February 26, 2000
Hightec aerial photos for Seneca county
By Erik Burriss
Staff Writer
Fostoria, Tiffin and county offices will take another step into the computer age when new aerial photographs of Seneca County, digitized and on disk, become available.
The Seneca County Board of Commissioners awarded the contract for taking the digital pictures Thursday to the second lowest bidder &emdash; the Willoughby firm Aerocon &emdash; based on the recommendations of the county engineer and county auditor. Aerocon's bid was $154,345. The digital photos are scheduled to be delivered later this year.
In a letter to the county commissioners, Seneca County Engineer Jim Nimz said Kuchera, the firm that submitted the low bid, $153,175, "did not submit all of the required deliverables listed in the specifications."
Area officials are excited about the prospect of new aerial photos, partially because the aerial photos now being used are five years old.
"Things have changed quite a bit as far as buildings and land use," Paul Harrison, the executive director of the Seneca Regional Planning Commission, said.
"We'll have better resolution with the new maps," he said, allowing greater detail. The resolution will be even greater over the cities, he said, important because of the cities' smaller lot sizes.
Locations of terrain features such as watercourses and fence lines don't always match on current photos and maps.
"We'll be able to correct that," Harrison said.
Most of the governmental offices and agencies will be able to take advantage of the the new photos.
"We can do different overlays for the county," Seneca County Public Safety Coordinator Dan Stahl said. "911 zones, EMS and fire districts, flood plain management. In case of a disaster we can bring up a picture of the area."
"This is going to put everything on the computer," Stahl said, so the county emergency management agency will be able to combine its weather tracking software with the photos to show exactly what areas and objects might be affected by storm systems.
The Seneca County Soil and Water Conservation District will be able to use the photos to accurately locate ditches and their water sheds, Program Administrator Corey Hohman said.
"We look at aerial photos daily for erosion and ditch maintenance," Hohman said. "Our current photos are 10 to 12 years old and things change."
Larry Beidelschies, the county auditor, said the photos will enable his office to locate properties more specifically as well as to tell which acreages are in use and which are wooded lots.
Even the cities, which contributed money to the project, see uses for the new photos.
"We'll be able to identify streets and their relationships with each other," Tiffin Mayor Bernie Hohman said. "We'll be able to overlay sewers and tell what sewers service what areas.
Hohman said the city will be ably to identify the locations of manholes and fire hydrants without sending someone out to look for them.
"I'm anxious to see how it turns out," Hohman said.
Charlie Dodge, Fostoria's compliance, records, economic development and infrastructure administrator, said Fostoria can use the new photos "for all sorts of things," from estimating the amount of asphalt needed for paving projects to determining routes of travel.
"It's also important in case of a major disaster," Dodge said. By using aerial photos to show what was at a location before a disaster, the city will be able to calculate property damage for use when applying for federal disaster aid.