Orange County NC Website
DRAFT <br />Orange County Land Records <br />GIS <br />P O Box 8181 <br />Hillsborough, NC 27278 <br />January 8, 2003 <br />MEMORANDUM <br />To: Rod Visser, Assistant County Manager <br />From: Roscoe Reeve, Land Records/GIS Director <br />Subject: Orthophoto Project <br />In 1984 and 1998 the County obtained orthophotos (computer rectified aerial <br />photography) to serve as an accurate base for its property maps. The 84 orthophotos were <br />on mylar and the 98 orthophotos were digital. They have proved to be a valuable resource <br />for government offices, land professionals and citizens. <br />In both projects the municipalities, OWASA and UNC participated in a Fair Share <br />cooperative effort contracting with the County through inter-local agreements to obtain <br />enhanced orthophotos (larger scale) and other GIS products. By financial contributions of <br />the participants the cost to the County was reduced and because of wide participation a <br />better price was obtained from vendors. <br />In 2000-2001 we began to prepare for the next updating of the orthophotos to keep its <br />value current as a resource for the main offices that use photography: Planning, ERCD, <br />Assessor, EMS, Environmental Health and Land Records/GIS. Important projects such as <br />school site search, addressing and development impact have been greatly enhanced by the <br />use of orthophotos on GIS. Funds were approved in the CIP for aerial photography but <br />funds have not been approved for orthophotos. <br />In November of 2002 the Town of Chapel Hill decided to go ahead with the Orthophoto <br />project to obtain new orthophotos for their area. They developed, with my participation, <br />an RFP with options that would allow the County to obtain aerial photography and <br />orthophotos if it desires, taking advantage of a larger scope project. If the County does <br />not wish to participate, after reviewing the vendor responses, the Town hopes we will <br />contribute to the aerial photography for the Town project.