Broadband Committee

TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE December 20, 2022- County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Sue Swiantek, Kenny Ceaglske. Members Present via Zoom: Melissa Lind, James Stokes and Gene Knoll. Members absent: Chuck Zenner, Dennis Hinderliter. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Ben Stanfley, Jane DeStaercke, Candice Grunseth, Stan Schmidt and Bob Judnic. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the agenda with 10 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the November 8, 2022, meeting: Motion by Thums, seconded by Ceaglske, to approve the minutes of the November 8, 2022, meeting. Motion carried. Review new FCC Broadband maps: Bub advised the committee that the new maps were available, and the definitions have been changed. <10 mbps download is now not served. 10 mbps-25 mbps download is now underserved. >25 mbps is now served. 100 mbps is now fully served. Ceaglske arrived at 9:25 a.m. Taylor County is considered “served” because of Starlink, however the next round of grant applications is not counting any satellite coverage so Taylor County is considered underserved or not served. We need to ask county residents to check their information on the map and challenge the information if it is not correct. James and Michelle will create instructions by December 22nd. We will set up a place for people that don’t have access to the internet or a computer to come and use a computer. Melissa will set up 2 desktops in the County Clerk’s office, there will also be a computer available in the Gilman Village Hall and the Rib Lake Village Hall (Michelle to coordinate). Melissa will also add the link to the County website and Facebook page. All challenges need to be done by the end of the second week of January. Current network status: The WANRack connection is built to Thorp but the company that needs to make the connection has not done it yet. The County buildings will go live December 21st and Taylor County will begin saving money. The Town Hall connections are still waiting on CISCO equipment that has now been delayed until end of January 2023. Fiber north of Rib Lake still needs to laid. Bug Tussel update: Mitch was not on the call, but Bub stated that we will be allowed to hang our equipment on their towers, so we are OK to sign the lease agreement. Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Ceaglske, to move forward with the lease agreement. Motion carried. Farrand will have Jim Metz sign and send it to Mitch. Thums left the meeting at 9:50 a.m. WANRack will announce their ISP when we go live. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 10, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Ceaglske, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE November 8, 2022- County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Chuck Zenner, Sue Swiantek, Gene Knoll, Kenny Ceaglske, Dennis Hinderliter. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes. Members absent: Rollie Thums. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Ben Stanfley , Jane DeStaercke, Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel and Bob Judnic. Approve the agenda: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the October 1 1, 2022, meeting: Motion by Thums, seconded by Ceaglske, to approve the minutes of the October 11, 2022, meeting. Motion carried. WANRack Construction status: Bub stated he had a call with Rob and Blake of WANRack last week to discuss the status of the Middle Mile Network. There is currently 2,200 feet if conduit yet to be laid as well as 130,000 feet of fiber to be laid. They have additional crews working and should be able to complete 10,000 feet of conduit per day. Bub expressed to WANRack the displeasure that the network is still not complete. WANRack will need access to several town halls and towers on Wednesday, November 9 th. Bub, Zenner and Grimm to facilitate. Taylor County will soon start to receive revenue from the network. The question was asked whether the county wanted it to be credited to our maintenance fee. Brandl stated that he would like to pay maintenance in full and would like to receive a monthly check for our revenue. Berg spoke about the equipment at the county sites; Highway shop, fairgrounds, Human Services, courthouse, etc. we have all the equipment, we just need the fiber run in the ground floor of the courthouse to the server room . Heartland Business is scheduled to be here November 28 th to install and connect. The townhalls are still looking at December due to a delay by Cisco, which is still stating December. Heartland will visit the sites and do any preliminary work. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson stated that the fiber will be going to engineering soon, so any changes we want will need to happen soon. The response to the towers has all been very positive. The first draw request was made from the bonds. Bug Tussel was asked to attend the Town Unit meeting at the Pershing Town Hall on November 17th. Curling Club update: TDS provided a better offer to the Curling Club so they will be going with TDS instead of WANRack. Grant update: The federal government has decided that the maps of the served and underserved are not accurate so they are in the process of having new map s created. The grant money is on hold until the maps are finished and they are anticipating that taking one year. It was suggested we work with Bug Tussel on last mile grant applications. Ntera connection in Gilman: Ntera wanted the connection to be in a building but it will be at a hand hold so it is connected to the entire network. Other items for the committee: Hinderliter stated he is working on a grant application for the school and needs clarification on how we will get our internet access to the home. He asked if he could state it will be wireless. Bub confirmed. Grimm stated she will be working with Bug Tussel University, hosting educational workshops , at Taylor County libraries on a variety of internet related topics. This will also give her experience working with the PSC and grants. Bub has requested a crew come out and fix the handhold covers throughout the county as many are not flush as they should be. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 20th 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 October 11, 2022- 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, Rollie Thums, Gene Knoll, Kenny Ceaglske. Members Present via Zoom: Melissa Lind and James Stokes. Members absent: Chuck Zenner and Dennis Hinderliter. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, Candice Grunseth, Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Brian Wilson-Star News and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Ben Stanfley , Joe Svejda, Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Stan Schmitt and Bob Judnic. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Knoll, to approve the agenda with 9 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the September 13 2022, meeting: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes of the September 13, 2022, meeting. Motion carried. Review WANRack Construction status: Lind stated the equipment is coming in slowly and we should have enough to connect the county buildings. There has been no improvement in the December delivery date from Cisco. WANRack was here with Heartland and Russell Berg to do some preliminary work. When our contract with Charter is complete in spring of 2023, we may go with WANRack as the ISP. Bub questioned whether we should have Charter and WANRack and have dual providers. We will need to explore the costs and then compare the risk vs. the cost. All conduit and fiber are laid except under Hwy 29 in Thorp. They estimate they will be done in 2 weeks. The connection site with Ntera has been identified in Gilman. The Medford Curling Club would like to be connected to the network to give them the ability to bring in some larger events and live stream them. It will cost approximately $9,000.00 to connect them and it will also get the network to the edge of the industrial park. Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums, to contribute up to $5,000.00 to connect the Curling Club and request that the Curling Club submit an application to the Hotel Motel Commission, requesting they send $2,500.00 to the county as their contribution. Motion carried. Sue Swiantek left the meeting at 10:07. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson confirmed the county is able to add equipment to the towers as needed. Bub reviewed the lease agreement for the tower in Gilman on County land. Olson stated the proposed monthly lease payment of $400.00 to the county is a little higher than the average of $378.00 for Bug Tusse l and includes a 2% escalation per year over 30 years. Motion by Knoll, seconded by Ceaglske, to approve the lease agreement subject to Corporation Counsel approval and knowing that the county can mount equipment on the tower. Motion carried. Olson stated that of the 18 tower sites, 6-7 are nearing completion of the lease agreements. Bub requested a document stating what we are receiving for the bond issuance. Olson said that the bond documents are open ended by design as they can only build until the money runs out, and the plan design may change due to costs, etc. Bub said we would prefer an outline of what is expected, and Olson agreed to add it to the Facilities Access Agreement. Other items for the committee: Bub stated there are new State an d Federal grant dollars available and we should apply. The Federal due date is November 2nd so that is not doable. Olson stated that Bug Tussel will partner with Taylor County on the 2023 PSC grants. George Tesch of Rib Lake was at the meeting to gather information and to bring up the fact that there are some issues resulting from the installation. Bub stated he should send him all the locations and he will send them to WANRack to resolve. There was also discussion about additional businesses being interested in connecting to the network. Gene Knoll left the meeting at 10:48 a.m. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 8 at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Thums, seconded by Ceaglske, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:52 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE September 13, 2022- 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, Rollie Thums, Gene Knoll, Kenny Ceaglske, James Stokes. Members Present via Zoom: Melissa Lind. Members absent: Chuck Zenner and Dennis Hinderliter. Other Attendees: Lorie Floyd, Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, Mitchel Olson - Bug Tussel, Emily Gojmerac-Star News, Steve Deml, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Jane DeStaercke, Russell Berg, Ben Stanfley and Bob Judnic. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Knoll, to approve the agenda with 12 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the August 2, 2022, meeting: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes of the August 2, 2022, meeting. Motion carried. Review WANRack Construction status: Bub stated the construction has been further de layed due to supply chain issues. Completion is now mid-October. WANRack is finishing the connection in Thorp. The addition of the sites in Gilman and Rib Lake added $520.00 per month to the County maintenance fees. The Cisco equipment for the county a nd remote sites is now delayed until December. WANRack has 13 business customers that have signed contracts with approximately 10 more interested. WANRack is now going to lay fiber, at their expense, down Main Street in Medford and Rib Lake, hoping to attract more businesses. Mike Bub is working with Jeff Woods of WANRack to get more signed contracts. Bug Tussel update: Mitch Olson of Bug Tussel stated the bonds were sold in August and they would begin to send draw requests in the near future. They have the preliminary sites chosen for the first six towers and will begin to send us a monthly update that we can share on our website. Mitch will send us a copy of the lease that we can send to Corporation Counsel for review. Grimm to send a list/map of the town halls to Mitch. AT&T has accepted 6 of the sites. Noth ing from Verizon. WANRack is looking for a local on-call person for possible customer issues: Bub asked if the committee knew of anyone that may be interested in being an on-call person. He has submitted three names to WANRack. How do we support our ne twork long term: Mitch stated other counties have Administrators/Executives that handle the contractual portions of this and/or they have hired someone as a sales/support person. After further discussion, it was suggested this be a newly created position for a county employee within the IT department. No action taken. Other items for the committee: None. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 11 at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Swiantek, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:47 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE August 2, 2022- 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, Gene Knoll. Members Present via Zoom: Rollie Thums and James Stokes. Members absent: Chuck Zenner, Ken Ceaglske, Russell Berg, Dennis Hinderliter and Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, Larry Brandl, Brian Wilson -Star News, Steve Deml, Ray Sackmann, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Stan Schmidt, Brian Della- PMA Securities, Candice Grunseth, Damian Jones. Approve the agenda: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the July 7, 2022, meeting: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Review WANRack Cons truction status: Bub stated the construction is going very well. Completion is now mid-August ( August 20th is the estimate). They are finishing in Rib Lake. We do not have a cost yet for the additional sites in Rib Lake and Gilman. The site is finalized for the connection to Ntera in Gilman. Approve paying next WANRack invoice: The next payment of $2.4 million has been made. Update on bond status with Bug Tussel: Mitch Olson of Bug Tussel stated the bonds would post on August 2 nd and they would close on August 16 th, then they will move forward with site selection. They are looking at putting up a tower at the fairgrounds and will reach out to Joe Svejda and Ben Stanfley to set up a time to meet. Bug Tussel plans to begin Taylor County Project: Olson stated the regulatory process will take 4 months and they will start to build towers in spring, fiber will also start to be laid in spring. Summer of 2023, some will start to have internet to their homes. Review options to move forward with additional ISP’s to use the middle mile network: Bub has been getting calls from ISPs and other companies interested in working with us, now that the PSC grant awards are public. Other items for the committee: Knoll raised the question, who will be managing the project moving forward. WANRack and Bug Tussel will need points of contact, as well as the ISPs. Olson stated that each county has handled it differently. It was suggested that the Personnel Committee start to review. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, September 13 at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Knoll, seconded by Swiantek, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:07 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE July 7, 2022- 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, Sue Swiantek, Gene Knoll, Ken Ceaglske. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes and Melissa Lind. Members absent: Michelle Grimm Other Attendees: Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Larry Brandl, Candice Grunseth, Jane DeStaer cke, Brian Wilson-Star News, Steve Deml, Dennis Hinderliter and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Stan Schmidt, Brian Della - PMA Securities, Blake Mayfield-WANRack. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approv e the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the June 14, 2022, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Construction update: Completion is now mid-August. Rib Lake conduit and fiber to be finished this week. Sites with fiber have connections in their buildings. Russ stated we are waiting for 21 routers for the town halls, and they have a ship date of August 25. First, we need 3 -12 port switches for the Courthouse, they have a ship date of August 2. The equipment for the WI -FI at the Fairgrounds has a ship date of September 20. Sites connected: No change-15/32 sites connected. Possible extra sites in Gilman and Rib Lake : the Gilman Police and Fire Departments, also the Fire Department in Rib Lake, were not included in the original plan. There was discussion about if we should now connect them. Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to connect the Rib Lake Fire Department, Gilman Police Department and the Gilman Fire Dep artment to the network. Motion carried. They will have the same connection as the rest of the county sites. WANRack is working on an estimate. Final resolution regarding unconditional county guaranty of its pro rata share, intergovernmental agreement a nd taxable revenue bond financing for Bug Tussel 1, LLC project: Brian Della has reviewed the documents as well as Rebecca Speckhard of Quarles and Brady. There are 8 counties participating and a total of approximately $110 Million in debt. Ours is a $14 Million obligation to Fond du Lac County and separate from the others. Motion by Knoll, seconded by Thums to accept the bond agreement with Bug Russel. Motion carried. Update on PSC grants: Bug Tussel was awarded a PSC grant in the amount of $777,000.00 that will be used for further expansion. Mitch from Bug Tussel was present and stated that the site acquisition for towers will begin this year and towers will begin going up in spring of 2023 once the resolution is adopted. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, August 2 at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE June 14, 2022 County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:32 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner, Sue Swiantek, Lisa Carbaugh, Gene Knoll, James Stokes, Ken Ceaglske, Michelle Grimm. Members Present via Zoom: Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Larry Brandl, Candice Grunseth, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Stan Schmidt, Brian Della- PMA Securities. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Knoll, to approve the agenda with 12 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the May 10, 2022, meeting: Motion by Thums, seconded by Swiantek, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Update on the equipment ordered for the County sites: Melissa stated that the majority of the internal switching is done with the exception of 2 main switches. Since the switches were replaced, the stability of the network has improved. The remainder of the equipment is still on backorder. New Zoom phones at the Courthouse: Melissa has been looking into other options for our courthouse phones and has done demos on several Cloud phone systems. The best of them was the Zoom phone system. The users will gain features and options and we will save $2000.00 - $3000.00 a month on the phone bil l. This will also eliminate the last two TDS switches from our network. The total cost will be $40,000.00 -$45,000.00 and will be taken from the Broadband project money. Motion by Zenner, seconded by Knoll, to move forward with the Zoom phone project. Motion carried. Construction update: Bub stated that WanRack has six crews on site in Taylor County and the project manager is checking all sites along the network. Estimated completion is early July. PMA Securities: Brian Della of PMA Securities attended the meeting via Zoom and followed up on the revised agreement he sent with the reduced fee of $1.50/bond, down from $3.00/bond. It was suggested that Corp Counsel review it. Motion by Knoll, seconded by Swiantek, to enter into the agreement with PMA Securities after approval from Corp Counsel. Motion carried. Farrand to send the agreement to Corp Counsel. Bug Tussel: Mitch attended via Zoom and explained that all work would be approved before our money is spent, so we will always know what is in progress. The bond documents are expected to be done by COB June 14 th. It was discussed that we will be applying $1,000,000.00 of ARPA money to the project, and he stated that would get us about 20 miles of FTH or 2 more towers. Update on PSC grants: no update. Other items for the committee: Candice Grunseth, Village of Gilman Clerk, was present and questioned which Village buildings were covered. It was determined that Village Hall/Library, County building and County Highway shop are all in the plan to be connected. They also want to have the Police and Fire Departments connected. Candice will send Andria the addresses and she will provide them to WANRack to see about including them. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, July 5th at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Swiantek, seconded by Zenner, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a.m. Andria Farrand-County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE May 10, 2022 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, Ken Ceaglske, Michelle Grimm. Members Present via Zoom: James Stokes. Members Absent: Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Dennis Hinderliter, Larry Brandl, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Stan Schmidt, Jane DeStaercke, Candice Grunseth, Blake Mayfield- WanRack, Damian Jones. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 11 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the April 12, 2022, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Discuss WanRack meeting for the end of May or early June: Blake addressed the committee stating that WanRack will be in Taylor County, June 7th and 8th to hold an open house for all businesses. Construction update: Bub stated that WanRack is on site in Taylor County now putting fiber in the conduit. They are expected to be finished by June 30 th. Jeff Woods of WanRack will be here for the open house and they will have pricing for internet services available. We will send letters to businesses to invite them to the open house, as well as advertise on the radi o and in the Star News. Grimm, Swiantek and Farrand will work on the letters to the businesses. Discuss the status of Bug Tussel project: Mitch of Bug Tussel stated that all is moving forward, and we should have the final resolution in 6-8 weeks. Update on the equipment ordered for County Sites: Russ stated that equipment has been arriving at the Courthouse. The WanRack provided fiber jumpers and SFP will be delivered to Melissa next week. WanRack will also have technical people here on June 7 th and 8th as the Courthouse needs to be upgraded first before the other sites can be done. The Cisco switches are still expected in October. Update on PSC grants: Berg stated that the objection period and rebuttal periods have expired. Mitch responded to sev eral objections. Taylor County didn’t have a specific objection, we were included in an objection from Charter for several counties. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, June 14th at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:28 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE April 12, 2022 County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:32 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner, Gene Knoll, Ken Ceaglske, James Stokes, Michelle Grimm. Members Present via Zoom: Melissa Lind. Members Absent: Gene Knoll and Michael Schafer. Other Attendees: Dennis Hinderliter, Larry Brandl, Brian Della-PMA Securities, Steve Deml and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Bob Judnic, Stan Schmidt, Jane DeStaercke. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 10 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the March 1, 2022, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Discuss financial advisory services associated wi th potential conduit debt issue to finance telecommunications projects in Taylor County: Brian Della of PMA Securities was present to address the committee regarding his services. He stated that he represented Jackson County when they did the same project last year with Bug Tussel so he is very familiar with it. His costs would come out of the bond proceeds, so it is not an out-of-pocket expense. He stated that the more counties that utilize his services, the cost is split among all counties with a ceil ing of $3.00 per bond. For example, Jackson County’s was 12 million for a cost of $36,000.00. The committee asked some questions, but no action was taken. Update on the equipment ordered for the sites: Lind stated that the equipment needed for fiber has pushed out to late August 2022. The Cisco switches are pushed out to October. She stated the delays are at Cisco, the manufacturer. Bub asked if there any alternatives? Mitch said he will check into it. Bub stated we need to find a different solution. Update on WanRack and Bug Tussel PSC grant applications: Bub stated there were 460 grant applications submitted for $120 million in grant dollars. At this point there have been no objections to our applications. The applications were due on March 17th and there is then a 30- day window for objections, followed by another 30-day window for rebuttal to objections. We should find out in May or June. Update on WanRack construction: WanRack is back working in Taylor County and has crews on site. Ben Stanfley, Highway Commissioner granted exemptions to the weight limits, as did the townships they will be working in. Clark County did not provide exemptions to the POP in Thorp is not being worked on. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 10th at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE March 1, 2022 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, Gene Knoll, Ken Ceaglske, Dennis Hinderliter. Members Present via Zoom: Mike Schaefer, James Stokes, Michelle Grimm and Melissa Lind. Members Absent: none. Other Attendees: Lester Lewis, Larry Brandl, and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Blake Mayfield- WanRack, Mitchel Olson- Bug Tussel, Steve Schneider- Bug Tussel, Joe Svejda, Ben Stanfley, Bob Judnic, Stan Schmidt, Rebecca Speckhard-Quarles and Brady. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Knoll, to approve the agenda with 9 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the February 8, 2022, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Update on the equipment ordered for connections in County facilities: Still waiting for an ETA on the internal switching unit for the Courthouse, which is a critical piece. Heartland Business Systems is designing the installation. Discuss/approve the proposal from Bug Tussel for Taylor County project: Steve Schneider of Bug Tussel was present via Zoom and stated they are proactively working with AT&T, and the conduit and fiber are ordered in anticipation of us signing the contract. Supervisor Knoll asked for a breakdown of the budget and Schneider said they would send it. Knoll also asked for a timeline and the price to the consumer with the increase in cost, of not to exceed 14 million. Schneider stated it would be complete in 3 years, the goal is to have it significantly done by the end of 2023. The price to the consumer will stay in the $50.00 -$62.00 range depending on fiber to the home or wireless. Rebecca Speckhard- Quarles and Brady was present via Zoom and had no concerns with the bonding resolution. Bug Tussel and WanRack will have an agreement to swap 4 fibers, with no revenue. Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to approve the initial revenue bond financing for Bug Tussel. A roll call vote cast, all six- voting aye, zero voting no, the motion carried. Next round of grant applications: It was mentioned that the WanRack and Bug Tussel grant applications cannot overlap, so they will work together to combine their efforts. Zenner s tated the Economic Development Committee met and will send letters of support to include with the grant applications. Farrand will send an email to the Town Chairs/Village Presidents and all Municipal Clerks asking for them to draft letters of support prior to their town meetings this week. Farrand will also ask Sue Emmerich to post a request for letters of support on the Chamber Facebook page. Grant applications are due March 17th. Other items for the Committee: There was discussion on the WanRack contract amendment. Knoll suggested adding a penalty of $5,000.00 per day that they’re past the June 30 th deadline. Blake Mayfield of WanRack stated the installation crew is confident with the June 30 th date of completion. They will start working again in Taylor County on April 1 st. Thums suggested a $1,000.00 per day penalty. Motion by Stokes, seconded by Zenner, to add a $1,000.00 per day penalty if completed after June 30th. Six voted aye, one voted no (Bub). Motion carried. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 12 at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Knoll, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE February 8, 2022 County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Mike Bub called the meeting to order at 9:34 a.m. Members Present: Mike Bub, Rollie Thums, Chuck Zenner, Ken Ceaglske, Dennis Hinderliter, Michelle Grimm. Members Present via Zoom: Gene Knoll and James Stokes. Members Absent: Mike Schaefer and Melissa Lind. Other Attendees: Larry Brandl, Steve Deml and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitchel Olson of Bug Tussel, Jane De Staercke, Bob Judnic, Josh Klingbeil, Stan Schmidt and Jim Mass- Ciena. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 12 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the January 4, 2022, meeting: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Thums, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Update on the equipment ordered for connections in County facilities: Equipment is ordered with Heartland Business Systems and is starting to arrive. Melissa and Jen will be involved with the installation and maintenance of the equipment as it is County owned. The Courthouse will be updated and stable before the town halls are added. The libraries, schools and town halls will all have; a 1G/second router, a wi -fi hot spot and possibly an outside antenna for the hot spot if needed. The town halls can also have an internal wired network if wanted. It was also suggested that the town halls add video conferencing equipment so residents can utilize it. Construction update: 12 of the initial 15 sites are connected. Discuss proposal from Bug Tussel for Taylor County project: Bug Tussel presented a revised proposal to the committee, with the additional towers as requested. They prefer 300 -foot guy towers. The tower has a 180-foot radius with the guy wires. A question was raised, if they could put shorter towers near the airport and yes, it is a possibility. The committee will review the new proposal with Corporation Counsel. Olson will work with Courtney on the resolutions for the next Broadband Committee meeting and County Board session. Olson is also in touch with WanRack for collaboration and will keep us updated. Olson stated a timeline for connecting people to their network would be mid to late 2023. Update/approve partnership with Ntera, Town of Aurora and Taylor County: Bub stated Ntera has now submitted an agreement with the Town of Aurora. Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner to approve the lease agreement. Motion carried. The agreement was given to E arl Hinkel, Town Chairman, and it will be presented to the Aurora Town Board for approval. Next round of grant applications: There was discussion about needing community letters of support to submit with our grant applications. Thums suggested running an ad in the Star News, asking residents to submit letters. Josh Klingbeil, Deputy Director of the Wisconsin Valley Library Service, stated that the libraries may be able to help with this, we just need to reach out to them. Grant applications are due March 17th. Other items for the Committee: Bub stated he and Gene are working with Corporation Counsel on a document to send to WanRack asking for their date of completion. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 1st at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Ceaglske, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk TAYLOR COUNTY BROADBAND COMMITTEE January 4, 2022 County Board Room, Courthouse Call Meeting to Order: Michael Bub called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. Members Present: Michael Bub and Rollie Thums. Members Present via Zoom: Chuck Zenner, Gene Knoll, Michelle Grimm, James Stokes and Melissa Lind. Members Absent: Mike Schaefer and Ken Ceaglske. Other Attendees: Earl Hinkel, Butch Frischmann, Ray Sackmann, Larry Brandl and Andria Farrand. Other attendees via Zoom: Russell Berg, Mitchel Olson of Bug Tussel, Blake Mayfield-WANRack, Steve Deml, Jane De Staercke, Candice Grunseth, Joe Svejda, Bob Judnic, Josh Klingbeil, Stan Schmidt. Approve the agenda: Motion by Thums, seconded by Zenner, to approve the agenda with 13 items. Motion carried. Approve the minutes of the December 17, 2021 meeting: Motion by Thums, seconded by Stokes, to approve the minutes. Motion carried. Dennis Hinderliter arrived at 9:35 a.m. Update on the equipment ordered for connections in County facilities: Lind stated that all equipment is on order and the total is about $9000.00 less than the approved amount of $375,000.00. ISP-Charter-Do we need to do anything to the current contract: Berg stated, per a conversation with Chris Crawford of Charter, our current contract can stay as it is until the renewal in 2023. When the county’s fiber is available, we contact them to connect. Construction update: There have been several issues with damage in the Town of Roosevelt and it was suggested we talk to Courtney about drafting a contract amendment stating that our final payment won’t be made until all is resolved, and also add a com pletion date. Bub will talk to Courtney. Discuss proposal from Bug Tussel for Taylor County project: There are concerns from several regarding the proposed coverage in the southeast corner of the county, the Aurora area and the Lake Esadore area. Mitc h of Bug Tussel stated there is flexibility where the towers go, and the cost is $250,000.00 -$300,000.00 per tower. There are several municipalities interested in using their ARPA money to construct towers and Bug Tussel will reach out to them. Bub asked Bug Tussel to add the three additional towers; Little Black, Hammel and Aurora and re -submit their proposal. Update on Ntera and town of Aurora and Gilman: Bub stated he sent a letter to Ntera to finalize the agreement, or we need to move on. Next round of grant applications: LIT Communities and WANRack are looking for Taylor County to do another study before they apply for PSC grants. After much discussi on, it was agreed that Taylor County will not finance the study for LIT Communities. Bub will advise Blake. Review status of partnership with Towns and Villages for towers: Bug Tussel to take the lead on this and find out who is interested. Other items for the Committee: Hinderliter stated the school is applying for an ECF grant, should they use Bug Tussel or WANRack? Bub suggested he email Bug Tussel to discuss. Set next meeting date: The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 8th at 9:30 a.m. Adjourn: Motion by Zenner, seconded by Stokes, to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 a.m. Andria Farrand County Clerk