04-11-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 11, 2011 7:00 o'clock p.m. 12. REPLACE DATA CABLES IN CITY BUILDINGS • Olson stated the city hall facility is currently 20 years old and that the Category 4 cabling was installed in 1991. The City's network is handling much larger files than in the past, such as audio, video, GIS, photos and databases, and the current cabling is not designed to handle those types of files. Olson stated when you have a number of people accessing a lot of files, there are network performance issues that arise. Olson commented that new technologies expect your computer network to be able to operate at high speeds. The City currently has two specific projects on the drawing board that cannot move forward until a decision is made regarding cabling. If the City chooses to go with voice over IP when the City replaces their phone system, that new system would require at a minimum Category 6 cabling. Staff has also been discussing an imaging program for at least 8 years, which is another highly intensive network use. Images of existing documents such as invoices and planning and zoning documents are stored as picture files with the ability for staff to access these files directly from their desks. Olson stated even if the City does not go forward with either of those two projects, they would still need to upgrade at some point. Olson stated Staff is asking that the Council approve the quote from Parsons for approximately $28,348 to recable the buildings with Category 6a cabling. Olson stated in his view this would be the last cabling the City will need to do since wireless will likely take over at some point in the future. Franchot asked whether there is a Category 7. Olson indicated Category 7 is currently being developed but it is at 40,000 megabytes and is designed • strictly for infrastructure backbone and connecting together servers. Franchot asked whether this would include recabling in the City council chambers to allow them to upgrade the video system at some point. Olson stated it would include data cables but not anything new on the video end at this point but that he could look into cabling for video. Franchot indicated he is asking in the event they want to upgrade if the televising of the meetings works well. Olson stated when they originally wired the room, some items were included to make it ready for video and other computerized equipment. Franchot asked if it the cabling is within the budget. Olson indicated the City normally spends $20,000 a year on IT items out of the equipment improvement outlay fund. Last year Staff did not spend that amount. Olson indicated he typically meets with LOGIS once a year in May to discuss the City's IT needs and that they have been recommending the City update their cabling since 2005. McMillan asked if the City will need new servers for the document imaging system. Olson stated they may require one additional server for storage but that the City will still need the right • cabling. Page 26 of 30