Revere acquires GIS mapping for its 14,000 parcels, utilities

REVERE - A recent water main break in the Beachmont area was fixed in record time thanks to the combination of 20th-century metal detector technology and $480,000 worth of 21st-century Geographic Information System mapping innovation.

In a matter of minutes, Public Works employees were able to log on to the GIS system online, retrieve a digital map outlining the city's 128 miles of water pipes, isolate the break and the valve, use a metal detector to pinpoint the location, and finally dig the spot to fix the problem, said Revere Finance Director George M. Anzuoni.

Had the workers been relying solely on the metal detector and the city's paper maps, some as old as 1909, it would have probably taken them hours and several digs before they pinpointed the break, Anzuoni said.

"So it saves money," he said. "It's definitely a more efficient tool to use than just poking around trying to read old maps."

Efficiency is one of the benefits city officials expect the new GIS technology to bring. By digitizing the more than 14,000 parcels in the city, as well as all utility infrastructure, the GIS program will act as a one-stop shop of information for city workers and anyone with online access.

"What it is, is really an electronic file cabinet so that all the information now is in one place," said Anzuoni, who is in charge of the city's computer systems upgrade and the GIS implementation. "We don't have to go back and rely on anybody's memory."

Revere is the latest community to jump into the GIS wave, which is paid for with a $480,000 loan the city acquired from the state Department of Environmental Protection. It is something city officials have been working on since 2003, when the state Department of Revenue expressed concern over the accuracy of the city's parcel mapping due to the use of the old maps. As part of an agreement with the Department of Revenue that allowed Revere to spread out the property revaluation process over four years, instead of one year, Revere officials were required to have GIS mapping in place by 2008, Anzuoni said.

The task of putting the city's scattered information together fell to consultants from Cambridge-based Camp Dresser & McKee Inc. (CDM).

"When we first started the project we had over 4,000 old paper maps that existed in half a dozen city departments," said Robert O. Button, principal at CDM. "Over maybe a 20-year period history, a lot of the information had been kept in some departments, but not updated in others. So we brought everybody up to 2008 in terms of having the same information."

The Web-based application is available only to city employees, many of whom are still being trained on how to use it. But the system could be available to the public by Dec. 1 through the city's website, Anzuoni said. After attending a demonstration session, City Councilor at Large John R. Correggio said he was impressed.

"As a resident, I'd want to compare valuations with other houses," Correggio said. "It saves a lot of the legwork of going to the location and looking through old maps."

Much of the critical infrastructure information, such as utility pipe mapping and the location of underground hazardous material storage tanks, will be password-protected and accessible only to certain city officials, not the public, said Stephen Keen, project manager and group leader at CDM. The public will be able to access property information and maps online, Keen said.

"It'll be much more detailed information than they can access here," said Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino. "Second, the entire upgrade of our system will help residents because eventually the goal is to allow for more online servicing."

The only online service now available to residents is the payment of parking tickets.

"One of the key things in cities and towns is you get sort of the old-timer that worked in the DPW yard for 40 years, and all of a sudden they're retiring and now there's no history," Button said. "There's sort of no remembrance of some of the things that were done over the years. Now at least we've captured everything from this point on moving forward. We're back-filling as much as we can in information and hopefully, going ahead, you won't have data gaps that you would otherwise."

Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com