REGIS Board of Directors Meeting

Transcription

1 REGIS Board of Directors Meeting 9:30 a.m. Kent County Information Technology 320 Ottawa Avenue NW Grand Rapids, MI Call To Order Warren called the meeting of the Board of Directors to order at 9:45 a.m. Members Present: Steve Warren, Chairperson Curtis Holt, Vice Chairperson Cindy Heinbeck, Secretary Don Hilton, Sr. Greg Sundstrom Dan Johnson Mark Kowitz, Proxy for Dan Strickwerda Conrad Venema Sharon Vanderbout Keith VanBeek Bob Homan Jeff Dood Scott Conners Others Present: Brian Berdanier Heather Haskell Matt Wiese Paul Klimas Members Absent: Joel Hondorp Steve Peterson Doug Kadzban Sue Thomas Bryan Chodkowski Kent County Road Commission City of Wyoming Alpine Township Gaines Charter Township City of Grand Rapids City of Grandville City of Hudsonville Interurban Transit Partnership Kent County City of Kentwood Plainfield Charter Township City of Rockford City of Walker City of Grand Rapids Byron Township Cascade Charter Township City of East Grand Rapids Grand Rapids Charter Township Village of Sparta *The City of Cedar Springs does not currently have an appointed Board representative. 2. Approval of Minutes Action Item. MOTION by Heinbeck, SUPPORT by Sundstrom, to approve the minutes of the Wednesday, March 24, 2004 REGIS Board of Directors Meeting as written. REGIS Agency Board Minutes Attach 1 1 of 5

2 DISCUSSION: None. 3. Finance Report Action Item Berdanier presented this months finance report to the Board, first noting Leon s return from vacation. The second page of the report now has a Monthly Actual column for current expenditures. Each of the three categories reflects the amended budget. The current major expenditure is from Arc 8 Migration. Additionally, $ was recovered this month for data reimbursements from Reimbursements Data. MOTION by Venema, SUPPORT by Dood, to approve the Finance Statement for March 2004 as written. Discussion: Sundstrom thanked Berdanier for improving the financial statement by adding the monthly expenditures column. 4. New Member Marketing Initiatives Informational Item. Berdanier is putting together a marketing package to give to potential new members at REGIS presentations. The presentations themselves will include a site visit, the marketing packet, and a demonstration of REGIS. Potentially, a cost structure, monthly maintenance rate, and a list of REGIS applications could be included in the packet. The Growing Communities Conference will also be utilized as a tool for a marketing initiative. REIGS will have a kiosk again this year, with demos of the public IMS and ArcView, as well as other information. A breakout session is being planned for the afternoon, with Randall Johnson from the Minneapolis area speaking on REGIS behalf. Prien & Newhoff Staff are also working with local engineering firms such as Prein & Newhof, Moore & Bruggink, and Progressive to get their communities on board with REGIS. Hopefully, this will show communities and firms the benefits of REGIS, such as savings on time, work, and money. Prein & Newhof has already talked with Cannon Township, which seems excited about the prospect of joining. REGIS is hoping to give them a presentation soon. Berdanier has scheduled meetings soon with Moore & Bruggink and FTC & H. Third, REGIS staff are working with other Senior Staff at GVMC for adding REGIS to other departments and non-member communities, especially GVMC members that are not RE- GIS members. Vanderbout questioned what associate members receive when they join. Berdanier responded it is now a full membership, as the associate membership idea has been ruled out. Full REGIS access will be granted, with possible WAN or Cable internet access. In response to a question from Warren, Berdanier noted the demo at prospective communities is actually the REGIS system, and not a macromedia or PowerPoint presentation. A macromedia presentation may be a good idea to work on though. In the demonstration, Berdanier actually shows off what REGIS can do. Homan noted that many townships, such as Courtland, do not have a full time staff. How would they utilize REGIS there? Berdanier responded that is why REGIS is working with engineering firms, which can use REGIS for a community s projects. Heinbeck and Warren noted teaming up with Community Planners would also be a good idea, as REGIS offers that group a wide range of tools. Berdanier will provide contacts, progress, et cetera, at future meetings. REGIS Agency Board Minutes Attach 1 2 of 5

3 5. Bylaw Amendment Action Item. The current REGIS bylaws need to be amended for allowing a new category in the current voting structure. The new category in the voting structure would allow a community with a buy-in of less than $100,000 one vote at. This structure is based on previous discussions. This single vote suggests new members would have a half vote, as most current members are entitled two votes. The new structure would only expand on the existing members vote. Heinbeck noted there would not be enough associate member votes to overrule current members. VanBeek also noted the structure is similar to the half-vote idea. Dood and Homan also agreed allowing new members one vote would not sway the Board s total votes too much. Warren stated the Board came up with this structure after much debate and thinking. MOTION by Hilton, SUPPORT by Heinbeck, to re-submit the new voting structure, which allows communities with a buy-in of less than $100,000 one vote in the REGIS Board, to the GVMC Executive Committee for ratification. Discussion: Hilton noted the County can override current members votes anyway, so this is not really a discussion point for new members. Berdanier again added this does not change the current voting structure, it just adds a category. 6. Digital Document Scanning Proposal Action Item. The issue of digital document scanning has been discussed in the past, and the City of Grand Rapids and Plainfield Township have already done it. Kentwood and the Kent County Road Commission are currently interested in adding their documents to the project. A line item of the Budget allows $22,500 for the purchase of scanning equipment, which would be made available to communities. The pricing provided in the attached document was government pricing from Ideal. Last time a project of this nature was contracted, the price had doubled. If REGIS has its own equipment, communities could add and maintain their digital documents at no additional cost of new contracts. More quotes may be needed In response to a question from Heinbeck, Berdanier noted a new database will have features related to digital documents. REGIS staff can do the scanning as time permits, or big projects can be done by an intern to help users get this done. VanBeek commented this is a good way to get REGIS into more everyday use. The project would mostly be focused on Water and Sewer documents, but Public Safety (Hazardous Materials) could also be incorporated. It would also be nice to be able to move the scanner to REGIS communities. Warren questioned whether this is a REGIS service or if costs would need to be recovered. Berdanier responded this is a legitimate REGIS service. Klimas commented that new parts and calibration would be needed from time to time for maintenance. In response to a question from Warren, Berdanier will look into the possibility of leasing the needed equipment. Homan noted we may pay a premium on a lease. An option may be to have the current scanner user pay maintenance on the equipment so non-users are not burdened. REGIS Agency Board Minutes Attach 1 3 of 5

4 In response to a question from Klimas, Wiese stated the digital documents could be stored in a geodatabase, and would be backed up daily. Warren requested more options, quotes, and maybe lease information. Homan noted Plainfield has documents that need to be scanned now, so maybe he will look into costs for something temporary. VanBeek noted it may be good to cooperate on this project, as costs will be lower, and REGIS could also possibly share interns. Warren interjected everyone seems interested in this project, so more quotes should be looked at for pricing. An assessment should also be done to see exactly who has documents to be scanned. VanBeek added a contractor may not be the best long term way to go about this, but it should be looked at. Berdanier stated another RFP may be needed for a large scale project. The actual number of documents would be needed for the actual price. This could be done as one mass project, combining all communities documents. Equipment maintenance is a different issue. Additionally, other quotes will be looked into for leasing and maintaining a scanner. Klimas will see if his staff or Grand Rapids engineering staff can help with this task. Warren stated no formal action is needed right now. 7. WAN Connection Informational Item. This issue has come up in response to Kent County s memo. At this time, REGIS is looking at alternatives to the WAN connection, as many contracts are about to expire. REGIS is looking to hold on to the WAN for a while, so we can test UPN and cable internet for traffic, speed, etcetera. We do not know how much pressure is currently on our T1 line. Plainfield tested Comcast cable internet access, and did not note any speed issues at peak times. Homan added this could be another sales point, if cable is cheaper than the T1 line. In response to a question from Conners, Berdanier noted RTAG has not yet discussed this issue. Vanderbout questioned the data transfer speeds described on the attachment, whether they were industry standards or test cases. Wiese clarified they are industry standard, but speed also depends on how close the user is to the hub. Upload speed depends on the connection from local machines to REGIS. Berdanier noted we can bring people in right now via the internet, but we have to be conscious of security. 8. Ortho Photo Project Demonstration Sharon. Vanderbout discussed the orthophoto project and its progress. Five delivery areas were scheduled; each was broken into five sections. Right now, the project area s orthos are individual tiffs. Contour labels and spot elevations have been added to the project, and the QC temporary employees may be adding more labels in the near future. With the contours, every fifth line, or every 10 th foot, is a slightly larger line. Vanderbout is pleased with how Street Centerlines and Parcel lines are lining up with the orthophotos, as they have been accurate so far. Building lean has also been accounted for in checking parcels. Berdanier questioned how the original 13b area looks, as the areas DTM was corrupt in the original conversion. Vanderbout responded that area has not been looked at yet. Berdanier noted Hydro flow is shown now, and they Hydrography came out really well. Also, SDE and Oracle work together better now, so the Orthophotos and Contours will load much faster. 9. Other Items of Business - Skip REGIS Agency Board Minutes Attach 1 4 of 5

5 10. Adjournment. With no further items for discussion before the Board, Warren adjourned the meeting of the REGIS Board of Directors at 10:50 a.m. Thank-you to Sharon for the demonstration. The next Board meeting is to be held at the Kent County Road Commission, where free coffee and parking are always available. REGIS Agency Board Minutes Attach 1 5 of 5