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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021/10/07 - ADMIN - Agenda Packets - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular Community technology advisory commission meeting October 7, 2021 6 p.m. If you need special accommodations or have questions about the meeting, contact Jacque Smith at jsmith@stlouispark.org or 952.924.2632, or the administration department at 952.924.2525. Community technology advisory commission The St. Louis Park Community Technology Advisory Commission is meeting in person in the community room on the first floor of St. Louis Park City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd. Members of the public may attend the meeting in person. Agenda 1. Call to order – roll call 2. Approval of minutes – July 15, 2021 3. Smart cities initiative committee check ins a. Connected communities b. Environment c. GIS-enabled applications i. Housing ii. Police department use of force iii. Race equity 4. Preparation for officer changes in 2022 Note: Abe Levine retained the chair position for a second year due to COVID. In 2022 the chair position should shift to another person to be in line with the bylaws. Elections will take place at the Nov. 18 meeting a. Chair (currently Abe Levine) b. Vice chair (currently Mike Siegler) 5. Adjournment Future meeting/event dates: • November 18, 6 p.m. – election of chair, vice-chair for 2022 Community technology advisory commission meeting July 15, 2021 6 p.m. Community technology advisory commission Members present: Bruce Browning, Abe Levine, Kelly Heitz, Theo Pohlen, Mike Siegler, Konner Slaats, Rolf Peterson, Cindy Hoffman (by phone) Members absent: Staff present: Clint Pires, Jacque Smith Guests: None 1. Call to order – roll call Meeting called to order 6:05 p.m. 2. Approval of minutes – May 20, 2021 No comments on the minutes. Peterson moved, Pohlen seconded. All voted to approve the minutes as written. 3. Smart cities initiative a. June 14 council meeting recap Levine complimented commission members on their presentations at the meeting. Browning observed the council was pleased and he was pleased to hear that they were satisfied with the work. Siegler said it was helpful to get feedback and to understand the different interests and expertise of each council member. It was helpful to hear that information. Heitz said it was fun to see everyone’s presentations. Pohlen watched the recording; he was very impressed with how complimentary the council was to the commission. He noticed the council still wanted to talk about education, although the connected communities committee has been focusing on the elderly. Peterson was really pleased at how engaged the council was, and it felt great to be in person. Slaats was impressed, noticed the mayor said this was the most high functioning the commission has been. Pires said he thinks that comment was meant that the mayor would like to see other boards and commissions function this highly. Levine said he wondered if other boards and commissions don’t have a well-defined goal among themselves and from the council. Pires said it’s cyclical with boards and commissions. He said check-ins are important to ensure there’s no disconnect between commissions and the council. b. Committee check ins Levine started with his work. He met with Angie Dickison, State Broadband Director. She let Levine know how to sign up for notifications of grants from the state. Dickison is also part of the broadband task force. He also met with the president of AT&T Minnesota, to see if they do anything for economically disadvantaged areas. Opening next year on the broadband task force; Levine may apply. He also was introduced to the Blandin Foundation; October presentations by videoconference Community technology advisory commission meeting July 15, 2021 and Levine suggested the CTAC may want to participate. They do not work in the metro area. Pohlen asked if Blandin did mainly information or infrastructure. He said if it’s information it would be interesting to see what strategies they’ve used to communicate the broadband options, so that the commission wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Hoffman shared the website: https://blandinfoundation.org/ Levine reported he is meeting July 16 with St. Louis Park Police Chief Mike Harcey, along with Pires and Smith, to discuss technology for the police department. Siegler said it would be good to get a sense of unmet needs. Siegler gave a report about the connected communities committee. They met with Andrea Kajer from the government affairs office at Comcast. She is charged with engaging with cities to help with PR as well as new services. Siegler said she had good information about already existing programs that are less known for broadband adoption and partnerships. Siegler said most of what needs to be done is likely already available. For example, Internet Essentials is available at a very low cost per month and has been available for about 10 years. They now have an Internet Essentials Partnership program that the city can use to partner with Comcast. Levine mentioned that Comcast offers Lift Zones. Smith shared information from an email to Kajer: “In the Twin Cities we have 78 Lift Zones and currently there is one Lift Zone in St. Louis Park at Perspectives Family Center- 3381 Gorham Ave. We are always looking to connect with more sites. For a Lift Zones, Comcast will ‘super Wi-Fi’ a community space where a non-profit is hosting distance learning or work force training on site. We are not allowed to place a Lift Zone in a library or school. Recently we completed Lift Zones in a number of Minneapolis Park and Recreation buildings and we are starting to explore places of faith, including mosques, churches and temples.” Siegler said WiFi doesn’t solve everything, this can be one layer of the solution. Heitz asked if Internet Essentials has limited speeds; it has been increased to 55 mbps. Next steps for the committee are to lay out the next steps but working with Kajer and Comcast will accomplish much of what they wish to do. Pires said both CenturyLink and US Internet are open to the emergency broadband program benefit program. The question is if it will turn into some permanent, or expire when the money is gone. Heitz said the first dashboard is now published and available on the website. Housing staff is now moving ahead with another dashboard focused on Met Council goal’s with housing and how the city is progressing. The GIS-enabled committee will meet in August with staff to provide feedback and may also meet with housing authority. Heitz said one interest of the council was to understand vacancy rates in affordable housing. She is going to reach out to buildings to see what apps they use to advertise. Siegler suggested going through management companies and he has Community technology advisory commission meeting July 15, 2021 contacts in the rental business who might be willing to share some information. Heitz said Pires is putting the committee in touch with the racial equity and inclusion group to create another dashboard. She thinks one thing to help with would be the Just Deeds project, tied to Mapping Prejudice project at U of M. The project identifies restrictive covenants. While they aren’t enforceable, the project to remove the language is to make people aware of the history of prejudice in housing. Peterson said he has nothing new to report. He plans to install the plug load monitor at his home in August. Siegler said he uses iDevices that shows current drawn on various devices. Pires said it’s also important to remember that once environment committee items are together, to talk about education. Levine said what if city purchased a number of plug load monitors and loaned them to people; Peterson reminded Levine that his system has to be integrated with the home’s electrical panel. Smith said an article is slated for October Park Perspective and she would like 3-5 tips that could be shared with residents about how to save energy in sometimes unknown places. Levine asked about how the commission might be able to meet more frequently. Staff reviewed the requirements of open meetings, which means if five or more meet there’s a quorum. Hoffman asked about Teams; Smith reminded the group that they are on a Teams account and it hasn’t been used much. Smith suggested we stick to the already scheduled meetings. The commission agreed to use Teams as a place to post resources. 4. Building readiness draft ordinance – review and discussion Pires introduced the topic; the draft ordinance had been provided to the commission in the packet. He explained that St. Louis Park is home rule city so ordinances are like the Constitution for the city but must not conflict with state law. Pires said there was a 10-year plan in 2015 developed by the city council, much of it based on a CTC fiber optic study from 2012. One effort was broadband readiness to look at possibility of adding on requirements for new, non-one and two-family structures (primarily multidwelling) to include basics to be 21st Century ready. A couple recommendations were to ensure working and living units were gigabit ready with cabling to handle a minimum 1 gigabit symmetrical for speeds for internet access. Second, there was a desire to make buildings ready to accept a new internet provider. Typically a building is built and the incumbent builds in the right of way, blocking any new providers from coming in. Idea was to install 4-inch conduit for future broadband providers. Through development agreements, about 15-20 new developments have the cabling and conduit. Pires said it has gone quite well, as it has over time begun to match market requirements and demands. Community technology advisory commission meeting July 15, 2021 The difference going forward is these should be standard requirements for new developments, regardless of TIF or city financing. Pires and staff asked for feedback from developers and had a public hearing. Requirements, if approved, would go into effect January 2022. Pires isn’t aware of other communities requiring this. There were two other requirements, one to do with solid waste and the other for electric vehicle chargers. Those requirements were approved separately from this draft ordinance. Pires wanted to share it with the commission since even though it started several years ago, it now dovetails nicely with the work of the commission. Peterson said he’s done a lot of commercial buildings and he said they are installing cell repeaters and 800 mhz systems, so it’s not really that much extra. Pires said the next step is to go to council July 26, then have public hearings. He asked for any input for July 26. Peterson said each new provider should use interduct. Smith noted that this is Pohlen’s last meeting. Pohlen thanked the commission for the experience and really appreciated working with the group. Browning moved, Siegler second a motion thanking Pohlen for his service on the commission. All voted in favor. Peterson said it’s been wonderful having Pohlen on the commission. Levine asked what the procedure is for finding additional youth members. Pohlen will reach out to someone at his school. He suggested it would be more beneficial to try and find a student from St. Louis Park High School. 5. Adjournment Browning moved, Siegler seconded motion to adjourn. All voted to approve. Meeting adjourned at 7:21 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Jacque Smith, liaison Abe Levine, chair member