March 29, 2010 -- St. Charles, IL - Forsyth County, Georgia ( www.forsythco.com) and its county seat, Cumming, are part of the greater metropolitan area of the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Over the past decade, Forsyth County has been one of the fastest growing areas in the country, based in large part on its proximity to Atlanta. It is a difficult task to keep all land records current, accurately mapped, and linked to all associated documents and data in the county’s administration, and this was made even more difficult by the level of growth and activity being experienced by the county. With this in mind, Forsyth County went in search of a solution that would help them meet three primary goals: to develop a structured and streamlined land parcel management workflow; to find a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) parcel maintenance solution to meet a majority of their needs; and to develop a GIS-centric parcel management system that will fully integrate with their CAMA system. After a thorough search for an appropriate solution, the County found they could satisfy all of these requirements with one provider: The Sidwell Company, of St. Charles, IL.

Forsyth County found the solutions offered by Sidwell to fully support the 17 functional requirements necessary to fulfill their needs. The solution for Forsyth County is centered on Sidwell’s Parcel Builder® software ( www.ParcelBuilder.com). Parcel Builder provides a centralized parcel management system, which will integrate the County’s current GIS and CAMA systems. Parcel Builder-Administrator®(PBA) will centralize the management of parcel numbers as splits, combinations, subdivisions, multi-ownership properties (duplexes and condos) are entered into their GIS and CAMA systems. Sidwell staff will review the current workflows at the county to determine where efficiencies will be gained and how to best position the software and training curriculum. As changes are made and move through the County’s business rules, PBA will inherit parcel information and generate unique numbers for new parcels and pass data along the maintenance workflow to CAMA and a then continue on through the remaining tax office operations.

Parcel Builder-MapEditor® will be used to further streamline the boundary changes within the county’s GIS. One of the key aspects of the Sidwell solution that impressed managers and staff at the county was Sidwell’s innovative Tagged Data Model. This data model allows for the management of multiple features on one boundary feature type. This model also helps in reducing the occurrence of non-coincident boundaries when performing parcel boundary changes for assessment purposes. Advanced training on cadastral mapping actions and on Parcel Builder tools will be provided to county staff ensuring a smooth transition and implementation.

Forsyth County joins the Sidwell family of over 200 county-based clients across the nation.

About Sidwell
For over 80 years, The Sidwell Company has provided outstanding products and services, evolving and innovating every step of the way. Sidwell 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 used by over 160 customers nationwide to centralize the management of parcel information . Sidwell also offers a full range of aerial photography and photogrammetric services, and is the Midwest Distributor for Ashtech (formerly Magellan™) GPS products and solutions. For more information about Sidwell services and products call 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355) or visit www.sidwellco.com.