County wins GIS award

Jeff Green | May 15, 2014

North Frontenac also unveils new mapping services

Kevin Farrel, the Global Informations Systems (GIS) specialist for Frontenac County, attended the annual Urban and Regional Information Systems Association-Ontario (URISA) meeting that was held in Guelph in late April.

It was fitting that he was there because the interactive mapping system that he built, Frontenacmaps.ca, led to Frontenac County winning the URISA gold award in the category of Best Public Sector GIS this year.

Since its launch Frontenacmaps has been in a continual state of improvement, with new, easy to apply layers being added over time. This past March, the launch of the mobile version of Frontenacmaps brought the service to users on the go, whether driving, hiking, or skiing in the increasingly Internet-connected county. The mapping includes aerial imagery that was generated in 2008, but by the end of this year imagery gathered in 2013 will be in place.

According to a Frontenac County press release, Frontenacmaps is well used for township and county operations.

“GIS is used every day by the county to create efficiencies for Frontenac Paramedic Services, planning, economic development and emergency management and by the townships to support the needs of planning, building, recreation and public works,” the release said.

Frontenac County Warden, Bud Clayton, said, “The county’s investment in GIS is proving valuable across our region, both for private citizens and in our township and county operations. We are proud to have one of the most sophisticated and accessible GIS systems in rural Ontario.”

In addition to the gold award for the county, North Frontenac IT technician Evan Sepa presented some of the specific applications that North Frontenac has put the base mapping to for its staff and the public, through Northfrontenac.com.

“We are very well developed in the area of online mapping and continue to grow with a number of plans to implement this effective and easy-to-use platform for distributing public information,” said Sepa.

The website includes a road works and road conditions map, a map of public facilities and resources. At the connected gis.northfrontenac.com extension to the township site a number of popular features are available, including: a cemetery viewer – where it is possible to search for cemetery plots, the deceased, and retrieve photos of headstones; an AFN Land Claim Map – which shows the areas in North Frontenac included in the Draft Algonquin Land Claim Descriptive Plan; and the Wireless Services Map – showing the towers across North Frontenac and those which provide wireless services.

North Frontenac also has a wall-sized map of the township available at the township office for $8.