The City Of Oberlin
The city of Oberlin, Ohio is improving their data management by implementing Geographic Information Systems to capture 30 years of legacy data
The Challenge
The city of Oberlin, Ohio, recognized the need to utilize technology to efficiently manage commercial, industrial, academic, utility, and residential developments in their community. Oberlin reached out to the experts at Davey Resource Group, Inc. (DRG) for help with their Geographic Information Systems, or GIS. This tool will allow Oberlin to circumvent current problems such as capturing data from changing staff on a platform that is easily accessible and intelligible.
The Solution
The GIS/IT staff at DRG inventoried over 30 years worth of legacy data, including documents, CAD drawings, and plans for the city’s infrastructure, and created a folder-architecture to organize the information. DRG’s balanced approach to designing and implementing a GIS program respects the municipal budget and quickly starts to produce operational and cost benefits.
System access will be open to all city personnel and will include useful information layers like roadways, addresses, parcel data, sanitary sewers, water mains, storm sewers, aerial photographs, streams, lakes, stormwater management facilities, and storm sewer outfalls. DRG’s GIS/IT staff will train city personnel to utilize the GIS systems to review infrastructure, zoning, recreation areas, development, and more without leaving their desk to search for paper records.
The Result
Once completed, Oberlin’s GIS system will facilitate the acquisition, storage, and management of data pools in relationship with geographic mapping. The resulting map products will enable complex data to be understood and disseminated quickly. As such, Oberlin will be able to make a vast amount of data available to the public upon request. The system will also provide a way to preserve institutional knowledge as municipal administrations and staff change over time.
*Oberlin aerial image provided by oberlin.edu