Ed Eberle, Administrator of the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DOA) Division of Intergovernmental Relations, sent a letter yesterday to the Wisconsin land information community responding to feedback on the agency’s proposed Planning Process Framework document for Wisconsin counties. The DOA had earlier asked for input from the geospatial community by July 11, 2014.
Eberle’s letter indicates that organizations that provided feedback were generally supportive of an allocation of $50,000 in strategic funding eligibility to counties and the concept of county benchmarks or performance measures. The letter states that the DOA plans to move forward with the proposal. In addition, based on recommendations from the community, the DOA plans to create a Parcel Initiative Advisory Committee in the fall of 2014.
Questions about the Planning Process Framework document and DOA’s plans can be addressed to Mike Friis, WLIP program manager (608-267-7982), or Peter Herreid (608-267-3369).
The full text of the letter is provided below.
July 23, 2014
Dear Land Information Stakeholders,
Thank you for your interest in the Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP). In keeping with our commitment to engage stakeholders in the Statewide Parcel Map Initiative, the Department of Administration sought feedback from the geospatial community on the Statewide Parcel Map Initiative – Planning Process Framework document.
Although further input is welcome at any time, by the date we set of July 11th, we received letters of feedback from the entities listed below. They are posted on the Parcel Initiative webpage.
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- LION – Land Information Officers Network
- SAGIC – State Agency Geographic Information Committee
- WCSA – Wisconsin County Surveyors Association
- WIGICC – Wisconsin Geographic Information Coordinating Council
- WLIA – Wisconsin Land Information Association
- WRDA – Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association
- WSLS – Wisconsin Society of Land Surveyors
- Counties – Bayfield, Brown, and Vernon counties
These thoughtful letters had much in common. Importantly, the organizations who wrote expressed general support for the Planning Process Framework and the Strategic Initiative grant concept of allocating $50k in annual strategic funding eligibility to each county (in addition to Base Budget grant funding). There was also general support for county benchmarks or performance measures.
Although no grant funding decisions have been finalized, we plan to move forward on this basis of support for the Planning Process Framework. One suggestion we will enact is to form a Statewide Parcel Map Initiative advisory team. Over the course of the next year, we plan to engage the community at this and other points in the process, including but not limited to the following milestones:
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- September 2014 – Release of WLIP Report, with results of 2014 WLIP county survey and county expenditure reporting
- September-October 2014 – Version 1 Statewide Parcel Map Project request for parcel data
- October 1, 2014 – Release of 2014 Base Budget and Training & Education grant applications
- Fall 2014 – Parcel Initiative Advisory Committee to be formed
- Early 2015 – County land information plan instructions update
- 2014-2015 – County site visits: Grant Administrator Peter Herreid has joined eight county land information council meetings in the last month and has several more visits scheduled for the coming weeks. Staff intends to visit each county to better understand how the WLIP functions at the ground level.
While the letters had much in common, there were also unique points expressed by individual groups and counties. For example, LION requested transparency in annual WLIP expenditures. Surveyors emphasized that the basis for accurate parcel mapping is the Public Land Survey System.
Although we will need to balance the legislative priorities, the individual recommendations expressed in these letters from each stakeholder group will help guide us moving forward. We appreciate this sort of constructive dialogue and welcome such input in the future. From your feedback, we recognize that you seek to be actively involved in the Parcel Initiative planning process and we repeat that we strive to maintain two-way communication with stakeholders throughout.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Mike Friis, WLIP program manager (608-267-7982), or Peter Herreid (608-267-3369). Thank you for the work you do every day with land information. We look forward to our continued collaboration.
Sincerely,
/s/
Ed Eberle, Administrator