The City of Fargo Master Address File Project. Discovering what the heck is out there? The City of Fargo is currently developing a comprehensive, standardized, master address database and address management system to serve the needs of City Departments, citizens and outside agencies.

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project  The purpose of this master address file project is to develop and designate a centralized master address database to serve as an authorized, single-source of site addresses for use by the City of Fargo and Cass County.  This database will act as a bridge to ‘link’ together the different (and often disparate) Departmental specific databases to the GIS Base Map.  ‘Address’ is the most common data element found in local government records (databases).

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project  Comprehensive, digital database of ALL addresses  SQL based = a spatially managed GIS database  Maintenance tools  Cleanup tools  Validation of internal and external databases What is it?

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project  Parcel Addresses  Building and Unit Addresses  Centerline Address Ranges  Street Intersections  Incident Addresses  Vanity Names (& Aliases)  Building Names  Common Place Names What will it contain?

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project  No reliable address source  Existing legacy databases on multiple-platforms  ‘Free-form’ address entry fields  Only Assessors’ data has consistent ‘link’ to the base map because of Parcel-ID maintenance  Large amount of GIS staff time spent on cleaning address fields for geocoding purposes Current Issues and Problems

Conceptual Design: Accounting for one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many, many-to-one, active, vacant, future, and theoretical addresses.

Current Status (Nov 2004): Contains 31,000 point records. By comparison, there are 26,000 parcels We are currently quality checking Fire Department Inspection records – which are a great source of apartment and commercial unit addresses not found in any other City data set. Next up  Utility billing database consisting of water meter location addresses.

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project  Implement an Address Standard that defines how all address records must be formatted  Give the Address Standard some teeth!  Begin cleaning Departmental databases to adhere to the Address Standard  We started with the Assessors’ property address database – began geocoding other databases to the Assessors’ database  Investigate the records that do not match to see if they are legitimate addresses or are incorrectly formatted What steps are involved to build this database?

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project  Place all legitimate addresses and continue adding them to the collection in the master file database  Clean-up tools should be ready to go  Validation tools should be ready to go  Maintenance tools should be ready to go  Lots and lots of patience! This is going to take a long time and it is a very slow process What steps are involved to build this database?

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Different ‘types’ of addresses: MailingPremise LegalProperty OwnerOccupant BillingBusiness BuildingStructure UnitSuite Utility AccessVanity CoordinateVacant

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Extremely Important Step! Creation of an Address Standard for the City of Fargo. Formal adoption by the City Commission in July Available on the Assessors’ website: Highlights of Document:  Includes official comprehensive list of all named roads and their correct formatting.  Examples of how to address cul-de-sacs, blisters, and looped or circular roads.  New streets and avenues will be ‘numbered’ in proper ascending order.  Named roads will only be allowed to avoid 1/2 numbering of streets or avenues.

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project An additional benefit of the Address Standard will be the implementation of a process that will outline the City policies to be followed during the assignment of new addresses and\or changes to existing addresses With due concern to public safety and liability, there needs to be a clear process in place for all addressing issues within the City Creation of an Address Standards Committee to approve all new addresses and deal with change issues. The Committee is comprised of staff from the Assessors’, GIS, Planning, Fire and Police Departments

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project.

Water Main Break Database (Translated…)

Additional Address Examples from Departmental Databases Other Problems: Non-address data stored in Address fields Inconsistent formatting on names, directional, and street types House numbers out of range Mailing addresses included in the site address fields Unit and Suite level addresses not maintained in parsed fields ½ house numbers & ½ street names

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Database Clean-up Tools: Before running program to draw geocoded lines to street centerline shapefile

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Database Clean-up Tools: After running program to draw geocoded lines to street centerline shapefile

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Database Clean-up and QA Tools Drawing lines from Address Points to appropriate place along the Street Centerline shapefile – Good Address Range Example:

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Database Clean-up and QA Tools Visual QA Checks – geocoding line crosses street CL segment. Incorrect Street Type on several address records.

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Master Address Database Fire Dept Inspections Utility Billing Database Assessors Dept Parcel Info Police Dept Incidents & Complaints Building Permits Planning Dept Database The goal is to ‘clean’ all current Departmental address databases to adhere to the Address Standard. Once completed, this will enable City and County staff the ability to view all information pertaining to a property or location through the City\County desktop GIS application. Base Map

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project In 2005, Fargo and Cass County will migrate our GIS data into the geodatabase and begin maintaining it in that environment on a new SQL \ ArcSDE server. The Master Address Database will be the main link for all City and County data sets in this new system. An address link is ideal, because: * Parcel-ID maintenance is too cumbersome. * An address is a unique identifier, right? * Address is the most important – if not critical – component of local government data.

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Data Model Example for Calgary, Alberta Canada ( From - Address Data Model section )

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Future Goals ( the “wish list” )  Streamlined custom maintenance tools for GIS staff  Validation at point of user entry  True ‘Enterprise Address Management’ cross- jurisdictionally  Full time position – Address Coordinator  Data Mining – Revenue Source Auditing, $$$,….. maybe next year’s presentation ???

The City of Fargo Master Address File Project Questions? Brad Anderson GIS Coordinator City of Fargo Thank You