03-25-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE: March 25, 2020 RE: Metro I-Net Joint Powers Agreement Discussion ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED Provide feedback to City Administrator regarding proposed Joint Powers Agreement for Metro I-Net. BACKGROUND The City of Little Canada has partnered with the City of Roseville for information Technology (IT) services through Metro I-Net for nearly fifteen years. This has been a tremendous relationship that brought professionalism and technical expertise to the IT function of our organization. Metro I-Net currently provides IT services to 43 other local government entities across the north-metro in a variety of capacities. This includes everything from computers and phone networks to servers to software. A major benefit of this relationship is our membership in the Metro I-Net network which is the primary driver of cost savings. This network allows entities access to current virus protection and network security which would be difficult to manage or afford on our own. Software licensing costs are also minimized for individual entities as the group's buying leverage is enhanced by the higher number of users. Data backup and redundancy is also provided. Without Metro I-Net, we would need multiple servers which would need to be backed up and maintained in a temperature-controlled environment. We would also need UPS battery backup units for each server to protect against power outages. The City of Roseville has found it more and more difficult to retain high quality IT employees in recent years. Information technology skills are valuable in the marketplace and Metro I-Net has become a bit of a training ground for IT professionals to learn the trade and move on to a more lucrative opportunity. The City of Roseville had a dedicated IT Director in Terre Heiser over the past twenty years, however he recently retired at the end of 2019. Additionally, the City of Roseville’s Finance Director who managed the IT program moved on to another career opportunity in 2019. Both of these recent personnel changes have forced the Metro I-Net entities involved to take a hard look at the long-term success of the operation. Roseville has provided a stable structure for Metro I-Net, but the City of Roseville takes on additional liability and carrying costs for this operation. Metro I-Net also occupies a significant amount of valuable space at Roseville City Hall, and the City of Roseville may at any time decide that they no longer wish to provide IT services for other local governments thereby forcing these entities to find other providers of IT services. Considering how vital IT services are to the operation of each entity, this led to a lengthy discussion about the possibility of creating a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) managed by a Board of Directors with