Vermont has had a statewide GI/GIS program for geographic information and related technology (GI/GIT) since the late 1980s, known as Vermont GIS (VGIS), which has been managed by the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, Inc. (VCGI). The General Assembly first authorized statewide geographic information activities in 1988 through the state's Growth Management Act, and has provided GI/GIS direction in actions taken since then. It subsequently created VCGI in 1992. Act 204 of 1994 reauthorized and established it as a public, not-for-profit corporation and a "body corporate and politic, and a public instrumentality of the state," establishing public purposes, but allowing governance by an independent board. VCGI is charged by statute (10 VSA 122) with developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy for the development and use of a Vermont geographic information system (VGIS). To meet this charge, VCGI has initiated efforts to develop a set of statewide base layers. VCGI is directed by a Board of Directors. Its membership is defined in Act 204 of 1994 to include twelve members, with four of these individuals representing state agencies. Vermont also has a GIS Technical Advisory Committee, which has 13 members including professionals and technicians from public agencies and the commercial sector. VCGI's mission is to provide data management, dissemination, products and services for state agencies, Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) and local governments. VCGI also conducts contract work for various state and other agencies.

Vermont has an official, statewide approach and program for geographic information and related technology (GI/GIT) since the late 1980s. Previously, GIS activities in Vermont were initiated in the late 1970s at the University of Vermont's (UVM) School of Natural Resources. The Vermont Mapping Advisory Committee that was initiated in the late 1940s experienced a lull in the 1960s, but then was reinvigorated when the Governor sent a letter to agency secretaries and the president of UVM in 1978 to reinstitute VMAC. Compared to other states, Vermont's legislature and governor have been very active regarding GI/GIT. Most of this direction focuses on GI/GIS. The General Assembly and the Governor's Office, among others, began to recognize the potential for a statewide approach to GIS during the mid 1980s. The Governor's Commission on Vermont's Future concluded in 1988 that GIS would help assist communities and regions in planning for their future. Governor Madeleine Kunin then proposed legislation to integrate local, regional, and state planning efforts, with GIS as a key part of the proposal. The General Assembly adopted Act 200, entitled The Growth Management Act Relating to Encouraging Consistent Local, Regional and State Agency Planning in 1988 (24 VSA, Chapter 117 et seq.). The act called for growth planning at all governmental levels to occur in harmony, and required the governor to develop a comprehensive strategy for the development and use of a GIS throughout all levels of government, with a specific goal to help localities in this regard. Funding of $4.75 million was designated to be spent over a five year period for development of what became known as the "Vermont GIS," but fewer funds were available over this period that originally approved. Governor Kunin designated the Secretary of the Agency of Administration (AOA) as responsible for implementation. A GIS Oversight Committee was organized, and a GIS plan was prepared in 1988, followed by the first Vermont GIS Annual Report issued in 1989. Governor Kunin then issued an Executive Order in June, 1989 which authorized the Office of Geographic Information Services (OGIS) within AOA, and a new GIS Advisory Board to serve in coordination roles. GIS funding limitations imposed by the General Assembly and gubernatorial changes led the Board to consider various organizational and funding options in 1991. The Board endorsed the proposal to create a joint public/private venture, one which would be located at the University of Vermont and serve as Vermont's lead organization for statewide GI/GIT. Governor Howard Dean, M.D., subsequently signed an Executive Order in January, 1992 to create the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, Inc. The order directed that VCGI support GIS data, technology and applications to meet the needs of state and local governments, regional planning commissions, and the university.

Act 204 of 1994 established the Vermont Center for Geographic Information, Inc. (VCGI) and outlined the strategy for the Vermont Geographic Information System (VGIS). Refer to the enabling legislation below.

Title 10: Conservation and Development

Chapter 8: Geographic Information

§ 121. Definitions

As used in this chapter:

(1) "VGIS" means the Vermont geographic information system developed pursuant to the comprehensive strategy developed by the center as required by section 122 of this title.

(2) "Electronic products and services" means computer-related services and products provided by the center, including:

(A) Electronic manipulation of the data contained in public records in order to tailor the data to a customer's request, or to develop a product that meets the needs of customers.

(B) Duplication of public records in alternative formats not used by the center, providing periodic updates of an electronic file or data base, or duplicating an electronic file or data base.

(C) Provision of on-line access to an electronic file or data base or any form of electronic access to the information system of the center.

(D) Provision of software developed by or for the center.

(E) Generating maps, listings, or other standard or customized products from an electronic geographic information system.

(3) "Media" means the physical material on which written, printed, or electronically encoded information is stored. (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994.)

§ 122. Vermont center for geographic information, incorporated; establishment

(a) The state of Vermont shall support a comprehensive strategy for the development and use of a geographic information system including:

(1) Data and mapping standards.

(2) Potential applications and their priorities.

(3) Priorities for collecting and digitizing information.

(4) Geographic location standards for all data collection.

(5) Software and hardware standards.

(6) Management needs.

(7) Private sector cooperation.

(8) Costs and benefits of use.

(9) Financing considerations.

(10) Ways to make information gathered available to regional and municipal entities, commercial entities, the public, and others.

(11) Ways to assure that data gathered by governmental entities conforms to the geographic information system.

(12) An implementation schedule.

In order to develop and implement that strategy, and to ensure that all data gathered by state agencies that is relevant to the VGIS shall be in a form that is compatible with, useful to, and shared with that geographic information system, there is hereby established a nonprofit public corporation to be known as the Vermont center for geographic information, hereinafter called the center, as a body corporate and politic and a public instrumentality of the state.

(b) The center shall be a nonprofit corporation and shall not have authority to issue any capital stock. The property of the center shall be used solely to promote its purposes as herein defined. The center shall assume title to property other than the data acquired by the state for the support of a geographic information system, but shall return title to such property to the state if the property is not used to promote the center's purposes as herein defined or upon any dissolution of the corporation. No part of the activities of the center shall consist of participating in or intervening in, including the publishing or distribution of statements, any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office. Upon any dissolution of the corporation, any assets remaining after payment of or provision for its debts and liabilities shall be distributed according to applicable provisions of state law. No part of the net assets or net earnings of the center shall inure to the benefit of or be paid or distributed to any officer, director, or employee of the center, or to any donor to the center. The state reserves the right at any time to alter, amend, repeal or otherwise change the structure, organization, programs or activities of the center, including the power to terminate the corporation, subject to any limitation on the impairment of the obligations of any contract or contracts entered into by the center. (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994.)

§ 123. Powers and duties

(a) The center shall have all the general powers conferred by chapter 19 of Title 11 and all amendments thereto, and all other powers necessary, desirable, or incidental fully to effectuate its corporate purposes except where otherwise limited by statute.

(b) The purposes of the center shall be to:

(1) Assure that all VGIS data are of high quality and are compatible with, useful to, and shared with other public-sector and private-sector data users.

(2) Encourage the same high standards of quality and compatibility in other Vermont GIS cooperators.

(3) Promote the efficient development and use of geographic information by agencies of the state, its political subdivisions, Vermont businesses and citizens.

(4) Facilitate the growth of commercial services within Vermont for the provision of spatial data, products, and services.

(c) Within the limits of available resources, the center shall operate a program of standards development, data dissemination, and quality assurance, and shall perform the following duties:

(1) Provide or ensure provision of geographic information products and services to Vermont citizens, to local and regional planning organizations, to state government, to the federal government, and to private businesses and industries.

(2) Develop procedures for access to the VGIS. Those procedures shall ensure that VGIS data are readily available for the purposes of chapter 117 of Title 24, as well as for the support of efficient and economical geographic analysis and decision making by government, business, and citizens of Vermont, at a reasonable cost and in reasonable forms.

(3) Develop, publish, maintain and implement such VGIS standards as are necessary to assure that data are compatible with, useful to, and shared with all users of VGIS data, including geographic data standards relating to scale, accuracy, coding, documentation, data format and physical media.

(4) In developing relevant policies, procedures, and standards, seek the consultation of institutions of higher learning, local government, local and regional planning, private business and industry and other members of the public with an interest in or knowledge of GIS technology.

(5) For all geographic data that are or may be useful to the center's users, and that have been collected by any part of state government or generated with state support, ensure that such data:

(A) Are developed and maintained so as to conform to VGIS standards.

(B) Upon request of a potential user, are actually made available to the user in a usable format in accordance with 1 V.S.A. § 315 relating to access to public records and related statutes.

(C) Are stored and distributed in a manner which will limit the disclosure of data containing individual identifiers to disclosure consented to by the individuals in the data.

(6) Assist in assessing VGIS financial needs and resources for cooperating state agencies, evaluating the adequacy of those financial resources to meet the goals of the three-year VGIS work plan, and developing alternate sources of revenue for VGIS data acquisition.

(7) Enter into memoranda of understanding, form contracts and enter cooperative agreements for the development, acquisition, maintenance, distribution and marketing of GIS data.

(8) Include in any contract for electronic products and services provisions that:

(A) Protect the security and integrity of VGIS information and of information systems that are shared by public agencies.

(B) Indemnify or limit the liability, if any, of the state of Vermont.

(9) Notify the state librarian of the electronic services and products offered to the public. The notification must include a summary of the available format options and the cost of such products and services.

(10) Retain archive copies and act as a distributor for any state agency, as well as for other public and private entities, which prepares GIS data or electronic products which are compatible with, useful to, and shared with VGIS.

(11) Assist the secretary of the agencies of administration, transportation, natural resources, human services, and commerce and community development, and the commissioner or director of state departments and offices not within these agencies in the identification of information gathered within the respective agency, department or office which is relevant to Vermont's GIS. Working in cooperation with each organization that identifies such information, the center shall include components within the three-year VGIS work plan. Such cooperation may include:

(A) Formulation of a "memorandum of understanding" between the organization and the center, setting out roles and the relationship between the parties.

(B) Periodic meetings to identify opportunities for improvement of VGIS information and applications gathered or used by the organization.

(C) Identification of funding strategies, technical procedures, data conversion plans, and application development projects in which the center can be of assistance to the organization.

(d) The center may provide specialized information or perform specialized services if these activities:

(1) Contribute to achieving the purposes of the center as stated in subsection (b) of this section;

(2) Are pursued in partnership with the private sector; and

(3) Are performed without cost to the taxpayer and all direct and indirect costs of obtaining these products and services are incurred by the customer or others.

(e) The center shall be subject to the provisions of 1 V.S.A. §§ 312-314 with respect to the right of the public to receive notice of and attend meetings, 1 V.S.A. §§ 315-320 with respect to the access of the public to its records and documents, and 1 V.S.A. § 172 regarding joint authority of the board. (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994; amended 1995, No. 190 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. July 1, 1996.)

§ 124. Board of directors

(a) The board of directors shall have the responsibility of the general management of and authority over the property, business and affairs of the center.

(b) The number of directors of the center shall be 12.

(1) The governor shall appoint ten directors, who shall serve a term of two years from the date of the first regular meeting of the board; one such director shall be appointed as chair. Of the directors appointed by the governor, one shall be nominated by and represent the regional planning commissions, one director shall be nominated by and represent the municipalities, three shall be knowledgeable in the use of GIS in higher education and one shall represent commercial users of Vermont GIS data. The remaining four directors appointed by the governor shall represent the interests of the agencies of administration, transportation, natural resources, and commerce and community development. Directors appointed by the governor shall serve at the pleasure of the governor subject to the provisions of 3 V.S.A. § 258.

(2) The speaker of the house and the senate committee on committees shall each appoint one member to the board. Legislative members shall serve until March 15 following the close of the biennium.

(3) Each director shall serve a term of two years, except as specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection, or until the appointment of his or her successor. Vacancies occurring on the board shall be filled by the appointing authority of the director being replaced. The director so appointed shall serve for the remainder of the term.

(c) The board of directors shall meet no fewer than four times annually. The board of directors may provide, by resolution, the time and place for holding additional regular meetings. Additional regular meetings shall be held at the principal office of the center in the absence of any designation in the resolution.

(d) By resolution of the board of directors, the directors may be paid their reasonable expenses of attendance of each meeting of the board of directors not to exceed compensation for expenses provided to state employees.

(e) The board may adopt rules in accordance with chapter 25 of Title 3 in order to carry out its duties, including rules to establish policies, practices and procedures relating to public access to, any cost of, and any restrictions on use or reproduction of VGIS information. Directors who are members of the legislature shall be entitled to compensation and reimbursement of expenses as provided by 2 V.S.A. § 406. (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994; amended 1997, No. 143 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)

§ 125. Officers

(a) An officer shall preside at all meetings of the directors.

(b) The chair shall be a member of the board of directors appointed by the governor of Vermont or, should the governor not make such a designation within 30 days of a vacancy in the office of chair, shall be elected by the directors until such time as the governor's designation is made. The vice-chair and secretary/treasurer shall be elected by the directors.

(c) The officers of the center shall consist of the chair, the vice-chair, and the secretary/treasurer. A vacancy in the offices of vice-chair or secretary/treasurer because of death, resignation, removal, disqualification, or otherwise, may be filled by the board of directors for the unexpired portion of the term.

(d) The officers shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) The chair shall call and preside at regular and special meetings of the board, serve as a nonvoting ex officio member of all committees except the executive committee, and shall have the powers and shall discharge the duties customarily and usually held and performed by a like officer of corporations similar in organization and business purposes to the center.

(2) The vice-chair shall serve as chair in the absence of the chair.

(3) The secretary/treasurer shall have the powers and shall discharge the duties customarily and usually held and performed by a like officer of corporations similar in organization and business purposes to the center. (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994.)

§ 126. Reports and audits

On or before January 15 of each year, the center shall prepare and submit to the governor a three-year work plan which describes the goals, objectives and activities of the center and cooperating state agencies and other public and private organizations. The plan also should include the estimated cost of each major activity of the center, and a report concerning data gathered, documents generated, and problems and opportunities for use of VGIS information. Control of funds appropriated and all procedures incident to the carrying out of the purposes of this chapter shall be vested in the board of directors. The books of account of the center shall be audited annually and a report filed with the secretary of administration not later than October 1 of each year. (Added 1993, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. June 17, 1994.)

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