Waynesville staff outlines move from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro, seeks three-year cloud enterprise agreement

Waynesville staff presented a proposal Sept. 9 to convert the town’s mapping system from Esri’s legacy ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro and to adopt a small‑local‑government cloud enterprise agreement covering roughly three years.

The switch would replace the town’s current concurrent‑user ArcMap licenses — three concurrent seats that cost about $3,766.44 per year — with named‑user ArcGIS Pro licenses and an enterprise package that staff said will cost about $20,600 per year after an initial conversion credit. Jesse Fowler, the town’s GIS staff member, told the board the contract as currently structured brings the three‑year total to just under $50,000 and that Esri offered a conversion credit that reduces the first‑year cost.

Fowler said the move is effectively mandatory because Esri will stop supporting ArcMap. “The movement to ArcGIS Pro isn’t really negotiable,” he said, saying ArcGIS Pro enables functions the town cannot do now, including spatial analysis used in canopy studies, mobile field work orders, real‑time vehicle and asset tracking, and more detailed parks, cemetery and grounds management. He added that the enterprise deal includes many ready‑made solutions and that the town could build additional workflows if needed.

Board members asked about licensing and administration. Fowler said ArcGIS Pro uses named‑user licenses — each user signs in and audits record who edits data — and that some higher‑level modules (for active emergency‑management tracking) would cost extra. He described a licensing worksheet he prepared and said the vendor gave the town a conversion discount for the first year (which he described as roughly $6,000) and then higher annual costs thereafter, split across departmental funds.

Fowler described anticipated department uses: planning, stormwater, public works, and parks and recreation would be early users, with field crews receiving mobile access to work orders and staff able to make small edits in the field. He said he can provide day‑long, hands‑on training for staff members and estimated that initial user management would take a few hours a month once accounts were set up.

No formal vote on the ArcGIS agreement is recorded in the transcript. A board member moved to approve the town entering the three‑year cloud enterprise agreement and asked staff to seek a five‑year price if possible; the motion appears in the record, but the transcript does not capture a roll call or final vote on that motion.

Why it matters: the conversion would expand the town’s ability to run spatial analysis, make interactive public maps, and manage field operations electronically, but it would also increase annual software spending materially and require staff time for setup and training.

Details extracted from the board discussion: - Current licensing: three concurrent ArcMap seats; annual cost about $3,766.44. - Proposed licensing: ArcGIS Pro named‑user enterprise package; vendor conversion credit first year; subsequent years roughly $20,000 (spread across funds); projected three‑year total “just under $50,000.” - Departments cited for early use: planning, stormwater, public works, parks and recreation. - Expected benefits: spatial analysis capabilities, mobile work orders, asset and cemetery mapping, public interactive maps. - Expected implementation: staff training (day‑long sessions), department heads to manage user assignments; ongoing user‑management estimated at a few hours monthly.

The board’s materials and staff remarks show the town is weighing increased capability against higher recurring costs and modest staff time for rollout. The proposed procurement remains subject to the board’s final approval, which is not recorded in the available transcript.