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Mounds View City Council November 28, 2005 <br />Regular Meeting Page 8 <br />• Councilmember Stigney noted the expense for a laptop for the temporary inspector. Director <br />Ericson stated that cost estimate would be for the top end and staff would not expect to spend <br />$2,000 but this will not be a home use laptop. He explained that the $2,000 figure establishes a <br />maximum budget threshold and would be considered a guideline. <br />Councilmember Stigney asked if there is a separate rating of commercial for a laptop. Finance <br />Director Beer stated the primary need is for memory and speed because of the graphics needed <br />for the inspector's job. Those features will generate a higher cost. <br />Councilmember Stigney asked what is required. Finance Director Beer stated most laptops come <br />with a 1.3 Exceleron processor clock speed and 256K for memory. The building inspector will <br />need a laptop with a 1.8 to 2.2 clock speed for the processor and at least 1 meg of RAM to run <br />the graphic programs. <br />Councilmember Flaherty stated he also thinks that $2,000 is excessive and that a laptop with the <br />Windows XP business version would cost in the range of $1,300, including the RAM and clock <br />speed that is needed. <br />Councilmember Flaherty asked if the City doesn't already have additional laptops. Director <br />Ericson stated there may be one spare laptop and it is being moved to one of the pump stations <br />for a water employee to use. He stated he is not aware of a spare laptop sufficient to operate the <br />• current programs since they were purchased in 1997 or 1998. He explained these are the same <br />laptops used in the past by Councilmembers. <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated there are several newer laptops from two years ago. One is <br />available for administrative use and the other is used by the Utility Department. <br />Finance Director Beer explained that the intent is that this person would not have a desktop <br />computer and a laptop would be their fully assigned computer. <br />Mayor Marty asked if other Councilmembers still have a City laptop. He stated he brought his in <br />several times because it is quite slow. Councilmember Stigney stated he still has a City laptop. <br />Mayor Marty asked what happened to the other laptops. City Administrator Ulrich stated he <br />would have to check. <br />Councilmember Flaherty asked about the vehicle for the temporary inspector and how many <br />vehicles are available for employees. Finance Director Beer stated there are three vehicles. <br />Councilmember Flaherty asked if there is a need to purchase a fourth vehicle for this position <br />alone. Director Ericson stated staff believes it is needed since they are daily use vehicles and in <br />use fifty percent of the time or more. He stated staff could use their personal vehicles and submit <br />• .for mileage but sometimes it is good to have a marked vehicle out in the community. He noted <br />that one car may not be in service in several years and at that point, this new vehicle will be <br />