Area mapping databases will soon be upgraded and linked thanks to almost $800,000 in grants from the Virginia Wireless E-911 Board. Area public safety agencies also received grant money for various projects.
Lynchburg and Amherst, Appomattox and Campbell counties will share almost $625,000 for a regionalization project to link their mapping databases, also called Geographic Information Systems, said Aubrey Cheatham, Campbell County Public Safety Director.
Linking those databases will allow each system to synchronize with others in the area, Cheatham said. “Various systems will automatically update each other so everybody is on the same page.”
GIS mapping provides data for public safety and real estate offices, among many other uses, he added.
In addition to the regionalization grant, Appomattox County received almost $150,000 to replace its outdated mapping system. Campbell County also received about $111,000, Amherst County received $150,000 and Bedford County received more than $300,000, all for various projects including GIS mapping.
The wireless board collects taxes from everyone’s wireless phone bills. The money is doled out to every locality based on call volume and the leftovers are distributed in grants for various projects throughout the state, mostly for wireless networking and mapping databases to help public safety departments.
On the public safety end, the maps help fire trucks and ambulances find where they are supposed to go, but drivers have map problems when leaving their home counties when helping out neighboring agencies, Cheatham said.
“Right now, when I get to the edge of the county, that map only goes so far.”
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