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HomeMy WebLinkAbout_2007 01 29 Workshop - WiFi Minutes CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP JANUARY 29,2007 CALL TO ORDER The Workshop of Monday, January 29,2007 of the City Commission was called to Order by Mayor John F. Bush at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building (City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, Florida 32708). Roll Call: Mayor John F. Bush, present Deputy Mayor Sally McGinnis, present Commissioner Robert S. Miller, present Commissioner Rick Brown, present Commissioner Donald A. Gilmore, present Commissioner Joanne M. Krebs, present City Manager Ronald W. McLemore, arrived at 6:33 p.m. City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese, arrived at 6:41 p.m. INFORMATIONAL AGENDA INFORMATIONAL 500. Information Services Department Wishes To Introduce The Commission To Elert & Associates, Who Will Be Working With Them In The Capacity Of Consultants On The City's Wifi Project. We Will Open Up Discussion On The Initial Stages Of The Project And Furnish The Commission With Some Preliminary Information. Ms. Joanne Dalka, Director, Information Services Department presented this Agenda Item. Ms. Wendy Chretien, PMP, Elert & Associates, 140 Third Street South, Stillwater, Minnesota: opened the discussion for this Agenda Item. Mayor Bush asked, "When is the Commission going to hear..." Ms. Chretien commented, "... I would imagine that the Commission would hear as we come back with our recommendations, and that would be toward the end of April. If the Commission wants to have more input between now and then, you might want to work with the City's internal Committee. Maybe you want to Appoint one of your Members to that Committee as well." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - JANUARY 29,2007 PAGE20F6 City Manager Ronald W McLemore arrived at 6:33 p.m. Discussion. City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese arrived at 6:41 p.m. With further discussion, Ms. Chretien stated, "Metal reflects wireless signals - and so sometimes we have to do special things for buildings with metal. Ms. Chretien continued, "There is certainly going to be a WiMax version of mesh networking coming, but so far nothing yet. And, there's no standards. Now, this is really where it's different. We talk about networks - ethernet, stuff you use all the time in your office or around. That's a standard. Unfortunately, for mesh networking, the standard isn't finished yet. They're still working on it. But, there's products out there." Discussion ensued. Commissioner Robert S. Miller remarked, "If this is going to go anywhere, I think it's incumbent for you, maybe at the very outset of your meeting, to say - 'I am going to give you all a lot oftechnical data, I am going to give you - a lot of whereas' , wherefore's, and you are going to have a lot of choices to make', but let me tell you why this has worked so great in eight (8) other cities that have already adopted it, and then go down a list." Commissioner Miller added, "Maybe when you do this, you need to get that up right out front then, so you have the people's interest." Continuing, Commissioner Miller stated, "You need to put that right in the front - this is why it has succeeded. You can put why it's failed too, if you want. But, I think you ought to say, 'This is why it has succeeded in a bunch of cities that have adopted it'." Discussion followed on what other cities had done in this field. Tape I/Side B With further comments, Ms. Chretien stated, "The County question came up in our earlier Committee Meeting too. We are going to be trying to speak with the County as well as part of this, so that we understand - things that might need to be done outside the City's boundaries and how that might happen." Video services including surveillance was discussed next. Mayor Bush said, "We want it better, faster, and cheaper. Now, just tell us how to do it." Ms. Chretien noted, "We'll tell you ifit makes sense to do it." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - JANUARY 29,2007 PAGE 3 OF 6 Commissioner Donald A. Gilmore inquired, "Could we get a copy of the slides..." Ms. Chretien answered, "...Yes, Sir. We can make those available." Commissioner Gilmore added, "It would have been real nice if we could have had those in front of us while you were talking so we could have made notes." Mr. Mike McLean, Seminole County, Commissioner, Board of County Commissioners of Seminole County, 1101 East First Street, Sanford, Florida: and stated, "First, let me compliment you for all the work you've done on municipal Wi-Fi, up until now. This began from you, at least from what I know, when Commissioner Michael Blake brought this subject up - I believe it was February 2005 - and you folks have been doing a lot of exploration about the various possibilities that a Wi-Fi system could enhance the quality of life for the City of Winter Springs. I had the pleasure - when I was on the Lake Mary City Commission to hear a Presentation, after getting some of the information from you folks here, from Glenn Sangiovanni, who is the former Mayor of the City of St. Cloud. And, he came to us to give us the good, bad, and the ugly regarding their situation. My understanding, Mr. Mayor, is that St. Cloud was the very first city-wide, full municipal Wi-Fi service, where the service itself was provided free to the residents. And, because of that, they broke new ground; and the Presentation itself was very informative, because it was very balanced. I thought Glenn (Sangiovanni) did a great job at talking about the good things that occurred; some things that they hadn't planned for, that they had to adjust to; and the tweaking that they had to do through the process. So, when I had the pleasure to end up on the County Commission, I asked Mr. Sangiovanni if he would come to the County Commission and discuss and bring that program, that proposal to us; which he did do. The reason I'm here tonight, ladies and gentlemen, is it appears that a number of municipalities are working into this very process. Not only the work that you folks have done; the City of Lake Mary is getting ready to do an RFP (Request for Proposal) regarding this. And, I understand the City of Sanford also has some preliminary interest as well. As well as, the Board of Seminole County. After hearing the Presentation, we are now in the preliminary stages of getting together with our IT (Information Technology) people and seeing what - areas we're doing now and what we can enhance. And the reason that I'm here is - I want to offer the idea of having a coordinated effort regarding this. What I see happening is, you folks going your way, Lake Mary going another, the County going another; and I think if we can coordinate efforts, we probably can make this a little more cost efficient and perhaps be able to make - the continuity throughout the County. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - JANUARY 29, 2007 PAGE40F6 So, I've come to you tonight to say that the County is more than willing to be of any help that you believe we can be. Obviously, a lot of the information you are acquiring would be a great help to the County." Furthermore, Mr. McLean remarked, "We want to be able to work together and coordinate this effort because, what we don't want to do is have gaps in coverage. I think if we're going to do this, we should do it right." Furthermore, County Commissioner McLean stated, "I'm more than willing to have Mr. Sangiovanni visit with you, if you would like. However you would like the County to help in this situation, we're willing to do it Mr. Mayor." Commissioner Joanne M. Krebs said to Ms. Chretien, "Will that be a part of your Presentation afterwards - as far as recommendations that might help costs, either be less than what they would be if we decided to do it on our own?" Ms. Chretien stated, "Yes - I'm very glad to see someone from the County who's willing to participate fully in this and we will certainly take that into consideration as part of the planning." Discussion. Deputy Mayor Sally McGinnis stated, "I became aware of this Municipal Wi-Fi about two (2) or three (3) years ago at a National League of Cities Conference. The issue then was, there was a small town of Pennsylvania who was prepared to give this to every single person in their City and then their Legislative body interfered. Then later down the line, the Florida Legislative body started meddling with this - is that all gone? Do we face any challenges here?" County Commissioner McLean stated, "My understanding in the Presentation that Mayor Sangiovanni gave us last week is that this is definitely the same approach that was used in St. Cloud; is something that we could consider on a County-wide basis. And, I would assume that it would be no different for any municipality within Seminole County. I'd be more than glad to have Glenn (Sangiovanni) communicate with you in any way you would like, to give you the detail that you'd probably want." Mr. John Tracy, CIO, Seminole County Public Schools, 400 East Lake Mary Boulevard, Sanford, Florida: commented, "As far as the schools go, first of all, mention that we do partner with the County already in a big way. In that we had a fiber ring that basically connects all our high schools." Mr. Tracy continued, "However, our middle schools and our elementary schools aren't so fortunate." With further comments, Mr. Tracy added, "We're certainly more than interested in partnering with Winter Springs, using some kind of a high speed connection if Winter Springs chooses to go that route." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - JANUARY 29, 2007 PAGE50F6 Mayor Bush said, "I would really be interested - for you to share with Joanne Dalka, our IT (Information Technology) Director - what you think would be the best thing for the City of Winter Springs, maybe the County to do. I think you know what we want - and you also know what you need. I think it would be great if you'd share that with her at some point, so she could bring it back to the Commission." Discussion. Commissioner Gilmore added, "The next three (3) Presentations - and you need to put it to the people, 'This is Wi-Fi is; here's what it can do for you; this is why the City's looking at it; this is the kind of money you're going to save if we go this route'. Now, there's some problems with it and you can tell them that. Let's look at this as through the eyes of the people that are hearing this Presentation." Commissioner Krebs stated, "Broadband is definitely the future. Everybody should have, I believe, access to the Internet." Commissioner Krebs added, "I am looking forward to you providing us answers. And I believe that your Presentation tonight was geared toward us and - feeding us as much information that we could possibly use. And, obviously, that's not everything, or that's not what you're going to do to the general public." Tape 2/Side A Ms. Milda Hedblom, Ph.D., JD., Hubert H Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota: addressed the City Commission. Ms. Chretien stated, "You - have to have somebody who's interested in the first place. In other words - they have to think that, 'Okay, if we're going to do this for no cost because of advertising, we've got to have eyes out there looking at those ads. There's a profit motive underneath it all, any way you look at it, unless the City is doing it strictly for public service reasons." Commissioner Krebs asked, "How do we find that out? How do we find out if someone is interested? By an RFP (Request for Proposal)?" Ms. Chretien stated, "Yes." Discussion. Mr. Michael S. Blake, 711 Canadice Lane, Winter Springs Florida: commented on the "Vision" ofWi-Fi. Mayor Bush said, "One of the things that Commissioner McLean had said, he didn't say it tonight - the County is looking for possibly a City to be the trial. And, I would like to see us be - that City in Seminole County to step out and say - 'Choose us. We're ready to go'." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - JANUARY 29, 2007 PAGE60F6 Additionally, Mayor Bush said, "That is what I want to know - can the City provide something that I am willing to pay for that - would save me money." Furthermore, Mayor Bush commented, "I think that's what the people want to know - is it going to be as fast or faster than what they currently have and if so, what is it going to cost them." Mayor Bush added, "That is what I want to know, and I think our Commission does - what do the citizens expect?" Further discussion. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Bush adjourned the Regular Meeting at 8:22 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: DE BIE FRANKLIN, DEPUTY CITY CLERK AND I I I LORENZO-LUACES, CMC LERK .}r/~ J'F. BUSH MAYOR NOTE: These Minutes were approved at the February 12,2007 Regular City Commission Meeting,