Information Services Advisory Board
MINUTES
October 5, 2006, 5:30 p.m.
Town Hall Campus
Council Large Conference Room #10035
316 N. Academy Street, Cary, North Carolina
www.townofcary.org
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 5:39 p.m.
Present: Donna Bravo, Terra Brown-Shelton (5:46 p.m.), Lee Douglas, Mark Evangelista, John Fitzpatrick, Tangie Hofer, John Nolander, Guest Speaker Deanna Boone, Public Information Specialist–Writer, and Staff liaisons Susan Moran and Teri Peralta.
Absent: Frank De Vita, Dayna Guzik, Council Liaison Julie Robison
Approval of Minutes
The Board unanimously approved the minutes from the September 7, 2006, meeting.
Old/New Business
a. 2007 Meeting Dates and Times
Mr. Evangelista invited suggestions from board members for changes to the meeting dates and times for the upcoming year. All agreed that the first Thursday of each month was acceptable. However, several members expressed difficulty in getting to the meeting by 5:30 p.m. and proposed a 6:00 p.m. start time. Others felt that one hour was not sufficient time to address each topic fully and asked that an hour and a half duration also be considered. Subcommittees were considered and Ms. Moran reminded members that a subcommittee meeting is considered the same as a public meeting and, as such, would require 48 hours public notice of date, time, and place, that staff would have to be in attendance, and minutes would have to be taken and published on the Town’s Web site.
Ms. Shelton-Brown arrived at 5:46 p.m.
Mr. Nolander moved to have the ISAB meet on the first Thursday of each month from 6-7:30 p.m. Ms. Shelton-Brown provided the second and the floor was opened for discussion. Mr. Evangelista then took a vote on the recommended time. The motion passed with a majority. Ms. Bravo opposed, noting that she would not be able to stay for the entire meeting if the start time changed to 6:00 p.m.
Ms. Moran explained that this would go before Council as a recommendation and, if adopted by Council, would go into effect as of February 2007.
Mr. Fitzpatrick commented that from time to time a meeting is scheduled on an alternate day and that this can contribute to low attendance, even preventing a quorum. Ms. Moran explained that council meetings are adopted by council at the beginning of each year and noted that at times council, committee, and board meetings need to be shifted out of deference to certain religious holidays or major events. Ms. Moran stated that staff will make an effort to notify board members when the calendar has been adopted by council and to remind members of changed meeting dates in the future. Mr. Evangelista also stated that he would make a note of the next meeting date at the close of each meeting.
Old/New Business
b. 2006 Annual Report
Mr. Evangelista stated that he would work with Ms. Moran to compile a report documenting significant achievements and recommendations to council made by the ISAB throughout the 2006 calendar year. He invited board members to share with him via e-mail their thoughts on what they would like included. Ms. Moran explained that this report will be brought back to the board at the next meeting as an agenda item for a vote.
Old/New Business
c. Web Site Overhaul
Ms. Moran introduced Deanna Boone, giving some background. She stated that Ms. Boone grew up in North Carolina, studied at Rutgers, has worked at Dow Jones and as a reporter and editor for a newspaper, and is now a writer for the Town of Cary. She explained that Ms. Boone is responsible for the content on the Town’s Web site, the Bud Newsletter, and other kinds of writing.
Ms. Moran went on to say that Ms. Boone is beginning the 18-month process of the fifth overhaul of the Town’s Web site, explaining that this process involves information gathering, design development, and implementation.
Ms. Moran turned the meeting over to Ms. Boone who observed that the Town’s Web site is very good at providing information but, as it has grown over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to navigate. Ms. Boone asked a series of questions in order to better understand search and navigation patterns. She also asked the board to share with her other Web sites they thought were helpful and informative, and to let her know which features within those sites were most useful. Ms. Boone explained that the information collected at this meeting would be integrated with her research from other areas and used in the redesign of the Town’s Web site.
Ms. Moran commented that it was the Information Services Advisory Board that signed off on the design and navigation tools of the current version of the Town’s Web site.
Ms. Bravo left at 6:30 p.m.
Old/New Business
d. Dynamic Sign Input
Ms. Moran informed the board that this item went before council at the Operations Committee meeting on October 4, 2006. She noted that the committee did not agree with the ISAB’s recommendation to keep messages on the signs at all times and that staff felt competent to develop a list of messages without the assistance of focus groups. Ms. Moran stated that all other recommendations were put forward to full council on consent without discussion.
Mr. Nolander commented that, based on his research, he felt the report produced by the State of North Carolina was excellent and thought it would be very helpful to the Engineering staff in developing a standard library of messages. Ms. Moran agreed that it would be useful in development of the Standard Procedure for dynamic message sign use.
Mr. Fitzpatrick added that many states use the signs to direct drivers to a specific radio station or frequency which can provide much more specific and detailed information. Ms. Moran indicated that the Town does not currently have that capability, although it has been considered in the past for emergency communications. Mr. Fitzpatrick felt it would be worth consideration at a future meeting. Mr. Nolander pointed out that the Town is currently staffed to put the dynamic message signs to use but does not have personnel in place to broadcast radio messages.
Comments
a. Statement of Findings
The board moved that the ISAB meet on first Thursday of each month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. for the 2007 calendar year. The board also discussed Web navigational aids, highlighting strengths of the existing Web site while identifying areas that could be improved. Ms. Moran recapped the 18-month Web overhaul process and reminded board members that they can e-mail Ms. Boone anytime with input on site improvements and links to Web sites they have found to be easy to navigate. Dynamic message sign use was revisited, and the board was informed that their recommendations were put forward to be considered by full council as part of the consent agenda, and the State of North Carolina guidelines on this topic were recommended for use by Town staff in developing a Standard Procedure for the message signs.
b. Citizen Comments
Andrew Wayne Starnes commented on the subject of using radio transmissions in conjunction with the dynamic message signs. He noted that in his travels he has seen nearby theme parks used the radio station to broadcast show times, what’s open or closed, and special events or attractions. Mr. Starnes, his father, added that he found the discussion interesting, but had difficulty finding the correct meeting time on the Web site.
c. Member Comments
There were no member comments.
Administrative
The next meeting of the Information Services Advisory Board will be held November 2, 2006, at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Large Conference Room #10035, 316 N. Academy Street, Cary, NC.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 7:09 p.m.