After years of hard work and dedication, the Franklin County Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Consortium officially unveiled their new website that has state officials praising their ability to bring residents a “virtual Franklin County.”

The website, virtualfranklincounty.org/maps, will give citizens the ability to access information in minutes that they previously would have had to spend hours, or even weeks in some cases, obtaining.

County engineer David Palmer told the crowd gathered at the official launch on Thursday evening that the website is a comprehensive GIS web application that stores all the information for Franklin County in layers that are similar to transparencies.

The layers of data contain information like where the nearest storm shelter is located, where the voting polls are, the topographical information for a certain area, property lines, who owns a particular piece of land, where the law enforcement agencies are located, the demographics of a certain area, if a piece of property is in a flood plain, and the list goes on and on.

“There will be so much information at your fingertips,” he said. “People won’t have to get in their cars and drive to multiple agencies and do hours of research. It will be right in front of them.”

The website will also have the capability to become an invaluable county-wide communication tool in terms of dispensing pertinent information to anyone who accesses the site.

Palmer and Franklin County’s GIS manager, Michael Hughes, showed an example of how the website would serve to inform residents in the event that a county bridge was closed for repairs.

A closed bridge was marked with a red bridge symbol. Anyone living near the closed bridge could click an icon and type in an address to find out the quickest route to navigate around the closed bridge and reach their destination.

“This will be helpful with capital improvement situations,” Hughes said. “Any current construction, whether it’s the water department fixing a water main or the highway department resurfacing the road, can be flagged and the public can know to avoid those areas.

“You could click on the icon and see what kind of construction was being done and how long it would last so you could plan your routes accordingly.”

Hughes said the GIS was dynamic, meaning an unlimited amount of information can be plugged in to provide the most up-to-date information for residents.

“We will never really be finished with this website because there will always be something else we can add or something we need to change,” Hughes said.

Hughes added the website would be beneficial to people living outside the county as well in terms of economic development and recreation and tourism purposes.

“Boat ramps, camp sites and points of interest can be shown and when you click on the icons, a link to the Bear Creek website for camping or boating will appear,” he said.

“The site also shows the county’s industrial parks, which is valuable information for economic development for companies that might be interested in locating in Franklin County.”

Phillip Henderson, the GIS manager for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), told Thursday’s crowd they should be proud of the sophisticated system their county possessed.

“You all are setting a standard that we as a state need to copy,” Henderson said. “From a statewide perspective, my hat is off to you.

“This is not something to take lightly. It really is a model for what we’re trying to do statewide and you already have it.”

Palmer said he hoped everyone in the county would take advantage of this new technological tool.

“I want you to use this system in your businesses and as citizens of Franklin County,” he said. “We are proud of this systems and we believe that if you have good information, you’ll make good decisions.”

Palmer said he didn’t expect every citizen to understand the website right away and anyone with questions can contact Palmer at fcpalmer@hiwaay.net or Hughes at mhughes@hiwaay.net or by calling 256-332-8434.

For more information about the county’s GIS, how it first began and how it has been instrumental in the county, go to https://www.fct.wpengine.com/2011/07/23/gis-moving-county-forward/.