City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee · Tuesday, July 18, 2023 · City Council Digest

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of May 16, 2023

packet pp.5–6

▶ Watch from 5:12 Open packet at p.5 ↗

Staff report:

APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) 05-16-23 City Council Services, Safety & Parks Page (0000) Committee Minutes CITY OF ISSAQUAH City Council Services, Safety & Parks Committee 6:30 PM Council Chambers, 135 E. May 16, 2023 MINUTES Sunset Way, Issaquah WA

4. AGENDA ITEMS

Broadband Assessment Follow Up ID 1443

60 min · Gene Paul, Management Analyst · packet pp.7–25

Previously discussed: City Council Regular Meeting · Jul 30, 2021

▶ Watch from 0:46 Open packet at p.7 ↗

Staff report:

The Administration recommends the Committee support the pivot towards an educational outreach campaign to improve broadband access in the community. The Administration also welcomes feedback on the proposed outreach to better meet the Committee’s goals.

749 segments .txt ↗

0:06 ↗ all right welcome everyone I

0:08 ↗ councilmember tolemartz called the

0:09 ↗ Tuesday July 18 2023 city council

0:12 ↗ services safety and Parks committee to

0:15 ↗ order

0:17 ↗ start with

0:26 ↗ second

0:29 ↗ yes right

0:31 ↗ correct sorry I don't have my uh with my

0:34 ↗ agenda in front of me there are multiple

0:36 ↗ public comment opportunities at

0:37 ↗ tonight's meeting there is a general

0:39 ↗ public comment opportunity at the

0:40 ↗ beginning of the meeting or you can make

0:41 ↗ comments after the presentation and

0:44 ↗ Council question and answer period on

0:46 ↗ tonight's agenda item

0:47 ↗ members of the public May address

0:49 ↗ council at this time in person or

0:51 ↗ virtually those who have signed up in

0:52 ↗ advance to make comments will be called

0:54 ↗ on first if you're joining us virtually

0:55 ↗ and would like to make comments please

0:57 ↗ raise your virtual hand if you're on the

0:59 ↗ phone press pound or Star three sorry if

1:03 ↗ you're joined by computer or smartphone

1:05 ↗ look for a hand icon this varies by

1:07 ↗ device one option may be to go to the

1:09 ↗ participant panel and choose the raise

1:11 ↗ hand icon in the lower right hand corner

1:14 ↗ you're in the room and did not sign up I

1:16 ↗ will ask for other speakers before

1:17 ↗ closing this portion of the meeting

1:20 ↗ I'll wait for a moment to see if anyone

1:22 ↗ raises their hand

1:24 ↗ clerk has anyone signed up to speak or

1:27 ↗ indicated a desire to speak this evening

1:29 ↗ yes chair Martz we have uh one in-person

1:32 ↗ attendee who has signed up to speak and

1:34 ↗ one online attendee who has their

1:37 ↗ virtual hand raised wonderful citizen

1:39 ↗ comments are an important part of the

1:41 ↗ public process we take them seriously

1:43 ↗ and Factor them into the decisions we

1:44 ↗ make please direct comments to the whole

1:46 ↗ Council and not individuals while this

1:48 ↗ is not a question and answer session we

1:50 ↗ will contact you to follow up if needed

1:52 ↗ when recognized unmute your microphone

1:54 ↗ if you're on virtually or step up to the

1:56 ↗ lectern if you're in person state your

1:58 ↗ name address and relationship to the

2:00 ↗ city speak clearly and pause frequently

2:03 ↗ limit your comments to five minutes

2:05 ↗ you're intending virtually and cannot

2:07 ↗ respond after your name or phone number

2:08 ↗ is called or if your connection is lost

2:10 ↗ unexpectedly the meeting will need to

2:12 ↗ proceed you're encouraged to rejoin the

2:15 ↗ meeting if able personal attacks obscene

2:17 ↗ language derogatory remarks and

2:19 ↗ disruptive behavior will not be

2:20 ↗ permitted

2:21 ↗ alert can you identify the first person

2:23 ↗ who signed up to speak

2:25 ↗ yes chair Martz uh Terry Davis has

2:28 ↗ signed up to speak

2:30 ↗ please come to the podium

2:38 ↗ thank you all right Terry Davis

2:40 ↗ representing Comcast uh in response to

2:43 ↗ the Broadband assessment uh follow-up I

2:46 ↗ just want to thank the staff for their

2:48 ↗ time uh in working with uh Comcast and

2:52 ↗ collecting our information we support

2:54 ↗ the staff reports that are going to be

2:56 ↗ presented uh later on and I'm here for

2:58 ↗ questions if there's any questions from

3:00 ↗ Council at that time I appreciate your

3:02 ↗ time

3:05 ↗ well thank you very much

3:07 ↗ clerk you indicated that there was

3:08 ↗ someone online wishing to speak

3:12 ↗ yes chair Martz Connie Connie Marsh is

3:15 ↗ online and would like to uh speak to the

3:18 ↗ committee Connie I'm making you a

3:20 ↗ panelist you should be able to unmute

3:22 ↗ and turn on your camera

3:30 ↗ Connie can you hear us I'm I'm working

3:33 ↗ on it I'm using my phone and it's not oh

3:36 ↗ there we go

3:38 ↗ um I'll change my background

3:40 ↗ um so Connie Marshall live up on squawk

3:43 ↗ Mountain

3:43 ↗ and um I've been pondering this topic

3:46 ↗ for a while and this is overarching to

3:49 ↗ your topic this evening and when we

3:52 ↗ speak about transportation we use a

3:55 ↗ specific term transportation and I think

3:58 ↗ we may be past that concept I'm thinking

4:02 ↗ maybe we should start using the word

4:04 ↗ access because it isn't actually

4:07 ↗ transportation that we need to be super

4:10 ↗ efficient it is the ability to get to

4:14 ↗ the things that we need or have them get

4:16 ↗ to us easily effectively and hopefully

4:19 ↗ economically and so that would include

4:22 ↗ things like broadband and varying other

4:25 ↗ mechanisms that we use in our current

4:28 ↗ day life and so when you're listening to

4:31 ↗ the Xfinity or the uh Broadband

4:34 ↗ presentation today I was hoping that you

4:38 ↗ would start thinking of it is this is

4:41 ↗ people's access just like a road would

4:44 ↗ be to their daily needs and I think that

4:49 ↗ that is the lens that we're going to

4:51 ↗ have to start looking at for a variety

4:53 ↗ of things so if you wouldn't mind trying

4:55 ↗ to put that through your brain I would

4:56 ↗ appreciate it thank you

4:59 ↗ thank you for your comment

5:01 ↗ and uh clerk do we have anyone else uh

5:04 ↗ either virtually or not present chair

5:07 ↗ Martz we have uh no one else indicating

5:09 ↗ a desire to speak all right then we will

5:12 ↗ move on to approval of the minutes

5:15 ↗ uh I have oh uh are there any potential

5:20 ↗ changes to be made uh chair Martz uh

5:23 ↗ council member Joe indicated that there

5:25 ↗ was an error on the previous uh meetings

5:28 ↗ minutes uh Under The Heading of council

5:31 ↗ and administrative Personnel present it

5:33 ↗ incorrectly listed council member Ray

5:36 ↗ that has been corrected to council

5:38 ↗ member Joe and the corrected set of

5:41 ↗ minutes are presented for your approval

5:43 ↗ this evening

5:44 ↗ anyone like to move the amended minutes

5:46 ↗ Mr chair I'd move to adopt the amended

5:49 ↗ minutes second all in favor say aye

5:53 ↗ aye opposed abstentions that passes

5:58 ↗ with that we will move on to agenda item

6:01 ↗ and then I look at my notes ID

6:04 ↗ 1443 Broadband assessment follow-up and

6:07 ↗ it was our presentation today is going

6:09 ↗ to be from Gene Paul our management

6:10 ↗ analyst hey Gene

6:16 ↗ thank you chair Martin good evening

6:17 ↗ members of the council I'm Gene Paul the

6:19 ↗ management analyst in the executive

6:20 ↗ office and I'll be presenting on the

6:22 ↗ Broadband assessment follow-up if you

6:24 ↗ bear with me briefly while I get my

6:25 ↗ slide

6:40 ↗ so there are two main purposes for

6:42 ↗ tonight's presentation uh the first is

6:44 ↗ to provide an update from the March

6:46 ↗ committee meeting when this item was on

6:47 ↗ the agenda and the second is to seek

6:49 ↗ Direction on the administration's

6:51 ↗ recommendations

6:55 ↗ in terms of actual Direction needed the

6:57 ↗ administration is asking two questions

6:58 ↗ first does the committee concur with the

7:01 ↗ pivot away from working with service

7:03 ↗ providers on internet plans and

7:05 ↗ infrastructure focus on educating the

7:08 ↗ community on access and second does the

7:11 ↗ committee have any feedback on the

7:12 ↗ proposed Outreach

7:16 ↗ as brief background the community survey

7:19 ↗ conducted in the spring of 2021 helped

7:21 ↗ identify the need for a Broadband

7:22 ↗ assessment

7:24 ↗ in that survey 78 of respondents

7:26 ↗ indicated that they plan to continue

7:28 ↗ working from home at least one day after

7:30 ↗ the pandemic and for those who work from

7:32 ↗ home seventy percent said high-speed

7:34 ↗ internet was the most critical amenity

7:36 ↗ the administration was also aware at

7:38 ↗ that time of anecdotal evidence that

7:40 ↗ portions of the city experienced

7:41 ↗ internet service that did not meet the

7:43 ↗ 2021 standard of 25 megabytes per second

7:46 ↗ download and three megabytes per second

7:49 ↗ upload

7:50 ↗ the administration and city council

7:52 ↗ discussed the need to conduct a

7:53 ↗ Broadband assessment at the July 30 2021

7:56 ↗ budget and strategy workshop and the

7:58 ↗ item was subsequently included in the

7:59 ↗ 2022 budget

8:01 ↗ the administration issued a request for

8:03 ↗ proposals for concern consultant firms

8:05 ↗ to conduct the assessment in June of

8:07 ↗ 2022 and the Timmins group was selected

8:10 ↗ for the work

8:11 ↗ the survey portion of that assessment

8:12 ↗ was conducted from October to November

8:14 ↗ of last year and the results of the

8:16 ↗ assessment were first presented at the

8:18 ↗ March 21st committee meeting

8:23 ↗ at that March meeting the consultant

8:25 ↗ summarized results from the 186 survey

8:27 ↗ responses including that 70 percent of

8:29 ↗ respondents were below the Washington

8:31 ↗ State deficient of broadband service

8:33 ↗ the state definition adopted last year

8:35 ↗ set 100 megabytes per second and 20

8:38 ↗ megabytes per second as the thresholds

8:40 ↗ for downloads and uploads respectively

8:43 ↗ that definition is used for goal setting

8:45 ↗ governmental planning and allocating

8:47 ↗ funding but is not a requirement for

8:49 ↗ internet service providers to provide a

8:51 ↗ particular level of service

8:53 ↗ the survey also found that some

8:55 ↗ neighborhoods like Providence Point and

8:57 ↗ South Lake Sammamish had more users than

8:59 ↗ others that were below that speed

9:00 ↗ threshold

9:02 ↗ while a recommendation at that meeting

9:04 ↗ was for the administration to work with

9:05 ↗ isps to adjust existing internet plans

9:08 ↗ and improve Broadband infrastructure in

9:10 ↗ identified neighborhoods the committee

9:13 ↗ members also expressed a desire to focus

9:15 ↗ on the 120 megabyte per second service

9:18 ↗ level

9:19 ↗ degree members also requested additional

9:21 ↗ information to help determine if the

9:23 ↗ primary driver for household being

9:24 ↗ served below that threshold was due to

9:26 ↗ infrastructure or access

9:31 ↗ since the March committee meeting the

9:33 ↗ administration examined information from

9:35 ↗ the Federal Communications Commission

9:36 ↗ Broadband map

9:37 ↗ based on the best available information

9:39 ↗ found in the National Broadband map

9:41 ↗ there is infrastructure that is capable

9:43 ↗ of providing 120 megabyte per second

9:47 ↗ service to over 99 percent of

9:49 ↗ residential customers in the city

9:51 ↗ this data which was updated last month

9:53 ↗ indicates that access and not

9:55 ↗ infrastructure is the primary driver for

9:58 ↗ households experience service below the

10:00 ↗ service definition

10:05 ↗ the administration also met with Comcast

10:06 ↗ and Astound to discuss the feedback from

10:08 ↗ the March committee meeting concerning

10:10 ↗ internet plans the administration

10:11 ↗ confirmed that speeds and pricing are

10:13 ↗ largely set by market conditions and as

10:16 ↗ a reminder the FCC is the primary

10:18 ↗ government regulator when it comes to

10:19 ↗ broadband service

10:21 ↗ Comcast did share their Standalone

10:22 ↗ pricing for residential services and you

10:24 ↗ can see with the highlights on the slide

10:26 ↗ that the second service tier gets

10:28 ↗ download speeds higher than the state

10:29 ↗ definition but it requires the fourth

10:31 ↗ tier to meet the state's upload speed

10:33 ↗ threshold

10:35 ↗ that being said Comcast does offer more

10:37 ↗ affordable service for eligible

10:38 ↗ households the Internet Essentials

10:40 ↗ package can provide either 50 megabyte

10:43 ↗ per second and 10 megabyte per second

10:45 ↗ service for ten dollars a month or 120

10:48 ↗ megabytes per second service for thirty

10:50 ↗ dollars a month

10:51 ↗ and these packages can be combined with

10:53 ↗ the federal affordable connectivity

10:55 ↗ program to essentially get free

10:56 ↗ broadband service

10:59 ↗ Comcast also shared that their

11:00 ↗ infrastructure improvements continue

11:02 ↗ throughout their Network performance

11:04 ↗ improvements are underway that will

11:05 ↗ deliver up to 1.5 gigabyte per second

11:08 ↗ Downstream and 300 megabyte per second

11:10 ↗ Upstream speeds and Comcast expects

11:13 ↗ roughly half half of its Nationwide

11:15 ↗ Network to have access to these

11:17 ↗ improvements by the end of this year and

11:18 ↗ the remainder of the network to have

11:20 ↗ access by the end of 2025.

11:22 ↗ uh the Comcast representatives were not

11:24 ↗ able to forecast specifically when City

11:26 ↗ residents may see these improvements but

11:28 ↗ they did indicate direct messaging to

11:30 ↗ customers would occur when it becomes

11:31 ↗ available

11:35 ↗ the administration also requested that

11:37 ↗ the service providers look into

11:38 ↗ neighborhoods like Providence Point and

11:40 ↗ South Lake Sammamish based on the lower

11:42 ↗ speeds found in the survey data and the

11:45 ↗ service providers examined their

11:46 ↗ infrastructure conducted their own tests

11:48 ↗ and reviewed service calls for those

11:50 ↗ areas based on that review the providers

11:52 ↗ concluded that their systems are

11:54 ↗ functioning normally and they found no

11:55 ↗ patterns of poor quality in their recent

11:57 ↗ service calls

12:02 ↗ based on the information that indicates

12:04 ↗ infrastructure exists to provide 120

12:07 ↗ megabyte per second speeds to 99 of the

12:10 ↗ city the administration is proposing to

12:12 ↗ Pivot towards a two-pronged Outreach

12:14 ↗ campaign in the fall

12:15 ↗ the first element would focus on

12:17 ↗ increasing awareness of affordable

12:18 ↗ internet options and the second element

12:21 ↗ of the Outreach campaign would provide

12:22 ↗ information for households to reduce

12:24 ↗ potential speed loss for their existing

12:26 ↗ broadband service

12:31 ↗ the primary effort for the first element

12:33 ↗ of the campaign would be to boost

12:34 ↗ awareness of the federal affordable

12:36 ↗ connectivity program or ACP

12:39 ↗ this program enables users to receive

12:41 ↗ discounts of up to thirty dollars per

12:42 ↗ month on their internet services and a

12:45 ↗ one-time discount of up to a hundred

12:46 ↗ dollars to purchase a tablet or computer

12:49 ↗ eligibility for this program is based on

12:51 ↗ having an income level of 200 percent or

12:53 ↗ less than federal poverty guidelines and

12:55 ↗ for reference an income of 200 percent

12:57 ↗ of the guidelines is just over twenty

12:59 ↗ nine thousand dollars for a one-person

13:01 ↗ household or sixty thousand dollars for

13:03 ↗ a four-person household

13:06 ↗ besides income eligibility participation

13:08 ↗ in certain government assistance

13:09 ↗ programs also qualify for the ACP and

13:12 ↗ these programs include the supplemental

13:14 ↗ nutrition assistance program Medicaid

13:16 ↗ supplemental nutrition assistance for

13:19 ↗ women infants and children Federal

13:21 ↗ public housing assistance or free and

13:23 ↗ reduced school lunch program

13:29 ↗ for this effort the administration is

13:31 ↗ proposing to work with Partners like the

13:32 ↗ issqua food and clothing bank and the

13:34 ↗ Issaquah school district to help direct

13:36 ↗ the message towards the audience most

13:38 ↗ likely to be eligible for this program

13:40 ↗ these organizations are already

13:41 ↗ connected to individuals or families who

13:43 ↗ are already likely meeting some of these

13:45 ↗ eligibility requirements

13:47 ↗ and the second effort for this Outreach

13:48 ↗ would consist of a resource Fair booth

13:50 ↗ at a welcoming week event from September

13:53 ↗ 8th through 17th

13:58 ↗ the second component of the Outreach

14:00 ↗ campaign would be sharing information to

14:01 ↗ boost access and reduce any impacts on

14:04 ↗ the existing internet access that

14:05 ↗ residents already have

14:07 ↗ this could include information such as

14:09 ↗ the importance of Wi-Fi router placement

14:11 ↗ how the age of routers and devices used

14:13 ↗ to access the internet impacts their

14:15 ↗ service of the numbers and types of

14:17 ↗ devices can impact service and when

14:20 ↗ using a wired connection may be

14:21 ↗ beneficial

14:23 ↗ for this portion of the Outreach

14:24 ↗ campaign the administration would add

14:26 ↗ content to the city website and share it

14:28 ↗ through social media and the

14:30 ↗ administration is also intending to time

14:31 ↗ this part of the Outreach campaign with

14:33 ↗ the national digital inclusion week from

14:36 ↗ October 2nd through October 6th

14:38 ↗ this is an annual event driven by the

14:40 ↗ national digital inclusion Alliance

14:41 ↗ where public and private organizations

14:43 ↗ across the country use social media to

14:45 ↗ raise awareness for solutions that

14:47 ↗ address home internet access personal

14:49 ↗ devices and local technology training

14:52 ↗ and support programs

14:57 ↗ that essentially concludes the

14:59 ↗ presentation this slide just reiterates

15:01 ↗ the direction that we're seeking this

15:02 ↗ evening and at this time I'm happy to

15:04 ↗ answer any questions

15:05 ↗ we have any questions before we move to

15:08 ↗ deliberation

15:09 ↗ councilmember D Michelle

15:12 ↗ so for low-income people who are trying

15:16 ↗ to access

15:18 ↗ um internet uh Services it's my

15:21 ↗ understanding that if they have

15:22 ↗ outstanding

15:24 ↗ uh payments or are they've defaulted on

15:28 ↗ earlier payments that they are then not

15:31 ↗ eligible is that still true in other

15:34 ↗ words do they have to have a clean

15:36 ↗ credit rating in order to get the low

15:39 ↗ the low-income

15:42 ↗ services that are available

15:45 ↗ I didn't see anything about that in the

15:47 ↗ eligibility materials when I was

15:48 ↗ reviewing this but I could defer to the

15:51 ↗ Comcast representative if he has kind of

15:52 ↗ better information I have no direct

15:54 ↗ knowledge that's just what I've heard is

15:57 ↗ that that has been a barrier for

15:59 ↗ low-income people so you know it would

16:01 ↗ be if we introduced just a little bit of

16:04 ↗ research or something that would be

16:05 ↗ something I'd like to know sure yeah but

16:08 ↗ again I didn't see anything when I when

16:09 ↗ I was doing the research on the program

16:11 ↗ itself okay

16:13 ↗ if you if our guest has information

16:15 ↗ that's germane to the question I would

16:17 ↗ invite him

16:19 ↗ a microphone thank you for the federal

16:22 ↗ program there's no connection for ours

16:25 ↗ um there is a review but it's uh I I

16:29 ↗ would I would have to go back and

16:30 ↗ research and I can follow up with with

16:32 ↗ staff but um it has not been a major

16:35 ↗ barrier that I have heard recently as

16:38 ↗ much as it was during uh the beginning

16:39 ↗ of covet

16:42 ↗ don't don't go away from the microne yet

16:44 ↗ while you're there I have a question

16:46 ↗ does everybody in in Issaquah have

16:48 ↗ access to Comcast

16:49 ↗ uh all residential has access to uh our

16:53 ↗ Xfinity there may be some apartment

16:57 ↗ complexes that are owned by a particular

17:00 ↗ individual where we may not have uh the

17:03 ↗ right of Entry onto the property

17:05 ↗ um I know that uh the location up in the

17:08 ↗ Northeast section that was mentioned uh

17:11 ↗ has uh astound and we did not get into

17:14 ↗ that development and then there's some

17:17 ↗ business Parks maybe that we're still

17:19 ↗ working to get into but all residential

17:22 ↗ passings yes thank you appreciate it and

17:25 ↗ chair Martz I think it's worth

17:26 ↗ practicing an additional moment about

17:28 ↗ Providence Point because that was

17:29 ↗ information about the circumstances for

17:32 ↗ their internet access that I don't

17:33 ↗ believe we had

17:35 ↗ oh please a little bit about how

17:37 ↗ Providence Point residents get their

17:39 ↗ internet sure when we connected with us

17:40 ↗ down following the March committee

17:42 ↗ meeting uh we learned that essentially

17:44 ↗ it's a bulk account for the majority of

17:47 ↗ of the people in that development and

17:49 ↗ that essentially paying their HOA fees

17:51 ↗ is the way that they gain access to the

17:53 ↗ internet but in following up with

17:55 ↗ Astound uh there are still mechanisms

17:58 ↗ where individuals could if they're

18:01 ↗ eligible for the the federal ACP still

18:04 ↗ separate their account and Achieve kind

18:07 ↗ of the the same benefit of having an

18:09 ↗ individual account rather than the bulk

18:10 ↗ account so they wouldn't lose out on the

18:13 ↗ opportunity for kind of that benefit

18:16 ↗ just because of the nature of bulk

18:18 ↗ account

18:19 ↗ all right thank you that's that's very

18:21 ↗ useful information

18:22 ↗ councilmember Joe thank you Mr chairman

18:26 ↗ um I think that I generally agree with

18:28 ↗ the idea that we should begin to educate

18:32 ↗ the community on internet access I just

18:34 ↗ had a couple of questions

18:36 ↗ um

18:37 ↗ so as as our public commenter

18:41 ↗ indicated internet access is certainly

18:44 ↗ more of a necessity these days than it

18:47 ↗ is kind of a

18:50 ↗ um you know a nice to have in the sense

18:53 ↗ that if we do have an emergency either

18:55 ↗ from an earthquake or a flood or other

18:58 ↗ major catastrophe getting the internet

19:01 ↗ back on line will be something that will

19:03 ↗ be so important to keep our communities

19:06 ↗ safe and help avoid additional injuries

19:10 ↗ etc etc

19:11 ↗ so I'll date myself a little bit by

19:14 ↗ telling the story in the sense that

19:16 ↗ after an earthquake it was always the

19:18 ↗ thing that was pointed out to us is the

19:20 ↗ first thing you need to do is take the

19:22 ↗ phone I got knocked off its hook and put

19:24 ↗ it back on and that's going to help the

19:26 ↗ system get back online faster for

19:29 ↗ telephone Communications

19:31 ↗ my question is when we look at this

19:34 ↗ education process for educating our

19:37 ↗ community are there things or I guess

19:40 ↗ could we think about things we should be

19:42 ↗ communicating to our community that'll

19:44 ↗ help get the internet back online

19:46 ↗ individual things that people can do in

19:49 ↗ their homes whether it's resetting their

19:51 ↗ modem in some way shape or form or

19:53 ↗ staying off the internet During certain

19:55 ↗ hours of high traffic based on emergency

19:59 ↗ traffic I'm just throwing out ideas I

20:01 ↗ don't know if any of them have any

20:02 ↗ Credence but

20:03 ↗ I would ask that we put that as a

20:06 ↗ priority for our education to the public

20:09 ↗ because internet access will be so

20:11 ↗ important in a natural disaster

20:14 ↗ and if anyone has any comments on things

20:16 ↗ that we might consider doing I'd

20:18 ↗ certainly welcome hearing those but

20:20 ↗ otherwise I'll throw it out to the

20:21 ↗ administration to put on the list of

20:23 ↗ things to research

20:26 ↗ I've made a we'll look into it and

20:27 ↗ figure out if that's a way that we could

20:29 ↗ include it in the messaging campaign in

20:31 ↗ the fall

20:34 ↗ any other question

20:37 ↗ all right so I will ask the clerk again

20:40 ↗ if we have any public comment pursuant

20:44 ↗ to this item has anyone indicated a

20:46 ↗ desire to speak on this particular item

20:48 ↗ uh separate from the earlier General

20:51 ↗ Public

20:54 ↗ chair Martz uh Connie Marsh has

20:57 ↗ expressed a desire to speak to the

21:00 ↗ committee

21:02 ↗ Connie I'm making you a panelist you

21:03 ↗ should be able to unmute and turn on

21:06 ↗ your camera

21:08 ↗ all right hello again

21:11 ↗ so

21:13 ↗ but what can I say we lose our Comcast

21:17 ↗ service goes down we have to reset I buy

21:20 ↗ my equipment I have everything set in

21:23 ↗ the right place and it is a constant

21:25 ↗ struggle on our section of squawk

21:27 ↗ Mountain to keep everybody's Comcast

21:30 ↗ actually functioning so it sort of makes

21:33 ↗ me uh laugh when I hear that we need to

21:36 ↗ be educated it's also a struggle to

21:39 ↗ think that you have to be super poor to

21:41 ↗ not to want to have to spend uh what was

21:44 ↗ that ninety dollars uh a month to get

21:48 ↗ the 20 uploads

21:50 ↗ speak you know that's actually a lot for

21:54 ↗ many people who are not beneath the

21:55 ↗ poverty line so when you look at uh

21:59 ↗ access

22:00 ↗ to your community

22:04 ↗ um maybe we should start looking at how

22:07 ↗ much is this type of access costing

22:10 ↗ people as a part of their living wage we

22:14 ↗ look at the rent but we don't look at

22:16 ↗ our our say our cell phone or then our

22:20 ↗ internet access is a part of the

22:22 ↗ calculation of of um what is supportable

22:27 ↗ in community costs so when I see that

22:31 ↗ Xfinity is coming up with more faster

22:34 ↗ what it is not included in that is how

22:37 ↗ much more is that going to cost right

22:40 ↗ because that's all fine and dandy but if

22:42 ↗ it's 250 a month and it's for the people

22:45 ↗ who are the ultimate Gamers

22:47 ↗ um I'm not sure that that is a

22:49 ↗ functioning part of the system so uh

22:54 ↗ yeah I don't know how many years we've

22:56 ↗ been having the same conversation

22:58 ↗ and and so no I'm not really a fan of

23:02 ↗ educating the public again because when

23:05 ↗ I talk to my entire Street and the

23:08 ↗ people down the way we all have the same

23:10 ↗ conversations we all have the new

23:12 ↗ equipment and we all drop off at six or

23:15 ↗ seven in the evening most of the time so

23:18 ↗ um call me jaded but I don't I don't

23:21 ↗ think what you're saying in this

23:23 ↗ presentation meets the reality again of

23:26 ↗ many of the community members so uh you

23:30 ↗ know that's

23:31 ↗ it is it is what it what it is but thank

23:36 ↗ you for listening to my earlier comment

23:37 ↗ about thinking of it as a necessity I

23:40 ↗ appreciate that thanks bye

23:42 ↗ thank you for your comment

23:46 ↗ all right so the questions before us uh

23:48 ↗ do we concur with the recommendation to

23:50 ↗ Pivot away from working with isps on

23:53 ↗ internet plans and infrastructure

23:54 ↗ educating the community

23:58 ↗ and we can just currently does the

24:00 ↗ committee have any feedback on those

24:02 ↗ education

24:03 ↗ thoughts

24:05 ↗ remember Joe you look poised ready

24:09 ↗ oh I don't know if poised is is the

24:11 ↗ right uh answer my one thought that came

24:14 ↗ to mind is uh we are planning to do

24:17 ↗ Outreach in September uh I believe from

24:21 ↗ the presentation

24:24 ↗ um has there been a thought or would it

24:26 ↗ be possible to perhaps include a

24:29 ↗ presentation in the Human Services

24:31 ↗ resources Fair that's next Tuesday at

24:35 ↗ the community center I know it's a tight

24:37 ↗ type tight timeline excuse me however

24:42 ↗ the clientele or the people of the

24:44 ↗ citizen so it would be coming to that

24:46 ↗ human resources Fair would be exactly

24:49 ↗ the type of citizens that might fit some

24:51 ↗ of these programs and they may not be

24:53 ↗ aware of them in terms of gaining

24:55 ↗ additional access so I know it's very

24:57 ↗ tight and if the answer is is no we

25:00 ↗ don't have enough information or it's

25:01 ↗ too soon I certainly understand that but

25:03 ↗ overall I do agree with the plan to

25:06 ↗ Pivot away

25:08 ↗ from isps and focus on the

25:10 ↗ infrastructure and educating the

25:12 ↗ community in general my only feedback

25:15 ↗ was if we could include that other event

25:18 ↗ at the resource fair if possible but

25:21 ↗ again it's not a a must-have but it's

25:23 ↗ just an idea that crossed my mind as we

25:25 ↗ were discussing today

25:29 ↗ councilmember T Michelle

25:31 ↗ well I would welcome you know educating

25:34 ↗ the community on internet access I'm

25:37 ↗ sure that I would learn some things

25:39 ↗ myself so

25:41 ↗ my focus would be again on those

25:44 ↗ low-income families that uh of where as

25:50 ↗ we've already said internet services now

25:52 ↗ absolutely you know uh vital to things

25:57 ↗ like finding jobs and and all kinds of

26:00 ↗ access to important community services

26:03 ↗ and I was pleased to see that there's a

26:06 ↗ plan to work with the school district

26:07 ↗ because during the pandemic we know that

26:10 ↗ they got stretched pretty far and the

26:12 ↗ kids a lot of kids were missing out

26:14 ↗ because they did not have adequate

26:16 ↗ internet access

26:18 ↗ it's all better than it was at the

26:21 ↗ beginning of the pandemic when a lot of

26:24 ↗ us were losing our internet access on a

26:26 ↗ regular basis I haven't had that happen

26:28 ↗ for quite some time so there have been

26:32 ↗ some major improvements but I'm still

26:34 ↗ concerned about those folks those

26:36 ↗ pockets of people who really struggle

26:41 ↗ financially and for whom and especially

26:44 ↗ for their kids

26:46 ↗ that service is really really vital to

26:49 ↗ the future of their success in education

26:52 ↗ and so forth so

26:54 ↗ um I I like the idea of working directly

26:57 ↗ with the school district to see what we

26:58 ↗ can do about educating people getting

27:01 ↗ people on plans if they qualify

27:06 ↗ [Music]

27:07 ↗ um

27:08 ↗ and the only other thing I would say is

27:10 ↗ probably it would be good to look at the

27:12 ↗ senior center and see what we can do

27:14 ↗ about you know speaking on behalf of

27:16 ↗ senior citizens here

27:19 ↗ um there are probably a lot of us who

27:21 ↗ um are not as well educated about access

27:24 ↗ as we should be

27:28 ↗ that those are my comments thank you

27:31 ↗ thank you uh yeah I think a pivot is

27:35 ↗ appropriate at this time I appreciate

27:37 ↗ the administration coming back with the

27:39 ↗ specific information that we asked for

27:42 ↗ from March that really allows us to see

27:45 ↗ that uh

27:46 ↗ you know setting aside what the exact

27:49 ↗ price is uh that there is uh you know

27:52 ↗ the state standard available to folks

27:56 ↗ um you know it's all it can all get

27:57 ↗ murky right I I live

28:00 ↗ fairly close to the commenter who

28:03 ↗ commented online earlier and but I have

28:06 ↗ commercial service and I did that a

28:08 ↗ while back it's slower but it's uh I get

28:10 ↗ higher packet priority over uh

28:13 ↗ residential service and it's also

28:14 ↗ different Hardware I never have any

28:16 ↗ problem

28:17 ↗ with any time of the day having internet

28:19 ↗ access so it's it's interesting right

28:21 ↗ it's complicated but the bottom line is

28:23 ↗ the fundamental question was are there

28:25 ↗ people who can't get you know the state

28:27 ↗ standard of internet access at any price

28:30 ↗ um sounds like no uh that isn't a

28:32 ↗ problem in our city so yes moving on to

28:34 ↗ educating the community and uh proposed

28:37 ↗ educational Outreach is fine uh it seems

28:40 ↗ like you have a myriad of uh potential

28:42 ↗ uh pieces of feedback you your you know

28:46 ↗ mechanisms or or things that you can

28:48 ↗ tell the public and so I think that's

28:50 ↗ that's good I I welcome seeing the

28:52 ↗ administration

28:55 ↗ so I think that's it uh City

28:57 ↗ administrator uh do you have the

28:59 ↗ information you were looking for from us

29:01 ↗ uh yes uh chair Martin members committee

29:04 ↗ uh the only other question would be we

29:06 ↗ would like to uh send this to the full

29:08 ↗ Council and likely on the consent

29:10 ↗ calendar would be appropriate just to

29:12 ↗ close the loop on the work the committee

29:14 ↗ has done so you're seeing three head

29:16 ↗ nods to uh consent license on consent

29:19 ↗ for the August

29:21 ↗ August seven

29:23 ↗ uh and then so with that I will ask if

29:26 ↗ there are any announcements from my

29:27 ↗ fellow council members

29:30 ↗ seeing none uh this meeting is adjourned

29:34 ↗ oh and I want to thank by the way uh

29:36 ↗ member from Comcast who came and joined

29:38 ↗ us provided us practical information

29:40 ↗ that was very helpful

29:42 ↗ um but we are adjourned at exactly 7 pm

29:44 ↗ thank you and thank you everyone at home

Approved minutes

Extracted from the next meeting's packet, where this meeting's minutes were approved as a consent-calendar attachment.

Open PDF

Attendance

Council / Members (3)

Tola Marts

Barbara de Michele

Russell Joe

Staff (2)

Wally Bobkiewicz, City Administrator

Chris Grabowski, Deputy City Clerk

Recommendations & actions (1)

Sentences extracted from the narrative containing words like recommended, requested, directed, moved, or approved. Best-effort — verify against the full minutes for context.

a) Minutes of May 16, 2023. – Moved by Joe (de Michele 2nd) to approve the minutes as presented.