Class 5 community.
Because GIS was used in prior submissions, the Village was able to quickly rerun the land use calculations using the most current flood plain data. Since the baseline work was done quickly, the GIS specialist had time to create two new maps that will strengthen the Village’s submission. These maps focused on the North Branch of the Chicago River and Indian Creek basins within the present and future Village limits. Additionally, each map displayed the land use statistics for the watershed depicted so that the reviewers could easily find the data that they need.
Without GIS, the CRS application process would require much more staff time. By reducing the initial workload by using past applications as a starting point, Lincolnshire was able to devote free time to creating new documentation to beef up its application. Undoubtedly, Village residents are happy to have more money in their pockets as the economy continues to fluctuate.
As the old joke goes, “There are only two seasons here: winter and construction.” As Chicagoland moves into construction season, local governments are tasked with rerouting traffic flow to make room for much needed repairs. In the Village of Glencoe, one project includes a complete overhaul of the commuter parking lots around the Metra station. This multi-week project requires Public Works staff to close different lots on different days, which disrupts the normal flow of commuter traffic.
With GIS, the Village was able to quickly create a map of the work site and include it on a poster to notify commuters well in advance of the project’s start. Once work actually began, GIS was able to quickly create maps of alternate parking sites so that commuters who missed the initial notification could find alternate parking places quickly. These maps were posted at the Metra station as well as online, providing multiple sources of information to the public in an efficient manner. Without GIS, Village staff would have to either rely on verbal explanations or create hand-drawn maps that were less accurate and showed fewer details to orient viewers.
When developers are making plans for a new construction project, they may opt to install the utilities they need and then sell the completed system to the local government for general public use and maintenance. This arrangement, known as a recapture agreement, allows the developer to handle the utility installation process instead of taking up resources in the local Public Works department. The local municipality agrees to buy the completed system from the developer according to an agreed-upon fee schedule. This schedule has to be approved by the local board and created into an ordinance to officially approve the use of public funds.
As of 2011, the Village of Lincolnshire has 15 active recapture areas. This impacts daily operations because these agreements have to be referenced any time the Village receives a building permit application. If someone applies to do work in a recapture area, he or she may be responsible for paying an access fee to the developer to use the utility system. By creating a map of recapture areas, Public Works administrators can quickly check a permit application’s location to determine whether or not it falls into a recapture area. If it does, the applicant will be notified of any corresponding financial responsibilities.
Lincolnshire’s recapture map is currently being used in print form, but will soon be available in MapOffice™ Advanced as a custom overlay. This will allow Village staff to search electronically for an address and determine immediately whether it falls into a recapture area. Thanks to this application of GIS technology, the Village is saving time and money by completing a once labor-intensive process in a matter of seconds.
As the old joke goes, “There are only two seasons here: winter and construction.” As Chicagoland moves into construction season, local governments are tasked with rerouting traffic flow to make room for much needed repairs. In the Village of Glencoe, one project includes a complete overhaul of the commuter parking lots around the Metra station. This multi-week project requires Public Works staff to close different lots on different days, which disrupts the normal flow of commuter traffic.
With GIS, the Village was able to quickly create a map of the work site and include it on a poster to notify commuters well in advance of the project’s start. Once work actually began, GIS was able to quickly create maps of alternate parking sites so that commuters who missed the initial notification could find alternate parking places quickly. These maps were posted at the Metra station as well as online, providing multiple sources of information to the public in an efficient manner. Without GIS, Village staff would have to either rely on verbal explanations or create hand-drawn maps that were less accurate and showed fewer details to orient viewers.
The Village of Glencoe recently made use of GIS to map fire hydrants and their associated flow rates. Having this information available at a moment’s notice allows fire fighters to quickly locate the nearest source of the water pressure necessary to respond to a fire emergency. These maps were provided to both Dispatch and emergency responders in the field, providing multiple ways to find this information when seconds count.
Because paper maps can get misplaced or damaged in an emergency situation, this information will also be made available in MapOffice™ Advanced as a custom layer. Currently, Dispatch is able to use this tool to zoom in on a specific location and relay the relevant information to responders in the field. Once MapOffice™ Advanced is available on the internet, all emergency personnel will have direct access to this information without the need to rely on printed materials anymore.
As GIS continues to support the mission of each department in the Village, its cost savings potential increases significantly. In this case, Public Works had already collected the flow rate data for inclusion in the database, so police, fire and dispatch were able to pull what they needed in a matter of moments.
In partnership with the Glenview Park District, the Village of Glenview is hosting two public events on the impact of the Emerald Ash Borer beetle. By offering these workshops, the Village hopes to help its residents learn more about how their local government is responding to this pest and what residents can do to help. These types of meetings encourage transparency in government operations and also foster a team-based approach to a problem that affects everyone.
GIS was able to assist in this project by mapping out the locations of trees infested with Emerald Ash Borer within the Village limits. Workshop attendees will see how the problem has progressed in Glenview over a short period of time. The maps provide a striking illustration of the statistics, which increased from 22 cases in 2009 to the 120 already documented in 2011. By using GIS, these educational aids were created in very quickly and at little cost to the Village. Public Works staff hopes to make further use of these maps to spatially analyze where the beetle is and how quickly it is spreading.
The annual process of identifying the most critical locations for resurfacing projects is challenging. Unfortunately, there is never a shortage of roads in need of improvement, but always a lack of funding to cover the whole list. In an effort to make better informed decisions on how to use Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) funds, the Village of Lincolnshire decided to review its history for possible patterns. By comparing each year’s work, Public Works staff will be asking, “Are there any stretches of road that we have repeatedly resurfaced in a short period of time?” Rather than continuing to spend limited resurfacing funds to put a proverbial bandage over a bigger issue, the Village hopes to rule these locations out of the pool for MFT funding. Instead, these roads would be cataloged as better candidates for reconstruction.
To answer this question visually, the Public Works intern reviewed paper files and compiled a table of completed MFT projects dating back to 1980. This table was then mapped out in GIS to visually represent street segments that have been resurfaced. A graded color code was used to denote the year of resurfacing, with older projects in red and recent projects in green. While this analysis has not yet been completed for the whole Village, there are already locations emerging as possible candidates for more comprehensive repairs. By pulling these streets off of the master list, the Village hopes to make better use of public funds by identifying roads that would benefit the most from resurfacing.
The Village of Glencoe is in the process of re-inspecting roughly five dozen private properties for compliance with regional storm water drainage regulations. These properties were initially identified during Village-wide testing associated with the Infiltration/Inflow Corrective Action Program (ICAP). Approximately 85% of all homes in Glencoe were found to be compliance with ICAP, and the remaining property owners were notified of what changes were needed to reduce or eliminate storm water infiltration into the sanitary sewer system. By re-inspecting these sites, Public Works can confirm that the private sector is in compliance with these regulations, which in turn leads to cost savings because the Village is not unnecessarily treating the storm water that was formerly leaking into the system.
Public Works decided to take a proactive role this spring by re-inspecting these remaining locations for compliance. GIS assisted in this process by creating individual comment sheets with maps of all 63 properties that inspectors could take notes on. When inspectors visit a particular location, they are able to sketch their findings on a map of the property and write down any relevant comments to pass back to the Village engineer. By working with GIS, Public Works had custom inspection forms ready to use in a few short hours, as opposed to using significant staff time and resources to manually set everything up.