Town Of North Hempstead; Port North Install GIS Mapping Project

NORTH HEMPSTEAD, NY--A joint Geographic Informational System (GIS) mapping and inventory project has been completed, North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth, the Town Board and Port Washington North Village Mayor Bob Weitzner announced Tuesday via a press release.

The system will provide Highway Department officials a central database of all roads and surface features, including roadways, sidewalks, hydrants, signs and street lighting. It will also allow employees to assess the condition and age of the structures and estimate maintenance costs and depreciation.

Theoretically, a North Hempstead resident could call 311 to alert the Highway Department that a street sign is missing. Instead of the employee having to leave and physically survey what's missing, the GIS database will tell them which sign is needed. They can then head to the site to install it, saving time and money.

“This mapping and inventory project will enable the Town to respond quicker to maintenance issues and to better assess the condition of our roadways," Bosworth said.

A $270,000 Local Government Efficiency Program grant from the New York State Department of State was used to fund the GIS. Town and Village governments hope the project will improve inter-municipal government efficiency, boost citizen engagement, and lead to savings on taxpayer dollars.

The Town of North Hempstead has over 300 miles of roads, while the Village of Port Washington North has roughly 10. Transmap, an Ohio-based company, captured the data.

"Any tool that can assist with our inventorying and rating of our assets will be immensely valuable to our planning and budgeting process," Robert Weitzner, mayor of Port Washington North, said. "Since we have a fully functional GIS system in place, we will be able to take full advantage of the data that is created by this project. Ultimately, this will save our Village time and money."