Public Education/ Discussion Meeting — Minutes

Town of Sturgeon Bay Broadband Internet Committee Meeting Door County Library November 2, 2023 Minutes 1. This meeting was recorded by request. 2 . Call to Order : The meeting was called to order by David Wood at 3:30 PM. 3. Establish quorum : Board members present: Jeff Feuerstein, Pam Kraase, Randy Graf, Cathy Eckers. Virtual: David Wood. Also present: Hugh Zettel. Community members: 1 4. Adopt agenda: Motioned by Feuerstein to approve agenda. Seconded by Eckers. Motion carried. 5. Review and approval of minutes from October 19, 2023 : Motioned by Kraase to approve minutes. Seconded by Feuerstein. Motion carried. 6. Correspondence: - Received clarification from AT&T that it is allowable to publish the answers they have submitted. That was in question because their documents have stated that the information contained in them is confidential. - Wood indicated there has been a question in the AT&T correspondence on the difference between “lateral” and “drop”. When using the term “lateral” they are referring to a line going to a multi-dwelling unit and a “drop” refers to a single dwelling residence. Wood wants to make sure that any of the questions asked reference the correct term; and he will go over all the documents where there could be a misunderstanding. All the committee members should also review materials as well. - AT&T was asked about the public/private partnership document. We have not yet received anything from them. We should reach out to Egg Harbor and Sevastopol and request copies of their documents. The document that was intended to be included in the town’s resolution. Zettel indicated that within the town of Sevastopol the term public/private partnership is somewhat concerning from a legal concept. There may be a difference in how the partnership is structured between the Capital Projects Fund grant and the BEAD grant. The upcoming BEAD grant summit will hopefully make this more clear. Zettel shared information on the Town of Sevastopol’s application for the CPF grant. He stated Jacksonport has already received a grant of about $500,000, which is similar to the amount that Sevastopol is requesting. With BEAD funding, there is also a component based on economic factors of the town. BEAD funding seems to focus more on the unserved population, rather than both unserved and underserved. He also discussed their process in verifying their town addresses and matching that to the PSC’s service map. He mentioned that they are focusing the project on the fact that this is for the good of all in the community, not just the ones who already have decent internet service. - Feuerstein stated he checked on the Wisconsin Bureau of Commissioners of Public Lands and how the loans work. He feels much better about the process of obtaining and repayment of the loans. He also found out that it is not necessary to hold an elector’s meeting in order for the town to borrow money or sign a contract with the internet provider, but they still intend to hold the elector’s meeting to make sure that the majority of the voters want to proceed. - Wood stated that, since we do not have the document from AT&T, exhibit A reference should be removed from the resolution. - AT&T sent another contract draft. We are not ready to begin negotiating at this time. - Wood is still waiting for clarity from AT&T on when they would charge the resident for the initial install. They had stated in “most” cases there would not be a charge. He would like to know under what circumstances would result in a charge. 7. Public comment: None 8. Old business: a. Outreach to neighborhood associations: Wood is preparing the Q&A document to address concerns expressed by residents of South Lake Michigan Drive. b. Increasing participation in broadband access survey: No action. c. Discuss communication outreach including Q&A document: Wood had a discussion with SLMD residents regarding questions on the project. Wood received many questions on the projects. Most, if not all of the questions, had all been addressed at the public meeting. There is a lot of misinformation circulating. Instead of continuing to address these questions individually, the Q&As will be posted on the town website and updated as new questions arise. In the future, residents with questions will be referred to that document. Feuerstein would like to have information included with the tax bills on how residents can access these questions on the town website. Wood will also include something on Charter performance in the Q&As. Zettel suggested the committee ask Jessica Hatch for a list of what the other Door County townships are receiving for ISP contributions, as well as the cost of their deployments. Motioned by Feuerstein for Chairman Wood to submit the Q&A document to Nancy Anschutz for posting on the town website. Seconded by Eckers. Motion carried. d. Discuss broadband maps, review strategy, and challenge process: -- Zettel spoke on their process of marrying the E911 address lists to the BSL list. This should also include whether the locations are eligible or ineligible. We should have this file. We need to determine whether these addresses are real addresses. Then you also need to look at the longitude and latitude to determine the correct address. The reconciled addresses need to be submitted to the FCC. The street names need to be reconciled to the E911 street addresses. The GIS maps on the county websites are as of April 2023, meaning the county is a good source of information. Also, the town may be able to provide an assessor’s list that will be a good source of information. Feuerstain said he will attempt to get this file. Zettel stated Sevastopol was able to submit their address list to the school district to have them indicate which of those households have school children residing at that location. He suggests we attempt to get a percentage of free and reduced lunches from the Southern Door School District’s business manager, Jason Melotte, for the grant application. - Eckers and Haase will continue to work on the town address verification and will attempt to complete it as soon as possible. 9. New business: a. Discuss upcoming BEAD summit and grant opportunities: Summit on Tuesday, November 7th, will be attended by several committee members. . b. Discuss any additional clarification and responses from AT&T. Previously discussed. c. Discuss contract and public private partnership with AT&T. Previously discussed. d. Convene in closed session. Not necessary. e. Reconvene in open session. Not applicable. f. Discuss resolutions and process for Town Board and Elector approval of Committee recommendation. Feuerstein will discuss the resolution with Randy Nesbitt prior to the town board meeting. It will be submitted to the board for action at the November 6th meeting. 10. Matters to be placed on a future meeting agenda: a. Financing options. b. Ways to increase participation in broadband access survey. c. Ways to improve accuracy of service maps. d. Review of fire numbers in the Town of Sturgeon Bay . 11 . Next meeting date: Wednesday, November 15th, at 12:45 PM in Meeting Room 1 of the Door County Library. 12 . Motion to adjourn by Haase. Seconded by Graf. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 5:08 pm. Respectfully submitted by Cathy Eckers, Recording Secretary