Title
Department of Transportation recommending the Board:
1) Adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 215-2019, thereby amending the FY 2019-20 Authorized Personnel Allocation Resolution for the Department of Transportation, deleting one vacant 1.0 FTE Associate Land Surveyor position;
2) Approve the addition of one (1) unmanned aerial vehicle to the Fiscal Year 2019-20 Fixed Asset List totaling $34,000;
3) Approve additional funds to cover the costs of training, computer equipment and software, and other accessories for the unmanned aerial vehicle in the amount of $19,400, to the Fiscal Year 2019-20 organization code 3620200; and
4) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign a budget transfer adjusting the budget for Fiscal Year 2019-20 to allow for the purchase of the unmanned aerial vehicle and related expenses (4/5 vote required).
FUNDING: Road Fund.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The Department of Transportation (Transportation), Fairlane Engineering’s Survey Unit (Survey) is requesting authorization to add one (1) item to the Fixed Asset list, allocate $53,400 to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 Adopted budget, and purchase an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV/drone) and associated items for use in performing aerial surveys of project sites to develop topographic (topo) maps. Transportation further proposes to delete one 1.0 FTE vacant Associate Land Surveyor allocation due to retirement of incumbent.
In the planning phase, the UAV/drone could be used on every new project to get a topo base map and orthophoto of the site. This would eliminate about 60% of the ground topo shots taken by a field crew, thereby reducing staffing needs and the related reduction in the vacant Land Surveyor position. Ground survey and staking would still need to be completed by Survey staff for control points and any features unidentifiable from photos such as corner monuments, culverts, utilities, etc. During the construction phase, as-built surveys will be able to more accura...
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