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FALCON HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -5- <br />December 6, 2004 <br />Truth in Taxation Hearing (continued) <br />Mr. Lageson asked if the City owns the machines and Administrator Worthington said the City <br />leases them from the County but is responsible for repair and maintenance. Mr. Lageson asked if <br />this is really maintenance or the lease? Is the lease covered in another part of the budget? <br />Administrator Worthington said the lease was paid up front as a capital expense for the life of the <br />machines. <br />Mr. Lageson asked about Special Events. What are welcoming events, informational park <br />gatherings, business meetings, community initiatives and miscellaneous others? Some of them <br />he knows, for example, the ice cream social and the Dead of Winter, but he was a little puzzled <br />about welcoming events. Administrator Worthington said that occasionally the City has special <br />events to welcome new residents to the City, like the SE Corner, where there are new residents <br />coming in, or for a certain part of the community that we would like to get together with, like the <br />business community. The City allocates a very modest amount of money to cover the expenses <br />for community initiatives and special meetings or public hearings that require the allocation of <br />funds. <br />. Mr. Lageson asked about Telephone. There is a decrease from last year. Are we seeing the use <br />of the new IP system? Are we paying Roseville the $4,800? Administrator Worthington said the <br />City has a contract with the City of Roseville to provide IP Telephony and the $4,800 does <br />represent City toll charges and line charges each month. <br />Mr. Lageson asked about Web Site. There is quite a big increase on that. What are the plans? <br />Are we going to get more software? Are we going to hire another person to keep on top of it? <br />Administrator Worthington said the City is looking at improving the interface of the web site in <br />2005 and will also probably be redesigning it in 2005. It is hosted by the City of Roseville on <br />the network the City shares with them. The City is also looking at some online bill pay or online <br />e-commerce type functions that can be added to the web site to make the City Hall open virtually <br />24 hours a day as we go through this initiative. It won't all happen in one year. Mr. Lageson <br />asked what the $6,000 covers. Administrator Worthington said it covers software upgrades, in <br />particular for the e-commerce function, which is very expensive. The first thing that the City <br />hopes to roll out for 2005 is online recreation signup. <br />Mr. Lageson asked about the Network Support cost of $8,570. That is a big increase too. What <br />is involved in that? Administrator Worthington said that in the past the City had its own <br />computer network and paid a consultant to provide those services. The City didn't have any day <br />to day services provisions, it was an emergency situation. If something went down, the <br />consultant would come in and fix it. When the system was the subject of a computer attack in <br />2002, that put the server and web site down for several days and the City began to look for other <br />alternatives. <br />C <br />S <br />