GIS Department

A GIS (geographic information system) enables you to envision the geographic aspects of a body of data. Basically, it lets you query or analyze a database and receive the results in the form of some kind of map. Since many kinds of data have important geographic aspects, a GIS can have many uses: tax assessment, land use planning, voter registration, emergency management, water system modeling, asset location and maintenance, etc.

 

The City of Lebanon Authority and County GIS Department (LCCGIS) formed in 1996 through combined efforts and resources of the City of Lebanon Authority and the County of Lebanon. There are currently three employees in the department. 

 

A vast amount of data has been collected to include: imagery, tax parcels, roads, hydrography, buildings, water/sewer lines and associated data. A variety of GIS applications are utilized in various departments in both organizations.

 

In the past, maps were hand drawn with many maps to sort through often at a large scale making details hard to see. GIS coordinates this information into one electronic map. Most data was collected at a 1 inch equal 50 scale. With zoom capabilities, every detail can be viewed. Updates and corrections are faster and more accurate via GIS. 

 

CoLA’s GIS system provides quick, accurate data on water and sewer main locations, facilities and other assets. By linking our geographical data to our asset management/utility billing software (Infor Public Sector – Hansen) we are able to access information about an asset such as material type, age and maintenance history. We are able to electronically view our service area in detail including roads, buildings, water/sewer pipelines, hydrants, manholes and values. Data can be queried to enable viewing by location, type of feature or associated attribute such as water main sizes or manholes located within particular geographic area.

 

A water distribution system simulation model was created as a representation of typical system conditions to be used for planning and analysis. For example the model can display pressure in a given area or peak hour demand simulations.