HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021/03/11 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular Official minutes
Community technology advisory commission
St. Louis Park, Minnesota
3/11/2021
1. Call to order
Meeting started 6:01 p.m. by videoconference
1a. Roll call
Members present: Bruce Browning, Kelly Heitz, Cindy Hoffman, Abe Levine, Rolf Peterson,
Mike Siegler
Members absent: Theo Pohlen
Staff present: John McHugh, Clint Pires, Jacque Smith
Guests: Aaryn Anderson, Jonathan Ralton, Sandeep Sinha
3. Approval of minutes
Browning moved, Siegler seconded. All voted in favor of approving the Feb. 18, 2021,
minutes as presented.
4. Smart cities initiative
Smith provided main themes from the March 8, 2021, meeting with city council: budget
considerations are important, initiatives should be outcome focused, consider unintended
consequences/privacy, interest in dash boards to promote transparency/accountability, and
align with strategic goals and priorities. Full notes are available on Microsoft Teams.
Browning said the meeting went well and he was pleased with the city council response
to all committees; and that Insight did a good job putting together presentations. Siegler agreed
it was overall a positive presentation, that the feedback received was expected and that the
commission received good direction from council.
Heitz observed that everyone was engaged and feedback on dashboards was useful.
Hoffman agreed good points were made about data. Peterson said his takeaway was there is no
interest in a city-owned broadband network/ISP, but there is interest in a construction project
map and concern about security issues.
Levine said he was surprised by concerns about budget since the commission wasn’t
asking for funding and is adhering to the city’s strategic priorities, which are already funded. To
add context, Pires explained the council recently saw a budget forecast not only for the year
ahead but also projections for property taxes without including any new initiatives. The forecast
was stark. He also suggested that key performance indicators would be useful for projects.
Anderson said it was very positive and appreciated council comments on the
thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the projects presented. None of the feedback was
unexpected.
Community technology advisory commission -2- March 11, 2021
Pires explained the budget cycle starts in April and by midsummer a portion of the
budget is in place. General cost projections must be provided at the June 14 meeting with
council, and large picture projections would be helpful.
Levine asked if the commission could request a sum of money from the council that the
commission could manage itself for projects.
The commission then discussed next steps for their committees. Heitz said the GIS
committee would like to find a dashboard to implement. Siegler will be looking at more data
collection in the connected community committee. Levine said a March 12 meeting of the
environment committee with the city’s engineering staff is planned to discuss ped/bike
counters, and that he and Pires met with Electreon about electrified streets projects. Pires
added Electreon has impressive technology and it will be important to keep in touch with them.
Levine also said he’s been trying to connect with the Seattle, Wash. CTAB group.
Anderson shared a use case template.
Levine asked Pires for budget information and how money could be requested if the
commission wanted to buy something. Pires said it depends on what the commission comes
back with in June and details. Pires said a small-dollar test project would be more doable than
big dollars.
Anderson suggested the plan outline can give details for budget/dollar requests. He
discussed team structure – what’s required beyond committees; risk assessment – if
council/staff changes, what risk is created for the project; and next steps – roadmapping and
milestones. Pires said he sees these as reasonable steps to keep one use case from each
committee.
Anderson will contact committee chairs for meetings starting the week of March 22 to
begin discussing next steps.
5. Staff communications
None
6. Adjournment
Browning moved, Siegler seconded to adjourn, all voted in favor. Meeting adjourned at
7:14 p.m. Next meeting is April 22, 2021.
______________________________________ ______________________________________
Jacque Smith, liaison Abe Levine, chair