GIS Project Highlights

West Long Branch GIS (West Long Branch, NJ)

The Borough of West Long Branch is developing a GIS database to map and inventory the Borough’s environmental resources. As the scope of this effort expands, additional creative and technical skills are needed to bring this project to a successful conclusion. Accordingly, Najarian Associates was awarded a contract to update and enhance the West Long Branch GIS.

To fulfill the Borough's needs, Najarian Associates completed several preliminary tasks. First, we converted all existing GIS data including sixteen GIS layers from the NAD27 State plane coordinate system to the corresponding NAD83 system. This conversion allows the Borough to overlay their GIS data with related mappings compiled by the NJDEP.

Our next task involved tying the Borough's existing GIS parcel layer into the Township tax assessor's database. Unfortunately, the assessor's database was not in a standard database format. Accordingly, we developed customized software to convert the raw data file into a standard database input file format. The resulting program was made freely available to the Monmouth County Tax Assessor's Office, as Office staff had been wrestling with this problem for some time. The program automatically generated the unique "key" field (i.e., a combination of municipal code, block and lot number) to link the tax assessor's database with the GIS parcel layer, using a custom script during the database import process. This "key" field was then incorporated into the GIS parcel database to join the two databases.

Upon completion of these tasks, another compatibility problem became evident. While the tax assessor's database reflected the most current changes to the tax parcels, the Borough's existing GIS parcel database was created back in 1991. Consequently, many of the assessor's records could not be joined with the existing GIS database since the latter changed or previously did not exist. The solution was to update the existing GIS parcel layer to reflect the latest set of tax maps by using base data that the Monmouth County GIS project is currently creating. When the highly accurate digital ortho-photography is available from Monmouth County, the Borough will then be able to proceed with this next phase of their GIS project. Once the revised GIS layer is created, the Borough will have an accurate parcel GIS layer. This GIS parcel layer is the base needed to create many applications from environmental and planning needs to emergency services.

West Long Branch is one of the few municipalities in Monmouth County currently involved in GIS database development. The Borough understands and appreciates the benefits it will provide.