Information Service Advisory Board
MINUTES
June 2, 2005
Temporary Council Chambers
Herbert C. Young Community Center
101 Wilkinson Ave., Cary, North Carolina
www.townofcary.org

1.  Call to Order

Chair Jo Rathgeber called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

2.  Introduction of Members

Present: Donna Bravo, Jamie Cuticchia, Steve Del Verde, Mark Evangelista, John Fitzpatrick, Dean Smith, Dayna Guzik, Lee Douglas, and Jo Rathgeber.

Absent: Angela Wright-Feldman

Town Council member Julie Robison and staff members Bill Stice and Mark Andrews were also present.  
 

3.  Approval of Minutes

The board unanimously approved the May 5, 2005 minutes as presented.

4.  Old/New Business

The board continued its focus on the Web site in a discussion with Technology Services Director Bill Stice. The proposed FY 2006 budget includes a comprehensive Google search engine package for a one-time $5,000 fee, Stice said. Stice said ISAB would be invited to provide input on configuring the Google search after budget approval.

The Town pays $200 a month for Web site hosting to Media 3 in Boston, thousands of dollars a year cheaper than the going rate and far cheaper than it would cost to manage the server in-house. Thirty percent of Technology Services’ budget goes for out-sourcing. The department finds that out-sourcing is more cost-effective than training staff for tasks that are performed very infrequently.

John Fitzpatrick spoke of the advantages of open source software. He said there were opportunities for considerable cost savings. Stice acknowledged pros and cons of Microsoft products but added that so far, that was more cost-effective for the Town’s software needs. Stice also said that Technology Services evaluates open source software periodically. Stice also discussed U.S. Department of Justice interpretation of Americans with Disabilities Act requirements regarding government Web sites. He said that documents should not be placed on the Web in pdf without an accompanying html version. The reason is that screen readers for the blind have significant problems with pdfs. Stice also discussed the council’s interest expressed two years ago in moving to geographic information system offerings that were more project-based rather than addressed-based. This GIS upgrade recently went online.

John Fitzpatrick noted some compatibility issues with some browsers. Stice said Technology Services is working with the vendor to resolve them. 

Mark Evangelista asked whether the Town was moving toward electronic submission of development plans. Stice said there were many challenges with online plan review because of the lack of scale and resolution standards.

Julie Robison noted that the proposed budget includes an additional position in Public Information. She said there wasn’t enough staff to do the kind of job Public Information Officer Susan Moran would like to see or the citizens would like to see on the Web site.   Bill Stice noted that the Web use report released that day for May showed a large increase in usage over May 2004. Mark Andrews said the increase was 31 percent. As the site grows, Stice said, the challenge of keeping it accurate and current grows exponentially. Determining whether content is up-to-date is a manual process.

Julie Robison said she would like for PowerPoint presentations at meetings to be available on the Web.  Stice said the PowerPoint files often are so large that they could take 20 minutes or more to download, even with broadband. He also said there are ADA compliance issues. However, Technology Services will investigate how PowerPoint files could be converted to a format suitable for the Web so that citizens can access them.
 

5.  Comments

a.  Statement of Findings

The board thanked Bill Stice for his presentation on open source software, ADA compliance and future enhancements of the Web.

b.  Citizen comments

There were no citizen comments.

c.  Member comments

Donna Bravo inquired about follow-up with the Economic Development Commission regarding Wi-Fi. Jo Rathgeber reported that she had e-mailed Wayne Loots, chairperson of the Economic Development Commission, in May expressing ISAB’s continuing interest in Wi-Fi. Loots replied that EDC had taken no further action on Wi-Fi. Donna Bravo said she would bring the topic up at ISAB’s next meeting.

Julie Robison welcomed the board’s new members, Dayna Guzik and Lee Douglas.

Board members accepted Bill Stice’s invitation to tour the Technology Services Department and to agree on when at their next meeting.
 

6.  Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 6:44 p.m. 

The next meeting of the ISAB will be held on Thursday, July 7, 2005, at 5:30 p.m. in the Temporary Council Chambers, Herb Young Community Center, 101 Wilkinson Avenue.

For questions about these minutes, please contact Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, at (919) 460-4951 or susan.moran@townofcary.org. Visit our Web site at www.townofcary.org for more detailed information about each item in the minutes.

The Town of Cary is committed to providing all citizens with the opportunity to participate fully in the public meeting process. Any person with a disability who needs an auxiliary aid or service in order to participate in any meeting may contact the Town Clerk at least 48 hours prior to the meeting. The e-mail address is sue.rowland@townofcary.org; the phone number is (919) 469-4011; the TDD number is (919) 469-4012.