Topsham staff demonstrates public AccessGIS portal for conserved lands and town parcels

Josh, a town staff member, demonstrated the town’s new public AccessGIS portal during the meeting and said he will send commissioners a link so they can review conserved lands, town-owned parcels and other layers.

The portal shows state conserved lands, parcel ownership and can filter layers such as conserved lands or town‑owned properties. Josh said the town contracted a vendor for the portal; the contract includes a yearly update option so the town can request new shape data or layers. He noted an option to add staff-only layers for information the town does not want on the public-facing site but that commission members may find useful for internal review.

Commissioners suggested adding a private layer collection tailored to the conservation commission, so members could view parcel assessments and draft layers (for example, shape data provided by Bowdoin students) before those layers go public. Staff said the portal could accept those draft layers and that the grant deliverable for mapping could be added to the town GIS if the commission secures funding.

Josh said he would circulate the portal link and investigate how private layers or restricted staff views could be provisioned for commission use.

The demonstration flagged potential next steps: staff to circulate the AccessGIS link, confirm update schedules with the vendor and explore adding private layers that include the commission’s parcel assessments and draft natural-areas mapping.