Open House for Walton County's Map Making (GIS) Programs - 11/19/08

[Kurt]

Walton County citizens can learn about the county?s map making capabilities and programs on Wednesday, November 19, 9:00 a.m. ? 4:00 p.m. The all-day open house will be held at the Walton County Planning and Development Division at the South Walton Courthouse Annex, 31 Coastal Centre Boulevard in Santa Rosa Beach.

The open house is being held in conjunction with the National Geographic Society?s Geography Awareness Week and Geography Action! Initiative. GIS Day is an international grassroots event to promote geographic literacy in schools, communities, and organizations.

Maps will be on display throughout the day, and a one-hour tour of the county?s Geographic Information Service (GIS) program capabilities will begin at 10:00. Presentations and demonstrations will take place at the Planning & Development Division?s offices beginning at 2:00 p.m. and will include presentations on what the GIS system is and how GIS services can benefit the public through the county?s Planning & Development Division.

?We hope citizens will get a chance to stop by and see some of the work our GIS Team is doing,? says Christine Sammelmann who leads the GIS team in south Walton County. ?I believe everyone who visits us will be amazed at what technology is at our disposal and how it is benefiting every citizen who wants to take advantage of our program.?

For further information, contact Christine Sammelmann at the Walton County Planning & Development Services Division at 267-1955.

 

[AAbsolute]

Walton County citizens can learn about the county?s map making capabilities and programs on Wednesday, November 19, 9:00 a.m. ? 4:00 p.m. The all-day open house will be held at the Walton County Planning and Development Division at the South Walton Courthouse Annex, 31 Coastal Centre Boulevard in Santa Rosa Beach.

The open house is being held in conjunction with the National Geographic Society?s Geography Awareness Week and Geography Action! Initiative. GIS Day is an international grassroots event to promote geographic literacy in schools, communities, and organizations.

Maps will be on display throughout the day, and a one-hour tour of the county?s Geographic Information Service (GIS) program capabilities will begin at 10:00. Presentations and demonstrations will take place at the Planning & Development Division?s offices beginning at 2:00 p.m. and will include presentations on what the GIS system is and how GIS services can benefit the public through the county?s Planning & Development Division.

?We hope citizens will get a chance to stop by and see some of the work our GIS Team is doing,? says Christine Sammelmann who leads the GIS team in south Walton County. ?I believe everyone who visits us will be amazed at what technology is at our disposal and how it is benefiting every citizen who wants to take advantage of our program.?

For further information, contact Christine Sammelmann at the Walton County Planning & Development Services Division at 267-1955.

Does anyone onboard know if this is the government entity that will put Watercolor and Watersound Beach on the national GPS database?

 

[Sandcastle]

Does anyone onboard know if this is the government entity that will put Watercolor and Watersound Beach on the national GPS database?

I don't know, but I've found it to be very difficult to find some homes in SoWal using either of my two GPS units. Both show my house approximately one mile west of it's location. I also tried to find a house in Watercolor that our neighbors were renting -- forget it.

I hope that the fire department isn't relying on the same database.

 

[Bob Wells]

We haven't used the maps that Walton County put out. How the maps we use were put together by the private company I can't say. As for GPS units we don't have them either, although we are pretty familiar with the areas we work.

 

[Matt J]

Does anyone onboard know if this is the government entity that will put Watercolor and Watersound Beach on the national GPS database?

Could be, my understanding is that most GPS databases are comprised of multiple sources to eliminate errors.

 

[Smiling JOe]

aabsolute. I think the answer to your question is, NO. The County subscribes to the mapping service from a private vendor, so it is not a gov't entity which will update the maps. Google launched a new satellite for mapping purposes in Sept of this year, and their number one client is gov't. So, you might say that government's need will be the catalyst for the updated mapping, but it isn't Walton County GIS which will update the maps. Google will be updating the satellite maps, and will likely be selling that information to the private sector as well as gov't. They will also continue to make the limited versions of the service available to the public at large, free of charge. Our gov't limits, by law, the zooming range of satellite imagery to somewhere around one meter, so google is pulling back to zooming capabilities for public use to something like 40 inches rather than 39" inches. They will, however, sell closer zoom images to the gov't which should be able to clearly see the US Flag lapel pin on Barack Obama. Scary, eh?

 

[Matt J]

aabsolute. I think the answer to your question is, NO. The County subscribes to the mapping service from a private vendor, so it is not a gov't entity which will update the maps. Google launched a new satellite for mapping purposes in Sept of this year, and their number one client is gov't. So, you might say that government's need will be the catalyst for the updated mapping, but it isn't Walton County GIS which will update the maps. Google will be updating the satellite maps, and will likely be selling that information to the private sector as well as gov't. They will also continue to make the limited versions of the service available to the public at large, free of charge. Our gov't limits, by law, the zooming range of satellite imagery to somewhere around one meter, so google is pulling back to zooming capabilities for public use to something like 40 inches rather than 39" inches. They will, however, sell closer zoom images to the gov't which should be able to clearly see the US Flag lapel pin on Barack Obama. Scary, eh?

Why is it scary? Just conduct illegal activities inside or under a canopy.

 

[ShallowsNole]

Fact: If you put 31 Coastal Centre Blvd, which is the street address for the South Walton Courthouse Annex, into a GPS system, it will take you to Quiet Water Trail, off of Cabbage Rose Lane, off of East Point Washington Road.

This needs fixing. We are constantly getting calls from lost marriage license couples...

 

[Smiling JOe]

Why is it scary? Just conduct illegal activities inside or under a canopy.

If you trust your gov't to monitor your every move from what you buy with cash to when you have sex, you have nothing to worry about. I prefer for the gov't or some random stalker to not to be able to monitor my every move, regardless of whether or not my activities are legal or illegal. You may not notice abuse presently, but just wait.

 

[Creeklover]

I think you should contact the GPS unit software maker and have them update your software. There is no GPS software company that will be 100% right. They focus their energry to the most populated areas i would think. Thge county does a great job with trying to keep their maps updated and if you contact them with something they will work on it. You haft to understand that they have software limitations also. I think they receive their aerial view maps from the state of florida and they are taken every few years then the county has to pay to have them made to view on the internet. I think if you go to the GIS website and look at their maps you would find them valuable.

FF2 the county, SO and SWFD use the county gis maps in the dispatch centers for maping and most vehicles have maps made by mapsource and they have quit producing the maps that are used by responders. The county offers a map that can be purchased for a few dollars that has the whole county.