City of Shelton, Tier 4 AWC GIS Consortium member since 2020, is using the AWC GIS Consortium to implement a geographic information system (GIS), creating value across multiple city departments. We sat down with Jay Harris, Public Works Director, to learn more.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Tell us about Shelton. What’s it like there?

We’re a city of around 10,000 people. There’s a lot of development going on here, and some growing pains associated with that development. It’s a beautiful community, but it’s going to change a lot over the next 20 years as more and more people discover it.

What is Shelton accomplishing through the AWC GIS Consortium?

A lot. When I started working at the city a year ago, we didn’t have a GIS, but at my previous job with a different city we had a very robust GIS system. So, when I heard that the [AWC GIS] Consortium had GIS services at a really reasonable rate, I spoke with the city manager and the community development director, and we determined that we needed to start the implementation of GIS here at the city. We’ve gone from no GIS ability to having a lot of cleaned-up data ready to go in maps we can use so we’re able to do our jobs more easily.

Has the AWC GIS Consortium created value for Shelton’s city staff?

Yes, significant value. Having the GIS maps all together is huge. For me in public works, I can track and analyze assets much more easily. All this important information is available to me with the click of a button—whether it’s current or historical information—and we didn’t have that before.

For internal uses right now, GIS is very, very valuable. The goal is to get some external maps up soon so the public can benefit from all this work. Right now, we’re still fixing and changing a lot of things, but in the near future we will make it available to the public.

Another one of our goals that will create a lot of value is updating our maps in the field so they’re more accurate. We’re bringing out some GPS specialists through the Consortium to train city field staff on how to modify the location of different assets when they’re out in the field. This is going to be really important in building an accurate database.

The city where I was previously had a system where there was a technician whose job it was to be in the office and input the GIS information that came in from the field. It’s not the same, and is less accurate, as when you’re able to update information in real time in the field, where you’re much more likely to get it accurate and verify it on site. Now we have 3–4 people out there performing these updates as they go to different job sites. It is just a game changer compared to having one person sitting in-house trying to keep up with everything everyone is sending them.

Another exciting project is digitizing our as-built construction plans. Before, they were all analog files. Six thousand sheets of dusty, misfiled paper that no one looked at because they were difficult to use. Right now, we have them in at a scanning service, and one of the projects in the next couple months is to take those as-builts and start attaching them into the GIS system in the locations where the as-builts’ projects exist.

That will be very valuable for the field users, and will help them to do their jobs better, as they’ll have those actual construction plans with them right on a tablet in the field for everyday use. They won’t have to go back to the office to try to find them.

What would you say to another Washington city or town considering joining the AWC GIS Consortium?

As budget allows, joining the Consortium is a very important move to make. I’m very passionate about budgeting for things like this, so I’d be happy to speak to anyone who has questions about what the program is like, especially if they need help budgeting for membership. There’s a lot to consider. You need to think about a long-term plan if you want to be really successful.

Jay Harris can be reached at james.harris@sheltonwa.gov, or 360-432-5125.

Questions about the AWC GIS Consortium or ready to get started with membership? Contact gis@awcnet.org.