Information Services Advisory Board

MINUTES

July 7, 2008

Town Hall Campus

Council Large Conference Room #10035

316 N. Academy Street, Cary, North Carolina

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m.

Present:  Mary Margaret Barnes, Bruce Brown, Thomas Eck, Mark Evangelista, John Fitzpatrick, Helen Hutchings, John Nolander, Staff Liaisons Susan Moran and Teri Peralta, Mayor Harold Weinbrecht

Absent:  Terra Brown-Shelton, Lee Douglas, Vijay Raghavendran and Council Liaison Julie Robison

Approval of Minutes

Mr. Fitzpatrick moved to approve the minutes from the June 4, 2008 meeting. Mr. Nolander provided the second and the motion carried unanimously.

Watch List:  Web Site Overhaul

Ms. Moran informed the board that the launch date has been pushed out to the end of September.  She explained that, because the Town has been able to enter into a contract with a vendor for software that would keep the site up to date with fewer personnel, it was considered worthwhile to postpone the launch until this content management software was integrated.

Mr. Nolander expressed concern that no beta-mode launch was planned. Ms. Moran assured the board that no problems with the new Web site were expected, adding that having content management software will allow wholesale changes without problem should that be necessary at this time.

Mr. Fitzpatrick noted that he has become aware of the availability of a free reader for visually impaired individuals and suggested that a link be added to the Web site.  As a legally blind person who uses a screen reader, Ms. Moran agreed that they are beneficial and she is sensitive to that need.  However, she did not feel that a link was necessary.

Watch List:  Traffic Management System Updates to Citizens

Mr. Evangelista noted that this was the third meeting with no comments or updates to this topic and encouraged the board to consider how long it should be kept on the agenda before being dropped from the watch list.

Having been absent from the last meeting, Mr. Fitzpatrick revisited his previous suggestion to put layer in the maps online section showing which roads are maintained by the Town and which are maintained by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.  Ms. Moran noted that, while it does not relate to the traffic management system, it might be something that could be investigated.  She added that the map layers are pretty dense right now and the highest traffic is generally people looking at traffic accidents and delays.

Watch List:  Dynamic Message Signs

There were no comments on this item.

Watch List:  Push Technology

Mr. Fitzpatrick questioned the change from the term “RSS” to “Push” technology.  Ms. Moran assured him that this change was being made in the ISAB’s agenda and was for discussion purposes only.  She explained that Technology Services has not yet decided on a particular technology, but when it is added to the Web site, it will reflect the technology being used at that time.

Mayor Weinbrecht left at 6:17 p.m.

Watch List:  Open Meetings Legislative Action

Ms. Moran stated that the General Assembly is still in session and there has been no movement on this item.  Mr. Nolander noted that he was looking forward to continued discussions by the board relating to open meetings legislation.

Mr. Evangelista closed the watch list.

Mr. Nolander recommended adding an observation of the citizen issue review commission to the Watch List.  Mr. Fitzpatrick provided a second and the recommendation passed unanimously.

Mr. Fitzpatrick moved to remove the Traffic Management and Push Technology items from the Watch List for subsequent meetings beginning in August.  Mr. Nolander provided a second and the motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Brown reminded the board of a tentatively scheduled tour of the Traffic Management Center and Ms. Moran directed interested board members to meet in the reception area at 5:30 p.m. just before the August meeting.

Old/New Business: Goal Setting

Mr. Evangelista outlined the process for goal setting and suggested that they continue the approach of considering each topic until the board is satisfied with the outcome before moving on to the next topic.  He added that this would mean the same topic might be considered at subsequent meetings.

Mr. Nolander moved that the board consider the following topics:
 

Understanding Development: Get a better understanding of the development process and how the board might improve how development plans are communicated to the citizens, since this was an issue raised in the Biennial Survey

Citizen Communication: Look at ways citizens can electronically track the progress of plans submittal and examine options for an online centralized citizen contact management program; research the possibility of implementing a one-stop 311 call center

Open Meetings: Follow legislative action; discuss open meetings technologies and the technological, legal, social and logistical barriers to using such technologies in the Town of Cary with a goal of allowing for meetings to be held virtually

Visioning Process: Get a better understanding of the Town’s visioning process and determine how the board might contribute to it

Mr. Nolander further moved that the board consider Web site review, open source technologies, newspaper-to-Web public notice advertising, and streaming video as possible discussion items should there be sufficient time.  Mr. Eck provided a second and the motion passed unanimously.

Statement of Findings

The board identified its goals for the remainder of the year and established priorities with strong consensus.

Citizen Comments

There were no citizen comments.

Member Comments

Ms. Hutchings stated that the board has a really ambitious year planned and asked that they limit the amount of time spent on the Watch List items.  She observed that a lot of time has been spent on the Watch List which is time taken away from the main discussion of the meeting. She also suggested that the consideration of the Watch List could be moved to later in the meeting.  The board agreed it would be a more effective use of time to consider the Watch List after the Statement of Findings and before Citizen and Member Comments.

Mr. Nolander stated that a neighbor of his put non-recyclable materials to the curb with his recycling.  He noted that when the Town’s Public Works employees saw this they put it in his roll out cart so that it would be taken care of.  He wanted to credit the employees for their nice customer service.

Mr. Fitzpatrick indicated that he was visiting his daughter in High Point and noticed they have a different recycling program than Cary.  Before he could bring it to the Town’s attention he saw that Public Works has already been approved to change over to a more efficient and cost-effective method of recycling.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.