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Home My Public Portal About2019.09.27 Special Council Minutes MINUTES McCall City Council Special Meeting McCall City Hall -- Legion Hall September 27, 2019 Call to Order and Roll Call Work Session Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Aymon called the special meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 9:00 a.m. Mayor Aymon, Council Member Giles, Council Member Nielsen, and Council Member Sowers all answered roll call. Council Member Holmes was absent. City staff members present were Anette Spickard, City Manager; Shay Tyler, Deputy Clerk; Linda Stokes, City Treasurer; Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director; Chris Curtin, Information Systems Manager; Traci Malvich, Human Resources Manager; Nathan Stewart, Public Works Director Also, in attendance was Andrew Mentzer, West Central Mountains Economic Development Council WORK SESSION AB 19-213 Municipal Broadband and Fiber Utility Discussion Information Systems Manager Chris Curtin presented the discussion. On July 12, 2018, Council approved Resolution 18-15 recognizing internet services to be essential services. Additionally, language in the McCall Area Comprehensive Plan’s Policy 2.5 “Improve broadband and fiber optic capacity within the city….” and Policy 5.2 “Explore ways of expanding high speed internet and fiber optic access to public buildings, businesses and residences….” supports this need. At the April 26, 2019 Council work session, staff provided a brief history about the project and explained the challenges and goals of providing this service. The staff discussed the merits of expanding on installed fiber and conduit to create an open fiber network allowing third parties to offer internet services to citizenry and businesses within the City of McCall. This would be a multi- year project designed to support high speed internet access at lower prices for the community. Council expressed support of the project and gave staff direction to move forward and bring back more information on the methods for financing this effort. Manager Curtin gave an update on the installation of seven miles of fiber and shared that he has teamed up with the Idaho Broadband Task Force and has done a presentation for them at their recent conference. He explained his strategic goals of accessibility, affordability, minimized risk, MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 1 of 3 September 27, 2019 Special Meeting and enabling long term community plans and objectives. He spoke about finalizing the Broadband Plan, establish a legal authority, launch a community engagement program, specified the equipment to be used, and distribute a request for proposals for design and construction. Phase 1 is the first phase of construction which would include the selection of an engineering partner, continued community engagement, oversight of the engineering and construction, completion of the financial model, selection of short- and long-term funding channels, stand up network operations, and begin connection of subscribers. Phase 2 would be a continuation of engaging the community, beginning the next level of the construction, monitor the internal workings of the network and financial performances, and providing ongoing customer support, story tracking, and network monitoring. Key success factors necessary to make this endeavor a success will be a robust community engagement process, affective project management, retainment of a construction partner, implement the Broadband Plan as a common shared language between key team members and community, and a strong focus on communication with the consumer to create value and network problem solving. Market analysis and market trends were discussed. Potential subscribers include 2700+ single family homes, 1200 multi-family units, and approximately 600 commercial units. Currently, cable companies are winning the war in offering wire to the home over phone companies; however, it is turning into a cable monopoly. InfoSystems Manager Curtin explained the difference between cable and Rapid Fiber, the cable monopoly, wireless connection to fiber, fiber performance into the future, bandwidth, and affordability. He shared what he identified as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with the program. Financial projections are based on the City of Ammon who has already implemented a fiber utility system. InfoSystems Manager Curtin explained the install model. There was a discussion about cost to customers, number of installs per day, the test community, the annual LID process, and when profitability would kick in. Staff went over cost projections and marketing. Staff explained the LID bond process, who would be financially responsible for the connection process, and shared the difference between a rolling model versus an aggregate model. The City’s goal is to be only responsible for the fiber being brought into a neighborhood but not the connection into the property itself. There was a discussion a few different financial models and feedback received so far from the community. Staff answered questions about installation costs and the LID bond process. Andrew Mentzer of the West Central Mountains Economic Development Council explained distribution and density challenges of small communities. Council Member Sowers shared he feels the model is a bit too optimistic. As Council Member Giles stated he would like to see this move forward as recommended by staff, still have an option to the house, and work with the consultant on a 5-year option. Council Member Giles left the meeting at 10:24 a.m. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 2 of 3 September 27, 2019 Special Meeting Mr. Mentzer suggested speaking with the Central Mountain Realtors to reach homeowner associations for feedback. Council Member Sowers shared some concerns about costs on installation. Staff explained how installation into a neighborhood is averaged out to each house and answered the Council questions about the process and the value it will bring to property values. The fiber will also be brought into the commercial areas. Anchor tenants would be the larger users such as the school district, fire district, city and government offices, and large commercial users would be hotels, etc. Staff shared other ways to raise funds such as lease dark fiber(unused fiber), lit fiber (fiber with services on it), and allow some entities to purchase their own pipeline. This may spur some surrounding communities to want to be annexed into the city limits. The opt in,the opt out, and general obligation bond models were explained. InfoSystems Manager Curtin feels the opt in model is the best option out of the three models and explained the reasons why. Through the bond and subscribers, with the 10-year financial model, the final costs in the end for the City will only be the InfoSystems staff. Council Member Sowers wants a Demand Analysis model (live map) for the next meeting to get a better idea of public feedback. Council Member Sowers left the meeting 10:49 a.m. Council Member Nielsen wanted to know more about the middle mile providers. Staff gave an overview of the dialog that has happened over the last year and shared providers are approaching the City already. There was a discussion of who and how middle mile providers are part of the process and how they may potentially affect the system. Council consensus was to move forward with in a more aggressive 5-year install timeframe model and flesh out the requirements for the opt in option. ADJOURNMENT Without further business, Mayor Aymon adjourned the meeting at 11:09 p.m. '„wonnU,,,, `. Q4 ow...6M 1. 'j ii It . ATTEST: LI.z. * SEAL t Ox kie J. Ay`on, Ma or O 4/0441t4 // --it ,cs, z , 113.?.. .. BessieJo W./is'er, City ii erk Nonni m,'',' MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 3 of 3 September 27, 2019 Special Meeting