Council committee reviews urban forestry grant application and digitalization contract; raises questions about shared drive access and city devices

City leaders reviewed two operational items that staff asked council to send to the floor: (1) authorization for the recreation director to apply for an urban forestry grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and (2) moving forward with a contract to digitize city records and create a shared document repository.

Recreation director Miss Duchstein said the proposed Urban Forestry Grant application would focus on an "edible landscape" strategy: planting fruit-bearing trees and supporting community garden efforts. She said the parks and tree-board staff are identifying species suitable for the local climate and noted prior years' participation in the program. "This year is focused on edible landscape," Duchstein said, adding that staff has discussed pawpaw and other fruit trees and would work with the tree board to select species.

Council members agreed to forward the resolution to the council floor for formal consideration. The resolution would give the recreation director authority to prepare and submit the grant application; the grant itself would be subject to competitive award by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

On records digitization and the Iron Mountain contract, Christian Hedger (city IT) and staff discussed a multi-thousand-dollar contract to digitize documents and establish a shared electronic repository. Council members experienced problems opening an encrypted draft contract during the meeting and discussed technical requirements for shared access. Staff said that remote access to a shared drive will require a virtual private network (VPN) and that the city could either issue council members city-managed devices or install VPN access on personal devices; both options carry administrative and (in the case of personal devices) public-record implications.

Staff said the Iron Mountain quote is comparable to a prior bid and that the cost (the most recent quote remained at roughly $11,000) had not increased since the earlier estimate. Council discussed the availability and condition of seven council-issued devices bought previously; staff said some devices were older and that IT would inventory existing machines and report back with a recommendation on issuing or replacing devices and on VPN options. "You would have to provide the out of your council budget for the VPN to be able to access it," staff said, and suggested city-issued devices as the cleanest approach for secure, auditable access.

Council direction: members asked staff to provide the resolution and contract paperwork for formal introduction on the council floor; staff supplied printed copies for the public and said they would follow up with updated digital access information and a recommendation on device procurement and VPN costs.

Ending: Both items were moved toward formal council consideration; staff will return with the completed resolution, the Iron Mountain contract materials and an IT plan for access and device provisioning.