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The Vermont Statutes Online



Title

10

:
Conservation and Development






Chapter

008

:
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION











 

§

123. Powers and duties

(a) [Repealed.]

(b) The purposes

of the Center shall be to:

(1) assure that

all VGIS data are of high quality and are compatible with, useful to, and

shared with other public-sector and private-sector data users;

(2) encourage the

same high standards of quality and compatibility in other Vermont GIS

cooperators;

(3) promote the

efficient development and use of geographic information by agencies of the

State, its political subdivisions, Vermont businesses and citizens;

(4) facilitate

the growth of commercial services within Vermont for the provision of spatial

data, products, and services.

(c) Within the

limits of available resources, the Center shall operate a program of standards

development, data dissemination, and quality assurance, and shall perform the

following duties:

(1) Provide or

ensure provision of geographic information products and services to Vermont

citizens, to local and regional planning organizations, to State government, to

the federal government, and to private businesses and industries.

(2) Develop

procedures for access to the VGIS. Those procedures shall ensure that VGIS data

are readily available for the purposes of 24 V.S.A. chapter 117, as well as for

the support of efficient and economical geographic analysis and decision making

by government, business, and citizens of Vermont, at a reasonable cost and in

reasonable forms.

(3) Develop,

publish, maintain, and implement such VGIS standards as are necessary to assure

that data are compatible with, useful to, and shared with all users of VGIS

data, including geographic data standards relating to scale, accuracy, coding,

documentation, data format, and physical media.

(4) In

developing relevant policies, procedures, and standards, seek the consultation

of institutions of higher learning, local government, local and regional

planning, private business and industry, and other members of the public with

an interest in or knowledge of GIS technology.

(5) For all

geographic data that are or may be useful to the Center's users, and that have

been collected by any part of State government or generated with State support,

ensure that such data:

(A) Are

developed and maintained so as to conform to VGIS standards.

(B) Upon request

of a potential user, are actually made available to the user in a usable format

in accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 315 relating to access to public records and

related statutes.

(C) Are stored

and distributed in a manner which will limit the disclosure of data containing

individual identifiers to disclosure consented to by the individuals in the

data.

(6) Assist in

assessing VGIS financial needs and resources for cooperating State agencies,

evaluating the adequacy of those financial resources to meet the goals of the

three-year VGIS work plan, and developing alternate sources of revenue for VGIS

data acquisition.

(7) Enter into

memoranda of understanding, form contracts, and enter cooperative agreements

for the development, acquisition, maintenance, distribution, and marketing of

GIS data.

(8) Include in any

contract for electronic products and services provisions that:

(A) Protect the

security and integrity of VGIS information and of information systems that are

shared by public agencies.

(B) Indemnify or

limit the liability, if any, of the State of Vermont.

(9) Notify the

State Librarian of the electronic services and products offered to the public.

The notification must include a summary of the available format options and the

cost of such products and services.

(10) Retain

archive copies and act as a distributor for any State agency, as well as for

other public and private entities, which prepares GIS data or electronic

products which are compatible with, useful to, and shared with VGIS.

(11) Assist the

Secretary of Administration, of Transportation, of Natural Resources, of Human

Services, and of Commerce and Community Development, and the commissioner or

director of State departments and offices not within these agencies in the

identification of information gathered within the respective agency, department,

or office which is relevant to Vermont's GIS. Working in cooperation with each

organization that identifies such information, the Center shall include

components within the three-year VGIS work plan. Such cooperation may include:

(A) Formulation

of a "memorandum of understanding" between the organization and the

Center, setting out roles and the relationship between the parties;

(B) Periodic

meetings to identify opportunities for improvement of VGIS information and

applications gathered or used by the organization;

(C)

Identification of funding strategies, technical procedures, data conversion

plans, and application development projects in which the Center can be of

assistance to the organization.

(12) Provide to

regional planning commissions, State agencies, and the general public

orthophotographic imagery of the State at a scale appropriate for the

production and revision of town property maps. Periodically, such digital

imagery shall be updated to capture land use changes, new settlement patterns,

and such additional information as may have become available to the Director or

the Center.

(A) The Center

shall supply to each town such orthophotographic imagery as has been prepared

by it of the total area of that town. Any image shall be available, without

charge, for public inspection in the office of the town clerk to whom the

imagery was supplied.

(B) At a

reasonable charge to be established by the Center and the Director, the Center

shall supply to any person or agency other than a town clerk or lister a copy

of any digital format orthophotographic imagery created under this section.

(C) Hard copy or

nondigital format orthophotographic imagery created under this section shall be

available for public review at the State Archives.

(d) The Center

may provide specialized information or perform specialized services if these

activities:

(1) Contribute

to achieving the purposes of the Center as stated in subsection (b) of this

section;

(2) Are pursued

in partnership with the private sector; and

(3) Are performed

without cost to the taxpayer and all direct and indirect costs of obtaining

these products and services are incurred by the customer or others.

(e) [Repealed.]  (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff.

June 17, 1994; amended 1995, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 1996;

2013, No. 34, § 5; 2013, No. 179 (Adj. Sess.), § E.800.2, eff. March 30, 2015;

2015, No. 57, § 36, eff. June 11, 2015.)