Minutes of the Barrington Hills Village Communications Committee Meeting June 15, 2009 5:30 p.m. Training Room VILLAGE HALL 112 Algonquin Road FINAL 1. Organizational 1.1 Call to Order Acting Chairman Barbara Kemp called the meeting to order June 15, 2009 at 5:34 p.m. in the Barrington Hills Village Hall. 1.2 Roll Call Communications Committee Present Barbara Kemp, Acting Chairman Pamela Cools, Recording Secretary Linda Fox Laura Ekstrom (arrived 5:36 p.m., departed 6:58 p.m., returned 7:27 p.m.) Resignations Nikki Panos, Chairperson Maureen Prettyman Technology Committee Kevin Colosia, Chairman Sean Joyce Richard Vines Village Representatives Fritz Gohl, Trustee Robert Kosin, Village Administrator Lt. Joe Colditz, Police Department Joe von Meier, Village Attorney Sarah Kenney, Planning and Zoning Coordinator American Tower Corporation Alex Gamota, Presenter Harry Wolle, Senior RF Engineer Michael Hill, Attorney Audience Mike Zachar, Resident Vicky Kelly, Resident 1.3 Approval of Minutes Approved May minutes as submitted. Motion by Linda Fox, and seconded by Barbara Kemp. Approved 3-0-0. 2. Reports from the Village 2.1 Fritz Gohl None at this time. 2.2 Robert Kosin None at this time. 2.3 Lt. Colditz None at this time. 3. Technology Committee - Kevin Colosia, Chairman 3.1 DAS - American Tower Corporation Joint Technology and Communication Presentation * Alex Gamota of American Tower Corporation (ATC) lead the presentation (copy attached), with questions by members of both committees. * ATC has 175 operational indoor DAS systems, 15 in the Chicago area, including Woodfield Mall, Hawthorn Center and the Schaumburg Renaissance Convention Center. Outdoor DAS systems by ATC are being developed in areas such as Gross Point, Michigan, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Outdoor DAS networks are typically considered in areas where conventional cell towers are not feasible or are objected to by local residents. The network currently being developed in the Barrington area is the result of a letter of intent signed with AT&T, but two other cellular carriers have expressed interest as well. * DAS networks consist of a central hub building, and numerous “nodes”. The nodes are placed on existing utility poles – there is a control box measuring 1’D x 3.5W’ x 3’H (with a 90 minute battery back-up) and an 8’ antenna mounted at the top of the pole connected to the box with co-axial cable. The control boxes each have 3 slots – usually one slot per cellular carrier. If more capacity for carriers is needed, there can be an additional box added to the same pole, or to a neighboring pole. The nodes connect to the central hub via fiber optic cable. * Signal coverage ranges from ¼ to 1/3 mile, compared to 1 mile for traditional macro coverage. Radiation emitted and measured at the base of a node is approximately equivalent to that of a single cell phone. * 15 nodes of the 21 planned nodes in the new DAS network are within Barrington Hills – 5 of these 15 nodes are under Village jurisdiction and require Village Board approval. The other 15 nodes are along county or state roads and do not require a Right Of Way Agreement to be signed, as ATC’s telecomm license allows them to post in a public right-of-way. The central hub will likely be housed within an existing building on the grounds of the village hall. * In the coming weeks, ATC will test nodes and sites and then compile a new coverage map which will be shared with the committees. * It is anticipated that the Village Board will vote on the right-of-way agreement at the July 27th meeting. * There may be a public hearing or informational open house for residents to educate them about DAS before the next Village Board meeting. ATC may return to the next Communications Committee meeting on July 13 (possibly as another joint meeting with the Technology Committee) to answer further questions. * Kevin Colosia & Barbara Kemp thanked Mr. Gamota & ATC for their presentation. Kevin will draft informational article(s) for residents, and Linda Fox, as a member of both Communications and Technology Committees, will edit the content. ATC will review the document(s) for accuracy and then the Communications Committee will decide on a distribution and publication strategy for this information. * The Technology Committee adjourned at 6:54 p.m. 4. Organizational Membership – Fritz Gohl * Trustee Gohl announced that, pending approval at the next Village Board meeting, three new members will be added to the Communications Committee: Deb Stone, Vicky Kelly and Dan Mjolsness. The Committee’s permanent chairman will be announced and voted on at the next board meeting as well. * Committee member assignments were discussed: Barbara and Dan will concentrate on the website, Laura & Deb will work together the “New To The Hills” brochure & webpage, Vicky will head Census 2010 promotion, and Pam & Linda will continue their duties on the newsletter. 5. Newsletter – Linda Fox, Pamela Cools 5.1 Release Information and Follow-up * Fritz expressed his preference to limit newsletter content strictly to trustee and governmental issues, shifting community news to website only. He also expressed the desire to make web content, especially on .gov, more user-friendly. * To avoid future problems with editing of newsletter content, Fritz suggested that the editors only ask the author of a specific article for approval. If there is a disagreement between a newsletter editor and an article author, the committee chairman should be consulted first, and then Fritz as the trustee liaison. President Abboud and Mr. Kosin should not be in the direct editorial loop. * Fritz asked the committee if they were still interested in maintaining the current newsletter schedule and format of three issues per year, eight pages per issue. Pamela and Linda agreed that this was the format they wished to follow, but asked assistance with better adherence to publication deadlines by the trustees to avoid the publication delays experienced with the last two issues. * The current newsletter is due in residents’ mailboxes in the next day or two. The next issue is scheduled for September publication. 6. Website Management 6.1 Status of Request for Website Integration * Barbara Kemp reviewed her presentation for website integration (copy attached) which was requested by President Abboud during the May Village Board meeting. Barbara will give 3-5 minute synopsis at the June board meeting. * The proposal includes a “mask” page to seamlessly link the current .gov and .info websites.. Responsibilities for posting specific content categories will be divided between Village Administration and the Communications Committee, with the goal of eliminating redundancy and overlap of material. 6.2 Requirements in Progress a. New Page Follow-up - Laura Ekstrom * Discussion was deferred to next meeting. b. Realignment of Left Hand Icon Status - Barbara Kemp * Discussion was deferred to next meeting. c. Change of Pull Down Menus Status - Barbara Kemp * Discussion was deferred to next meeting. 7. Old Business 7.1 Census 2010 * Vicky Kelly will be the new point person. 7.2 Communications Survey * Pamela Cools briefly discussed the survey which she is constructing to help the Committee better understand how to communicate with village residents. Linda has already provided her feedback, and Laura, Barbara and Fritz will review and give their comments as well. Pamela will incorporate their comments and revise the survey for discussion at next month’s meeting. * The target for mailing the survey is August. 8. New Business: Such other business as may properly be presented for consideration of the Committee * Sarah Kenney announced that the Barrington Area Library will be holding a Children’s reading event at the Village Hall on July 16th at 10:30 a.m. Ike the pug may be invited to make an appearance. * The Pioneer Press will be doing a photo essay “A Day in the Life of Barrington”, highlighting residents on Friday, June 26th, and needs committee assistance in finding participants. * The Museum of Science and Industry will be having a Smart House exhibit and has 4 tickets available for residents. The residents who attend will be asked to put together a short article about the exhibit for the VBHComm.info website. 9. Adjournment Given there was no new business, Barbara Kemp entertained a motion for dismissal at 8:21 p.m. The next meeting is on Monday, July 13th, 2009. Motion to adjourn made by Pamela Cools and seconded by Linda Fox. Approved 4-0-0. Meeting Adjourned Respectfully submitted, Pamela A. Cools Recording Secretary 1