County hears presentation on new mapping software system

The Vernon County Commissioners heard a proposal from William Fok of Pictometry International, a company that provides aerial imaging. Fok said his company is unique in the way it obtains the images, the type of images they take and the way the software presents the images.

"We don't just do aerial imaging," Fok said. "The imaging comes along with intelligent software. We use a patented system to take the pictures and our software can present the images in a variety of ways that allow you to use them for assessment, public safety and other uses you may find for it."

Fok stressed that the company entered into a license agreement with the county that allows any political subdivision under it to use the data also.

"It's a county-wide license," Fok said. "Any subdivision such as a city inside the country can use the data."

Northern Commissioner Neal Gerster asked if the license included townships.

"Any political subdivision, including townships come under the license," Fok said. "In addition it's a protective license. Many times when a political entity subject to open records laws purchases something like this people demand copies of the images but with this license you can just send them to us."

Fok explained that insurance companies often wanted the aerial pictures to help evaluate the damage suffered after a catastrophic event and that the license allowed Pictometry to sell them the pictures and share the revenue with the contracting political division.

"We have a relationship with many of the large insurance carriers," Fok said. "That gives you the opportunity to have a revenue return when we sell the pictures. We can even add the G.I.S. data and act as agents for you to sell the data to interested companies nationwide."

Every two years the company would retake the pictures county wide.

"Aerial photography is like milk, it has a limited shelf life," Fok said. "Any county that is experiencing growth needs frequent updating. A development can come in with new roads and it could cause a problem finding the right road. A policeman or firefighter could be used to a certain road being three roads past a certain landmark and if a development went in it could throw off the count. If they had a laptop in the vehicle they could enter the address and find the right road quickly."

Fok said the company tried to make the software easy to use with all the features a county might need whether they were looking at assessments or public safety concerns.

"We tried to make this easy to use," Fok said. "Instead of limiting the features and charging extra for those you might need we give them all to you, within reason."

Presiding Commission-er Bonnie McCord said she was impressed both with the way the information is presented in the software and with the comparatively low price.

"I was excited when I heard about this but I didn't see any way we could afford it," McCord said. "This price isn't that much more than the orthogonal pictures we were thinking of and it seems to be a much better way to view the information."

The price of the service depends on the area of the county and how much of that would be covered with the higher resolution neighborhood view which requires many more pictures per square mile than the standard view. Fok said that a rough estimate would be $50,000 for a two year license, which could be paid in two installments.. After the two-year period the license would become perpetual and the pictures would stay with the county.