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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/22/08 Technologies January 22,2008 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE TECHNOLOGIES BOARD HELD ON January 22, 2008 The Regular Session of the TECHNOLOGIES BOARD of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 6:30 pm on the 22nd of January, 2008 at CITY HALL, in the Library Conference Room, City Hall, 6800 MAIN STREET, THE COLONY, TEXAS, with the following Technologies Board members present: John Harton Mark Porter Jack Turner Jacob Leick Bill Swink With five out of seven members present a quorum was established and the following items were discussed. 11.0 I Call Meeting to Order: 6:30 P.M. I 2.0 I DISPOSITION OF MINUTES Acceptance of Technologies Board Minutes for a meeting held on January 8, 2008. I 3.0 I CITIZEN INPUT None I 4.0 I AGENDA ITEMS 4.1 Consider and approve a recommendation for fiber optic conduit along FM423. Bruce Maker, IT Manger, explained that we would like to have the conduit engineered into the plans for FM 423. If we do not have it done now we will spend four to five times the amount of money to run the conduit after FM 423 is widened. Mr. Harton asked what will be connected with the fiber. Mr. Maker answered that the pump station, arts building, Fire Station #3, a connectivity point for Wynnwood Peninsula, and eventually the traffic lights. Mr. Harton asked why we would want to connect to the traffic lights. Mr. Maker said that eventually when the city gets to a population of 50,000 we will be hiring a Traffic Engineer. That person would be able to control the traffic signals from their desk if there were issues with them. Mr. Harton asked if the fiber loop would connect the Police department. Mr. Maker said it would connect the Police department and Courts building, the Aquatic Park, and eventually a connection to Austin Ranch. Mr. Swink asked if the city has a person on staff that can do fiber repairs. Mr. Maker responded that we do not and we would put it in the contract that we require a four hour response time for any problems that we experience with breaks in the line. Mr. Harton asked if the January 22,2008 contractor that cuts the fiber would be responsible for making the repairs. Mr. Maker said they would be responsible for finding the break and fixing the problem. Mr. Maker explained that most of the equipment will be underground and we should not have any problems with mowers running over them. There will not be any pedestals. Mr. Swink asked if there will be multiple fibers pulled through the conduit. Mr. Maker said it will be a minimum 72 strand fiber. Mr. Harton asked what the cost is. Mr. Maker said it will cost about thirty thousand dollars to engineer it into the drawings. Mr. Harton asked if that was just for the drawings and not actually for the work. Mr. Maker said that was correct. Mr. Harton asked if there was budget for it. Rebecca Koo, Finance Director, stated the funds will come from the next bond issuance which will be 2009. Ms. Koo said according to the regulations we can pay for the engineering services before the bonds are issued. Mr. Swink asked if the conduit and drop boxes will be put into the budget. Mr. Maker responded that we will put that in the budget for next year. Mr. Swink made a motion to approve a recommendation to have the conduit engineered into the drawings. Mr. Turner made a second. Item carries. 4.2 Consider and approve a recommendation for upgrading the city's Internet connection. Mr. Harton asked about the proposed connection from Time Warner. He said he was unaware of any fiber in the city from Time Warner. Mr. Maker explained that Time Warner would be engineering the connection into City Hall. He explained that we have a fiber connection for our television broadcast that we currently do. Mr. Harton asked why the cost was so much for the 10MB connection that Time Warner is offering. Mr. Maker explained that this is a dedicated 10MB connection. He explained that we are currently paying about $570 per month with AT&T for TI connections. Mr. Harton wanted to point out that Beverly Jones, absent board member, recommended that we go with Time Warner. Mr. Turner asked ifVerizon had turned in a quote. Mr. Maker said they did not because they do not have fiber service in our area. Mr. Harton asked if there was any other provider that was considered besides the ones presented and XO. Mr. Maker said those were the only ones considered. XO offered too many services that we did not need. Mr. Marshall requested that the contract be specific to ensure that we get the service that Time Warner is promising. Mr. Maker said there will be SLA's built into the contract with monetary penalties should they not meet the agreement. Mr. Porter made a motion to approve a recommendation to upgrade the city's internet connection by using Time Warner. Mr. Leick made a second. Motion carries. I 5.0 I ADJOURNMENT With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:49 p.m. APPROVED: ....~," /'7.'''l ..f /' 7 . <--" ',' /. . ~/ /:!: ,( /,tt::111~ Mark Porter, Secretary 4 /'7 /-/ . . L--~'? ~~-~ -fuhn Harton, Chainnflfl J t.f d L / t,t.,- /I-r? (/ t, / cr' {'h~,,'/ /;,---- J 2