Pacific hopes to upgrade technology soon
Published 2:41 pm Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Big technological changes could be coming soon to the City of Pacific.
At Tuesday’s City Council workshop, councilmembers met with Ron Tiedeman, director of Auburn’s Innovation and Technology Department, which Pacific contracts with for technology support. They discussed ways to work on several of the City’s technology issues, including its website, Internet infrastructure and public address and recording system in the council chambers.
Councilmembers were informed that a newly designed website was actually paid for and completed. It is just waiting for the City’s OK.
“The City of Pacific did pay for a website to be designed but never actually finalized what type of option you wanted to move forward with, whether that hosting included our hosting and updates, general design changes, or whether that was simply a hosted site that the City of Pacific uploaded documents to,” Tiedeman said. “I think that’s first and foremost to discuss.”
A third party hosts the City’s website. If switched to Auburn’s control, Pacific’s technology committee will have to decide whether to recommend City employees update the site or give the responsibility to Auburn IT employees.
Also discussed were upgrading the City’s Wi-Fi network, securing a private network and providing an open network for public use.
The council hopes that improvements can be made to the public address system in the council chambers, such as providing microphones for each councilmember. Microphones also would be added for the speaker’s podium and the city staff table.
The council expressed interest in upgrading the speaker system to comply with the Americans with Disability Act, which will help audience members with hearing impairments.
The City’s technology committee will meet in the next couple weeks to draw up a recommended list of tech improvements, which require City Council approval.
The City Council also has to amend any changes to the Pacific’s service agreement with Auburn.
