Intern completes GIS mapping, road‑department manual for town

Thomas Hayden, a town intern, told the Bluff Town Council worksession he consolidated road data into the town’s Diamond Maps GIS, refreshed the road sign inventory and drafted a roads department manual to capture procedures before the current roads manager leaves.

Hayden said the Diamond Maps work included importing a town boundary shapefile, road classifications tied to the town road manifest, culvert and sign locations and pins for problem spots such as potholes. He demonstrated how the map can be used to generate sharable screenshots and to coordinate with county crews.

“The Diamond Map system is a pretty good system to use into the future,” Hayden said, explaining it reduces paper records and allows faster communication with county and state partners. He said the road sign inventory had not been updated in several years and that he created a current spreadsheet.

Hayden also described a roads department manual meant as a living document to help whoever replaces the town’s road manager. The manual includes annual maintenance practices, current projects and a suggested prioritization list for small capital projects such as culvert repairs.

Councilmembers and staff praised the work and asked Hayden to walk staff through the tools before his internship ends. Town staff said Jones & DeMille’s separate road‑asset deliverables can be exported as shapefiles and imported into Diamond Maps to improve positional accuracy.

Hayden said he will keep updating the manual and that the town’s OneDrive will host the files for staff access. There was no formal council action; staff said they will coordinate final file migration and a training session.