USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service, Lincoln University,
Jefferson City, Missouri
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Agenda

1. Introductions
2. CD Development
3. NSGIC Meeting
4. County Fire Plans and Districts
5. CCAP Clearinghouse meetings
6. MAGIC meetings and Mid-Am 2000
7. FY99 Workplan draft
8. 1999 Missouri GIS conference

Members Present: Tony Spicci, Liz Cook, Lew Davison, Ron Beck, Tim Haithcoat, and Jeff Davis
Absent: Darryl Williams, Don Lloyd, Mike Benzen

Tony Spicci then reviewed in more detail the status of the data base gathering being conducted by the Conservation Department for the CD Sampler. All files on the initial list, developed last year, have been obtained from MSDIS. Tony will distribute that list as it currently stands to the committee via email. MDC is checking attributes and cleaning-up the attribute files to reduce some of the space overhead generated from the analysis. We are still going to work with ESRI or a business partner to further modify the MapObjects interface we will be placing on the CD. Tony stated that Jim H. Wilson has shown an interest in the sampler and is possibly willing to lend staff to develop the manual. Liz Cook asked the question as to whether or not the CD as planned will include an area of more detail. Tony replied that Greene County is still the focus of the more detailed data. Tim Haithcoat stated that he has had preliminary discussions with Dynamic Geographic Technologies as to their interest in aiding with the MapObjects interface and that they should be sending an appraisal and estimate over shortly. It was decided that a meeting will be scheduled with ESRI St. Louis, DGT, MSDIS, and the MGISAC to outline specifics and draft the agreement for the completion of the Missouri CD Sampler. Tony will be scheduling that meeting.

Discussion then turned to the upcoming National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) meeting September 11-17th, 1998 in Annapolis MD. Tim Haithcoat suggested that MSDIS provide funds for registration and hotel to enable the chair of the MGISAC to attend this meeting each year. The Committee thought that this was a good idea and will be sending three individuals; Tony Spicci (Chair of MGISAC), Tim Haithcoat, and Greg Breuer. Early Registration deadline is August 14, 1998.

Tony then asked the committee if Missouri would care to host a NSGIC meeting in the future. It was decided that we could host the meetings in 2001 or 2002 but that with the Mid-America Symposium in 2000 we would rather avoid that year. Tony will write a note to Rick Memmel (NSGIC Conference Coordinator) regarding our interest.

Tim then asked the committee for guidance regarding a request from the Southwest Missouri Advisory Council of Governments (SMACOG) to the GRC to incorporate county fire plans and fire district boundaries into the statewide GIS database. Tim wished to clarify the distinction between the roles of the Geographic Resources Center (GRC) and MSDIS. MSDIS can help with the coordination aspects of this request but it shouldn’t provide any direct funding for the actual generation of the database. The database generation should be funded separately and be done by some other group than MSDIS. Tony reported that MDC has done a lot of work with the county fire plans and districts across the state and that the Forestry Division has been generating maps of some of those plans. He also mentioned that Fire Rescue and Training within Extension might be of some help. Tim said he will check into the data availability with Tony as well as the current form of the databases prior to the next meeting.

Tim then addressed the upcoming NSDI Partnership Meeting regarding the FGDC-CCAP grant that MSDIS had received and outlined the timeline and travel requirements for participation in the CCAP program. The required NSDI Partnership Kick-off Workshop is to be held in Charleston, SC from September 21 – 24, 1998. Greg Breuer and Tim Haithcoat will be attending the two-track workshop. One track is for web developers and the other for managers of these NSDI sites. In that regard Tim mentioned that if anyone has been to a good web site or has portions that they liked about other web sites to forward those sites and what they liked to Greg Breuer. Greg will be compiling these sites in preparation for the NSDI discussions so that we can build the best site possible for Missouri information.

Tim Haithcoat then notified the MGISAC concerning the upcoming MidAmerica Geographic Information Consortium (MAGIC) meeting in Olathe, KS. At this meeting they were going to set meetings for the next two years leading up to the MidAmerica Symposium in 2000 at Tan-Tar-A, Lake of the Ozarks, MO. The Missouri GIS Conference will be held in conjunction with the MidAmerica Symposium so it is critical that we work closely with this regional group. The MGISAC asked Tim to see if the meetings could be set to the first Thursday of each month. Tony Spicci also asked if there was an airport nearby that the MGISAC members could possibly fly to these meetings to save time. Tim was to check on these two matters.

On the agenda for the MidAmerica Symposium planning meeting in Olathe there were 12 areas where coordinators where going to be defined at the meeting. Tim asked the committee if there was any interest in any of the following committee appointments: Program (with Ann Peton (IA)); Job Fair; Project Showcases; Social Events; Publicity; Short Courses; Vendor Exhibits; Plenary/Closing Sessions; Co-Sponsors; Local Arrangements; Conference Evaluation; and Awards. Tim stated that he is currently responsible for Publicity and Local Arrangements. Tony Spicci volunteered for organizing the Social Events as he is on that committee for the Natural Resources Conference at Tan-Tar-A this year. Liz Cook volunteered to help with the Short Courses. Tim will carry these things forward to the meeting and report back to the MGISAC via email.

The draft workplan was passed out and workplan tasks for FY99 were finalized. The committee asked for some description to be added to the workplan before posting. Tim mentioned his investigation into the MrSID product for image compression and web applications. Tim is investigating its use in posting and serving the DOQQ’s, DRG’s, and Census Map products in 2000 from the MSDIS web site. Tony Spicci, Liz Cook, and Lew Davison would like to be kept posted on these investigations and would like to be involved in the evaluation of the MrSID product for these applications. Tim said that he forward and make copies of the materials gathered to date regarding the MrSID product from LizardTech (http://www.lizardtech.com).

Tim then distributed the contract with the Holiday Inn Executive Center for the 1999 Missouri GIS Conference. The contract was reviewed in some detail with some discussion. It has space allocated for 1 day of workshops prior to the conference proper, followed by the 1.5 day conference itself. There will be a vendor area and project showcase area as well. Tim and Tony will generate a timeline for the 1999 conference as well as an estimated budget prior to the next meeting.

Tony then briefed the group concerning several email messages and conversations with DNR staff regarding the MGISAC. The first question was where are the minutes for the last several meetings. Tony asked Tim Haithcoat to make sure that they were posted as soon as possible. Tim replied that the MSDIS had just undergone some major renovations as well as staff vacations but that they would be posted by the end of the week. He also noted that meetings were not held during the conference month nor immediately following due to change-over on the committee and the delivery of appointment letters to the new committee members.

The other questions revolved around DNR’s representation on the committee. The group discussed how the process of membership was determined and appointments made to this committee can be more formally made known to all agencies. Tim stated that he would draft a letter to Mike Benzen describing the confusion and specifically address the concerns noted by DNR. Everyone pointed out that all of the meetings are open to the public but that for voting purposes the membership was used to make decisions.

Meeting closed at 12:15.