Broadband Committee

TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE December 12, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Sue Swiantek, Chuck Zenner, Kenny Ceaglske, Rollie Thums, Gene Knoll. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes and Melissa Lind. Members absent: none. Other Attendees: Jim Metz, Michelle Grimm, Grant Bub, Larry Brandl, Bud Suckow, Joe Liegl and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Kyle Moorhead, Mitch Gordon and Marlena Pfieffer - Hometown Fiber, Jeff Woods - WANRack, Candice Grunseth, Bob Judnic and Stan Schmidt. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 15 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the November 14, 2023, meeting: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. ISP Provider: Grant Bub introduced Kelly Shipley, Government Affairs and Public Policy Director from Brightspeed. He explained that Brightspeed acquired Centurylink a bout a year ago. Mike Bub asked if they would be interested in partnering with us and Shipley was interested and he also said they have recently submitted grant applications with several other counties. Bug Tussel update: Mitch of Bug Tussel was unable to attend the meeting, but Berg was able to get an update from him. • Tower update-there has been a delay receiving equipment from suppliers , but they are now back on schedule. • Construction update- the fiber side is waiting on permits from the federal government for the national forest. • Timeline to connect customers - the connection from Abbotsford to Taylor County is underway. • PSC grant application/TDS objection- TDS apparently made the same objection against 12 different applications, because they might be doing work in the same areas . They have until 2028 to complete work through A -CAM, but through extended A -CAM, they have until 2038. These areas are not eligible for BEAD grants. Mitch doesn’t think their objection will impact our grant application. Mike Bub will reach out to Mitch to ask for the timeline to connect customers to fixed wireless and fiber to the home. WANRack update: Jeff Woods attended via Zoom and provided updates. Woods stated that the areas needing restoration in Rib Lake and Westboro are all taken care of. Grant is going to Westboro on Thursday to meet with Jeff Peterson to ensure all is completed. Mike also stated he wants a list of any additional areas needing restoration and they will be addressed in spring. Will also be reaching out to the Village of Rib Lake President and Clerk to see if there are any more issues. Woods also stated they will be making another push for new business customers next February. Heartland update: Grant met with Tim Hobl from the Fair Board; they would like more access points at the fairgrounds. They would also like security cameras . Grant will coordinate with Heartland. Mike stated the first phase of the project is complete and will be signed off. Hometown Fiber update: Kyle Moorhead, Mitch Gordon and Marlena Pfeiffer attended via Zoom and Kyle stated they submitted their final report. Knoll suggested everyone take the time to read the report and then we should have a separate meeting to go over it. The committee will adjourn into a closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. s. 19.85(1)(e) to discuss possible negotiations for connecting residences in Taylor County : There was a motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to go into closed session. A roll call vote taken, with all voting aye, the committee was in closed session at 10:21 a.m. Ruth Ann, Corporation Counsel joined the meeting at 10:30 a.m. Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to resume in open session at 10:40 a.m. The committee will adjourn into a closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. s. 19.85(1)(g) to confer with legal counsel regarding potential contract litigation that the county may become involved in: There was a motion by Zenner, seconded by Swiantek, to go into closed session. A roll call vote taken, with all voting aye, the committee was in closed session at 10: 41 a.m. Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums, to resume in open session at 11:00 a.m. Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Thums, to have Grant create a list of possible residents to connect. Motion carried. Set the next meeting date: The next meeting is scheduled for January 9th at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 11:24 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE November 14, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:32 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Sue Swiantek, Chuck Zenner, Kenny Ceaglske, Rollie Thums, Gene Knoll. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes Members absent: Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Grant Bub, Larry Brandl , Bud Suckow, Robert and Susan Mianowski and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Catherine Lemke, Kyle Moorhead, Mitch Gordon and Marlena Pfieffer- Hometown Fiber, Chrissy Writz, Michael Du Mez and Tom Larson - Heartland Business, Jeff Woods and Mike Brigman - WANRack, Jane DeStaercke, Bob Judnic, Stan Schmidt and Josh Klingbeil. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the October 27, 2023, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes of the October 27, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Current Network Update: Heartland rollout - Chrissy Writz, Michael Du Mez and Tom Larson attended via Zoom and state all but one site is live and they are wrapping things up. Grant provided a handout with all the live sites as well as all sites not connected and not scheduled. Gilman Fire Department and Rib Lake Police Department are waiting on replacement routers. WANRack update: Jeff Woods and Mike Brigman attended via Zoom and provided updates. Woods stated there are 6 areas in Rib Lake that need asphalt. He reached out to Jensen and Son Asphalt and they stated they couldn’t do it until next spring as the asphalt plants are shut down for the winter. Bub suggested they talk to the Highway Department. Farrand to put them in contact with Ben Stanfley. Bud Suckow stated that there are still sites in Westboro that need repair, Bub stated the only remaining one we are aware of is Mr. Peterson, and he was in agreement to wait until spring. Bud was asked to provide further details to Grant so they can be resolved. There was much discussion with WANRack and the committee regarding the lack of customers that have been connected . Brigman stated that the low hanging fruit was already picked, and they needed to find 1000 customers to target to meet their business requirements and it was hard to find that kind of density in Taylor County. Grant will be working with WANRack, with our information provided by Hometown Fiber , to find 1000 customers for a BEAD grant application. WANRack also stated they cancelled their recent PSC grant application as there was duplication and overlap with the Bug Tussel grant application. Discussion continued, requesting WANRack to look for smaller pockets of residences to connect. Bug Tussel update: Mitch of Bug Tussel was unable to attend the meeting. Hometown Fiber update: Kyle Moorhead, Mitch Gordon and Marlena Pfeiffer attended via Zoom and provided updates. Kyle stated they are 80% complete with the field work and mapping and will now start coordinating with ISP’s. He also stated that there are 4135 properties that would be eligible for BEAD grant fund ing. Mitch shared the map of current fiber to the home, that is available on their website. Robert and Susan Mianowski , residents of the Town of Goodrich, asked for a few minutes to address an issue with the committee. They stated that a tower was erected by Bug Tussel a few months ago, and they are concerned that there is no light on the top. He also contacted Bug Tussel to address this with them. Bub a ssured him that once the tower has electricity, the light will be added. Set the next meeting date: The next meeting is scheduled for December 12th at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 11:24 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE October 27, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 1:02 p.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Sue Swiantek, Chuck Zenner, Kenny Ceaglske, Rollie Thums, Gene Knoll and Melissa Lind. Members Present via Zoom: none Members absent: none. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Grant Bub, Larry Brandl and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitch Olson- Bug Tussel. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the agenda with 7 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the October 10, 2023, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes of the October 10, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Review grant proposal from Bug Tussel: Mitch shared the Broadband grant eligibility map of the state and stated that most of Taylor County is eligible. Any area with an existing financial commitment is not eligible, such as the RDOF areas that Charter will be building. This will be a $2 million dollar proposal, bringing fiber to the home to approximately 250 residences in the Towns of Molitor, Medford, Chelsea and Hammel. Taylor County and Bug Tussel will each put $500,000. towards it with the remaining from the PSC. Mitch feels with a 50% match we have a good chance of receiving the grant. Motion by Zenner, seconded by Stokes to apply for the grant. A roll call vote taken, all voting aye, the motion carried. The application is due November 7 th and there is about $40 million available this cycle. Bub requested letters of support from the committee members and he will reach out to Senator Tomczyk, Congressman Tom Tiffany, Medford Superintendent Pat Sullivan. Grimm to contact Dennis Hinderleiter, Thums-Rib Lake School District, Zenner to reach out to Jake for the Federal Ranger’s support, Grant and Farrand will contact the Town Boards of Molitor, Hammel, Medford and Chelsea and Steve Deml. Review grant proposal from WANRack: Bub stated that WANRack wants to apply for a grant with us, they want at least 1000 residences to be included. They considered it a long shot for this grant cycle and will wait and apply for BEAD grants next year. Adjourn: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Ceaglske, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 1:58 p.m. Andria Farrand-County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE October 10, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Sue Swiantek, Chuck Zenner, Kenny Ceaglske, Gene Knoll and Melissa Lind. Members Present via Zoom: none Members absent: Rollie Thums and James Stokes. Other Attendees: Larry Brandl, Grant Bub, Steve Deml and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitch Olson - Bug Tussel, Jane DeStaercke, Stan Schmidt, Candice Grunseth, Bob Judnic, Marlena Pfeifer, Kyle Moorhead and Mitch Gordon - Hometown Fiber. Approve the agenda: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 12 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the September 12, 2023, meeting: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes of the September 12, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Introduce the new External Broadband Manager: Lind introduced Grant Bub, the new External Broadband Manager. He will be focusing on the upcoming grants and will be attending the PSC event in Rhinelander on October 25 & 26. Farrand will send his contact information to WANRack, Bug Tussel and Hometown Fiber. Hometown Fiber: This item was moved to first to accommodate the attendees. Marlena, Kyle and Mitch attended via Zoom and Marlena stated they need a list of the businesses that have signed up for service with WANRack. We can find updated progress reports on their website at https://www.yourhometownfiber.com/taylor-county. They are focusing on the map challenge, and have mapped the whole area, including the RDOF sections. Bug Tussel update: This was moved to next on the agenda. Mitch Olson was present via Zoom and stated there are some delays with federal government approvals and connectivity with Marathon County. He stated we may need to reach out to WANRack for connection if the delays continue. Current network update: Heartland is sending a crew out to identify where the cabinets should be placed and then a crew will be out to do the cabling in the Town Halls. Towns may need to hire an electrician to get power where it needs to be. The equipment in Gilman will be moved to a better location. Grant will coordinate with the Town Chairs and Clerks as needed to access the Town Halls. The County has switched to the WANRack network. The Charter contract ends November 10th and we will be saving over $8000.00 a year. WANRack update: Bub visited Rib Lake and there is still a lawn that needs to be fixed as well as the walking trail that goes through the Village. The blacktop needs repair and is currently a hazard. Zenner suggested just getting it fixed and sending WANRack the bill. Bub agreed. WANRack has not committed to apply for the November grant, Bub will call to discuss. Knoll suggested having Corporation Counsel review the contract and identify their deficiencies as our plan was to connect residents and to date there are no residents connected. Knoll left the meeting at 10:15 a.m. PSC Grant Update: The comment period is open now, providing the rules and guidelines for the BEAD grant. Bub and Berg are working on a comment because BEAD was not going to require matching funds, but now they will require 25% match. Other items from the committee: Broadband regional workshop will be in Rhinelander October 25 & 26. Grimm is presenting, Berg and Grant Bub are attending, and all are encouraged to attend the second day. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 14, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Swiantek, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:32 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE September 12, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:38 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Sue Swiantek, Chuck Zenner, Kenny Ceaglske, Gene Knoll and James Stokes. Members Present via Zoom: none Members absent: Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Larry Brandl, Steve Deml and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitch Olson - Bug Tussel, Jane DeStaercke, Stan Schmidt, Joseph Smoczyk, Kristin Lueck, Brian Phelps and Candice Grunseth. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the August 8, 2023, meeting: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the August 8, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Bug Tussel update: This was moved next on the agenda. Mitch Olson was present via Zoom and stated there are some delays with connectivity and he will send an updated map soon. All tower leases are executed except Center Ave. and Bellinger. The fiber is being laid by the Interwald tower and residents should be connected in the next few months. When asked about movement from cell companies he said there has been some movement, more information will be available by year end. Current network update: All remaining equipment is in. Bub will share the dates for connecting the town halls and expects it to take place in October-November. Josh Klingbeil told Russel Berg that the libraries do not need the AP’s as they have wi-fi through Badger Net. WANRack update: Bub stated there are still 3 restoration sites that still have issues. WANRack has established a second connection in Thorp that is currently running the network. The last 2 months has been improved connectivity. Taylor County will be switching over to WANRack which will save us thousands of dollars annually and we will have more IP addresses. Gilman Village Hall is connected, Police and Fire Departments still need to be connected. Hometown Fiber: The original contract has been revised, removing the RDOF areas that Charter has. The price has been reduced from $130,000.00 to $101,300.00. This will come from the original $9.5 million borrowed for the project, of which $788,000.00 is still available. Bub checked references and all were favorable. Hometown Fiber will create maps of broadband service, by provider and type of service as well as areas with no service, for us to use for grant applications. They will assist us in being successful. Motion by Knoll to approve the revised Hometown Fiber contract, seconded by Swiantek. A unanimous roll call vote cast, the motion carried. Farrand to send the signed contract, request an invoice for the first payment as well as a W-9. Other items from the committee: Grimm encouraged all to attend the 2nd day of an upcoming PSC workshop to be held in Tomah and Rhinelander. She will email additional information as well as a registration link. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE August 08, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Sue Swiantek, Chuck Zenner and Kenny Ceaglske. Members Present via Zoom: Gene Knoll, James Stokes Members absent: Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Catherine Lemke, Dennis Hinderliter, Larry Brandl, Josh Klingbeil, Randy Wolfgram and Pat Anderson- Charter Communications, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitch Olson- Bug Tussel, Jane DeStaercke, Ben Stanfley, Teri Hatchell and Celeste Flynn- Charter Communications. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the agenda with 13 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the July 11, 2023, meeting: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the July 11, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Charter Communications: This was moved to the next item on the agenda. Randy Wolfgram and Pat Anderson were in attendance and Teri Hatchell and Celeste Flynn were in attendance via Zoom from Charter Communications. They did a presentation for the committee on their RDOF grants and their progress to date, as well as their expected completion of 2026 with fiber to the home in the census blocks they were awarded. They are starting in Westboro and moving west. They are interested in partnering with us on BEAD grants, but at this time they are not interested in leasing our dark fiber, they prefer to maintain their own network. They did state they may need the county’s help with permitting. Wolfgram will reach out to Bub for further discussions. Current network update: All remaining equipment has August delivery dates. All will get cabinets and be connected to the network in September, starting with Gilman. The fair had Wi-Fi and increasing the speed at the fairgrounds had no impact on the service in the county buildings. WANRack update: WANRack is in Taylor County connecting more businesses. The restoration is mainly in Westboro now and the project lead is working directly with the Westboro Town Chair. Gilman and Rib Lake are now ready to be connected. WANRack will need a place to store some spools and other things in case they need to do any work on the network. Stanfley said it will not be a problem to store at the Highway. One of the hangars at the airport was also suggested as another option. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson was present via Zoom and stated the tower in Goodrich is up and the Rib Lake tower as well as others are good to go. The installation of the fiber is underway, but the connection in Abbotsford is delayed until November. Hometown Fiber: Bub and Knoll have been working on refining the contract and it is being reviewed by our Corporation Counsel. Bub is also talking to another similar company for a comparison. BEAD grants: There is $45 million coming available soon, the rules will be published August 14th with an end of October deadline. One idea is to apply for grants for clusters of homes close to the network. Approve 2024 budget: Due to $28,000.00 in carryover from 2022, the miscellaneous line of the 2024 budget will be reduced by $10,000.00. Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Thums, to approve the 2024 budget. Motion carried. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, September 12, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:49 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE July 11, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:31 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Sue Swiantek and Gene Knoll. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes Members absent: Chuck Zenner, Kenny Ceaglske and Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Dennis Hinderliter, Marlena Pfeiffer, Kyle Moorhead and Marshall Stueven - Hometown Fiber, Mark Wesle - Taylor County Fair Board, Catherine Lemke, Larry Brandl, Joe Svejda and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitch Olson - Bug Tussel, Mitch Gordon -Hometown Fiber, Stan Schmidt, Jane DeStaercke, Josh Klingbeil, Derek Beckstrand and Bob Judnic. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the agenda with 12 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the June 13, 2023, meeting: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the June 13, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Current Network update: All is going well; the system is running at approximately 25% capacity. Some equipment is still backordered until the end of August to complete the installation of cabinets and access points in the town halls. The City of Medford is now connected and will cut over soon as they have an existing contract. Holy Rosary Parish and School are now live, and Immanuel Lutheran is connected and plans to cut over before school starts. Fairground WI-FI access is currently being worked on and should be live in time for the fair. WANRack update: There was much discussion about the landscape clean up that needs to be done in Westboro, Rib Lake and Gilman primarily. WANRack had asked for 3 weeks to complete the restoration and we are only in week 2. Bub plans to go to Westboro with WANRack on Jul y 12th to check the progress of what they’ve fixed but plans to give them the full 3 weeks to complete the work. Wesle stated there is still a mess at the fairgrounds from WANRack. Svejda to confirm and advise. WANRack is working to fin d a contractor to connect the Rib Lake and Gilman sites. They are apparently having trouble finding someone and it must be done by the end of July. Presentation from Your Hometown Fiber- Marlena Pfeiffer: Marlena, Broadband Consultant, from Hometown Fiber, was in attendance to discuss what Hometown Fiber can do for Taylor County. Kyle Moorhead, President and Marshall Stueven, Technician were also in attendance, and Mitch Gordon, COO, attended via Zoom. Marlena addressed the committee and explained they are a Minnesota based broadband infrastructure and consulting company. One of their biggest deliverables would be to consolidate all our information from the WANRack and Bug Tussel networks and put it in a GIS layered map. They would then go town by town and develop the financial model to get fiber to the home, so that it’s ready for submission to the PSC. They stated that grant submissions with dollar amounts are better received by the PSC and typically there is only about 3 weeks to complete the grant once it’s announced. They will also do negotiations with ISPs on the County’s behalf, acting as the buffer between the County and the ISPs. It is estimated the next PSC grant submissions are March -June 2024. In addition, they would also monitor PSC grant opportunities and deadlines, ensuring no duplication. The committee asked questions, including questions about their proposed payment schedule for their services and Kyle stated that all is negotiable. Bub plans to call some of the references provided and plans to decide in the coming weeks. If the decision is to move forward, he will request a contract, which will be forwarded to Corporation Counsel for review. There was no action taken. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson was present via Zoom and stated that they will begin construction on the Interwald tower at the end of the week, and 5-6 towers have now cleared the regulatory approval phase and are cleared to go. He anticipates a lot of activity in the count y in the coming weeks. He also stated that laying fiber has begun in Rib Lake, and he will have a better update on that next month. Olson stated that Michels is laying the fiber and Red Tail Tower is constructing the towers. Additional head count to be considered by the Personnel and Finance Committee at the July meeting: Bub stated that the request for an additional person in the IT department, an External Network Coordinator, is on the next Finance and Personnel agenda for consideration. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 11:03 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE June 13, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner, Sue Swiantek and James Stokes. Members Present via Zoom: Gene Knoll and Melissa Lind. Members absent: Dennis Hinderliter and Kenny Ceaglske. Other Attendees: Russell Berg, Michelle Grimm, Sean Brown and Jeff Woods - WANRack, Mark Wesle- Taylor County Fair Board, Tom Rusch-Village of Rib Lake resident, Larry Brandl, Joe Svejda and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Mitch Olson- Bug Tussel, Brian Turner - WANRack, Stan Schmidt, Candice Grunseth and Bob Judnic. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the May 9, 2023, meeting: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Zenner, to approve the minutes of the May 9, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. WANRack update: Bub moved this to the top of the agenda to accommodate the visitors from WANRack that were present to discuss issues. Sean Brown stated that they are going through the entire network, marking the GPS location of each handheld. Any landscaping that needs to be fixed, they are sending a picture to their contractor to fix. He estimates all issues should be fixed in 3 -4 weeks. Rib Lake, Westboro and Gilman seem to have the most issues. It was also stated that the fairgrounds need to be cleaned up where the contractors were keeping their materials. Brown stated the contractor will take care of clearing all debris out. Brian Turner then addressed the network outages that have occurred, and he stated that it was an issue with their partner Lumen and the network in Thorp. Lumen is currently working on re - designing their network and WANRack is also looking for a secondary provider to have a more robust connection. Jeff Woods stated there are currently 19 business customers who have signed up with WANRack of the 35 that were interested. He also stated that a postcard campaign was sent out and he will follow up with those customers while he is in town. He will also meet with any that have had issues, including Taylor Electric. Bub stated we need to find a solution to take fiber to the home for residential customers. Woods stated that they would need a grant. Current Network update: Heartland Business Systems is currently setting up equipment and connecting town halls and some schools and should have the rest of the schedule on Thursday. This should be completed by late June/early July. Fairgrounds Wi-Fi - Svejda stated the electrical contractor is lined up and ready, but we are waiting on the equipment and there is currently no ship date. It was also noted by Mark Wesle of the Fair Board, that the Community Center has internet, but it is not configured, so it is not working. Lind was asked to check into this. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson was present via Zoom and 5 towers are currently waiting for regulatory approval and estimates that 9 towers will be completed by the end of the year. He also stated there is no update from the cell carriers. Bub suggested that we have a ribbon cutting for the first tower and Olson agreed. BEAD grants: The BEAD grant budget is due next Monday, June 19th and Bub stated they plan to have it submitted by Thursday, June 15th. IT department involvement in managing the network going forward: At the recent IT committee meeting, it was suggested that there be some changes made to the proposed Network Coordinator job description. Bub will meet with Human Resources to update the job description. Other items from the committee: Bub and Knoll have had a few meetings with a third party to assist with grant writing. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, July 11, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Zenner, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:49 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE May 9, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner, Sue Swiantek, Gene Knoll and Kenny Ceaglske. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes and Melissa Lind. Members absent: Dennis Hinderliter. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, Mitch Olson - Bug Tussel, Joe Liegl and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Candice Grunseth and Kristin Lueck. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the April 11, 2023, meeting: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the April 11, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Current Network update: The Cisco routers have been delivered and we can now move forward with connecting the first of the town halls and other buildings to the network. Heartland will be here May 18th to prioritize and set the schedule for the 22 locations. The schools will need to be done in June after school is out for the summer. Heartland will provide a final bid for the cabinets. Fairground Wi-Fi cost will now be approximately $80,000.00. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson was present and approximately 10 towers will be completed by the end of the year. He also stated there has been no movement from the cell carriers. WANRack update: Taylor Electric had another outage last week. Ntera and WANRack still need to finalize the connection in Gilman. Any damage due to the WANRack network build, give Mike the name, address and phone number and he will contact WANRack. Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants : The BEAD grant application has been submitted and accepted. The sub -committee will meet again on Friday, May 12 th at 12:00 and have a deadline of June 19th to submit the next phase. We are predicted to get $15,000,000. - $18,000,000 in BEAD grant money. Other items from the committee: It was suggested that the committee provide regular updates on the website, Facebook page as well as share with the Star News and radio station. Farrand offered to do it, Grimm to provide the template. Bub asked for a way to keep track of all the draw requests he is approving. Farrand offered to make a spreadsheet and keep it updated. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 13, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE April 11, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:31 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner and Sue Swiantek, James Stokes, Gene Knoll and Kenny Ceaglske. Members Present via Zoom: None Members absent: Dennis Hinderliter and Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Catherine Lemke, Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Mitch Olson - Bug Tussel, Stan Schmidt, Bob Judnic, Candice Grunseth, Josh Klingbeil, Steve Schueller, Nicholas Haines, Ben Stanfley, Maxx Handel. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the March 14, 2023, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the March 14, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Current Network update: Bub had a meeting with Heartland and Cisco regarding the very late delivery of the routers. A few days later they received a letter stating that the routers would be shipping May 3rd. Some of the town halls are asking to have an additional access point added. It was agreed that any sites wanting additional equipment will be at their expense. There have been three proposals for the fairgrounds, but none are ideal, so the plan is to go with a fourth option, although it is a bit more expensive. We will have new equipment there that works on a different frequency, at a cost of approximately $100,000.00, the original budget was $75,000.00. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson attended via Zoom and stated their 76 -mile fiber network will be done this year, but there is no start date yet. Tower lease payments can be a monthly option or a one-time payment. There have been no updates from cellular carriers interested in putting equipment on the towers. WANRack update: WANRack has had no updates due to the snow. It was noted that there have been two outages on the new network, one was due to a cut in the fiber. The county received the first revenue check for $485.00. Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants: The sub-committee will have their first meeting on Monday, April 17th at 9:30 a.m. County resources to manage the network going forward: Bub stated Human Resources is filling out the Job description questionnaire (JDQ), to be submitted to Carlson Dettman for a wage study for the Network Coordinator position. He expects this to be a part-time position, and in most counties the IT Director is responsible for these duties. No action taken. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE March 14, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner and Sue Swiantek. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes and Gene Knoll. Members absent: Kenny Ceaglske, Dennis Hinderliter and Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, Steve Deml and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Catherine Lemke, Mitch Olson - Bug Tussel, Stan Schmidt, Bob Judnic, Derek Beckstrand, Ben Dove, Jake Walcisak. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 9 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the February 14, 2023, meeting: Motion by Swiantek , seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the February 14, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Current Network update: The delivery of the routers from Cisco has been delayed again. The new delivery date is the end of May. Heartland is working on another option for us with Palo Alto routers. Waiting for the details. Heartland is also working on the cabinets for the equipment. For the fairgrounds, we should have a proposal for wireless devices, (outdoor repeaters), next month. WANRack update: WANRack provided the attached letter outlining the remaining work to be done, so we have paid what we owed them to date. We are currently on budget and will start to pay maintenance fees and collect revenue. There are a few more businesses interested in going with our network, so that will be additional revenue. Those that are live have provided good feedback. After a meeting with Josh Klingbeil, Bub, Lind and WANRack, the libraries will stay with BadgerNet but the public wi-fi will be our network. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson attended via Zoom and stated they are still working on establishing tower sites. Interwald is ready for construction, Goodrich and 5 others are waiting for regulatory approval. Construction of the 300 -foot guyed towers will begin this summer and all that are through the regulatory process, by the end of April, will be completed this year. Their middle mile network will also be completed this year. There was a question if Verizon will add equipment to the towers, Mitch sta ted they are in regular contact with them but have no commitment yet. Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grants: Bub stated he applied for a BEAD planning grant through the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin ( PSC). There is $5 million set aside for the planning grants and we can expect to receive 15 -20k to develop a 5-year plan. The plan needs to be submitted to the PSC by August 28 th. In addition to fiber to the home, we could potentially include educating people how to use the internet in our plan. We intend to apply with Bug Tussel and WANRack, but we must make sure they don’t overlap. Bub asked for interest in forming a sub-committee to develop the plan. Knoll, Swiantek, Thums and Grimm all agreed to be a part of the sub-committee. Bub to coordinate with Bug Tussel and WANRack. Other items from the Committee : Bub shared information on a federally funded affordable connectivity program; getacp.org that may help people get a $30.00/month discount on their internet. It was discussed that we should get the information out to the schools, COA and others to share with our residents. Grimm and Farrand to send information out. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Swiantek, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:42 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE February 14, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Sue Swiantek, Gene Knoll. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes and Melissa Lind. Members absent: Chuck Zenner, Kenny Ceaglske and Dennis Hinderliter. Other Attendees: Catherine Lemke, Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, Jane DeStaercke, Candice Grunseth, Steve Deml, George Tesch, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Stan Schmidt, Bob Judnic, Mitch Olson. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Knoll, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the January 10, 2023, meeting: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes of the January 10, 2023, meeting. Motion carried. Current Network update: Representatives from Heartland Business Systems, Chrissy Writz and Tom Larson were present to provide an update to the committee. They explained that they are a consultant and supplier of IT products and they are adding the electronics to the fiber WANRack laid. They stated that the county buildings are all live, including the Courthouse, Human Services, Highway, Commission on Aging, and Land Conservation. The latest date from Cisco for the routers is February 24th. Heartland is working on wiring and getting everything staged while they wait. Since the county buildings have been switched over to our network, there have been no issues. Melissa will cancel our agreement with Charter and will save approximately $2,500.00 per month. They are working on adding wireless to the fairgrounds for the public, streaming and Point of Sale systems. Town halls will have external wi-fi access for residents. WANRack update: More businesses are interested in getting connected to the WANR ack network. The Gilman Police and Fire departments are not done yet, the ground was frozen when they were added to the contract. The Library and Village Hall in Gilman were done as one site, so they need to add an additional connection in the Village Hall. Restoration will be done in spring and they will walk the entire network. Since all is done and live, the final payments will be made as soon as Bub receives the open items in writing and gives Finance the go ahead. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson attended via Zoom and stated they are working on establishing tower sites, 8 are currently leased and 8 more are in the initial stages. He also stated the materials for the network are coming in and they will need a place to store them. Farrand to send Svejda’s contact information. Follow-up from meeting with Town/Village representatives : Bub said the meeting was well attended. Bead grants -what are they?: Bead grants are all about fiber to the home. Berg stated government entities are not eligible to apply for the planning grants. We will apply with Bug Tussel and WANRack. These will also have a matching component of 25% and can utilize ARPA funds. Other items from the Committee: none Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 14, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE January 10, 2023 - County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner, Sue Swiantek, Kenny Ceaglske, Gene Knoll. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes and Melissa Lind. Members absent: Dennis Hinderliter. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, Candice Grunseth and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Ben Stanfley, Stan Schmidt, Bob Judnic, Mitch Olson, Daniel Gellert, Damian Jones, Joe Svejda. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the agenda with 10 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the December 20, 2022, meeting: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes of the December 20, 2022, meeting. Motion carried. Update on FCC Broadband maps: Grimm and Stokes created instructions to share with residents. Lind posted it on the Taylor County website. Grimm will be hosting in person sessions in Gilman, Rib Lake and Westboro the 11 th and 12 th for anyone without a computer, internet, or needing assistance. There is also a computer set up in the County Clerk’s office for anyone that needs it. It was suggested that we all share this with our own networks to get the word out. Farrand to send to all County Board Supervisors, Rib Lake School District and send a reminder to the Town Chairs/Village Presidents and Municipal Clerks. Current network status: Lind provided an update on Heartland, they are doing some work at remote locations, there is an issue at the Courthouse with optics compatibility that needs to be resolved. Cisco delivery of modems is still on schedule for the end of January. The County contract with Charter runs through April. After testing the new network, we will have to decide if we want to: • Stay with Charter • Go with WANRack • Go with WANRack with Charter as a backup-and what would that cost? Heartland will do the cutover of the sites to the new network. Bub will start sharing the weekly updates from Heartland every Friday. WANRack update: Lumens completed the connection to Thorp; businesses can now go live. Jeff Woods is the contact for businesses. Shawn from WANRack has been in Medford, testing each site to make sure they are ready to go live when we receive the rest of the equipment. The following are ready for service: Taylor County DOT Fairgrounds Dept of Aging Medford Tower Land Conservation Human Services Testing and splicing continue and looking to have more sites by the end of the day. 38,000' of fiber left to pull, Westboro to Camp Forest Springs We will be turning on the first enterprise customers. Rands Trucking and Taylor County Electric Coop. By the end of the day tomorrow (Jan 11) we are anticipating Town Halls and First Baptist Church. Bug Tussel update: Olson said all is moving well. Engineering is working on the towers and they will be ready to break ground in spring. All proposed towers have received positive feedback so far. Olson will send an update with the proposed towers and fiber route. They are having regular conversations with the cell providers T-Mobile, US Cellular and Cellcom, nothing contractual at this point. Farrand to get signed agreement to Olson. Other items: Stanfley will email Bub regarding to damage to 10 culvert pipes, 7 of them on 102. WANRack will cover the expense of $64,000.00 and Highway will repair them. Balance due to WANRack is $4 million. Svejda asked if there will be cabinets for the equipment to go in at the town halls and other sites. Lind and Svejda will work purchasing cabinets for all sites. Heartland has questions on where to put the antennas at the Fairgrounds, Svejda asked that they contact him. Lind to add to the agenda with Heartland. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Swiantek, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:48 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk