MEMORANDUM

TO: Pete Sprague, Assembly President

Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly Members

THRU: Dale Bagley, Borough Mayor

THRU: Mark Fowler, Purchasing Officer

FROM: Max Best, Planning Director

DATE: May 8, 2003

SUBJECT: Resolution 2003-057, Authorizing the Purchase of Satellite Imagery

This Resolution would authorizing the Planning Department to purchase satellite imagery. The borough stated in the project's RFP that the imagery should be taken between June 1, 2003 and September 1, 2003, during times of less than 15% cloud cover.

The Planning Department has numerous responsibilities that require the use of aerial photographs, including determination of land suitable for selection and development, access, land classifications, and land uses in time (e.g. gravel pits, buildings in the floodplain, and within the habitat protection area). The Spruce Bark Beetle Mitigation Program also makes extensive use of the imagery to locate and classify the extent of the bark beetle infestation.

Staff from the Planning, GIS and SBB departments reviewed several imagery options and selected sub-meter, colorized imagery as the best media option because it provides superior clarity at a reasonable cost. The imagery would be digital in nature, can be added to the GIS as another layer, and be combined with other layers presently in the system. Parcel boundaries and other features can be overlain, and we can zoom in on the images to change the scale. The images will be seamless, not individual sheets, and we will be able to pan entire areas continuously.

Proposals were solicited from twelve firms for maximum 1-meter imagery of the wildland/urban interface lands flown in 2000 as well as Kalgin Island from numerous firms in Alaska, Canada and the contiguous U.S.A.

All proposals met the project specifications. The Spruce Bark Beetle Mitigation Program has funding approved and available in the current fiscal year budget for this imagery. Multi Agency License quotes allow us to share this imagery with cooperating communities and agencies. Primarily because of experience I recommend the bid be awarded to AeroMap U.S. for $108,308.00.