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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 10 - Telecommunications Infrastructure FundITEM # /0 - MEMO TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: ROGER NELSON, CITY MANAGERkV MEETING DATE: MARCH 18, 2003 SUBJECT: RESOLUTION URGING TEXAS LEGISLATURE TO REAUTHORIZE THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE FUND RECOMMENDATION: City Council approval of a resolution to urge the Texas Legislature to reauthorize the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF). FUNDING SOURCE: The TIF earns money through a surcharge applied to customers' telephone bills. The TIF resources are available to public libraries, schools, hospitals and other agencies through a competitive grant process. BACKGROUND: The Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) was created in 1995 in order to promote technological advancement through academic, school and public libraries, institutions of higher education, and hospitals in both rural and urban areas. Essentially, the fund was intended to help build the technological infrastructure necessary to provide access to the internet and advanced telecommunications services throughout the state. The City of Grapevine has benefited from access to TIF resources. The Grapevine Public Library secured a grant in 1998 for $49,975.00 that funded the purchase of: • T1 line for public access to the internet, • a connection to Texas Higher Education Network as our service provider, • a server and firewall, • four computers for the public lab area, • a color laser printer, • a digital camera, and • technical training. With the equipment and materials the library provides Internet access to citizens' (and staff) enabling patrons to conduct research on references outside our collections either independently or with staff assistance. The benefits the patrons receive are difficult to March 11, 2003 (3:13PM) quantify since most of them are found in educational and informational resources. For example, using these services and equipment patrons are able to learn more about companies before applying for a job, to explore and study art and museums around the world or to view historic sites of battlefields etc. without leaving the local public library. More importantly, the TIF also currently provides funding for statewide projects such as the grant used to provide databases to all the public libraries in the State. These databases, known as Texshare, are authoritative, ad free and appropriate for children with access from home twenty four hours a day if you are a registered patron in a participating library. Previous to the Texshare databases the City of Grapevine subscribed to three major databases for $15,000. Currently, the increased access to this wide variety of databases at the library through Texshare would cost Grapevine approximately $300,000 annually. The approval of this resolution would provide a positive statement to our legislators regarding the importance of the TIF not only to the Grapevine Public Library but also to the general principle of `access to information' for all Texans. The City Manager and Library Director recommend approval. March 11, 2003 (10:31AM) RESOLUTION A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS URGING THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE TO REAUTHORIZE THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE FUND AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE WHEREAS, The Texas Legislature created the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund (TIF) in 1995 to benefit the citizens of Texas with the deployment of telecommunications services and technology through academic, school, and public libraries, institutions of higher education, hospitals and public school; and WHEREAS, Texas libraries as well as the Grapevine Public Library have effectively used TIF grants to increase public access to computer technology, training, and Internet services in rural and urban areas; and these TIF grants to Texas Libraries have resulted in expanded online resources, such as those offered by the Texas Library Connection and TexShare; and WHEREAS, the Grapevine Public Library serves approximately 222,000 patrons annually who have access to over a hundred databases for research and study through the State Library supported TexShare, a service that would cost over $300,000 for the library to access independently and would, consequently, not be available; and WHEREAS, Libraries are the primary source of access to the Internet and advanced telecommunications for many people in our state; and the partnership between libraries and the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board is a critical component of equalized statewide deployment of advanced telecommunications services; and WHEREAS, the state has an ongoing role in helping sustain broadband service and to ensure the continued usage and advancement of the telecommunications infrastructure already developed. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS: Section 1. That the City of Grapevine urges the Texas Legislature to reauthorize the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund for an additional 10 years and assure that the public and private partnership established in 1995 be continued. Section 2. That the City of Grapevine urges the Texas legislators to determine an equitable means of financing the Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund through the telecommunications and cable industries. Section 3. That the City of Grapevine urges the Texas legislators to increase access to digital information resources and broadband to all the people of Texas through various modes of access including public libraries such as the Grapevine Public Library. Section 4. That this resolution become effective from and after the date of its passage. PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS on this the 18th day of March 2003. ATTEST: RES. NO. 2