Sometime in the first week or so of November, people will be able to log onto the Cook County website, access an interactive map, and zoom in on aerial photos of their properties. They will be able to find township grids and zoning boundaries and find road, stream, and lake names.
At the Tuesday, October 26, 2010 county board meeting, Cook County GIS Analyst Kyle Oberg demonstrated how people will be able to delineate a portion of a parcel, such as the part that is wooded, and find out how many acres it covers.
“This is the result of many months of work,” said Information Systems Director Danna MacKenzie. It will save money on software licenses, because her department will no longer have to pay for maps to be downloaded onto individual computers.
People wanting permits from the Planning and Zoning Department will be able to download and print applications and maps at home instead of having to go to the courthouse to pick up the applications from Planning and Zoning and requesting the required maps from the Assessor’s Office. She said not having to print so many maps for people will give Assessor’s Office staff more time to do other tasks they previously had to put off. Commissioner Fritz Sobanja pointed out that downloading maps at home would also save wear and tear on county equipment.
“It’s slick,” Commissioner Sobanja said. “It will only get better.”
Some information about properties has been accessible online for the last couple of years by taxpayer name, parcel number, or address. This can be found at www.co.cook.mn.us by clicking on “Online Property Information Search” under “Property Information” in the left column of the county’s home page. The interactive map will be accessible from there as well.
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