County gets new GIS software

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Wheatland County has contracted Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri) for three years in order to replace its current GIS mapping system.
County staff said they received complaints from resident users indicating that the current MuniSight GIS system was not user friendly or accurate, and response time was slow.
The new Esri system is less money, too. MuniSight is $67,320 per year, while Esri costs $54,070.
“As council is aware, this is cornerstone rollout for the community and development services department restructuring,” said Matthew Boscariol, general manager of community and development services with Wheatland County. “Obviously, we are taking on a staff person who has the skills and expertise to build a geographic information system.”
He added that they can customize the system to fit the county’s needs and import the county’s current data.
“This is more about the county becoming an open data source system.We are able to showcase where water breaks are, where major capital construction is occurring in real-time. In addition to that, we are able to improve the data and visuals that we present to council for your information and consideration for planning reports, development, etc.,” said Boscariol.
He noted that Esri is a recognized, premier mapping tool, used widely by businesses, universities and government departments worldwide.
There are opportunities for users to use the service on all digital platforms, which would be handy for county staff to use mobile devices or their smartphones in the field to access maps and collect data.
The package comes with training sites, and customization options, so different departments could tailor the software to their data needs. Some examples were that public works could tailor the program to show pipelines and utility corridors, economic development could provide maps and support function on their website, and planning and development could create customized maps for residents, developers, staff and council.
The MuniSight contract ends in 2020, but Boscariol suggested an overlap period would provide a smoother implementation.
Council approved switching contracts on Aug. 20.