Title
Communications Committee Meeting of March 18, 2010
Body
The minutes from the March meeting were circulated for approval. Motion: Sam Joseph motioned to approve the March meeting minutes. David Stiefel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Higgins Fallon introduced new Communications Committee member Mr. Chuck Martinez, appointed by Commissioner Chip Withers. Members welcomed him.
Raimundo Rodulfo informed members about a bandwidth expansion from 10 mbps to 100 mbps conducted two weeks ago. This upgrade allows faster connectivity to the City's website, especially for public safety purposes. Rodulfo reported the existence of a redundant internet path. If the City loses connection to a server, this redundant path allows connectivity to the other server. The City now also has its own IP addresses. This is the equivalent of having the same phone number even if you change carriers. Regarding the Google Fiber project, Rodulfo explained that Google has requested information from interested municipalities to build a high speed internet, which will provide fiber to homes with 1 gigabit connection. Information Technology has been working with other City departments to fill out the request for information which has a deadline of March 26.
Rodulfo also talked about cellular carriers. The City is working with all carriers for cellular services and it has been troubleshooting problems with carriers' engineers and working on cell tower coverage. There is an arising issue with young people using their mobile devices for video streaming which is heavily congesting the airwaves. Chow reported that there is new 4 generation technology that is coming up in the near future which should alleviate this problem.
Higgins Fallon reported about upcoming events including the Kings Bay Guardhouse plaque unveiling and the Employee of the Year Breakfast scheduled for March 19. Her office is also promoting the upcoming Ponce de Leon Median Installation to begin in April. Higgins Fallon reported on a special video project she is working with Benihana for Fathers' Day. On April 29, the City will celebrate its 85th anniversary and a small event at the Merrick House is being planned. The Office of Public Affairs continues to conduct census awareness. Higgins Fallon showed two Coral Gables What's Happening videos. She also distributed the latest copy of e-News.
With no other business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.