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AD HOC Technology Minutes 2003 08-20-03 Page 1 of 4 APPROVED BY COMMITTEE WITH CORRECTIONS 10/22/03 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE AD HOC TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2003 6:30 P.M. In Attendance: Alderman Marty Ivlunns— Chairman Finance Director Traci Pleckham Alderman Larry Kot Police Office Supervisor Molly Batterson Alderman Rich Sticka Mayor Art Prochaska (arrived at 6:45) Alderwoman Wanda Ohare Administrator Tony Graff(arrived 7:05) Guests: Wally Graff- Software Performance Specialists, Inc. (SPS) Andy Clements- Weblinx APPROVAL/CORRECTION OF MINUTES The minutes from the July 29, 2003 meeting were approved. REVIEW PROPOSALS The committee discussed the internet service proposals they received. They were also reviewed by Wally Graff from SPS who is the city's current software consultant. Mr. Graff stated that ICN is the most economical for the City. The drawbacks are that the City would have to connect to the library and due to the Patriot's Act, any sites visited are audited. Mr. Graff recommended the City get a TI connection. This would eliminate dial up lines and probably cost the same as what the City is currently spending. Finance Director Traci Pleckham stated that the City currently has seven or eight dial-up connections with AOL which is approximately $178.00/month along with twelve telephone lines. She stated that she met with a representative of SBC and was told there was a way to save up to $700.00/month based on reconfiguring telephone and modem lines. Also discussed was the use of Comcast cable lines. Mr. Graff stated that he spoke with Comcast and they are willing to provide the City with free cable modem. The drawbacks to this method are: it is meant to have only a single connection so it does not route to multiple users however a router could be used, the band width is not guaranteed, the download is slower and multiple users slow the system. Everyone can still receive e-mail and there would not be a need for multiple phone lines. The committee discussed using Comcast short term while saving up for a T1 line. Andy Clemens from Weblinx stated that he has done consulting for other communities and Montgomery and Oswego use DSL. The Oswego PD is changing to a Tl line soon Page 2 of 4 to join in a countywide share program which the Yorkville PD hopes to join in the next year and a half. Connecting all the City's buildings was discussed. Mr. Graff recommended a T1 connection between remote locations. This would cost $190.00 to $230.00/month per line. Mr. Graff did not recommend wireless (microwave)between locations because hackers can easily get into this system. Mr. Graff pointed out that not only is there a monthly cost for this but also the initial expense for equipment. He stated that it would cost approximately $12,000.00 to $15,000.00 for equipment and labor to connect the locations with a Tl line. The committee went over SBC's handout which demonstrates how the locations can be linked and the equipment needed to do this. The cost for SBC's internet access will be $725.00/month for the City Hall connection and either $1,000.00/month or$1,107.20/month(depending of the length of the contract) for the remote locations. Novacon proposed a monthly charge of$595.00 plus $950.00/month for the remote locations. They offered a one-year contract and provide a router for internet connections which is a savings of$800.00 to $900.00. Mr. Graff felt Novacon's offer was the better proposal. Mr. Graff went over the possible extras such as the cost for routers, switches at remotes, firewalls, and installation. He stated that he could put together the costs. Alderman Kot asked if this system would accommodate the City having its ordinances, agendas, minutes, etc. on its website. Mr. Clemens stated that this system would work. Mayor Prochaska noted that this information is available on the City's website and the public will not have access to the City's network. The committee discussed the ability to add to the system in the future. Mr. Graff stated that the system is not limited in size. Alderwoman Ohare asked what would be lost by changing to a different system. Mr. Graff stated that there would be no change to the equipment at the City Hall so no investment would be lost. He did recommend against using Microsoft Exchange because this would necessitate having an IT employee on staff because it needs constant tweaking. Mr. Graff and SPS could oversee the administration of the system for far less than hiring a new employee. The committee discussed the availability of DSL. Chairman Munns stated that he inquired about this for his home and was told by SBC it was months away from being available in the area. Administrator Graff stated that there is not enough space in the Ameritech building to provide DSL so it will not be available until the building is expanded. Chairman Munns stated that the committee needed more information so he asked Finance Director Pleckham to work up the costs involved for the next meeting on September 2, 2003 (before the COW meeting). He asked her to analyze T 1 lines throughout the City's buildings including the setup of the infrastructure and a breakdown by building. He also asked her to chart the savings between proposals. Page 3 of 4 WEB SITE UPDATE Andy Clemens from Weblinx reported that the biggest challenge with the website is what to do with the home page. His target date for having the site up is Friday, August 22, 2003. The committee discussed the home page and made suggestions such as having the City flag waving on it and they suggested making frequent changes to the home page in order to keep it interesting. Mr. Clemens stated he would look into that. Alderman Sticka noted that someone would need to make these"frequent" changes. Mayor Prochaska stated that he would like to see the site changed monthly so as to not tie up personnel. They discussed having the Council's e-mails forwarded to their home e-mail. Mr. Clemens stated that this could be arranged. The consensus of the committee was to launch the website before the Riverfront Festival. LAPTOPS FOR COUNCILMEN The committee discussed providing laptops for the Council in order to eliminate paperwork. Administrator Graff noted that not all paperwork is generated by the City so someone would have to scan them. Mayor Prochaska stated that the City could ask for hard copies of documents along with them on a disk. The cost of laptops was discussed. Mayor Prochaska had a Dell catalog which listed them beginning at $699.99. It was suggested that communities such as St. Charles and Galesburg who are already using laptops be contacted for input. Administrator Graff stated that he spoke with a former Alderman with the City of Aurora who stated that the Council was given meeting packets on disk to download on to laptops and 90% of the Council did not use the laptops. He stated that Aurora did not have a comprehensive plan to implement the system and also they could not network with other city departments. Chairman Munns suggested that the committee think about how they would use laptops and bring their ideas back to the next meeting. Administrator Graff stated he would start researching E-Government and bring the information to the committee. ELECTRONIC RECORD KEEPING Administrator Graff reported that the file rooms for the Clerk's Office and the Police Department are at capacity. He would like to look at budgeting Laser Fiche into next year's budget. The cost of the system last year was around $15000.00 to $18,000.00. He stated that staff would be talking with the company in the future to get an updated price. This system allows documents to be scanned in order to be stored and create a database. Mayor Prochaska suggested that the City may want to have Laser Fiche create the database because it is time consuming. The committee discussed if the pros and cons of the system. It was decided to get cost information and to bring this back to another meeting for further discussion. Page 4 of 4 ADDITONAL BUSINESS Alderman Kot reported that there is a virus being sent from an address of elbum.il.us. He stated that he encountered the virus at work. There was no further addition business so the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 P.M. Minutes respectfully submitted by: Jackie Milschewski, City Clerk