Technology Committee Meeting Minutes
Town of Chapel Hill

Date:		17-May-2005

Time:		5:30pm to 7:00pm

Location:	Town Hall Training Room

Purpose:	Regular Monthly Meeting

Time Convened:	5:30pm

Chaired By:	Alan Rimer

Attendance:	Alan Rimer, Evelyn Daniel, Brandon Perkins, Gregg Gerdau, Steve Irving, Terrell Buckner, Uzoma Nwasu, William Raymond,  Bob Avery, Mark Bayles, Jane Cousins, Bill Rehm, Arek Kempinski, Doug Noell

Agenda:		1)  Discuss election of TC officers.
2)  IT director introduces Bill Rehm – Town’s new web-developer/administrator
3)  IT directors’ discussion on IT-budget / Town’s CIP / discussion on his presentation to Town Council.
4)  Timeout to honor departing TC-Chair Allan Rimer. 
5)  Vote count and installation of new TC officers.
6)  Discussion on Town’s “Smart-Card” initiative.

Votes:		1)  Gregg Gerdau – TC chair
2)  Terrell Buckner – vice-chair 

Adjourned:	7:30pm 

Notes:		pages 2—4.

Next Regular Meeting:	21-June-2005 @ 17:30est.

Current Members	In attendance:
  1)  Alan Rimer		-	- √	
  2)  Donald Shaw	-	- 	
  3)  Evelyn Daniel	-	- √	
  4)  Jeremy Collins	-	-   	
  5)  Ralph Beisner	-	- 	
  6)  Roscoe E. Reeve	-	- 	
  7)  Aris Buinevicius	-	- 	
  8)  Brandon Perkins	-	- √	
  9)  Gregg Gerdau		- √	
10)  Dr. William Groves	-  	
11)  Karim Kheireddire	- 	
12)  Steve Irving	-	- √	
13)  Terrell Buckner	-	- √	
14)  Uzoma Nwasu	-	- √	
15)  William Raymond	-	- √	

ToCH Staff: 
 1)  Bob Avery
 2)  Mark Bayles
 3)  Jane Cousins
 4)  Bill Rehm
 5)  Arek Kempinski

Other People Attending:
1)	Doug Noell, Representing Chapel Hill Public School System

= = = = = = = = = = = 

The Technology Committee Chair Alan Rimer opened the regular meeting in HR Conference Room at 17:35 est, and asked for an update on the election process for the new Technology Committee officers.  Evelyn Daniel explained that she received absentee votes from Ralph Beisner and Aris Buinevicius which will be counted with the written votes from the rest of the TC members later during the meeting.  These votes will then be tallied and the person with most votes will be the new Technology Committee Chairperson, and the runner up will be the Vice-Chair.  No objection was voiced to Evelyn’s process.

The Chair then asked Bob Avery for an update on the status of the IT department since the last TC meeting.  Bob Avery introduced Bill Rehm, the IT department’s new web-developer/administrator, and explained his duties as related to the web design, publication, and consolidation of existing web sites into a unified plan, with the“CivicPlus” web contract as a first step. Will Raymond requested the “CivicPlus” contract available for the TC review. Terrell Buckner asked when the ‘reinvented’ Town web-site is going to be ready. Bob Avery indicated the 01-Aug-2005 was selected for a “go live” date. 

Bob Avery distributed minutes from the February 15th and April 19th, 2005 monthly TC meetings for the group to consider the format. TC members applauded Bob Avery for producing the minutes and agreed to provide feedback at a later time.  

Bob Avery briefed the Committee on status of the Town budget preparation for IT items as of the last budget work session. As related to the CIP: emergency power generators for Town Hall and the Police Department and a replacement telephone system for Town Hall continue to be supported.  
Will Raymond suggested the TC should reaffirm its “Strategic Plan” and support for the CIP to the Town’s Council; but at the same time, he noted that the TC needs to further the discussion on the possible gaps between its Committee’s “Strategic Plan”, and the Town staff’s direction.

Bob Avery noted that in his presentation to the Town Council he combined the TC’s “Strategic Plan” and Cost-Saving recommendations with the Town staff technology goals. Gregg Gerdau asked: what was left out?  Bob Avery responded that several proposals for hiring consultants were included in the list (but not funded) because further review of specific requirements was needed.

Terrell Buckner asked: what about a review of the document management (content management/CVS), how do we (TC and IT) disagree? Before any discussion commenced, Evelyn Daniel recommended the group take a break and recognize Alan Rimer for contributions he made to the TC, as it was his last day as the Chair and a member of the Technology Committee. Everyone expressed deep gratitude for his efforts on the part of the TC.  Will Raymond provided refreshments for all in appreciation.

After the break, Bob Avery noted that his presentation to the Council included, in addition to the three main areas highlighted by the Committee – GIS, Web, and Infrastructure, a fourth area for Workplace and Enterprise Software initiatives. This included such items as a database for collecting and tracking citizen’s complaints.

Terrell Buckner stated that she spoke with Paul Jones of UNC/ibiblio.org who was willing to arrange for a meeting between Red Hat and the Town; to discuss a ‘partnership’ that could empower the Town to move its IT operations toward the open-source computing/networking environment.  William Raymond offered that there are plenty of templates that the Town could apply to accommodate such a move, as well as plenty of local experts who could facilitate in the process. Bob Avery responded that although moving to open-source architecture may be desirable, the Town would evaluate the process based on value, i.e. return on investment. Terrell Buckner noted that these and many other questions can be better answered after conversation with Red Hat, and suggested that TC should agree to such a meeting to discuss the pilot.

Bob Avery closed his report to TC by highlighting the major points of his revised computer replacement program.  The modifications will allow savings of about $20,000 in this year and about $40,000 in the next year (an amount, which is only slightly less than the program suggested by the TC for the 2005-2006 budget year).  Bob stated that he and Staff were working out a new computer replacement cycle recommendation that will differentiate between desktops, laptops, police/fire MDTs and monitors.

Evelyn Daniel verified that a quorum of members existed (8 members were present), and distributed the voting ballets.  She then collected the ballots, and left the room in company of William Raymond and Brandon Perkins to tally them. 
  
During their absence, Alan Rimer recapped the highlights of his chairmanship with the TC, and offered the following thoughts to the officers elect: The original (2000) TC Strategic Plan was forward looking and the TC will do well to continue to emulate that process.  TC’s mandate is advisory, not an extension of either IT staff or the Council – advisory implies education; the TC needs to be educated in the Town’s challenges, and then share its expert advice with the Town Council and IT staff.  It is imperative that the TC work collaboratively. The opportunity to have impact is tremendous – our goal is to make a positive difference!

The ballots were tallied.  According to Evelyn Daniel, the vote was very close:  The new TC Chair is Gregg Gerdau, and the vice-chair is Terrell Buckner. 

Alan Rimer congratulated the winners, and asked Gregg Gerdau to take over as Chair of the TC a month ahead of schedule because he would not be available for the 21-June meeting.

The Chair asked Steve Irving to report on his investigation into the “Smart-Card” technologies as deployed in other municipalities.  Steve Irving presented a case study of the system in Houston, TX.  He highlighted the challenges in the system’s installation and discussed enforcement versus pros-&-cons of running the system.  Alan Rimer suggested that Steve Irving’s presentation showed that the TC needs to broaden its consideration to include transportation related issues, and not just the type of the “Smart-Card” system that could be employed and continued.  He accentuated that this is an opportunity for the TC to work closely with the Transportation Advisory Committee. 

The Chair asked and Bob Avery agreed to arrange for the Town’s Parking Department director, Brenda Jones, to answer TC’s questions regarding the “Smart-Card” initiative during the next meeting. 

Alan Rimer asked Terrell Buckner to continue to support the listserv” for the benefit of the group – she agreed.

Will Raymond and Gregg Gerdau announced their collaboration on the development of a web log “blog” for the TC content management and public discussion forum.

A motion to adjourn the meeting followed – The Chair adjourned the meeting around 19:30est.

Next regular meeting is: 21-June-2005 @ 17:30est.