Call to Order
Committee Chairman Jonathan Perry, Bureau of Disaster Services, called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.

Attendance:
Members/Designates Present:
Mike Beaty, USDI Bureau of Reclamation; Bruce Godfrey, University of Idaho Library (designate); Roger Hirschman, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS); Mike McDowell, Kootenai County; Karen Parsons, Idaho State Library (designate); Jonathan Perry, Bureau of Homeland Security

Members Absent:
Nathan Bentley, ITRMC Staff; Dr. Charles Bolles, Idaho State Library; Senator Hal Bunderson, Idaho State Senate; Bart Butterfield, Department of Fish and Game; Linda Davis, Department of Water Resources; Tracy Fuller, U.S. Geological Survey; Nancy Glenn, Idaho State University; Dennis Hill, City of Pocatello; Craig Rindlisbacher, Madison County/City of Rexburg; Frank Roberts, Coeur d'Alene Tribe; Two open positions (public utilities/private business representatives)

Others Present:
Jason Carr, University of Idaho; Stephen Cox, Department of Lands; Rich Elwood, ITRMC Staff; Liza Fox, Idaho Transportation Department; Emily Gales, ITRMC Staff; Dave Gruenhagen, Department of Lands; Sean Harwood, USDA Forest Service; Dan P. Jensen, City of Idaho Falls; Jeff Servatius, State Tax Commission

A quorum was not present.

Approval of Minutes
There was group consensus to approve the March 11, 2003, Idaho Geospatial Committee meeting minutes.

NAIP Update
Roger Hirschman, NRCS, provided an update on the status of the U.S. Farm Service Agency's National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) in Idaho (refer to handout: http://www2.state.id.us/itrmc/committees/igc/minutes/m040610/naip.pdf). There was some discussion on a few logistical and technical aspects of the project.

Ortho-Imagery Guidelines
Liza Fox, Idaho Transportation Department (ITD), explained ITD had been very interested in the development of standards regarding geographic information system (GIS)/global positioning system (GPS) data. Subsequently, the department spent a significant amount of resources collecting that type of data, as well as imagery. ITD was working with the Idaho Geospatial Committee's (IGC's) Ortho-imagery Technical Working Group (TWG) to establish some guidelines suitable for ITD, and possibly other state agencies and members of the GIS community.

Jason Carr, University of Idaho, announced he was the new chair of the Ortho-imagery TWG. Then he advised Liza had submitted some proposed standards to him for the TWG's review and input. A report would be provided at the next IGC meeting. The draft documents would be made available on the IGC TWG web page (http://www2.state.id.us/itrmc/committees/igc/twgs.htm).

Cadastral TWG Report
Mike Ciscell, IGC Cadastral and Geodetic Control TWG Co-Chair and Department of Water Resources, had sent Jonathan a draft standard pertaining to the sharing of cadastral data. Per Mike McDowell, Kootenai County, the draft document read well. He explained the standard was trying to frame how state and local agencies could go about making assessment data and maps available to other government agencies and on the Internet, taking into consideration statutory restrictions on, and provisions for, doing so. Mike M. read the five recommendations outlined in the document. The Association of County Assessors had not discussed the draft standard, though it had recently been e-mailed to all the assessors individually. Mike M. then relayed some concerns. Meeting attendees also expressed concerns and offered suggestions.

National Digital Orthophoto Program Steering Committee
Per Roger, Tony Kimmet of the NRCS contacted Nathan Bentley (State GIS Coordinator and Information Technology Resource Management Council [ITRMC] Staff) in a request for Idaho to host the next annual meeting of the National Digital Orthophoto Program (NDOP) Steering Committee, to be held October 5-7. Roger then discussed some meeting logistics with the group. In answer to a question from Liza, Roger mentioned some of the NDOP Steering Committee's responsibilities. Questions and/or comments can be directed to Nathan (nbentley@adm.idaho.gov, 332-1879) or Roger (roger.hirschman@id.usda.gov, 378 5785 ext. 1).

Committee Representatives
Jonathan introduced Sean Harwood, USDA Forest Service, who would be taking over as the U.S. Department of Agriculture representative on the IGC, in place of Roger.

Jonathan then addressed the issue of how other IGC members could switch representatives. For state agency representation, an annual election was held. The other groups could determine their own way of changing representation.

Both private representatives had resigned, and Jonathan asked the group for suggestions.

Meeting Format
Prompted by a note from Linda Davis, Department of Water Resources, Jonathan discussed concerns about the format of IGC meetings. Four to five-hour meetings had been suggested in the past, in order to make attendance worthwhile for out-of-town members traveling to Boise. The issue was discussed further and some suggestions were made, including teleconferencing out-of-towners. However, no agreement was reached on a new format.

Data Sharing MOU Addition
Tracy Fuller, U.S. Geological Survey, was requesting an IGC vote in support of the addition of language to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for sharing data via the Interactive Numeric and Spatial Information Data Engine for Idaho (INSIDE Idaho), Idaho's official geospatial data clearinghouse. The suggested language is as follows: "Idaho's statewide geospatial clearinghouse will function as a data access point for the USGS National MAP." After some discussion concerning the reasons for the request and the steps that would need to be taken for its approval, it was decided the issue should be considered by the state agencies involved. There was not a quorum present for a vote; however, there was general consensus in support of the added language. Liza suggested the requested change be distributed to the signers of the MOU for review.

New Business / Roundtable Discussion:
Mike M. discussed how various Idaho counties were looking very seriously at different ways of serving up information. Also, the Association of County Assessors was working on the development of a 'mapping manual' to be used as a reference tool for local governments. Lastly, Mike M. mentioned a three-county consortium (Canyon, Kootenai, and Payette Counties) was exploring an overall system migration to a much more integrative system with various GIS products.

An update on the Real Estate Information Technology Council Plan was given. (For background information, refer to http://www2.state.id.us/itrmc/committees/igc/minutes/m040311.htm#local.)

Dan Jensen, City of Idaho Falls, expressed concern about the length of the Idaho Geospatial Data Implementation Plan (I-Plan) (http://www2.state.id.us/itrmc/committees/igc.htm#I-Plan). His interest was in the IGC's vision, along with the visions of its technical working groups. Mike Beaty, USDI Bureau of Reclamation, mentioned the IGC was exploring how it could develop an outreach/promotional package. Unfortunately, the group did not have adequate resources to further/facilitate this effort. Liza pointed out that IGC technical working groups were open to participation, and so others could help develop TWG visions. Also, Dan could relay his concerns to the IGC via the committee's local government representatives; or he himself could possibly become an IGC and/or TWG member.

Said Sean, the USDA Forest Service (USFS) Intermountain Region office (Region 4), which includes southern Idaho, was in the process of mapping the Payette National Forest as part of a single edition quadrangle (SEQ) program. The office would also be involved in projects including the Boise, Sawtooth, and Caribou-Targhee National Forests within the next five years. On a related issue, Sean spoke about fringe quads, which concerned updating parts of quads that fall outside the forest boundary. He had been working with Nathan to get the data coordinated. Sean then explained the USFS Intermountain Region was also involved in development of an ArcIMS site to show travel access information. The Caribou-Targhee National Forest was a pilot. Sean answered some questions about this project.

Mike B. reported the U.S. Department of the Interior had identified funding in support of INSIDE Idaho. The Department was providing self-support to the NAIP, as well.

Karen Parsons, Idaho State Library (ISL), identified herself as Dr. Charles Bolles' designee. She then described how the ISL could play an outreach role with regard to GIS and the IGC, suggesting ISL could possibly build and make available to the public a GIS-related web page. In answer to a question from Liza regarding the use of personal computers once dedicated to redistricting information as a portal to INSIDE Idaho, Karen advised the equipment was dismantled following the completion of the redistricting project. She added the information seemed to be of low interest to the public, partially due to a change in ISL services that only allows for advisement of select resources. Also, recent security measures did not allow the public to save information downloaded from the Internet to disk. The creation of an electronic discussion forum was requested of Karen.

Liza pointed out that the Intermountain GIS Users' Conference, co-sponsored by the Montana GIS Users Group and the Northern Rockies chapter of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), would not be held in the future at the request of the Montana group. She felt it was an appropriate time for Idaho to consider its needs with regard to the way in which regional GIS information was delivered and acquired. Liza also wondered if the IGC was planning to consider developing Internet mapping standards for state agencies to facilitate the sharing of data. Additionally, she wondered how licenses for associated services could be optimized. This topic was discussed briefly.

Per Rich Elwood, ITRMC Staff, as a result of a vote taken by the Board of Examiners' subcommittee, the Department of Administration's request to enter into an agreement with the USDA Farm Service Agency for NAIP participation would be presented for Board approval on June 14.

In answer to a question from Bruce Godfrey of the University of Idaho Library, Rich advised Colonel Dan Charboneau, Idaho State Police and ITRMC, had agreed to serve as goal sponsor of the fourth goal outlined in the State Information Technology Strategic Plan (http://www2.state.id.us/itrmc/plan&policies/itplan.htm). Jonathan was a member of the committee assisting with implementation of this goal.

Next Meeting
There were no objections to the proposed meeting date and time: September 16, 2004, at 10:00 a.m. The location would be determined at a later date. A special meeting would most likely be held regarding the addition of suggested language to the data sharing MOU.

Adjourn
Jonathan adjourned the meeting at 11:45 a.m.