03. Meeting Minutes 03 21 24
14727 209th St. N., Scandia, Minnesota 55073
Phone (651) 433-2274 | Fax (651) 433-5112 | www.cityofscandia.com
CITY OF SCANDIA
INTERNET ACTION COMMITTEE
MINUTES
Thursday, March 21, 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: City Administrator Kyle Morell, Jason Sachs, and Elly Burroughs. Absent: Council Liaison
Steve Kronmiller.
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. Motion Carried 5-0.
Approval of Minutes – The November 16, 2023, meeting minutes were approved on a Motion by Ray,
seconded by Wilmers. Motion Carried 5-0.
Public Comments - No comments were offered.
Midco Project Update – Jason Sachs, General Manager of Field Operations, introduced Elly Burroughs, their
new Government Relations Manager, who took over for Melissa Wolff in February. Elly and Jason talked about
the following points:
Midco shared they plan to complete 173 passings this summer as part of the Big Marine
Project. They are also completing 20 passings in Scandia as part of the May Township project
and 9 passings as part of the Rolling Acres development.
They are waiting to hear from the State on the status of the two-line Extension Grants they
applied for in February (we approved a letter of support for these applications). Approval of
these grant applications would add 72 passings to their construction schedule this summer.
DEED and the federal government are still negotiating how to best distribute the $653 million the
state received (known as BEAD money). Midco believes this will delay any grant rounds until
2025, with funds potentially not being made available until 2026.
Round 10 of the Boarder 2 Boarder DEED grant program is now open. Applications are due
May 10. Midco is looking at possible projects in Scandia. The committee encouraged them to
look along the river, as those homes are difficult to reach.
Midco does have plans to update the capacity of existing Coax cable in addition to their work to
install fiber.
Frontier – Morell outlined for the Committee a recent email exchange with Tood Kruze of Frontier, who reached
out about working with the City on a BEAD grant. Staff stated the Committee’s position that they are happy to
work with Frontier, but will not sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, as previously required by Frontier.
Scandia Internet Action Committee Draft Minutes
November 16, 2023
Page 2 of 2
Capital Investment Committee Request Update – Morell informed the Committee their funding request was
included in the 2024 budget. If money is not spent in 2024, the full request will be pushed back a year to continue
to show the City’s commitment to Broadband.
Internet Expansion Cost Summary – Council Liaison Kronmiller will update the spreadsheet with information
provided by Elly.
Internet Action Committee Charter – The Committee reviewed its Charter and made the following changes:
Goals
o #1, change to 1 Gig/50Mbps
o #2, remove second sentence
o #3, leave as is
o #4, drop 200 premises, change to - Expand Broadband to as many premises a year as possible
with a goal of completing expansion by 2027.
Tasks
o #1, remove "that wants it" and change to "Support and guide local providers in their development
of a plan…"
Sentence 2, as to "annually and as needed"
#A, Add "Estimated Financial Impact…"
#B, Keep as is
#C, Keep as is
o #2, Remove
The remaining Tasks will be reviewed at the next meeting.
Items for Future Discussion – The following items are scheduled for discussion at the next meeting
o Patti is coordinating with Midco, on which date Midco Day will occur, either August 21 or 28.
o Charter update
o Midco Foundation Update
o Check with Midco about the Round 10 B2B grant
o 2024 Construction Update
Next Meeting – The committee noted that its next meeting will be held on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at 6:30 PM
at the Community Center.
Adjournment – Motion by Ray, seconded by Wilmers, to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 p.m. Motion Carried
5-0.
_________________________________
Kyle Morell, City Administrator