May 2010

Inside this issue:

President’s Column 2

COGO 3

Summer Conference 4

New Members 4

PA-MAPPS 5

Strategic Plan 5

COFPAES 6

Inherently Governmental 6

For updates go to: www.mapps.org

MAPPS Summer Conference July 29 – August 2, 2010

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort Incline Village, Nevada

MAPPS 2011 Winter Conference January 24– 28, 2011

Radisson Lucaya Resort Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas

Upcoming MAPPS

Events

MAPPS 2011 Summer Conference June 25-30, 2011

The Sagamore Resort Bolton Landing, NY

Senate Financial Reform Legislation

Includes Provision for „Geocoding at the Parcel Level‟

MAPPS applauded the inclu-

sion of a parcel geocoding pro-

vision providing for an 'early

warning system' in S. 3217, the

"Restoring American Financial

Stability Act of 2010," that

passed the U.S. Senate May 20

by a vote of 59-39.

The bill makes amendments to

the Home Mortgage Disclosure

Act (HMDA), including a pro-

vision for the newly-created

Bureau of Consumer Financial

Protection within the Federal

Reserve to collect the "parcel

number to permit geocoding"

on mortgage transactions.

MAPPS Executive Director

John Palatiello applauded the

leadership provided by U.S.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), the

sponsor of the Senate legisla-

tion and Chairman of the Senate

Banking Committee, and Sena-

tor Bob Corker (R-TN).

"MAPPS commends Chairman

Dodd and Senator Corker for

their leadership and foresight to

include a provision employing

geospatial technology at the

parcel level under HMDA to

provide much more detailed

information for an 'early warn-

ing system' to identify future

anomalies in the mortgage mar-

ket. It contains information

about the value, improvements,

taxes, and something that none

of the current government mort-

gage datasets, including

HMDA, maintain - the physical

location of the property," Pala-

tiello said.

MAPPS recom-

mended the creation

of an early warning

system using parcel

level data to the

Office of Manage-

ment and Budget

(OMB) when the

mortgage crisis first

erupted in October

2008. The MAPPS

letter prompted a

May 2009 Parcel

Stakeholder Summit in Wash-

ington, DC. MAPPS Cadastre

Task Force Chair Susan Mar-

low (Smart Data Strategies,

Franklin, TN) testified before

Congress on the benefits of

parcel level data in September

2009 and in November,

MAPPS met with the Federal

Reserve Board staff regarding

parcel level data collected un-

der HMDA.

In her 2009 testimony before

the House Financial Services

Committee, Ms. Marlow said,

"Today, many analysis and de-

cisions are being made using

the wrong level of geography.

The Census tract data that is

currently being used under Sec-

tion 2803 of HMDA was cre-

ated by forming blocks and

tracts that were logical for

counting people." She went on

to say, "While FedEx can track

the location of millions of pack-

ages per day moving around the

world, the Federal government

does not track the location of

land, and it is stationary."

"If you have the right tools and

the right data in place, you can

build predictive models using

very basic statistical analysis

that accurately forecasts and

locates foreclosure and delin-

quency hotspots, thus provid-

ing an early warning system,"

said MAPPS President Jeff

Lovin (Woolpert, Dayton,

OH).

Palatiello concluded, "MAPPS

supported the inclusion of the

geospatial language in S. 3217

because an 'early warning sys-

tem' based on geo-located

property data at the parcel

level will help prevent future

disruptions to the market, fi-

nancial collapses, and govern-

ment bailouts."

The Senate legislation will

now need to be reconciled in

Conference with the counter-

part House legislation.

Parcel Imagery Provided by Smart Data Strate-

gies (Franklin, TN)

For some time, I have been

thinking about writing a col-

umn on this topic. In New

York City, there is a public

service advertising program

that says, “If you see some-

thing, say something.” It was

started as a campaign by

Mayor Rudy Giuliani long be-

fore 9/11 as a way to get citi-

zens to report suspicious crimi-

nal behavior, but continued

after 9/11 with an added focus

on potential terrorist activities.

The street vendor who recently

reported the smoking SUV that

turned out to be a car bomb in

Times Square acted as the pro-

gram urges.

I would not for a moment com-

pare a terrorist plot to a QBS

violation or an agency engag-

ing in unfair government com-

petition, but the recent situation

in New York reminded me the

premise is the same – “If you

see something, say something.”

One of the benefits of being a

member of MAPPS is the abil-

ity to bring issues to the atten-

tion of our staff for action.

Perhaps we don’t remind the

membership enough, but if you

see a government agency doing

something you don’t think is

right, you can refer that matter

to the MAPPS staff and it will

be investigated. If the spirit

and letter of a policy, regula-

tion, procedure or law is not

being fully and faithfully im-

plemented, MAPPS will raise a

concern with the appropriate

government officials – and

your name and that of your

firm will remain confidential.

The confidentiality of the

member who raises the issue is

strictly protected. It is MAPPS

that is filing the complaint, not

any individual member. So, if

you see something, say some-

thing.

Whether it is a QBS violation,

an agency buying equipment or

performing an activity that du-

plicates or competes with your

firm, abuse of a state licensing

requirement, an attempt to im-

pose a sales tax on a profes-

sional service that the law says

is exempt or an unnecessarily

restrictive contract or solicita-

tion provision, MAPPS urges

you to point out those instances

to our staff in a timely manner.

While we don’t win every case,

MAPPS will go to bat for the

membership.

I know that discussions and

deliberations take place within

government agencies where an

action will be proposed and an

employee of the agency will

ask “What will MAPPS say?”

MAPPS serves as a watchdog

over government on behalf of

its members. We stand up for

our members’ rights and the

professionalism we espouse.

It’s a good thing that govern-

ment officials look over their

shoulders to see if MAPPS is

watching.

"It is not the function of our

Government to keep the citizen

from falling into error; it is the

function of the citizen to keep

the Government from falling

into error," wrote Judge Robert

H. Jackson (1892-1954).

We as private business profes-

sionals must abide by the law.

We should expect the govern-

ment to do no less. For those

of us who are licensed as pro-

fessional surveyors or engi-

neers, we have an ethical obli-

gation to report activities that

are not fully compliant. So, if

you see something, say some-

thing.

Each of the aforementioned

issues will be on the agenda for

the MAPPS Summer Meeting,

July 29 – August 2 in Lake

Tahoe, Nevada. Go to

www.mapps.org/

events/2010summerconference.

cfm and make plans to attend. Page 2 FLIGHTLINE

Jeff Lovin

MAPPS President

The “I‟m In” campaign was

launched at the 2009 MAPPS

Summer Conference. Many mem-

bers who made commitments to

MAPPS did so by volunteering

their time and talents to serving

on MAPPS committees. To see a

list of the committees and the

people involved, please click

here. To volunteer here click here.

“It is not the function of

our Government to keep

the citizen from falling

into error; it is the

function of the citizen to

keep the Government

from falling into error.”

Judge Robert H. Jackson

(1892-1954).

I’M IN!

President‟s Column

If You See Something, Say Something by Jeff Lovin, PS, CP

Page 3 FLIGHTLINE

With Congress scheduled to

reauthorize the Elementary

and Secondary Education Act

(ESEA), which most recently

implemented the “No Child

Left Behind” initiative, the

Coalition of Geospatial Or-

ganizations (COGO), includ-

ing MAPPS, has endorsed a

resolution calling on Congress

and the Obama Administration

to place more focus on geogra-

phy education.

The resolution, adopted by the

geospatial groups earlier this

month, “Urges the Obama

Administration to include ge-

ography and geospatial educa-

tion in its Science, Technology,

Engineering, and Mathematics

(STEM) and ESEA Blueprint

for Reform proposals; Urges

Congress to include authoriza-

tions and appropriations for

geography education consistent

with other core academic sub-

jects for K-12, as part of a reau-

thorized ESEA; and Urges

Congress to enhance geography

teacher training by passing leg-

islation such as the Teaching

Geography is Fundamental Act

(H.R. 1240/S. 749).”

MAPPS Director Bob Hickey

(Photo Science, Inc., West

Chester, PA) is the MAPPS

Delegate to COGO. MAPPS

was also represented at the

COGO meeting in Phoenix,

AZ during the GITA-ACSM

conference by MAPPS Presi-

dent Jeff Lovin (Woolpert,

Dayton, OH) and Executive

Director John Palatiello.

COGO’s operating procedures

require unanimous agreement

of all 12 member organiza-

tions on any policy resolution.

The final resolution reflects

revisions drafted by MAPPS.

In December 2009, MAPPS

wrote the Obama Administra-

tion to commend the Presi-

dent’s STEM Initiative.

MAPPS Joins COGO Groups in Support of

Geography Education

To find out more

information about

COGO

Click Here

Page 4 FLIGHTLINE

The MAPPS program com-

mittee, chaired by Eric Ande-

lin (Bohannan Huston, Inc.),

has announced a number of

topics that will be discussed

during the 2010 summer con-

ference to be held July 29-

August 2 in Lake Tahoe,

Nevada.

Those sessions that have

been confirmed are listed

below. More sessions will be

announced in the next few

weeks.

Lake Tahoe is a popular sum-

mer destination, so please

make your hotel reservations

early.

When you visit the Hyatt

Lake Tahoe reservation page

under Search Available

Rooms, simply select AT-

TENDEE from the drop down

menu. No access code is

needed.

There has been an over-

whelming response for spon-

sorships but there are still a

few that remain. For sponsor-

ship opportunities click here.

The regular registration rate

expires July 11. Register for

the conference today!

Program Committee Confirms Conference Sessions MAPPS

2010 Summer

Conference Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

MAPPS Welcomes New Member Firms

Confirmed Session Topics: Cloud Computing

State Chapters

Utilizing Licensed Data Components to

Provide a Professional Geospatial Service

Intelligent Vehicle & Highway Systems

Sensor Fusion

What lies beneath: A look at the Current

market place for Bathy and Hydro

Unmanned Aerial Systems Activity in the

National Air Space

"There's an App for that" -Emerging

New Applications for Geospatial Data

Health Care

Ethics

MAPPS Annual Business Meeting

MAPPS Committee meetings

Economic Survey

Salary Survey

Insourcing

Agency Updates

Want to see your firm’s

logo here? Sponsorship Opportunities

are still available for the summer conference.

Diamond Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Spatial Information Solutions One Research Blvd, Suite 105

Starkville, MS 39759

Leslie O’Hara

VP/Director of Communication

leslie@spatialis.com

www.spatialis.com

R.E.Y. Engineers, Inc.

905 Sutter Street, Suite 200

Folsom, CA 95630

Jim Brainard

Vice President

jbrainard@reyengineers.com

916-366-3040

www.reyengineers.com

Virtual Geomatics, Inc.

12741 Research Blvd., Suite 403

Austin, TX 78759

Kalvi Mani

Chief Executive Office

kalvi.mani@virtualgeomatics.com

512-524-2411

www.virtualgeomatics.com

BMS Aerial Photo, Inc.

834 Cookson Ave SE

New Philadelphia, OH 44663

Mathew Jones

Manager

mjones@buckeyemineral.com

330-308-5700

www.bmsaerial.com

PA-MAPPS Sponsored Event Yields 59 Cosponsors, Keynotes PaGIS Conference

Rep. Fairchild said. Pennsyl-

vania is one of only three

states that do not have a for-

mal coordination council.

PA-MAPPS also presented

the keynote address at the

Eighteenth Annual Pennsyl-

vania GIS Conference held in

Johnstown, PA May 11-12.

The keynote enti t led

“Creating High Performance

Communities in the Com-

monwealth of Pennsylvania”

challenged conference atten-

dees to think about the con-

ference theme of “Advancing

Sustainability with Geospa-

tial Knowledge and Technol-

ogy”. The keynote featured

John Palatiello, MAPPS Ex-

ecutive Director and mem-

bers from PA-MAPPS com-

menting on projects that help

aid with developing sustain-

able communities. The panel-

ists included David Gilbert,

G e o D e c i s i o n s ; B r u c e

Stauffer, geographIT; and

Con Sweeney, Michael

Baker Jr, Inc.

“We as a geospatial commu-

nity need to stop thinking

that a map and data are the

end, but that geospatial data

is a means to an end. Without

the mapping and planning

provided by our community

many initiatives will fall

short,” said Palatiello. “We

as a community need to edu-

cate legislators that geospa-

tial data is essential to the

end we all want to see.”

PA-MAPPS will hold its

third election on June 17

during the annual member-

ship meeting to be held in

Harrisburg, PA. Nominations

should be submitted to Mary

Potter (Keystone Aerial Sur-

veys), PA-MAPPS Elections

Chair, by close of business

June 4.

Private firms and supporters

of a statewide geospatial

council in Pennsylvania met

with their State Representa-

tives on Tuesday, May 4 to

generate co-sponsors for HB

2300. The event, sponsored

by PA-MAPPS, was key-

noted by Rep. Russ Fairchild

(R-85th), sponsor of HB

2300 creating a Statewide

Geospatial Coordination

Council. The event resulted

in an additional 39 co-

sponsors. Currently, there are

59 co-sponsors on the bill

that will be introduced in the

Pennsylvania State House in

the coming weeks. MAPPS

member firms that have of-

fices or employees in Penn-

sylvania are encouraged to

contact any Pennsylvania

Representatives that have yet

to cosponsor the bill.

"Pennsylvania needs to do

what other states have done

and that is bring the best

technical minds together by

forming a public/private

working partnership. HB

2300 will allow this to hap-

pen and I am very pleased

with the bipartisan support

this proposal is generating,"

Page 5 FLIGHTLINE

PA-MAPPS

Membership Meeting

& Elections

Thursday, June 17, 2010

9:30 AM

Michael Baker Jr., Inc.

4431 North Front Street

Harrisburg, PA 17110

A draft update to the MAPPS Strategic

Plan is open for final comment by the

membership. The plan, used by the Board

of Directors and the MAPPS staff to pro-

vide a course for the association, was open

for initial comment earlier this year and

was the subject of a membership session at

the Winter Meeting. Based on member

input, the MAPPS Board has updated the

2006 plan.

Please take a few moments to review draft

revised (2010) MAPPS Strategic Plan. You

will see current plan, the proposed dele-

tions and the proposed additions.

The MAPPS Board is seeking final com-

ments on the draft revision. Please send

your comments prior to close of business

Friday, June 11.

Draft Strategic Plan Open for Final Comment

Co-Sponsors of HB2300 as of May 19, 2010. Map courtesy

of PaMAGIC.

MAPPS Members

Comments on

Strategic Plan

due by

Friday, June 11

COFPAES Applauds Federal Acquisition Regulation Change on “Retainage”

Page 6 FLIGHTLINE

The Council on Federal Pro-

curement of Architectural and

E n g i n e e r i n g S e r v i c e s

(COFPAES), of which

MAPPS is a member, ap-

plauded the Federal Acquisi-

tion Regulation (FAR) Council

for revising one of the most

onerous Federal rules impact-

ing small business.

On March 29 the FAR Council

published a final rule revising

a clause applied to Federal

contracts for architecture and

engineering (A&E) services

that mandated that 10 percent

of fees be withheld or retained

from a firm, regardless of the

quality of the firm's perform-

ance.

In publishing the final rule, the

regulations body said, "FAR

Case 2008-015 amends the

clause at FAR 52.232-10

"Payments Under Fixed-Price

Architect-Engineer Contracts",

to revise and clarify the retain-

age requirements. The con-

tracting officer can (but is not

mandated to) withhold up to

10 percent of the payment due

in any billing period when the

contracting officer determines

that such a withholding is nec-

essary to protect the Govern-

ment's interest and ensure sat-

isfactory completion of the

contract. However, withhold-

ing the entire 10 percent is not

required, and no withholding

is required if the contractor's

performance has been satisfac-

tory. The changes clarify that

retainage is optional and any

amounts retained should not

be held over beyond the satis-

factory completion of the in-

stant contract."

"This rule was an unbearable

burden for the A&E commu-

nity," according to Patrick

Olson, P.E., L.S., C.P.,

(AERO-METRIC, Inc., She-

boygan, WI), Chairman of

COFPAES. "The 10 percent

retainage meant A&E firms

were bankers to the govern-

ment, providing interest free

loans that often exceed a

firm's profit margin on a con-

tract. We had reports from

member firms of millions of

dollars in retainage, held for

several years, on contracts

where the firm received the

highest possible performance

ratings. We are delighted this

regulation has been changed."

COFPAES Administrator

John Palatiello noted, "Given

that architect-engineer con-

tracts, including surveying

and mapping contracts, are

awarded on a qualifications

based selection process, and a

firm's experience and past

performance are paramount

factors in winning a contract,

the retainage provision has

little value to the government.

Moreover, it was a severe

cash flow burden on our

member firms, particularly

small businesses."

COFPAES noted that the re-

tainage rule was identified by

the Small Business Admini-

stration's Office of Chief

Counsel for Advocacy as one

of the most burdensome for

small business in the office's

2008 Regulatory Review and

Reform (R3) init iat ive

( w w w . s b a . g o v / a d v o / r 3 /

r3_services08.html). The revi-

sion to the FAR on A&E re-

tainage is the first regulation to

have gone through the entire

R3 process, from nomination,

through Advocacy endorse-

ment, and to final regulatory

revision.

"We commend former Chief

Counsel for Advocacy Tom

Sullivan and Assistant Chief

Counsel for Advocacy Major

Clark for their leadership on

this important issue," Pala-

tiello said.

To view the final rule, go to:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/

2010/2010-5991.htm

The Obama Administration is

proposing a revision to the

definition of "inherently gov-

ernmental" functions - those

that only government em-

ployees can perform. This

could lead to less reliance on

the private sector and the

hiring of more Federal em-

ployees.

The public comment period

closes Tuesday, June 1,

2010.

MAPPS strongly urges mem-

proposal will shift a greater

degree of "professional and

technical services" into the

"inherently governmental"

listing, thus endangering your

firm's line of business and the

opportunity to compete for

government contracts. This

could result in "insourcing"

of activities - moving them

from contracts with the pri-

vate sector to performance by

Federal employees.

MAPPS Members Urged to Comment on Obama

Administration's Inherently Governmental Proposal

ber firms to submit comments

calling for a narrow redefini-

tion of "inherently govern-

mental" - as opposed to the

Administration's attempt to

widen the definition. Most

troubling is the proposal's

introduction of the term

"professional and technical

services" to the discussion of

what is inherently govern-

mental. Professional and

technical services, such as

surveying and mapping, are

commercial activities. How-

ever, the Administration's

MAPPS has prepared

draft comments for your

firm to use as a template

with directions for sub-

mission. Please take the

time to submit your com-

ment to the Obama Ad-

ministration.

Public Comment

Period closes

June 1, 2010

1856 Old Reston Avenue

Suite 205

Reston, VA 20190

Phone: 703-787-6996

Fax: 703-787-7550

E-mail: info@mapps.org

Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively

comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geo-

graphic information systems field in the United States. Current MAPPS

memberships span the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, in-

cluding Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing,

surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography,

bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and

GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes As-

sociate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware,

software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United

States and other firms from around the world. MAPPS provides its 150+

member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-

business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy ad-

vocacy, market growth, and professional development and image en-

hancement.

About MAPPS

About FLIGHTLINE

FLIGHTLINE is a bi-monthly publication produced by MAPPS, the only association of pri-

vate geospatial firms, to inform members, Federal, state and local agency partners and the geo-

spatial community of news from the organization. FLIGHTLINE has been produced and dis-

tributed since 1985. Originally produced as a hardcopy publication, FLIGHTLINE has evolved

into an e-publication and now provides advertising opportunities. If you do not already receive

FLIGHTLINE and would like to, click here.

To Our Readers

Some information on the MAPPS web site is in the Members Only section. Any MAPPS member firm principal who does not

have access to this section should contact Nick Palatiello, MAPPS Marketing Communications Manager. MAPPS government

partners who desire further information on items in the Members Only section should contact John Byrd, MAPPS Government

Affairs Manager. For information on membership in MAPPS, please click here.

We’re on the Web

www.mapps.org