December 22, 2009 -- St. Charles, IL – Garza County, located in northwest Texas, covers approximately 900 square miles and encompasses 5,806 land parcels. The Garza Central Appraisal District (GCAD) recognized a critical need for a compliant mapping system that would effectively allow their staff to handle the process of GIS-based land records management and keep their maps as current as possible. GCAD turned to The Sidwell Company to provide the professional GIS services to help them achieve these goals.

As part of this multi-year project, Sidwell will develop a cadastral GIS with annotation for all parcels within the service area of the Garza Central Appraisal District. GCAD’s existing digital orthophotography will be used as the base map for construction of the new ESRI ArcGIS 9.3 geodatabase. GCAD staff will receive training on the review of the geodatabase, and will support Sidwell as any necessary parcel research and ongoing parcel maintenance is performed.

According to GCAD Chief Appraiser Shirley Smith, “We chose Sidwell because the system they will provide for us will meet all the necessary requirements, and it includes features that will allow for the most effective mapping of the district and our lake developments in particular.” Smith also says, “This system will handle the changes currently taking place, as well as those that will occur in the future of Garza County.” GCAD is the latest Texas appraisal district to benefit from Sidwell’s depth of experience and ability to create functional and flexible GIS solutions for jurisdictions of all sizes.

About Sidwell
The Sidwell Company is an employee-owned firm providing integrated land records management solutions and GIS mapping and software development to local government and private-sector organizations across the United States. Sidwell’s premier parcel mapping solution, Parcel Builder™, is currently in use at over 150 sites nationwide. Sidwell also offers a full range of aerial photography and photogrammetric services, and is the Midwest Distributor for Magellan™ GPS products and solutions. For more information about Sidwell services and products, call 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355) or visit www.sidwellco.com.