With GIS and GPS, the hope is for county to change with the times

Rick Charmoli | Cadillac News Osceola County Board of Commissioners Committee of the Whole listen to Meceola Central Dispatch Director Laurie Smalla give a presentation about the two countyÕs GIS system. The committee decided to recommend looking into expanding the GIS capabilities in the county to the full board.

REED CITY — It could be considered the “wave of the future.”

At least that is what Meceola Central Dispatch Director Laurie Smalla said about the Geographic Information System capabilities shared by the two counties. Although the system is already in place, Smalla said it is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the possibilities it presents for the county and its various departments.

“The days of a paper map you write on with a crayon are long gone. My hope (on Tuesday) was to present that the base of this project has already been done for them so there is no sense in reinventing the wheel. We have that,” she said.

That base was the topic of Smalla’s presentation and eventual discussion during the Osceola County Board of Commissioners Committee of the Whole.

Although central dispatch has the base layer that includes things such as street names and stop signs and the various schools within Mecosta and Osceola counties, Smalla and Meceola Central Dispatch IT Manager Terry Vogel said other departments in the county could add layers to fit their needs as well.

Since the GIS was paid for by a surcharge on cell phone bills, Smalla would share that mapping with the county for free. Then the county could add to it.

Osceola County Coordinator Sue VanderPol said she would not be opposed to the county moving forward with adding to the existing GIS. In her opinion, there was not one department that would not have some use of the system.

“It would be a tremendous resource. Townships would have access. We could put in drains, infrastructure, track EMS and police, track response times and emergency management could use it,” she said. “It could be a tremendous cost saver.”

Although adding to the system sounded like a good thing for the county and its different departments, Commissioner Dave Brooks asked what advantage it gave to average citizens.

Replies included decreased response times during 911 calls for first responders, tracking high crash areas on county roads and having hazardous material evacuation points in case of an emergencies.

The committee voted to recommend to the full board to pursue finding out what adding to the GIS mapping would entail and its possible cost.

rcharmoli@cadillacnews.com | 775-NEWS (6397)

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What: Osceola County Board of Commissioners June Meeting

When: 9 a.m. Thursday

Where: Osceola County Main Courthouse, 301 W. Upton