Washington’s City Council, during its meeting last week, authorized the city manager to sign an agreement for Withers Ravenel Inc. to implement the second phase of the city’s GIS project at a cost not to exceed $24,200.

The first phase of the project included connecting the city with Beaufort County’s GIS. The second phase includes converting all of the city’s public-works data into a GIS format and maintaining that data in a citywide GIS. The project’s third phase involves integrating the city’s electric utilities data into the city’s GIS.

The city has been revamping its GIS capabilities in recent months. Earlier this year, the council approved an updated GIS zoning map, which city officials and the Planning Board use to make decisions regarding growth and development in the city and in the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction, an area outside the city where its zoning, building and other similar regulations are in force. GIS is an acronym for geographic information system, designed to capture, store, analyze, manipulate and manage all types of spatial data.

Governments often use GIS mapping in land records and identifying land parcels for taxation purposes.

“We are coordinating with the county to make sure the map they’re showing on their website is accurate,” city planner Glenn Moore said at the Planning Board’s August meeting. “There were some zoning mistakes. They had some different things that we went through and tweaked. This is what we’ve come up with.”

In other business, the council awarded a $47.575.19 contract to Etheridge Roofing Inc. to replace the gymnasium roof at the Bobby Andrews Recreation Center on East Seventh Street. The city budgeted $54,000 for the project.

The city received two other bids on the project, one for $49,748.15 and the other for $51,980.