AZSITE Consortium

Quarterly Meeting

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Arizona State Museum South

Tucson, Arizona

A. Call to Order

B. Introduction of Members and Guests

a. David Wilcox, MNA, presiding

b. Michael Barton, ASU

c. Rick Karl, ASM

d. Carol Griffith, SHPO

e. Michiko Tanaka, SHPO

f. Ashley Blythe, ASM, recording

g. Teresa Serrano, ASM

h. Laurel Meyers, Aztlan

i. Tony Burrell, San Xavier

j. Dan Dagget, SRPMIC

k. Vanessa Potter, Westland

l. Lauren Bentz, Westland

m. Michael Cook, Westland

n. Shannon Twilling, Harris Environmental

o. Sharon Urban, Harris Environmental

p. Victoria Vargas, ACS

q. Brad Dilli, ACS

r. Catherine Gilman, Desert Archaeology

s. Daniel Garcia, EcoPlan Associates

t. Jennifer Epperson, William Self Associates

u. Jon Schumaker, APS

v. Loy Neff, Pima County Cultural Resources

w. Simon Hetbert, Pima County Cultural Resources

x. Jenna Hamlin, Tierra Right-of-Way Services

C. Announcement

a. Griffith reported that by executive order of the governor, AZSITE is now the official repository of all archaeological data for the state of Arizona. The consortium will be adding more people from federal, state, and private entities. Griffith reported that all meetings are now subject to public meeting laws.

D. Old Business

a. The Minutes of last meeting were approved on motion and second from Griffith and Barton.

b. Management Committee

                                                   i. Wilcox announced that Beth Grindell is the new AZSITE chair. Wilcox will continue to preside over the current meeting in Grindell’s absence.

                                                 ii. Karl reported that AZSITE is in the black for the first time. The organization is run on fees that are used to fund people and correct data.

                                                iii. Griffith reported that she is working to finalize the agreement on the Transportation grant, and may need to change the wording of the agreement with MNA. Wilcox reminded the consortium that MNA is a private non-profit organization that has to enter into agreements with AZSITE separately.

                                               iv. Karl reported that AZSITE user fees are up from $35,000 to $50,000. Approximately $50,000 is needed to run the organization. The BLM has committed $25,000 to do their updates and work on the spatial applications.

                                                 v. Karl reported the following numbers for 2005: 182 datasets were uploaded into the database, 265 are ready for upload. Since May, 3,600 sites and 2,500 surveys have been corrected. He expects twice that many will be done in 2006. AZSITE had 214 users and 615 record searches were done in 2005.

1. The website from January 11 – January 30 had 18 unique hits per day. The attribute pages had 15 unique hits per day. The website has seen a 40% increase in users.

c. Database Committee

                                                   i. Karl reported the status of the webpage: ASM has 1500 shapes missing, ASU missing a few hundred, and MNA is missing 8000. MNA is missing so many shapes because of numbering issues that are currently being corrected.

1. AZSITE is currently working on updating BLM Yuma data and plans to be 100% finished by June. BLM San Pedro is also being worked on.

2. Todd Bostwick of PGM COP is working at updating and correcting their data for inclusion on AZSITE.

3. Canal data is ready to be uploaded, but is awaiting permission.

4. Karl reported that historic structures layer would be split on AZMAP after he works out the codes.

                                                 ii. Karl demonstrated use of the AZSITE webpage and explained the late test updates.

1. Updates to the attribute page include searchable site diagnostic, feature, cultural affiliation, and temporal component fields. These fields will soon be added to AZMAP as well.

2. Updates to the spatial search include live updates available the next day and a “zoom to UTM coordinates” function that is the precursor to selecting sites and surveys with a buffer.

3. Karl demonstrated using Print Screens, corner points, and how to send error reports through the AZMAP webpage.

                                                iii. All agencies are working on submitted their legacy data to AZSITE.

                                               iv. Karl reported the status of ASM submissions.

1. Electronic submissions are backed up to May 2004 and paper submissions are backed up to November 2004.

                                                 v. Barton reported that the server is working fine at ASU. Karl reported that a total of 4 servers are up and running. They are faster and more stable. Karl and Barton hope to have a fifth server up and running by the end of 2007 that can handle publishing some site plans and PRFs.

                                               vi. Karl reported that he and Michiko Tanaka have been working on the updated entry module, which currently lacks one line of code to make it work properly.

d. Tribal Concerns Committee

                                                   i. Karl reported a request for data on the San Carlos reservation. He reminded all in attendance that AZSITE does not provide tribal data and that the tribes must be contacted for that information.

                                                 ii. Griffith reported that AZSITE does not update the data on tribal land. The tribes have the most current records.

E. New Business

a. Executive Order: Griffith will need to add to the agenda once the official paperwork is complete. The operation of the meetings will have to change and committee sizes will increase.

                                                   i. Since AZSITE is the official repository for all archaeological data, all agencies will have to cooperate with AZSITE.

                                                 ii. Barton announced that the management committee will be making selections from private, tribal, and federal agencies.

                                                iii. Victoria Vargas of ACS asked if there will be a possibility of additional funding for AZSITE. Griffith said that AZSITE might be able to go to the state legislature for funding.

b. Karl reported problems with USGS maps.

                                                   i. The scanned map images are distorted, creating problems with shape locations and converting to NAD 83.

                                                 ii. Barton reported that AZMAP would be staying with NAD 1927 until the issues with NAD 1983 are corrected. A shift to NAD 1983 would compound errors. Data should be standardized to make things more accurate.

c. The Consortium discussed dissemination of AZSITE Data.

                                                   i. Griffith reported the difference between raw data versus report data.

1. AZSITE maps in reports are part of the Section 106 and SHPO compliance. The only time raw data can be given is when that data is for land managing government agencies. Under AZSITE user agreements, users cannot give raw data or electronic spatial data to clients.

d. The Consortium discussed the procedures and language for considering exceptions to the current access policies of AZSITE.

                                                   i. Wilcox reported that it would be unwise to think of exceptions to the access policies of AZSITE. Wilcox stressed the need to protect the data in AZSITE, but make it available to the public.

                                                 ii. Griffith reported that AZSITE currently uses the Secretary of Interior standards to make decisions regarding access, particularly for the supervisors. AZSITE will seek further consultation with the state Attorney General.

                                                iii. Griffith reported that SHPO requests resumes with applications for access, especially new applications. The second signature on the application is of the head of the company. Barton stressed that that particular person takes legal responsibility for those using AZSITE for the company.

                                               iv. Griffith recommended a management meeting in between the next general meeting to discuss changes to the access policies and the new appointments in the consortium. The meeting was scheduled for March 23^rd.

F. Public Comment

a. Jon Schumaker of APS brought up laws and guidelines regarding public access and the unlawful restrictions to public records, specifically in AZSITE. Deputy SHPO Griffith countered Schumaker’s comments with more specific laws regarding lawful restrictions to the records in order to protect cultural resources.

b. Lauren Bentz of Westland Resources asked about the BLM Yuma and San Pedro projects, specifically about the problems with the data that is being corrected and what the project names are for those incorrect projects. Karl reported that the BLM projects have limited paperwork, that some information has been lost over the years. The correction is a slow, tedious process, but ASM is working on it and trying to correct it as quickly as possible.

c. Jennifer Epperson of William Self Associates asked for an additional demonstration of AZMAP. Karl showed a few more features on AZMAP and suggested she contact him for additional help.

G. Establishment of Date and Agenda for next meeting.

a. The next quarterly meeting was scheduled for April 10, 2006, provided Grindell is available. The meeting will be held either at SHPO or ASU is Phoenix. The conclusions discussed in the March 23^rd meeting will be presented at the general meeting.

H. The meeting was adjourned on a motion and a second at 3:30 PM.

View Open Management Meeting Minutes from 10am, February 16, 2006 Open ManagementMeeting February 2006