The Town of Westport Island Chooses XMap for Digital Parcel Mapping

Westport Island, Maine, is a forward-thinking community of around 750 residents nestled in the mid-coast region of Maine. The town’s elected officials, recognizing the importance of efficiently managing property database and tax records, recently selected XMap to build and maintain a digital parcel management system.

With no previous experience in the field GIS and with limited resources and technical know-how at their disposal, the town officials faced a daunting task. They needed to find a tool that they could all learn to use and that would fit within their municipal budget constraints.

After a brief meeting with a municipal mapping expert from DeLorme, the town’s representatives decided that XMap 5.2 GIS Editor met their requirements and would allow them to become self-sufficient with their mapping projects.

After gaining the approval of the electorate of the town to embark on this endeavor, the next step in the process was training. Several representatives from the town participated in a two-day program hosted by DeLorme in which the instructor introduced the class to the principles of GIS and to the features and functions of XMap. Armed with this information, the town officials recruited a group of volunteers to begin the process of building a municipal GIS from the ground up.

The initial phase required digitization of paper parcel maps that had been scanned and registered as a raster or image layer in XMap. Overlaid on aerial imagery, this provided a reference from which to create an accurate digital parcel layer. If needed, GPS-collected point locations will be used to verify the accuracy of the property boundaries.

The second phase will be to integrate the current assessor’s data so that each property polygon on the map will offer access to the relevant information about that parcel. This will make searching for properties and owner information a very easy process.

Coordinating the effort on behalf of the town are Bill Hopkins and Dennis Dunbar. According to Mr. Dunbar, the property mapping project is just the beginning. “Looking beyond the tax maps, the GIS database really shines. The town will be able to incorporate data on important natural resources (wetlands, important habitats, aquifers, etc.), wells, moorings, cemeteries, fire ponds, and other important historic or archeological sites that warrant monitoring and tracking.” Dunbar added that, “When complete, Westport Island residents will enjoy one of the most advanced integrated GIS resources management systems in the state of Maine.”

Westport Island is an example of a community with limited means that has recognized the value in efficiently managing critical municipal assets and has not been deterred by its modest size. The lesson learned from this example is that if Westport Island can successfully adopt and apply GIS technology, there is no reason why towns of a similar size cannot do the same.

Is there an XMap User Group? If so, how often does it meet and where?

This inquiry could not have arrived at a more opportune time. The short answer to the question is, no, at least not at this time. However plans are currently being formulated to arrange an inaugural gathering of XMap users sometime in 2008 and after that we hope to organize a formal user group.

Details have yet to be worked out, but it is expected that the program for the first meeting will include an opportunity for users to present their work and exchange ideas, workshops or technical presentations from DeLorme product specialists, networking opportunities, and much more.

If you are interested in attending or participating in the user group meeting, please email xmap.usergroup@delorme.com. At this early stage we are also eager to hear your ideas about what should be included, where it should take place, and any other suggestions you might have.

The evolution of XMap has been driven, in large part, by its users. DeLorme software engineers are in continual communication with the sales, support, training, and marketing departments to ascertain how we can improve the application. As a member of the XMap user group, your input will be directly funneled to the product development team so you will have a significant voice in the future development of XMap.

Please stay tuned to this newsletter for updates and additional information about the XMap user group.

In the last two Tab Tip articles, we passed along some tips on packaging and transferring maps and other types of data to the PN-20. This month, we turn our attention to the data collection capabilities of the device and how you can use this data to build GIS layers in XMap. 

The primary data collection function of the PN-20 is the Waypoint tool. This allows you to record point locations with a simple press of a button. The button has an outline of a pushpin and is at the bottom of the device in the middle. It’s useful to memorize this location, especially if working after dark.

A single press of the Waypoint button automatically records the current coordinates and offers the option to uniquely symbolize the waypoint, assign it a label, and add additional comments if needed. Use the arrow buttons to scroll between the various fields and press the Enter button to highlight and edit any of the information.

If you need more accuracy, the Avg button on the Waypoints screen offers the option to collect multiple points at 1-second intervals from which an average is automatically calculated. An estimated accuracy for the resulting point displays in this window. Make sure to click the Save button before returning to the map screen.

Use the Track function of the PN-20 to record linear features such as trails or pipelines. By default, the device continuously records this information; however, if you need more control over when recording begins and ends, you can use the Track window to start and stop recording, to save multiple tracks, to add a label and comments, and to choose a color.

Used in the field, both the Waypoint and Track tools offer sufficient functionality to individually categorize and assign attribution to both point and line objects. To transfer this data to XMap, simply use the same exchange function that you used to transfer maps to the device, except in this case, click the Receive button after highlighting the required tracks or waypoints.

Downloaded data is automatically saved as waypoints or tracks in the Draw tab of XMap. A new feature was recently added to the Enterprise and Editor versions of XMap to facilitate the import of this data into point or line GIS layers. After clicking the File button in the Draw tab, select the appropriate track or waypoint layer, click the Copy To button to the right of the tab area, and choose GIS Layer. This automatically initiates the GIS import wizard and converts field collected data into OpenSpace layers.

All of the field-collected information, including label, comments, time, and symbol class, is retained in this process and appears as individual attributes for each object in the layer. You can add  attribute fields and easily edit existing fields.

Using XMap’s classification, symbolization, and query functions, it’s easy to see the spatial patterns in your field-collected data.

For more information on using the PN-20 with XMap click here.