<div class="Content"><p class="indent">JENNINGS — Municipalities and economic development officials in Jeff Davis Parish are working together to implement a new geographic information system that can digitally preserve vital data about the parish.</p><p class="indent">The GIS system will allow multiple layers of useful information and data for local properties to be displayed on a digital map from any computer. The system will also allow users to see street views and find information on transportation, highways, voting precincts, council districts, zoning and land use, parks and more. Locations of utilities, pipelines, flood zones and elevation can also be found.</p><p class="indent">“Jeff Davis Parish is a very paper-based parish; you don’t have a large digital file,” consultant Kathryn Fenstermaker of C.H. Fenstermaker and Associates of Lafayette told police jurors Wednesday.</p><p class="indent">The system could also be used by law enforcement to conduct raids or investigations by providing aerial imagery and property information.</p><p class="indent">“The uses are wide and vary for GIS,” Fenstermaker said. “I think everyone in the parish will benefit from it and find a use for it.”</p><p class="indent">The GIS system will enable the parish to convert the paper information into a digital file and aerial images, she said.</p><p class="indent">“This is good for economic development purposes, when people from outside the parish are trying to get a window in to the parish and what is available,” Fenstermaker said.</p><p class="indent">The images and data can easily be viewed and shared so that “all of the United States and the world can have a window into Jeff Davis Parish,” she said.</p><p class="indent">Police Juror Steve Eastman said the GIS mapping system has already been useful for investors and tax assessors assessing property values in other parishes.</p><p class="indent">Fenstermaker said one of the biggest benefits of the GIS is reducing foot traffic for some offices.</p><p class="indent">Since implementing GIS programs in Calcasieu Parish, many government offices have reduced their public foot traffic by 70 percent, which has increased efficiency of some offices, she said.</p><p class="indent">The cost for the proposed base map package for the parish is $25,000 with a $10,500 annual recurring fee for hosting and maintenance. Custom feature labor cost is $150 an hour with the cost of some premium feature options being waived.</p><p class="indent">The cost would be divided among the partners. Partners currently involved in the project include the Economic Development Office, Sheriff’s Office, Jennings, Welsh, Lake Arthur, School Board and Jeff Davis Co-op.</p></div><div class="Lead"> </div>
<strong>‘I think everyone in the parish will benefit from it (GIS) and find a use for it.’</strong>
<strong>Kathryn Fenstermaker</strong>
C.H. Fenstermaker and Associates
