BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — The town board has agreed to have Potsdam join other municipal partners with the Development Authority of the North Country to apply for a state grant to help pay for DANC’s North Country Regional Shared Geographic Information System Project in 2021.

The board passed the resolution at their meeting Tuesday, June 8.

The town, which already participates in the GIS program, will be a municipal partner with DANC for application for a 2021 Local Government Efficiency Grant.

DANC uses GIS mapping to catalog and develop datasets for municipally-owned assets including water lines, wastewater routes, electric installations, highways, public works, cemeteries and street signs.

The authority has been gradually working on the project for several years, with various municipalities joining in the effort to get a digital mapping picture of municipal infrastructure assets. DANC mapped the Town of Canton’s street signs and water culverts last year under a similar grant program.

DANC will be the lead agency on the 2021 grant. The town of Potsdam, like other municipalities which participate in the grant application, will pay DANC 10 percent of the cost of the GIS mapping project for their specific portion, up to $750 in Potsdam’s case.

The newly mapped data will be uploaded directly into the town's current GIS mapping portal that they already have through DANC.

For more information on DANC's GIS services visit https://www.danc.org/gis.