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IAC Minutes 6-11-2020 Page 1 of 2 City of Scandia 14727 209 th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073 Phone (651) 433 -2274 Fax (651) 433 -5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us Internet Action Committee Location: Online Streaming (Boxcast and GoToMeeting) Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 6:00pm Attendance: K. C. Douglas, Chair Robert Wilmers, John Carney, Cathy Mackiewicz, and Vice Chair Marschall Smith Absent: None. Also in Attendance: City Council Liaison Patti Ray, City Council Liaison Steve Kronmiller, and City Administrator Ken Cammilleri. Call to Order – Chair Wilmers called the meeting to order at 6:03pm. Approval of Agenda – Motion by Carney, seconded by Smith, to approve the agenda with the addition of discussion on the City’s website update. Motion carried. Approval of Minutes from May 7, 2020 – Motion by Smith, seconded by Douglas to approve the minutes of the May 7th meeting with removal of a reference to Melanie Trail N and correction of two typos. Motion carried. Update on Community Center Wireless Internet Improvements – Cammilleri reported that the public wireless network is now up and running. The network name is “Scandia- Guest” and the password is “dalahorse”. Staff will be working to make additional improvements, but the network has strong reception inside the Community Center and in the parking lot. Update on the 2020 Minnesota DEED Broadband Expansion Grant Project with MIDCO – Wilmers reminded the committee that there are six different areas in the city that are receiving service expansion as part of the project. Much of the work will be completed in mid to late August to approximately the end of October, weather permitting. As part of the project, MIDCO has been sending out mailers to encourage new service area customers to obtain the service. MIDCO has also set up a new website, http://www.midco.com/Scandia, to promote service opportunities. Prospects for the 2021 Minnesota DEED Broadband Expansion Grant – Wilmers reported that the City of Scandia’s commitment to provide matching funds to this granting effort has placed Scandia and MIDCO in a good position for potentially obtaining funding for a second year in a row. However, he noted that funding was not going to be a certainty Page 1 of 2 City of Scandia 14727 209 th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073 Phone (651) 433 -2274 Fax (651) 433 -5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us and noted that the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund may be another important potential project funding source. Update of Recent Work By Frontier Communications – The committee noted that Frontier has been doing recent upgrades to the network infrastructure in town in order to meet funding compliance on Federal funds they received for fiber optic expansion. Services in the expansion area must meet 25MBps down and 3MBps up. Some parts of this network are at a speed of 10 MBps down and 1 MBps up, which are below the required standards for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) funding they received. Ribbon Cutting Promotion of the 2021 Minnesota DEED Broadband Expansion Grant – In an effort to increase user take rates for broadband services, MIDCO has asked for the committee and city’s assistance in promoting and helping implement a ribbon cutting ceremony. Ray offered to assist with helping to plan and organize the event, which will occur on or around the time construction starts in August. Discussion and review of 1st draft of the Scandia Broadband Expansion Plan - The committee discussed the first draft which will include maps that will identify areas of the city and the projected years in which buildout may occur. Dialog occurred regarding how to present plan expansion in a way that does not set unrealistic expectations. The Committee agreed that this draft was a starting point that would need further refinement. They requested that the draft be shared with MIDCO for comment and noted that it was not ready for public promotion at this time. The draft presented represents a rough forecast on DEED and RDOF funding. Future work will be dependent on MIDCO, DEED, RDOF, and further financial assistance from the City of Scandia. Website - The committee looked at the first website’s layout and design. The Committee also discussed how information about the Internet Expansion Project could be better displayed and promoted on the City’s website. Wilmers volunteered to assist in putting together the website to explain current and planned internet expansion activities in the City. Next Meeting Date – The Committee agreed to hold its next meeting on July 9, 2020 at 6:00pm. The meeting will be conducted electronically and telephonically if the Governor’s Executive Order continues the existing requirements. Items identified for future discussion included revisiting the draft Broadband Expansion Plan and the 2020 buildout ribbon cutting ceremony. Adjournment – The Committee adjourned at 7:30pm upon successful motion by Carney, seconded by Mackiewicz. Minutes Prepared by: Ken Cammilleri, City Administrator