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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/07/03 Telecommunications TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD MEETING MINUTES October 7, 2003 The Regular Session of The Telecommunications Board of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:01 p.m. on the 7th day of October 2003, at City Hall with the following members present: Board Members Present Staff Present Clark Switzer, Chairman Linda Camerlin - I.T. Manager Richard Kuether, Vice Chairman Rhonda Gann - Administrative Assistant Walter Gillette Marcus Leatham Bill Cunningham Wallace Gehrke, Alternate Board Members Absent Melvina Sparks - No Phone Call With five (6) board members present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. Citizens Input Ms. Hill, who is on the Cultural Arts Board was invited by Clark Switzer but was not present. 2. Consideration of approval of the minutes of the Telecommunications Board meeting held on September 16, 2003. Walter Gillett made a motion to approve the minutes for September 16, 2003 meeting. Wallace Gehrke seconded the motion. Those in favor: All Those oppose: None 3. Discussion and action of new equipment purchases: Clark asked Linde if Bob Sparkman contacted Terry Real with Video Tex. Linde told Clark that Bob did call Ten'y Real with Video Tex and he is on the Municipality Bid List. Linde told the board that Bob Sparkman specializes in the purchase of computer equipment and is in the process of getting three quotes on this item. Linde told thc board she was directed not to spend any funds from thc Telecommunication Board until a~tcr the Council/Staff retreat that will be held on October 11, 2003. Clark said told board they need to vote on the "DV Pro Field Edit Station" for approval at this meeting because the board will not meet again until November 4, 2003. This equipment can be purchased after the retreat and not be held up any longer. DV Pro Field Edit Station $6,494.00 ADVC-100 Media Converter 295.00 $6,789.00 Walter Gillette made a motion to purchase the "DV Pro Field Edit Station" Bill Cunningham seconded the motion. Those in favor: All Those oppose: None 4. Staff Liaison Report a. Linda said she informed the board at the September 16th board meeting, that it is very important that she be kept in the loop by being included in all e-mails that has to do with City-related businesses that has to do with the Telecommunication Board. Linda told the board she needs to be included in all e-mails even if she does not know the answer to the questions or if she is not the person who needs to answer the questions. Linda said because the board does not include her in e-mails to other departments, she is being e-mailed by City Staff about issues she is not aware of, and she is not able to answer questions they have. Linda said if the Telecommunication Board insists on leaving her out of the loop on e-mails, she would not be able to continue as StaffLiaison. Linda said she could not emphasize it enough; she must be copied on all e-mails from the Telecommunication Board on all City related business. b. Linda told the board the City has been experiencing security problems in the City Hall building. She said she wants to make the board a~vare of it because most of the board has keys to the front door, the Council Chambers doors, and the control room. The front doors have been found unlocked and lights have been found left on. City Staff has been issued a memo to make sure if anyone exits the front doors, to lock all doors behind them, or use the rear exit instead of the front. Clark told Linda that Staff needs to visit with the custodial staff about opening the power doors in front and not locking them back. He said he came up to the building one Sunday afternoon to work on the PSA for Code Enfomement and as he drove up, the two front power doors just swung open and no one was in the building at all. Linda asked Clark and the board to please e-mail her on situations such as this, when they occur so she can get with the Director that is in charge of the custodial staff. 2 Clark said on Council Meeting nights, staff just leaves the building and he and Richard Kuether are the only ones left in the building. They have to lock the doors and make sure all other doors from the Council Chambers to the front are locked before they leave, because no one from staff has locked up at all. 5. Budget Report Clark asked Linda if she had the final available balance on the Telecommunication Fund account as of the end of fiscal year 2002-2003. Linda told Clark that Gwen gave her a budget report that showed a balance of 4,199.60. She told the board that she asked Bob Sparkman if there were any invoices outstanding for the Telecommunication Board and Bob told her that the only ones he new of was the last two invoices he gave to her. Linda said the two invoices totaled about $652.00, which would leave a balance of $3,547.60. Linda told the board she would get with Gwen again to be sure of the final balance since the fiscal year has ended as of September 30, 2003, and all invoices should be paid. 6. Chairman's Report a. Clark asked Linda if she could send e-mail to him and the board, on the new Telecommunication Budget for $8,500.00 and the balance remaining of the 2002-2003 budget. b. Richard asked Linda if she could get a schedule or calendar for the upcoming meetings for P&Z, 4A and 4B boards. c. Clark reported the upcoming events: 1. Fire Fest October 18 2. Veterans Memorial November 8 3. Christmas Parade December 6 Linda told the board Wal-Mart is having a Public Safety Fair this Saturday, October 11th. Wal-Mart asked the City to advertise the information on the website and on Channel 17. Linda said she thinks Wal-Mart is working with Police on this event. d. Richard asked Linda how they would be able to tell if the computer in the control room is on-line or not. Linda told Richard if it is on-line, he can tell by clicking on the Intemet and see it broadcasting. Clark asked Linda if she would have Jonathan call the control room if he is airing on the Internet. Richard asked Linda if she would have Jonathan tape a memo on the computer stating that it is airing. e. Clark asked Linda if she would let Diane Baxter know, on the bulletin board that has -- the power point presentation on the Police and Fire Department, it says their station is onAT&T, channel 6; it should say Comcast instead of AT&T. f. Richard asked Linda when the board would be able to use the computer in the control room. Linda told Richard they could use the computer once they put another computer in there for the encryption. Linda told Richard she was not going to swap the computer out, but they are going to get another machine for the encryption so she can free the computer up for the board to use in the control room. Clark asked Linda if there was any way, she could eliminate putting in another machine in the control room since they are limited in space already. Linda told Clark the machine has to be hooked up to the equipment in the control room. Richard said they could run a cable wherever Linda needs to, to hook it up without putting it in the control room. Linda asked the board what they are going to use the computer in the control room for. Richard said he would like to incorporate some graphics they can fit into the video; it will also be used for reference material. Richard said he does not see a lot of usage to the computer. Linda asked the board about the possibility of putting in another hard drive so I.T. can use some of the hard drive, the board can use the computer, and this will eliminate the problem with space. Clark said they would be in need of a bigger hard drive anyway, because if they are going to implement a graphics package, it will take up a lot of space. Linda told Clark that Jonathan told her the intemet encryption process, however they work it, by computer or cable, must be real close for it to work. Richard asked Linda if the RushWorks system for Power Point is capable of working with video as well as Power Point. Linda said it is capable of doing video and of being stretched bigger or expanded. Richard said he thought the RushWorks system is tailored for the PSA Clark just finished for Code Enfomement. He said instead of programming the tape in the playback system, could it be put on the RushWorks system since it is only two minutes long. Linda said the RushWorks is a software-generated piece of equipment. If you tape something and put in ABI, any kind of a video feed, it can be put in the RushWorks system. It could also be scheduled to be played at certain points and time. Linda said if the video is just a couple of minute long, they have the file, instead of having the cassette tape, they can encrypt it like the Council Meeting and it will be converted into a file so if someone is on the internet and they click on it, they can watch the PSA. Richard asked Linda if this is something the I.T. Department would want to do. Take the PSA video, instead of running it tkrough the tape machine, put it in the RushWorks system, schedule it for how often staff wants. Linda told Richard that this is a great idea. Richard told Linda that the way they have to program tapes, playing the two minute tape, every hour is a lot of programming and it would save them programming space. Linda said that it would work great and she can have it programmed inside the RushWorks system. -- 4 Clark said he would call Diane Monday and let her know. Linda said she would e-mail Diane and copy the board and Jonathan about this information. Linda told the board that RushWorks also lets Diane edit anything on the videos if she needs to. Clark told the board the next meeting will be held on November 4, 2003. Clark adjourned the meeting at 7:35p.m. APPROVED: ~~ tOlark Switzer, Chairr21~' Rhonda Gann, Recording Secretary 5