Grant will aid digital mapping

By Staff
Jason Cannon
Franklin County has been awarded more than $80,000 from the Alabama Revenue Commissioner's Office to aid in the development of a county map using geographic information system (GIS).
The grant must be used to take aerial photographs, which will be used to compile a detailed map of the county.
"This will be a very exact and a very precise map of the county," county mapper Kathy Morgan said. "This is new technology and it's a sign that Franklin County is moving forward."
A GIS map will allow county officials to have one of the most detailed and precise maps available. These maps, Morgan said, are vital in an array of departments in the county.
"This will help the street department, the highway department, the E-911 system," she said. "There are about 12 departments that will benefit from this."
A new, detailed map will also aid in property tax administration but there are benefits on the state-level as well. In October 2005, the Alabama Department of Homeland Security initiated a project to access new technologies in 3D visualization called Virtual Alabama. The hopes are for all counties in Alabama to be included in Virtual Alabama, which will become a continuous digital map of the state used by first responders before, during and after disasters.
"This is a big step for Franklin County," Morgan said.