HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 6, 2006 Agenda
AGENDA
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL
February 6, 2006
After determining that a quorum is present, the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas will
convene in a Special Called Work Session on Monday, February 6, 2006 at 11:30 a.m. in the
Council Work Session Room, 215 E. McKinney, Denton, Texas at which the following items
will be considered:
NOTE: A Work Session is used to explore matters of interest to one or more City Council Members or
the City Manager for the purpose of giving staff direction into whether or not such matters should be
placed on a future regular or special meeting of the Council for citizen input, City Council deliberation
and formal City action. At a Work Session, the City Council generally receives informal and preliminary
reports and information from City staff, officials, members of City committees, and the individual or
organization proposing council action, if invited by City Council or City Manager to participate in the
session. Participation by individuals and members of organizations invited to speak ceases when the
Mayor announces the session is being closed to public input. Although Work Sessions are public
meetings, and citizens have a legal right to attend, they are not public hearings, so citizens are not allowed
to participate in the session unless invited to do so by the Mayor. Any citizen may supply to the City
Council, prior to the beginning of the session, a written report regarding the citizen's opinion on the
matter being explored. Should the Council direct the matter be placed on a regular meeting agenda, the
staff will generally prepare a final report defining the proposed action, which will be made available to all
citizens prior to the regular meeting at which citizen input is sought. The purpose of this procedure is to
allow citizens attending the regular meeting the opportunity to hear the views of their fellow citizens
without having to attend two meetings.
1. Receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction regarding a Code Enforcement
presentation by Jim Olk, Building Official with the City of Farmers Branch.
2. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding Denton becoming a
WiFi city.
NOTE: The City Council reserves the right to adjourn into a Closed Meeting on any item on its
Open Meeting agenda consistent with Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, as amended,
including without limitation, Sections 551.071-551.086 of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
CERTIFICATE
I certify that the above notice of meeting was posted on the bulletin board at the City Hall of the
City of Denton, Texas, on the day of 2006 at o'clock
(a.m.) (p.m.)
CITY SECRETARY
NOTE: THE CITY OF DENTON COUNCIL WORK SESSION ROOM IS ACCESSIBLE IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. THE CITY WILL PROVIDE
SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED IF REQUESTED AT LEAST
48 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE SCHEDULED MEETING. PLEASE CALL THE CITY
SECRETARY'S OFFICE AT 349-8309 OR USE TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICES FOR THE
DEAF (TDD) BY CALLING 1-800-RELAY-TX SO THAT A SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER
CAN BE SCHEDULED THROUGH THE CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE.
AGENDA INFORMATION SHEET
AGENDA DATE: February 6, 2006
DEPARTMENT: Parks & Recreation/Code Development
CM: Howard Martin, 349-8232
SUBJECT
Receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction regarding a Code Enforcement
presentation by Jim Olk, Building Official with the City of Farmers Branch.
BACKGROUND
On November 16, 2005, the Denton City Council had the opportunity to visit neighborhood
development projects in the communities of Farmers Branch and Richardson. Key staff members
from each city presented programs that enhanced the quality of their neighborhoods.
Jim Olk, Building Official for the City of Farmers Branch was asked to provide a more detailed
presentation to the Denton City Council to allow for a more in depth discussion. Mr. Olk will
report on the City of Farmers Branch, Code Enforcement program and performance measures
implemented in that city in the last decade to transform its aging housing stock and declining
neighborhood appearance. Specifically, Mr. Olk will review benchmarking, strategic planning,
dynamic proactive code enforcement, performance measurement and communication.
PRIOR ACTION/REVIEW (Council, Boards, Commissions)
NA
FISCAL INFORMATION
None
EXHIBITS
None
Respectfully submitted:
Janet Fitzgerald, Director
Parks and Recreation Department
AGENDA INFORMATION SHEET
AGENDA DATE: February 6, 2006 Questions concerning this
item may be directed
DEPARTMENT: Technology Services to Alex Pettit, 349-8595
ACM: Jon Fortune
SUBJECT
Receive a report; hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding Denton becoming a WiFi
City.
BACKGROUND
The City Council requested an overview of WiFi in the city. This presentation hopes to
accomplish several objectives. First, a general overview and explanation of terms and wireless
technologies currently being used in both public systems and commercial carriers will be
covered. Next, a brief history of broadband wireless services in Denton will be reviewed. An
overview of specific wireless broadband initiatives in both the public and the commercial sector
will be presented, with both current and future capabilities and coverage areas discussed.
Finally, a specific listing of services that are available today to residents of the city of Denton,
and a demonstration of one of those services will be provided. A brief summary matrix is
provided, outlining pros and cons to the commercial verses public offerings.
Several confusing mnemonics are used when discussing wireless technologies, and a detailed
glossary of many of these terms are listed in Attachment 1. In summary, these terms can be
broken down into two major categories: public and commercial wireless.
Public wireless technologies are services that operate in the unlicensed Federal Communication
Commission (FCC) frequencies, generally the 2.5 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands. These frequencies
are available for use by anyone for any purpose. Uses include wireless telephones (those that
communicate to a base station), wireless private data transmissions, and wireless broadband
Internet communications. These frequencies are available on a first-come first-served basis, and
cannot be licensed. The service with the strongest signal will drown out those signals of weaker
strength. It is possible to "see" several wireless networks from a PC in any given area of the
city. Signal strength can be influenced by weather conditions, distance from the point of origin,
antenna height, and the quality of the equipment generating the signal. A signal available today
from a location may not be available tomorrow from the same location. Hotels, restaurants,
home networks, private businesses, and all municipal wireless initiatives use technologies that
take advantage of these public frequencies. Ultimately, the broadband wireless speed is
dependant not on the wireless connectivity speed (which is usually very high), but the connection
Agenda Information Sheet
February 6, 2006
Page 2
to the Internet Service Provider (which is often very low). Typical Internet connectivity speed
through a home wireless network is under 2 mega-bits per second (Mb/s).
Commercial wireless technologies operate in the licensed spectrum of the FCC frequencies, and
are only available to the specific carrier that has paid for the right to use this spectrum anywhere
in the United States. The four major providers of this technology are AT&T, Verizon, Sprint,
and Cingular. Connectivity speeds are a full 2 Mb/s to the Internet, and increase from there.
History: Public wireless broadband is not new to the City of Denton. In November of 1999,
Metricom was granted a franchise to provide broadband wireless services to residents. This was
one of the earliest wireless broadband services available to the public in the nation, and was
capable of 200 kilobits per second (kb/s), or about one tenth the speed of what is available today.
It took Metricom over a year to get the equipment installed and the service operational. The
service was available for approximately nine months before the company filed for bankruptcy.
As per the franchise agreement, the equipment reverted to the City at the bankruptcy hearing for
the company. However, with the rapid advancement of technology, it was not feasible for us to
re-activate the equipment, with better and less expensive technology available for our wireless
needs from commercial carriers.
Several public Internet hotspots are currently available throughout town. Panera Bread,
McDonald's on University, and Starbucks are but a few of the wireless service providers in town
today. UNT provides wireless broadband service to students of the University, but you must
have a student ID to authenticate. Attachment 2 details public hotspots available in Denton.
Denton Public Library is exploring the implementation of wireless services to patrons of the
Library; preliminary cost estimates are $10,000 per building.
It should be recognized that wireless technologies are still in their infancy, with rapid
improvements coming annually to both commercial and public services. Technology
investments in wireless can only hope to be viable for three years, and continuous investments
will have to be made to keep pace with changes. Commercial carriers are best positioned to
make these investments. Hotspot offerings are the next best alternative, with investments
relatively low and the risk of obsolescence manageable. General public wireless would represent
the greatest risk with the highest capital investment necessary.
Commercial Initiatives: Commercial offerings are provided by AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and
Cingular. All of these services are or will be available in Denton by June of 2006. Please refer
to Attachment 3 for a listing of services by carrier and speeds available. The Denton Police
Department uses AT&T's services for the in-car computers, although the slowest, they provide
the highest degree of security. Cingular's service will provide the fastest service when available
in June of this year. Sprint and Verizon's wireless service is approximately as fast as a Charter
cable modem connection. All carrier services are offered at a uniform $60/month access fee for
unlimited access, and a free card is given much like a free phone is offered for a subscription.
Services are available in over 30 metropolitan areas today, and will be available in the top 100
markets by the end of 2006. All commercial services are available in Denton today, as well as in
Agenda Information Sheet
February 6, 2006
Page 3
San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and the rest of the Metroplex. This is the preferred service for
business, as it provides the fastest and highest quality access with the least amount of user
intervention or service interference.
Public Initiatives: Generally, the public broadband wireless Internet initiatives can be broken
down into three models: franchise, do-it-yourself, and the community model.
The franchise model is the Metricom model, where a private vendor signs an agreement with a
municipality to provide wireless services and use the city's infrastructure (poles, buildings,
antennas) to deliver these services. Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Addison, Farmers Branch, and
Corpus Christi are all examples of this model. The user of the service is asked to pay either a
daily or annual fee for access to the franchise provider, and the service is only available in that
geographic area. In some cases, basic connectivity will be provided for free to access city web
sites and some other general informational websites. Fees range from $20/month up to
$40/month, depending upon the plan and the design. Many of these offerings are still only
proposed and are not yet operational.
The do-it yourself model is the next most frequent model; this can be thought of as providing
"hotspots" of connectivity in city buildings, parks, and other public locations for general use. No
fee is charged, but access is generally limited to the being inside the building or location where
service is desired. Several communities currently offer this service, including Colleyville,
Garland, Linden, Granbury, Sherman, and Galveston.
In the Galveston model, Galveston.com & Company, Inc. is the provider of the wireless service.
This corporation is sponsored in part by the Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. They offer
this service to help member businesses in the area; they intend to expand the service to other
business venues like Seawall Boulevard and Postoffice Street. The service is not intended for
use by residents of the city, but they are not prohibited from using it. There is one antenna
installed at the intersection of Strand and 23 Streets and covers a five-block area. The solution is
only an 802.11 type device, which is older technology than what is currently available for public
Wi-Fi.
The community model is the least frequent; it is only employed in Seattle, Washington. A grass-
roots group of activists are encouraging residents of Seattle to take the broadband wireless
service they currently pay for themselves and set up an antenna and configure it to make it
available to anyone who wants to use it.
PRIOR ACTION/VIEW (COUNCIL, BOARDS, COMMISIONS)
On November 2, 1999, Council approved an ordinance granting a franchise to Metricom, Inc.,
for the use and occupancy of the public right-of-way of the City of Denton for
telecommunications purposes; providing for conditions of such use; providing for compensation
for such use and occupancy; and ordaining other provisions for the purposes of installing radio
receivers and transmitters on aerial facilities (utility poles). Metricom was in the business of
Agenda Information Sheet
February 6, 2006
Page 4
constructing, maintaining, and operating a wireless digital data communications radio network
known as Ricochet.
On August 15, 2000, Council approved an ordinance authorizing the City Manager to execute a
pole attachment agreement between the City of Denton, Texas and Metricom, Inc. authorizing
the expenditure of funds therefore and the collection of rents therefrom, and providing an
effective date.
Metricom provided wireless services to Denton residents for approximately nine months.
Metricom filed for bankruptcy in September 2001.
EXHIBITS
Attachment 1: Wireless Terms Listing
Attachment 2: Local Hotspots
Attachment 3: Service Access Speeds
ATTACHMENT I
WIRELESS TERMS LISTING
Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) - refers to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) based on
the IEEE 802.11 set of specifications. It is effective indoors and outdoors over a short
distance of up to about 300 feet. WiFi enables a person with a WiFi enabled computer or
PDA to connect to the Internet when in the proximity of an access point.
Access Point - is the point of interconnection between the WLAN and a core network or
Internet service provider's connection to the internet.
Hot Spot - is the geographical region covered by one or several access points. Hot spots
are typically found near restaurants, airports, cafes, libraries, and other public places.
Wireless Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) - refers to a wireless
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) based on the IEEE 802.16 specifications. A
WiMAX network offers longer ranges-up to 30 miles-and greater transfer speeds than a
WiFi network. WiMAX provides a secure wireless network that can be deployed across
metropolitan-sized areas using cost-effective, standards-based technologies.
WiFi and WiMAX - technologies complement each other and are often used together in
a community-wide wireless solution.
WiFi Mesh - a number of access points can be interconnected in a mesh configuration to
provide a wider area of coverage called a Hot Zone. The scalability of a WiFi Mesh
topology is limited by the expense of large numbers of cables and connections. WiMAX
technology complements WiFi Mesh technology by eliminating the wires that connect
the gateway mesh nodes to the core network and replacing them with affordable WiMAX
Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) that backhauls wirelessly to the core network.
Backhaul - refers to the technology used to get data from a WiFi access point back to a
core network or ISP's connection to the Internet.
Last mile or last kilometer - refers to the technology used to connect from the core
network to a WiFi access point.
Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO or EV-DO or DO) - is a wireless radio broadband
data standard adopted by many CDMA mobile phone service providers in the United
States, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Israel, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Venezuela, and
Mexico. EVDO is significantly faster than the CDMA networks currently being used by
operators, or the GPRS and EDGE networks.
-1-
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) - is a technology that encodes, scrambles,
encrypts, and modulates data in multiple ways, making interception virtually impossible.
Sprint - By year-end 2005, Sprint's EVDO network was projected to cover more than
130 million people. By 2006, when the national build out is complete, Sprint's service
will be available in about 60 metropolitan areas, encompassing more than 200 strategic
urban and suburban markets - reaching more than 150 million people.
Verizon - Verizon Wireless uses 3G technology/ 1xEV-DO and has already deployed a
high-speed data service.
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA or 3.5G) is a new mobile technology
protocol. It is a packet-based data service with data transmission up to 8-10 MB/s over a
5MHz bandwidth.
HSDPA is beginning to reach deployment status in North America. Cingular announced
that they began to deploy Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) with
expansion to HSDPA in eighteen markets on December 1, 2005. By year end 2006,
Cingular will have UMTS service in the top 100 markets in the United States.
Cingular announced availability of HSDPA at speeds of 400-700 kb/s in 16 cities on
December 6, 2005, under the brand name "BroadbandConnect". Cingular faces
competitive pressure from operators such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint who use a
competing 3G technology, 1xEV-DO, and who have already deployed a similar high
speed data service.
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) - is a mobile data service available to users of
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) phones. It provides moderate
speed data transfer by using unused Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) channels
in the GSM network.
Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) - uses unused bandwidth normally used by
AMPS mobile phones between 800 and 900 MHz to transfer data. Speeds up to 19.2 kb/s
are possible. In the early 1990's, CDPD was large on the horizon as a future technology;
however, it never quite gained widespread acceptance before newer, faster standards such
as GPRS became dominant.
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ATTACHMENT 3
SERVICE ACCESS SPEEDS
Commercial Initiatives:
GPRS - 236 kb/s AT&T - Available Now
EVDO - 2 MB/s Verizon and Sprint - Available Now
HSDPA - 10 MB/s Cingular - Available June 2006
Public Initiatives:
Public initiatives vary - Access speeds range from 200 kb/s up to 2 MB/s.
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