08.c Draft minutes 11 16 23 Internet Action Committee
14727 209 th St. N., Scandia, Minnesota 55073
Phone (651) 433 -2274 | Fax (651) 433 -5112 | www.cityofscandia.com
CITY OF SCANDIA
INTERNET ACTION COMMITTEE
MINUTES
Thursday, November 16, 6:30 p.m.
Scandia Community Center, 14727 209th Street North
Attendance: Bob Wilmers, Steve Bradley, Will Perry, John Carney, and Patti Ray. Absent: None
Also in Attendance: Council Liaison Steve Kronmiller and City Administrator Kyle Morell. Absent: None
Call to Order – The meeting was called to order by Chair Wilmers at 6:30 p.m.
Approval of Agenda – Motion by Ray, seconded by Wilmers, to approve the agenda with the additions 4a.
Midco Stories and 4b. Introductions. Motion Carried 5-0.
Approval of Minutes – The September 20, 2023, meeting minutes were approved on a Motion by Ray,
seconded by Carney. Motion Carried 5-0.
Public Comments - No comments were offered.
Midco Stories – Ray shared that she and Scandia Parks and Recreation Committee members went to Scandia
Elementary on November 8 to present a check to the student and their class who won the Midco Day story
contest. The County Messenger ran the story, and Midco received permission from all who submitted stories to
use them in their advertising.
Introductions – Will Perry was appointed to the Committee at the September City Council meeting. He has 30
years of IT experience, is a new resident of Scandia, and is looking to get involved in the Community. Chairman
Wilmers welcomed him to the Committee. The rest of the Committee members introduced themselves.
Midco Project Update – Morell updated the Committee on his discussions with Midco about updated project
numbers. Midco is working on updating the cost of completing a project to serve the remaining addresses in
Scandia in anticipation of a BEAD grant application in 2024. The Committee invited Justin Forde, VP of
Government Relations for Midco, to their next meeting to continue this discussion.
The Committee discussed Midco’s 2024 project commitments, which include 203 new passings throughout the
city over five project areas. It was agreed this information should be posted on the City’s website. Chairman
Wilmers and Councilmember Kronmiller agreed to work on the text and map updates.
Chairman Wilmers touched on conversations he and Administrator Morell had with Frontier in the past month.
Todd Kruse, from Frontier Government Relations and Community Outreach office, who called into our June
meeting to discuss how Frontier could help the City in its expansion goal, followed up with Chairmen Wilmers
earlier this month. At the request of the Chairman, Administrator Morell responded to Mr. Kruse’s follow-up,
stating the City would be happy to work with Frontier but would not be able to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement,
as the City works to remain transparent in their partnerships with Internet providers.
Scandia Internet Action Committee Draft Minutes
November 16, 2023
Page 2 of 2
BEAD Update – Chairman Wilmers shared documents released by the DEED Office of Broadband Development
(OBD) outlining the release of federal BEAD money in 2024. The Committee held brief discussions on the
following topics:
1) Local Match – The scoring rubric allowed up to 40 points for a local match as primary criteria, with the
most significant number of points coming from applications that only asked BEAD for 30% of the project
funds and no points being awarded for a 50% request. A local match also gained 5 points as a secondary
criterion. Therefore, an application with a 30% funding request from BEAD with a local match would be
awarded 45 points out of 100 available points.
2) Underserved and Unserved Areas – These areas of the state will receive priority when funding is
awarded. Any area served by DSL is considered “underserved” because DSL lines are not “future-proof.”
Areas that receive service below 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream or below 25 Mbps
downstream and 3 Mbps upstream will also be considered underserved or unserved.
3) The City should work with Midco to establish a project area that best meets the criteria laid out by the
OBD. Chairman Wilmers asked staff to work with Midco on updating funding numbers for this future
project.
Capital Investment Committee Request Update – Morell informed the Committee their funding request has
been restored to the requested amount in the preliminary 2024 budget. Morell will continue to work with Midco
to update funding numbers as soon as possible for future budgeting purposes.
Internet Expansion Cost Summary – Council Liaison Kronmiller will update the spreadsheet to show each
project’s number of addresses served, as the City cannot define what Midco means by a “passing.” The number
of passings added by Midco does not match the number of additional addresses served with each project.
Therefore, the Committee believes referencing addresses is the best way to convey progress to the public.
Internet Action Committee Charter – Ray asked Committee members to review the Goals and Tasks and have
suggestions ready for discussion at the next meeting.
Next Areas for Expansion and Timing – This item was covered in the Midco Project Update section.
Items for Future Discussion – The Committee asked to talk with Justin Forde about the upcoming BEAD funds
and future projects. They would also like to discuss future community engagement opportunities.
Next Meeting – The committee noted that its next meeting would be held Thursday, December 21, 2023, at 6:30
PM at the Community Center.
Adjournment – Motion by Ray, seconded by Bradley, to adjourn the meeting at 8:12 p.m. Motion Carried
5-0.
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Kyle Morell, City Administrator