GIS director outlines county mapping services, flood‑map updates and cloud migration

Lincoln County's geographic information system (GIS) office presented an overview March 4 of current mapping services, recent work and planned technology upgrades that county staff said support permitting, equalization and emergency response.

John Peters, director of geographic information services, told commissioners the office maintains more than 300 datasets including parcels, addresses, roads, voting districts and soils, and that the county's public parcel browser receives roughly 10,000 hits per month. "We maintain and develop the county digital mapping data," Peters said. "The parcel browser is the main go‑to; you can get that on our website."

Peters explained the county consumes recurring high‑resolution aerial imagery from a vendor (Pictometry) and retains multiple years of imagery for change detection and assessment work. He demonstrated the parcel browser's layered maps — voting districts, school and commissioner districts, right‑of‑way and culvert inventories, rural service and TIF districts, and an updated PLSS (Public Land Survey System) layer — and described internal applications used by equalization, planning and highway departments.

On flood mapping, Peters said FEMA has restarted work to update preliminary flood maps using 2020 LIDAR data and that the new maps may become effective in about two years. He noted the county has been using the 2018 FEMA data as the best available and that the office has sought public feedback during the FEMA comment process.

Peters described recent technical work completed in 2024: parcel and subdivision rectification that raised accuracy from about 90% to 98% in many areas; rebuilding the geodatabase and web maps after software versioning conflicts; and achieving 99% NextGen 911 data conformity after a six‑year effort. He said regular maintenance and Pictometry flights (next planned for 2026) support equalization and permitting.

Looking ahead, Peters said GIS will migrate to an enterprise (cloud) architecture, rebuild the parcel browser using the software's Experience Builder, move to a Pictometry Cloud Explorer for dynamic imagery updates, and continue coordination with IT to improve security and redundancy. He said the county has contracted a consultant experienced with Esri migrations to assist with the transition.

Commissioners asked how many counties have similar capabilities; Peters said many counties now operate GIS services and some district offices serve multiple counties, but Lincoln County's system is comparatively robust. He also described data‑sharing with 911, equalization, towns and regional partners.

The presentation emphasized GIS as an internal and public resource that supports day‑to‑day county operations and longer‑term planning; Peters invited commissioners and the public to visit the GIS office and to use the parcel browser and other hosted services.