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<br /> an established recreational site at Bey- feet away. "We don't anticipate any a buffer between the skate park and
<br /> er Community Park, Modesto was noise problems," Rubcic says. the residents.
<br /> able to feed off existing amenities as Since noise can pose problems,
<br /> well as site recognition. many parks departments do not build THE DESIGN TEAM
<br /> Hollister, Calif., chose a site close recreational facilities close to neigh- Because many parks planners are
<br /> to a roadway for the Hollister Skate borhoods. However, in Grand Junc- not familiar with skate park group features,
<br /> Park, which should be completed by tion, one of residents requested designing g P q g g one presents a unique
<br /> next spring, according to David Rub- that the skate park be built in their opportunity for young people and
<br /> cic, associate engineer for the city. neighborhood at a neglected drainage adults to work together, Lemcke says.
<br /> The facility is being built at Veterans area. The fact that the site had no "I had no idea how to build a skate i
<br /> Memorial Park, which already has sewer utilities and, thus, no restroom park," he says. "I really relied on the
<br /> drainage facilities and restrooms. facilities, added to the $223,000 con- kids' expertise."
<br /> Although the park is in a residential struction cost. Park planners also 1
<br /> area, the closest house is about 600 included heavy landscaping to serve as Continued on p. 70
<br /> f
<br /> PARKS & RECREATION
<br /> GIS helps Boise beef up arks management
<br /> p g
<br /> S race 1990, Boise, Idaho, has grown rapidly, creating ,
<br /> an escalating demand for parks and recreational facil- i' d
<br /> ities. With 80 city -owned parks totaling more than 2,000 - _____
<br /> {
<br /> acres, the Parks and Recreation Department had difficul-
<br /> ty managing inventory, maintenance and budgeting for j ___
<br /> each of its sites. In March 1999, the department imple- y _ - -
<br /> mented a G1S -based tool that allows it to manage its
<br /> 1-:::- _ _ 1
<br /> properties more efficiently. _
<br /> Prior to developing the GIS, the city used two tabular`
<br /> database systems for parks facility maintenance and man-
<br /> agement; the Project Inventory Management System "`. "` _-
<br /> tracked the status of maintenance items,`and the Preven- " ; 'S ' <- —1 " 1-7-1 °"_ '°rr' ',y'. —'}
<br /> �."
<br /> tive Maintenance ,Management System tracked the — .w.." . -_ , n 40,1, 11 ,N
<br /> financial ramifications of facility maintenance. Those Boise is using a GIS -based system to track parks inventory,
<br /> databa.Ps were stored in large, notebooks that were diffi- location, maintenance and general use.
<br /> cult to update and handle As 'iesult, division managers
<br /> often did not have the information they needed for piled data across the entire parks system for city-wide use
<br /> ordering supplies or budgeting for capital improvements. in maintenance, planning and other functions. Each
<br /> Recognizing the Inefficiencies of that approach, the division is responsible for updating that information,
<br /> department contracted with Spatial Dynamics, a local which can be accessed only by authorized staff. For
<br /> GIS consulting firm, to develop a GIS -based Parks Infor- example, when forestry workers plant a tree, they locate _
<br /> mation Management System or GeoPIMS. it on the park map and enter information on type and
<br /> The first task in designing the system` was to describe planting date into the database. Similarly, if infrastruc-
<br /> and compile the data used by the department's various ture workers replace a sink in a restroom, they update
<br /> divisions, including Horticulture, Forestry, Infrastructure the database. (Backup mechanisms have been estab-
<br /> and Plannin ' The information was gathered b
<br /> g g by inter- lished to protect the integrity of the data from human
<br /> viewing division managers and obtaining copies of paper errors.)
<br /> forms used by each division for tracking items and tasks. The system is based on a custom ArcView application,
<br /> Using that data, Boise conducted a pilot study of a sin- which supports the direct import of GPS data, GIS data
<br /> gle park. The first data layer identified the surface (i.e., and AutoCAD files. As new parks and features are
<br /> turf, asphalt, concrete) for the park and the correspond- developed, the staff can integrate the information direct-
<br /> ing purpose (soccer, parking, walkway). Parks and Recre- ly into the system. By using GIS technology as the foun-
<br /> ation staff then used GPS equipment to locate and char- dation for its management operations, the parks depart-
<br /> acterize other items such as signs, picnic tables and trash ment is able to generate fast, visual responses to database
<br /> receptacles. Data on the structural components and con- queries across the entire parks department. *
<br /> dition of each item was recorded along with its spatial
<br /> location. This article was written by Trevor Adams, operations
<br /> After completing the pilot study and refining the manager, and Patti Murphy, community relations coordina-
<br /> database design and applications, staff members com- tor for Boise Parks & Recreation.
<br /> AMERICAN CITY & COUNTY October 1999 63
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