5. Recap of Council work session update on broadband1. Neil sent out the City of Scandia Fiber to the Premises Partnership RFP last week to 8 ISPs:
a. MidCo
b. Frontier
c. CTC
d. CenturyLink
e. ComcastMediaComm – (sent email that they will not be submitting
f. Windstream – (sent email that they will not be submitting)
g. Charter
2. Neil also sent out suggested language to Rep Bob Dettmer and Sen Karin Housley that
would allow Scandia to use a Subordinate Service District to fund the City portion of any
internet expansion project:
CITY OF SCANDIA; SUBORDINATE SERVICE DISTRICT AUTHORIZED FOR BROADBAND SERVICE.
Subdivision 1. Subordinate Service District Authority. The city of Scandia is authorized to create a
subordinate service district pursuant to and subject to the requirements of Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 365A, except that “City of Scandia,” “city council,” and “city clerk” shall replace “town,”
“town board,” and “town clerk,” respectively, in all instances, and subject to the requirements of
subdivisions 2 and 3. Notwithstanding section 365A.02, subdivision 1, the boundaries of the
subordinate service district may be coterminous with the city of Scandia boundaries.
Subd. 2. Petition to Create District. Notwithstanding Minnesota Statutes, section 365A.04,
subdivision 1, a petition to create the subordinate service district must be signed by at least 25
percent of the property owners in the part of the city proposed for the subordinate service district.
Subd. 3. Broadband Service. The city may establish a subordinate service district only to assist the
creation or expansion of broadband service to cover all or part of the city, including financing the
necessary capital improvements for the service. “Broadband service” has the meaning given in
Minnesota Statutes, section 116J.39, subdivision 1, paragraph (b).
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective upon compliance by the governing
body of the city of Scandia with the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section 645.021,
subdivision 3.
3. Steve sent suggestions on policy changes from the Internet Focus Group to Sen Mark
Koran:
a) There appears to be an impression that non-metro areas are given preference for DEED Grants.
How can this be eliminated? Most unserved areas in the metro are actually rural communities.
b) Address the preference for communities where critical institutions are unserved. Scandia was
essentially “Cherry picked” by MidCo when they brought service into the City. Critical
institutions are all served, but 60% of the City was left unserved.
c) Give preference to projects that provide service to unserved areas that are also adjacent to
served areas. We could be wrong, but wouldn’t expanding existing service territories be more
cost effective than creating isolated pockets of technology?
d) Eliminate the Challenge process, or add criteria where providers that have been convicted, are
under investigation, or sanctioned by the PUC or the court system cannot challenge an
application. Look at the words used by the PUC toward Frontier and find words to use here.
e) For the “Households passed” scoring change the “0/0 to 1Gig/1Gig” to “≤10/1 to 1Gig/1Gig”.
Many homes in our community get service from Frontier, but their average speed is 2 Down.
Frontier is working to improve that, but their goal is 10/1. What our residents “have” should
count as not having any, especially when they also experience significant long term outages.
f) Consider including population density in the criteria. Scandia has 2000 homes in 40 square
miles. The cost to deliver service is far greater than a typical community of our size. We need
the grant more than those others due to the magnitude of the project cost.
g) Consider defining how to measure speed. Do we accept the providers’ estimates, or the speeds
we get billed for (and don’t achieve), or is there a better way? Maybe consider using the
Boarder-to-Boarder speed study.
4. There is a Legislative Town Hall being held by Senator Housley and Representative
Dettmer at the Forest Lake High School on Feb 20th. Steve sent invites to the community
on Facebook and Scandia NextDoor. Steve also intends to address the Legislators. Draft of
Steve’s message:
February 20, 2019
Senator Housley and Representative Dettmer,
Thank you for holding this meeting tonight.
My name is Steve Kronmiller. I am a City Council Member in Scandia MN and am here to talk about
broadband internet.
I am sure you are aware of the state goal that all Minnesota businesses and homes have access to high-
speed broadband that provides minimum 25 megabits per second down and 3 up by 2022 and speeds of
at least 100 megabits per second down and 20 up by 2026.
Scandia needs your help to achieve these goals!
According to the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Scandia is the
only community in Washington County, and 1 of 2 communities in all of Anoka, Hennepin, Ramsey, and
Washington County where fewer than 50% of the households have access to broadband speeds of 25
megabits down and 3 megabits up. As of Feb 5th, the CheckspeedMN results indicate the average
download speed for most Scandia residents is less than 5 megabits per second.
I am here tonight asking you to support 3 bills this session:
1. Support the Boarder-to-Border Broadband Grant Funding bills HF#7 and SF#9. These grants are
needed so communities like Scandia can afford to deliver broadband internet to their businesses
and residents.
2. Support the Boarder-to-Border Broadband Grant Policy Revisions bill, Senator Koran is drafting.
Hopefully these revisions will level the playing field and allow rural communities, like Scandia, to
fairly compete with outstate communities for grant dollars. At a minimum, eliminate the “challenge”
process whereby an internet provider can effectively veto a communities grant application and
never deliver a viable solution in its place.
3. Support revisions to the Special Service District legislation that would allow the City of Scandia to
utilize this mechanism to help fund our matching portion of grant funding.
I am not her alone tonight. Would everyone from Scandia who is here tonight to support these requests
please stand and raise your hand.
A year ago, Scandia formed an Internet Focus Group to recommend a way to deliver reliable, cost
effective, high speed internet to the entire community. This group completed a Community Survey last
summer. We had a tremendous response to the survey and 85% of responders are in favor of the City
finding a way to deliver broadband services. On February ???? I emailed both of you the results
presentation.
The City of Scandia recently sent out RFP’s to Internet Service Providers looking for a partner who can
design, construct, operate, and maintain a broadband network. Our goal is to apply for a DEED grant this
fall and begin construction next year. If successful, the system would be ready in 2021.
The residents of Scandia are doing their part to help the state achieve its broadband goals. However, we
cannot do it alone. We need help from you, your fellow legislators, and the Governor!
Please: Support DEED Grant Funding; Revisions to the DEED Grant Policies; and Revisions to the Special
Service District legislation.
With your help Scandia businesses and residents just might be able to enjoy reliable, cost effective, high
speed internet in the foreseeable future.
Thank You!
Steve Kronmiller
Scandia City Councilmember
651-746-4995