MUNICIPAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE
09/19/02 COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Time and Date: 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 19, 2002
Location: UVM Continuing Education in Montpelier City Center
In Attendance:
Jill George, Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT)
Mike Gilbar, VLCT
Leslie Pelch, Vermont Center for Geographic Information (VCGI)
Dennis Roberts, VLCT
Chip Sawyer, Center for Rural Studies (CRS)
Agenda Items:
1) Introductions
2) Online Town Officer I.T. Training Calendar
3) Planning for 2003-04 E-Government Conference
4) E-Government Grant Opportunity
5) MIT Committee Website
6) Next Meeting
Meeting Summary:
Introductions.
Leslie Pelch from VCGI was a new face. Hopefully VCGI will be attending cmte. meetings on a regular basis. Leslie had some information to present on an E-Government related grant opportunity that could incorporate many different initiatives (below).
Online Town Officer I.T. Training Calendar.
Chip Sawyer had worked out a chart with features for the online site. He proposed that a process be developed to rank features of the site. Mike Gilbar suggested representative focus groups of town officers. These groups could be organized by RPC regions and Officer familiarity with I.T. resources. It was also suggested that another E-Govt priorities meeting be held to address the site, akin to the meeting on 11/27/01 in Waterbury. Sawyer will work on a game plan.
CRS plans to develop the site, with features being included based on their rank and the resources available. Hosting is up for grabs. The State College network was suggested.
Sawyer mentioned that getting various I.T. training providers “on board” together to utilize the site could be a highly politicized process. There was general agreement on this matter. One suggested strategy was to build a prototype of the site focused on I.T. training. Providers could then be invited to join in and post their trainings. Therefore the development of the site would come before the entire process could be endangered by political difficulties. Future features could include self-posting by providers and the inclusion of ALL forms of officer training.
Note: The DHCA-led Municipal Land Use Curriculum Collaborative is already working on a resources and calendar site for the planning and zoning community. Therefore this site probably should not cover those areas at its inception.
Planning for 2003-04
E-Government Conference.
Sawyer presented a survey for municipal officer input to guide planning for the E-Govt Conference (http://crs.uvm.edu/egov/mit/confsurv.html). The survey is brief, but addresses the major input needs mentioned at previous meetings. This survey has been distributed to Clerks, Treasurers, Listers, and Assessors at the VMCTA and VALA meetings during the week of 9/16. Sawyer will also bring the survey to the VLCT Town Fair on 9/26 and the MOMS workshops in October. Failing a good turnout, and time allowing, a more aggressive mailing or email campaign could be considered. Sawyer will also make a posting on Muni-net.
E-Government Grant Opportunity.
Leslie Pelch shared information on a Digital Govt Grant from NSF. It is a superb funding source for developing municipal E-Govt models and evaluating them. Pelch proposed a collaboration for provision of a GIS-related E-Government service. Sawyer mentioned “Online Democracy,” a concept that he had discussed with Kevin Behm of Addison County Regional Planning Commission. Gilbar mentioned the newly formed VT Rural Broadband Council and the Oklahoma Wireless Initiative. Both are involved with provision of broadband service.
One suggestion was that the MIT Cmte apply for the grant to coordinate an effort between VCGI, the Broadband Council and RPC’s for wireless broadband provision to 2 or more towns with different geographic features. The broadband would support the development of an interactive GIS-based municipal E-Govt service. The whole process would then be evaluated. Jill George suggested using local broadband vendors. Pelch suggested involving local libraries as well.
MIT Committee website.
CS built a website for the cmte at http://crs.uvm.edu/egov/mit and is looking for feedback on how it could best be used to serve the cmte’s objectives.
Next Meeting.
The low attendance at this meeting was somewhat disheartening. However many members have communicated that this was due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts, not a lack of interest. Sawyer will look into bringing together representatives from many municipalities, state agencies, and technical assistance organizations to address the Calendar Website features and E-Govt Conference content. The meeting will be planned for November or early December
MIT Committee meeting summary respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM SAWYER
PROJECT MANAGER
RESEARCH DATA SPECIALIST
Center for Rural Studies
207 Morrill Hall
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT 05405
Phone: 802-656-0892
FAX: 802-656-4975
wsawyer@zoo.uvm.edu