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Home My WebLink AboutCC WORKSESSION 01312006AGENDA Council Work Session January 31, 2006 7.15 PM 1. Call to Order. 2. Northeast Diagonal Study by Minneapolis Staff 3. Silver Lake Road presentation by Hennepin County Staff. 4. Other Business 5. Adjourn. MEMO DATE: January 17, 2006 TO: Mike Morrison, City Manager FROM: John Ohl, Chief of Police SUBJECT: Automatic Emergency Message Phone Dialing System Per discussion at the 2006 goal setting and instruction by the City Council, I have completed the research on automatic phone dialing systems, as evidenced by my memo of 11 -21 -05 (attached). I'm recommending a company called City Watch, which is locally based and fits all of our needs to include a GIS based system. I've contacted a representative of City Watch (Don Denman) who has quoted the following prices: • $12,000 if St. Anthony, Lauderdale, and Falcon Heights would like to collaborate on one system. • $8,000 if St. Anthony wishes to stand alone. These prices are for one year of service and include 10,000 minutes per year, and a $.09 per minute cost thereafter. These systems can be a very valuable tool to cities, as all the departments can use the system for informational messages as well as for emergencies. Too date, and to my knowledge, no funding source has been identified to cover these annual costs. MEMO DATE: November 21, 2005 TO: Mike Morrison, City Manager FROM: Chief John Ohl SUBJECT: Automatic Emergency Message Phone Dialing System I have completed the research on the Emergency Message Phone Dialing System. These systems can be off -site web based or we can purchase the hardware and programs to have the system on -site. An on -site system would cost as much as $40,000, and an annual subscriber fee would still apply. In addition, we would be responsible for any upgrades to the system, as well as hardware system repairs. Due to these reasons, I did not further look into an on -site system, as the trend in this business is to move to an off -site web base system. The off -site web based system is parented by a company, but are completely updated and initiated by the subscribing agency. The systems are quiet simple and very user friendly. Once purchased, the company creates a map of our city with a commercial user GIS data base, and a commercial phone number listing. The subscribing agency then simply logs onto the system and highlights a particular area of the city. The user then types in or voice records the message he wishes to be delivered, and the system automatically makes the calls. I did some research with the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), who put out lengthy standards for these types of systems. NENA would not recommend any system in particular. I researched several available systems, and found that a system called City Watch was the most affordable. City Watch is 1 c I based and is already being used Ramsey County. The City Watch system will i a ,, l RI is per hour. It also allows for certain group listings to be generated (i.e., police officers, firefighters, parents of a particular school, etc). The systems also generates comprehensive reports about who was contacted and when. In addition, it will also activate pagers, e- mails, and blackberries. The commercially available phone number listings are said to be approximately 60 to 90% accurate. We may be able to enhance this accuracy by accessing our current 911 data base held by Hennepin and Ramsey County Sheriff's radio. I was quoted a price of $8,000 per year which includes 10,000 minutes of emergency messages. A $.09 per minute charge is added for any use over 10,000 minutes. The City Watch representative and I then entertained a conversation about our contract law enforcement services. I was advised that if I could get all 3 cities to agree to the system, he would sell it to us for $12,000. Based on population, we may be able to break down the cost as follows: St. Anthony $ 6,000 Falcon Heights $ 4,000 Lauderdale $ 2,000 Note: We would all share the 10,000 minutes. I have attached a brochure detailing the system and can have the representative come in to give us a live demonstration. At this time, I would be waiting for further directions based on the preliminary numbers and perceived benefit of this service. Obviously, subscribing to this system would add a line item to someone's budget equaling somewhere between $6,000 to $8,000 dollars. JO:vj MEMO DATE: December 7, 2005 TO: Mike Mornson, City Manager FROM: John Ohl, Chief of Police SUBJECT: Phonetree.com As directed, I completed some research on " Phonetree.com" and found the following: • To use Phonetree's service, the customer must create a phone list and send it to them. The phone list must be provided in "comma separation variable" format. There is no GIS Component, the system simply calls phone numbers we have provided. The software for Phonetree costs $600, and Phonetree will allow the customer 3,500 calls for the first year. After the first year, each call simply costs $0.15. This type of system would work very well with a known data base, such as a school or large company, wherein you would always want to contact the same people on the list with the same message. Since the GIS Component is missing, one would not be able to isolate small sections of a subscribing community for a specific message. Phonetree.com 1- 800 - 951 -8733. Note: Phonetree provided the names and phone numbers of two public safety references in southern states. Over the last two weeks, I tried to contact the references and have received no return calls after multiple messages have been left. JO:vj MEMO DATE: January 17, 2006 TO: Mike Morrison, City Manager FROM: John Ohl, Chief of Police SUBJECT: Speed Cart Per discussion at the 2006 goal setting, I've completed the research on speed carts, as evidenced by my memo of November 23, 2005 (attached). I would suggest the SMART LP which would cost $13,315.70, with all options including tax and shipping. A suggestion was made to approach Falcon Heights and Lauderdale and possibly split the cost of this cart three ways, or $4,438.57 each. No funding source has been identified for our portion of this purchase. JO:vj MEMO DATE: November 23, 2005 TO: Mike Morrison, St. Anthony City Manager Heather Worthington, Falcon Heights City Administrator Brian Bakken -Heck, Lauderdale City Administrator FROM: Chief Ohl SUBJECT: Speed Cart \J `� The City of St. Anthony currently owns 1/3 interest in a portable Kustom Signals Speed Cart. This cart is owned by the City of St. Anthony, City of New Brighton, and City of Columbia Heights. It has come to my attention that our own speed cart would be beneficial in our efforts to do both traffic monitoring and speed education. It seems logical that the Cities of Falcon Heights and Lauderdale would also benefit from speed cart placement. It would be my suggestion that the 3 cities split the cost of a new speed cart, one that we would not have to share with New Brighton and Columbia Heights. Many innovations and upgrades have been made sine we purchased our speed cart. The most noticeable upgrade is a Windows Operating system and the overall size, weight, and bulk of the speed cart in general. The following represents what I believe are the most affordable options: SMART -LP $12,503: The SMART -LP (Low Profile) has all the features that our current speed cart has, but is much smaller in size and subsequently easier to place on boulevards, streets, and is simply easier to set -up. SMART -600 $8,710: This speed cart also has most of the options as our current speed cart. The LED display is smaller than the SMART -LP, but would be a very viable option. SMART -500: $3,890: The SMART -500 is essentially a very small dolly mounted radar display. The SMART -500 keeps no statistics; it doesn't count any cars, and does not have a computer program associated with it. It has a 12 inch amber LED display but is easily readable as it automatically adjusts its brightness depending on the ambient light. The SMART -500 would be an excellent tool for speed education, but would not count cars, give highs and lows, as well as other traffic statistics. As you can see from the aforementioned, splitting a new speed cart 3 -ways could be a very affordable option for St. Anthony, Falcon Heights, and Lauderdale. I have attached photos and features for all 3 of the speed carts mentioned. JO:vj