Surveying, Mapping and GIS

Last week, I attended a discussion session sponsored by the Pennsylvania Mapping and GIS Consortium (PaMAGIC) and facilitated by John Palatiello, regarding standing up a Geospatial Coordination Council as a formal governmental advisory body for Pennsylvania. This is not a new concept, it is something that PaMAGIC has been pursuing for several years, it has been discussed several times prior at the PA GIS Conference, and has been introduced in the legislature several times, in various incarnations. It was last introduced in 2007-2008 by Representative Russ Fairchild as House Bill 1304.

The discussion session was held at the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors' office just outside Harrisburg, and roughly 60 people attended in person and by phone - an excellent cross section of state government, county and local government, private sector, utilities and others. I did not, however, see any representation by the Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors or Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers. Similarly, I do not see a spot designated on the proposed Council for these organizations.

I have posted two documents - one is a summary of the meeting, the second is the newest version of the proposed bill - the GIS community is invited to provide comment, by the end of this week, to PaMAGIC President Glenn McNichol, gmcnichol -at- dvrpc.org.