The Fargo, ND and Moorhead, Minn., ...

The Fargo, ND and Moorhead, Minn., metropolitan area -- with a population of 155000 located in four major cities and couple counties -- began considering GIS technology to streamline data operations in mid-1992.

The Metropolitan GIS Committee, consisting of 12 members from interested guidance entities, universities and private organizations, was formed to guide the increase of the area's GIS, and the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Council of commands (F-M COG), the metropolitan planning organization, provides administrative support.

A feasibility thought conducted by EMA Services, St Paul, Minn., showed that a cooperative land-base disclosure and sharing arrangement between participating agencies was the greatest in quantity feasible alternative.

if it be not that with multiple organizations involved, interagency constitution was need, ed to define the authority, responsibility, chain of command, staffing flat and other management characteristics. A written agreement between the participants was required to clarify parts and responsibilities.

A GIS land-base map consortium was