CITY OF FULLERTON
TECHNOLOGY WORKING GROUP
MEETING MINUTES
July 17, 2008
9:00 A.M.
CALL TO ORDER Chair Burtner called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.
ROLL CALL Members Present
Roger Burtner, Chair Carl Samantello
Mike Carter Thad Sandford
Larry Iboshi Ed Smith
Harry Lamberth Paul Stover, Vice Chair
Members Absent
Fred Canfield
Helen Hall
Madusha Palliyage
Guest
Ted Lai, Director of Technology and Media Services,
Fullerton School District
Staff
Robert Ferrier, Assistant to the City Manager
Chair Burtner introduced guest Ted Lai, who has applied for appointment to the TWG as replacement of Tony Anderson, who retired from the school district. Since it has been several weeks since Mr. Lai applied, Mr. Ferrier offered to follow up on the status of Mr. Lai's application.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Chair Burtner asked if there were any corrections to the minutes of June 26, 2008. With no corrections, Thad Sandford moved approval of the minutes. The motion was seconded by Paul Stover, and the minutes were unanimously approved.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
1. Creation of an educational/municipal (institutional) fiber/wireless network, FullertonNet
Feasibility & Evaluation Study – Evaluation RFP for I-Net
Prior to the meeting, Chair Burtner had distributed to the TWG members a copy of the draft RFP for the evaluation study of the I-Net, which had been prepared by Thad Sandford. The TWG members conducted a detailed review (paragraph by paragraph) of the RFP. After a lengthy discussion and agreement on recommended changes, Chair Burtner requested that Mr. Sandford incorporate the changes into a final draft. The final draft of the RFP will be distributed to TWG members within a few days. Chair Burtner asked that members review the final draft upon receipt and contact Mr. Sandford as soon as possible if there are any corrections to be made.
Chair Burtner indicated that once the RFP was finalized, it would be forwarded to Mr. Ferrier for distribution by the City. Mr. Ferrier noted that he would prepare a cover letter for distribution, which he would request that Chair Burtner sign as well. Mr. Ferrier asked that Chair Burtner provide him with the list of potential consultants to receive the RFP.
Mr. Ferrier had brought with him to the meeting a draft Memorandum of Agreement between the City and the school districts, for the school districts' review. The MOA commits $25,000 from the City and $15,000 from the Fullerton Joint Union High School District for the evaluation study. Mr. Ferrier noted that the City Manager would require approval of the MOA by the school districts before the RFP could be distributed, or at least verbal confirmation from Superintendent Giokaris of the FJUHSD's commitment of funds.
Mr. Samantello and Mr. Lai both noted that the agreement might require board approval, which might take some time.
2. Citywide Wireless
Wireless Options for City Council: Council Study Session
Nothing to report.
3. Future Directions for TWG
Nothing to report.
ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING
To be determined.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None
OTHER COMMENTS
Mr. Ferrier mentioned that the City had received information from the League of California Cities pertaining to the State looking at ways to fill the $15 billion hole in the State's budget by possibly using Prop 1A, which allows the State to borrow property tax dollars from local government. Mr. Ferrier noted that because Republicans and Democrats have not been able to decide how best to balance the State's budget – either through spending cuts or tax increases – they may choose to tap that source of money from local government, which could be as much as $3 billion. Mr. Ferrier further explained that while the City is functioning under that threat, Fullerton is in a good financial position because for the past 15 years, the Council has used about 10% of its revenue per year for a reserve fund, which currently amounts to about $23 million. This is a very enviable position to be in compared to other cities which do not have a reserve fund. He noted that the City's budget is balanced again this year, although it was necessary to tap $4 million of their reserve. He also pointed out that revenues remain fairly strong, although below budgeted projections. The City's sales tax revenue is up slightly, two-tenths of one percentage point from last year, and property tax is up about 3.5-4 percent.
Mr. Stover noted that he had read there was going to be some development around the Fox Theatre area, and he asked Mr. Ferrier if the City had thought about designating any space within Fullerton as a technology center or technology corridor. Mr. Ferrier indicated that Fullerton had no such plans at this time, but that in September Cal State Fullerton would be holding their first university/city working group to explore ways where they can work together collaboratively. Mr. Ferrier also noted that two high-profile corporate tenants were leaving the city – Beckman-Coulter and Smurfit-Stone. Both would be selling their properties (40 acres and 15 acres, respectively), which might provide sites for development in the future.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Chair Burtner announced that he and Thad Sandford would be meeting with James Hettrick of ISMS (Information Systems Management Solutions) this date to discuss some general advice and input with regards to the TWG's I-Net project. He noted that Mr. Hettrick was the manager and CIO of Loma Linda when Loma Linda's fiber project was completed. Mr. Hettrick is currently a consultant who is one of the most well versed individuals on cutting edge solutions for telecom networks.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Chair Burtner asked for a motion to adjourn. The motion to adjourn was made by Thad Sandford and seconded by Larry Iboshi. The meeting was adjourned at 10:34 a.m. with unanimous approval. The next meeting date is set for August 7.
