New asset management specialist outlines GIS cleanup, lead-and-copper work and plan to build an asset platform

Sharon Lu, the village’s recently hired asset management specialist, presented an overview of her first five months on the job and outlined priorities to clean utility GIS data, support lead-and-copper reporting and build an integrated asset-management platform.

Sharon described asset management as "the coordinated practice of managing physical assets and technologies to minimize the cost of owning and operating them while delivering the service level customers desire." She said her immediate work has focused on the lead-and-copper (LCRR) data cleanup, correcting meter and service-location data in GIS, and creating new datasets such as street lighting and traffic signals.

Sharon said the village received a DNR warning related to the lead-and-copper rule and that the utility needs improved data linkage between the GIS and accounting systems to meet reporting requirements. She identified several data problems: constrained access because a third party manages the GIS database, latency from a complex system architecture, poor-quality records (for example, storm pipe mapped to sanitary manholes), and dataset deficiencies for highways and engineering.

To address those issues she proposed short-term fixes and longer-term changes: field verification using interns, continued cleanup of meter and curb-stop locations, evaluating alternative GIS systems to gain data autonomy, and researching asset-management software that can integrate with GIS and work-order tracking. Sharon said the village does not yet have asset-management software and that achieving a system that integrates GIS, work orders and performance tracking is a multi-step process.

Committee members and staff discussed the third-party consultant that currently manages the GIS. The firm named in the meeting transcript was referred to in several ways; Sharon and staff said the current arrangement is effectively year-to-year and that the village should evaluate the consultant’s scope when the contract is renewed. Director Matt said the new in-house position makes it sensible to reevaluate the relationship with the GIS consultant so the village can gain more control and allow future integrations.

No formal action was taken; the item was discussion only. Committee members asked to have updates returned to the committee as progress is made and suggested Sharon review the consultant scope in advance of any renewal.