Village of Glenwood Community Plan
Social Responsibility and Sustainability
Capital Project
Municipal Communications for Village Services
Many municipalities are broke. Glenwood, Illinois, is a modest, solvent and well-managed town.
PART 1
Village of Glenwood profile
Population/demographic statistics:
Glenwood is located 20 miles S of Chicago in Cook County
Approx. 9000 people of median age of 40
Median family income is at approx. $61,000.00 which is higher than the average in Illinois of $54,000.00
Home values are approx. $161,000 compared to Illinois average of $200,000.00
The racial diversity is approx. 66% black, 26% white, 7% Hispanic, and 1% other
Land area is 3.12 square miles
Population density is 2885 per square mile
Unemployment has risen in since 2006 from approx 4.8% to 9% in August 2012
Crime is relatively low. Glenwood’s peak crimes, in order, are burglary, theft and auto theft.
Industry:
Transportation and warehousing 22%
Manufacturing 10%
Retail 10%
Administrative and support and waste management 9%
Largest employers:
Landauer – manufacturer of dosimetry (radiation) products
Brooklyn School District
Infrastructure is good for roads, aging for water supply and distribution, good for schools, good for electric distribution, fair for communications
Financial condition
|
Local government employment and payroll (April 2012 |
|||||
|
Function |
Full-time employees |
Monthly full-time payroll |
Average yearly full-time wage |
Part-time employees |
Monthly part-time payroll |
| Financial Administration |
4 |
23,292 |
$69,876 |
1 |
$4,832 |
| Other Government Administration |
0 |
$0 |
$0 |
7 |
$4,437 |
| Police Protection – Officers |
25 |
$126930 |
$60,926 |
2 |
$1500 |
| Police – Other |
3 |
$7,500 |
$33,004 |
4 |
$1,425 |
| Firefighters |
5 |
25,476 |
$61,143 |
29 |
$4,753 |
| Fire – Other |
1 |
$5,808 |
$39,699 |
1 |
$1,482 |
| Streets and Highways |
9 |
$14,420 |
29,226 |
0 |
$0 |
| Health |
0 |
$0 |
|
0 |
0 |
| Sewer and water |
9 |
$44,735 |
$45,482 |
$0 |
|
| Parks and Recreation/
Senior Center |
1 |
$3,250 |
39,000 |
3 |
$2,881 |
|
– |
$0 |
0 |
0 |
$0 |
|
| Totals for Government |
62 |
$224,281 |
$43,409 |
56 |
$48,993 |
Glenwood government finances in 2012:
- Governmental Funds – Cash & Cash Equivalents: $7,131,422)
- Enterprise Funds – Cash & Cash Equivalents: $2,612,280
: $1,913,495
Expenses Governmental Activities:
General Government $7,414,603
Public Safety $4,870,038
Public Works $1,088,979
Highway and Streets $1,044,998
Interest and Fees $719,073
Expenses Business Type Activities:
Water and Sewer $2,173,099
Golf Course Operations $1,892,813
- Long Term Obligations
- Total general obligation bonds $16,020,000
- Unamortized Bond Premiums $142,783
- Capital Leases $453,360
- Notes Payable $1,005,279
- Compensated Absences $689,625
- Net Pension Obligation $70,420
- Net OPEB Obligation $20,142
- Total Long Term Debt $18,401,609
For greater details, see:
http://www.city-data.com/city/Glenwood-Illinois.html
PART 2
Project Details
Overview
Municipal wide communications in Glenwood require the Village to explore upgrading to wireless technologies available as a replacement for underground utility lines installed during the 1960’s that are outdated and degraded and are subject to failure and noise. One potentially economic solution is a wireless communications system (See Part 3).
The project, in cooperation with all Glenwood departments, will determine and measure the communication and data needs of Glenwood, and construct and initiate operation of a comprehensive wireless system for:
- water storage and delivery infrastructure;
- police department’s need for mobile access to law enforcement databases and other inter- and intra-department communications;
- fire department’s need for mobile access to structure, water, electrical and hazardous material databases;
- emergency response center and connectivity with private surveillance databases such as bank and other business security cameras;
- administration offices.
The current water/public works department monitoring and communications systems rely on old transmission lines. These lines have a history of failure due to breakage or noise causing interruption or corrupt signals among the monitoring sensors and the operating computers. The interrupted or corrupted signals cause failure by registering error codes that turn off pumps and stop delivery of water to the village. Each failure has the potential to interrupt delivery of water. Telephone lines carry the monitoring signals for water levels in water towers and communicate with pump stations to ensure adequate pressure and volume of water are available for commercial, residential, and public safety uses. Each disruption has the potential to hammer the system creating breaks in water mains that cost as much as $5000.00 per incident to repair. With the frequency of these events increasing, the Village’s options range from expensive infrastructure improvements through AT&T to more economical and reliable wireless communications alternatives. The frequencies of the failures coincided with the amount of rain fall. In 2011 the Village experienced 10 communication failures as the Village officially passed 1983 as the second wettest year on record. In 2012, the Village experienced 3 communication failures with below average rainfall totals.
Police and fire personnel rely on mobile communications by use of Verizon wireless cards and have irregular or incomplete access to databases such as the Illinois state police, other neighboring communities’ law enforcement and fire protection interfaces, business records within the community, administrative files and the like. A proposed new wireless system will integrate all emergency and administrative units. The communications and information shared will be through directly connected wireless devices and through internet access, all secured in a manner now used by the White House. For example, several local businesses that always require high security (banks, hazardous materials) may be able to interface their security cameras with police headquarters and mobile police units to facilitate surveillance during an emergency situation.
The emergency response dispatcher communicates using old telephone lines and using Motorola Canopy, a wireless system. Both systems are outdated – the old telephone lines fail as described above and are expensive (approx $25,000.00 per year), and the wireless system needs an upgrade. The emergency dispatcher serves multiple communities. The proposed new wireless system will promote expansion to more communities.
The administrative offices are not linked to any of the above departments except by ordinary telephone lines. Integration of all departments will increase efficiency and decrease costs to the taxpayers.
The citizens of Glenwood may benefit from city-wide Wi-Fi or Wi-Max; however, at this time, the costs to provide such city-wide access appear beyond Glenwood’s budget. Nevertheless, this project will explore limited Wi-Fi for local businesses.
The ability to interface among all departments and the capacity to expand the interfaces among neighboring communities improves government, creates a better awareness of “community”, and instills a sense of confidence, security and continuity within local businesses and residents.
Proposed New Communications Infrastructure
Glenwood has a water tower approx. 165 feet in elevation. As a starting point, the water tower may provide enough wireless reach to serve Glenwood and partially spread into neighboring communities. The better solution is to build a new tower or monopole of approx. 199 feet in elevation. The increased elevation will provide a greater wireless service area, and will be designed to maximize utility in two ways: 1) the installation on the tower or monopole of the wireless equipment for Glenwood’s needs will be specifically tailored to the tower or monopole to insure an efficient system; and 2) the extra space on the tower or monopole will be leased to various agencies and entities to provide revenue to Glenwood to subsidize the construction and amortization of the new proposed wireless system. Specifically, we believe that the US government, Cook County and private companies intend to lease additional space on the tower or monopole, and other government bodies will be solicited to lease space.
A new development as of January 2013 – Glenwood is negotiating with AT&T to construct a monopole to carry its own cellular telephone array. The monopole construction will include an attendant service building, both built on land owned by Glenwood. The Village is negotiating terms that include AT&T’s monopole to be deeded to Glenwood in lieu of rent for the ground lease. By owning the monopole, Glenwood will place its own wireless system on the tower, and will lease additional space to generate revenue for Glenwood in the approximate amount of $50,000.00 per year.
An existing fiber optic cable sits approximately 1 mile or so from Glenwood. The proposed AT&T monopole may become a new terminus for fiber optics within the Village.
Financing
The project will be financed generally as follows:
Savings realized by elimination of ATT lines (water, emergency response)
Possible reduction of Verizon cards
Village funds
Grants – from local business, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), Homeland Security, and other
Leases
Equipment:
Water Tower for demo
New tower/monopole for new system
Terminals and interconnect devices
Software
Mobile Units
Part 3 Preliminary Design