PISMO BEACH CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item #12.B
SUBJECT/TITLE:
REVIEW OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) PROJECT UPDATES
RECOMMENDATION:
No action required; information only.
BACKGROUND:
The staff report updates the Council on the status of the new Technology Master Plan, updates on completed or near-completed key IT projects, and updates on customer service performance metrics of the City’s IT helpdesk.
Technology Master Plan
The five-year Technology Master Plan (TMP) was approved by Council in November 2022. The TMP planning process is intended to capture all the various technology needs for the City for the next five years. It was developed by a consultant, who interviewed various Departments’ staff to determine needs, strategies, goals, and objectives, and ultimately prioritized by City staff. The TMP includes 43 initiatives that were prioritized by City staff, have estimated budgets, and were recommended to be funded and implemented over five and half years from fiscal year (FY) 2023 to FY 2028. Details on the progress of the FY 2023 TMP projects are provided below, followed by a list of projects scheduled and funded for FY 2024.
FY 2023 Projects
Electronic Plan Submittals and Reviews – Staff conducted a needs and gap analysis of the City’s current software solution. The needs and gap analysis resulted in a determination that the City’s current software solution could be a viable option for the City with additional training. The City also released a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a consultant on permitting and planning software. Staff determined that all responses to the RFP were not sufficient and the RFP was not awarded. Based on the needs and gap analysis and the results of the RFP, the City’s building official surveyed the available software vendors. This survey resulted in a recommendation to continue with the City’s current software solution with additional integrations. City staff also visited a neighboring city to evaluate their hardware solution. The City is planning to implement an integration between its permitting and plan review software (CitizenServe) and its document and records management system (Laserfiche). This will allow more efficient work processes and increased automation. The City will also be purchasing additional monitors for Planning and Engineering staff this year. CAD/RMS Implementation – Based on the City of Paso Robles’ RFP process, the City selected SunRidge as the vendor for the Police Department’s new Computer Aided Dispatch/Records Management System (CAD/RMS). Starting in January 2023, Police and IT staff began to work on cleaning up, converting, and copying data to the new system. Part of the project included hosting all of the CAD/RMS data for the City of
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Grover Beach’s Police Department. This required close coordination between the IT divisions of both cities during the entire project. In May 2023, staff set up a training environment for 2 weeks to support end user training for both cities’ Police Departments. On May 24, 2023, the SunRidge Records Management Integration Solutions (RIMS) CAD/RMS system went live, coordinated with a simultaneous go- live for the City of Grover Beach. The final portion of the project was to integrate the body camera and in-car video camera system with the new CAD/RMS system. This was completed in June 2023 and automatically tags videos with case numbers, determines their retention schedule, and groups the videos by case to make reviewing and exporting more user-friendly.
Facility Access and Security Cameras – IT coordinated electrical improvements at St.
Jude’s Tunnel and intersections to support the City’s surveillance cameras. The City will be installing the new storage and bringing St. Jude’s Tunnel and intersection cameras online the first or second week of August 2023. Server Upgrades and Replacements – Staff started the process of upgrading the City’s SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) server. This will allow IT to deploy the SCADA software with the latest security updates and patches on an up-to- date operating system. The system upgrade will also include the ability to use the latest modems for reliable alerting. Reliable alerting is critical to protect the city from overflows or water disruptions. This is expected to be completed by the end of August 2023. Police server replacements were delayed pending the determination of the schedule for the Public Safety Facility (PSF). Working off the current schedule, Police servers will be replaced before December 2023. City Hall servers will be upgraded in September 2023.
Internet Bandwidth and Police VoIP Phone System Replacement – These were also delayed pending the determination of the schedule for the PSF. They will be completed as part of the migration plan for the Police Department.
FY 2024 Projects
Mobile Device Management
Multi-Factor Authentication
User Training and Support
Time and Attendance System
Land Management System Gap Analysis and Improvements
Parks and Recreation System Improvements
SCADA Security
Managed Detection and Response Solution
Cybersecurity Incident Response
Electronic Content Management and Record Retention
Disaster Recovery Planning
Police E-Citations
Password Manager
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Additional Public Safety Surveillance Cameras
Highlights of Key IT Projects Completed in FY 2023
The highlights of the key IT projects include projects completed during FY 2023. Police Radio Upgrade
In December 2021 the City received a $470,000 grant from the federal government to upgrade its radio system. Included in the project was the creation of an encrypted radio channel, simulcasting both the existing and new radio channel, new mobile and handheld radios, and a new communication link to provide dispatchers priority access to the City’s radio channels. At the last IT update, staff was waiting for equipment that had been delayed by the global shipping issues at the time. That equipment was delivered and the upgrades to the City’s radio system went live in October 2022. This has resulted in better coverage and increased resiliency of the system. The Police Department has used the additional channel to provide better coordination during major events.
SCADA Radio Upgrade
The City utilizes a 900 MHz radio network to provide real-time data logging, remote control, and alarming of its water and wastewater systems. This radio network provides communication to all the City’s water and wastewater facilities and is critical to the efficient operation of those facilities. At the last IT update, staff had scheduled the installation of new replacement radios. The new radios have been installed and provide the latest security features, provide more efficient use of available radio bandwidth, and utilize backup cellular connections from the data collectors if the main radio connection stops working. Having up-to-date radios ensures system reliability and allows staff to respond as quickly as possible to any problems. Mobile Command Vehicle
The City’s mobile command vehicle (MCV) is a high-tech communications hub that allows the Police Department to access its systems from anywhere in the city. There are 6 radios, 4 computers, 8 LCD screens, and 1 camera installed within or on the MCV. After the deployments in 2022, a satellite internet connection was determined to be necessary. IT installed a Starlink internet connection and reconfigured all of the equipment to use either the Starlink internet connection or the existing cellular internet connection depending on which one was performing better. This provided continuous connectivity during the Car Show and 4th of July events. In conjunction with the CAD/RMS Implementation project, IT enabled one of the computers to have full dispatch capabilities.
Security Improvements
IT conducted in-person cybersecurity training for all staff with access to City computers. A recorded option with a short quiz was available for staff that were not able to attend a live training. IT has been using computer-based cybersecurity training for the past few years. This year, however, staff felt that in person training would be
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more impactful. IT was also able to customize the training to City-specific issues and procedures.
IT Help Desk and Survey Results
Every year, staff sends out a survey to canvass employees on the effectiveness of the City’s IT helpdesk. Staff City-wide can contact the IT helpdesk via phone, email, webpage form, or in person. In order to respond to these requests on a timely basis, the City hired a full time IT Technician in October 2022. From January 2023, the City’s IT Technician has been primarily responsible for the IT helpdesk. Channel Islands Technology Integrators Group (CITIG) is still under contract for after-hours and tier-3 (high-level specialized) support. The IT Manager manages the IT Technician, CITIG contract, and responds to helpdesk issues as needed. Over the last 7 months, the City’s IT Technician has been able to handle over 95% of the IT help desk tickets submitted. This has resulted in decreased wait times and improved customer service.
This year IT received 45 complete survey results, the highest amount of responses in the 9 years this survey has been conducted. This past year, survey respondents gave the City’s IT services an overall satisfaction rating of 93%. This is slightly higher than the 90% rating from the previous year. Of the overall satisfaction rating, 71% gave a very satisfied rating, a noteworthy increase from the 44% rating from the previous year.
Conclusion and Recommendation
This year (FY 2024), staff is planning to complete the TMP projects scheduled for FY 2024. Staff will also be migrating the Police Department and Fire Station 64 to their temporary locations during construction of the PSF. These projects will keep the City in a position to make use of the available technology to provide the highest level of customer service while ensuring security of the City’s systems and business continuity in the event of disruptions.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact from receiving this report as it is information only. 0%
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Very Satisfied Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied Chart 1: IT Survey Results for 2023
Overall Satisfaction
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ALTERNATIVES:
None.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
Prepared by: Meeting Date: August 1, 2023
Jason Takagi, Information Technology Manager
Submitted by: Nadia Feeser, Administrative Services Director Interim City Manager Approval:
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