XMap at Work
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 form DeLorme, the town’s representatives decided that XMap 5.2 GIS Editor would meet 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 is 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 and 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 who have recognized the value in efficiently managing critical municipal assets and have not been deterred by their modest size. The lesson learned form this example id the if Westport Island can successfully adopt and apply GIS technology, there is no reason why towns of a similar size cannot do the same.
