Project Overview
Upon completion of the municipality’s SRPR which identified projects eligible for grant funding, T&M was requested by the Borough to begin the development of GIS to help the community plan for and respond to future storm events. The system integrates databases (e.g., stormwater outfall inventories) with georeferenced spatial data to equip local emergency management teams with the tools needed for high fidelity risk assessment and decision making.
The data was collected from multiple sources including CAD, paper and field verified GPS coordinate data, which was converted into different feature classes and layers to create a seamless GIS individualized for the community.
As a result of the quality GIS developed by our team, the Township was one of two municipalities selected by NJDCA to participate in a Regional GIS Pilot project currently being undertaken by University of Notre Dame with support from the University of Buffalo.
One of the features of the Borough’s GIS is the Index Point Mapping System (IPMS) and Planning Visualization Maps. This new planning tool developed by T&M planners, identifies suitable areas for affordable housing development in municipalities. Planning Visualization Maps and the related point system, provides a visual representation of areas of the community showing a high degree of sustainability and resiliency.
The IPMS has many innovative applications and uses which can incorporate a variety of information utilized by the Borough. It is highly flexible and enables policymakers and members of the Borough to easily visualize and evaluate complex planning issues such as sustainability, resiliency and risk. It can be used to form the development of various plans, including, but not limited to, housing plans, floodplain management plans, hazard mitigation plans, land use plans and strategic recovery plans. It can also be embedded into various local ordinances (e.g., floodplain management and zoning ordinances), and facilitate the planning of capital investments at the local and regional levels.
