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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022/03/10 - ADMIN - Minutes - Community Technology Advisory Commission - Regular Community technology advisory commission meeting March 10, 2022 6 p.m. Minutes Community technology advisory commission Members present: Abe Levine, Michael Siegler, Bruce Browning, Cindy Hoffman, Rolf Peterson, Kelly Heitz Members absent: Konnor Slaats Staff present: Jacque Smith Guests: None 1. Call to order – roll call Meeting called to order at 6 p.m. 2. Approval of minutes – Nov. 18, 2021 Siegler moved, Browning seconded, all approved the minutes as written. 3. Updates a. Possible federal broadband-related funding through Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Smith reported city staff have been meeting with legislators on this piece of legislation. Most relevant was digital literacy, which is about fully connecting the community. The arrival of US Internet will assist with this initiative. b. Impact of community-wide fiber on cable TV franchise revenues Smith reminded members of the January 24, 2022, city council meeting at which US Internet presented their expansion plans. The concern about cable TV franchise revenues has been around for many years; while the city saw a dip several years ago it has leveled off. The cable fund is healthy. Browning asked how long the franchise with Comcast was for – Smith responded a 10-year agreement was signed in May 2021. Levine said other companies may have an impact as well on cable franchise revenue. Siegler asked about a franchise fund trend line. He’d like to understand the trends. Smith said the city negotiated a favorable franchise agreement with percentages for both franchise and PEG fees, which has increased revenues. She let members know cable franchise fees are kept in one fund; PEG fees can only be spent on capital items related to broadcast services the city provides. c. Broadband provider right-of-way fees Smith will have to check on this as she didn’t add the item to the agenda. She’ll provide an update as needed. Browning asked about orange-colored paint on boulevards on Dakota; he asked if it had anything to do with US Internet. Smith said it could be a number of things. Community technology advisory commission meeting March 10, 2022 4. City communications and marketing overview Smith provided an overview of the major initiatives of the communications and marketing division, in response to a request from Chair Siegler. She explained that information resources includes the city hall front desk, information technology, communications and ParkTV. Siegler asked how many people total are working in the department. Smith provided a summary of the FTEs, which is 14, plus part-time staff at the front desk and ParkTV. Smith said all communications that are seen from the city come through the communications and marketing department. The engineering department uses consultants for several projects. Siegler asked who manages the website. Smith explained Granicus is the host and CMS for the website and GovDelivery, and summarized the social media accounts. She also covered ParkAlert, which is rever se 911, and mystlouispark app for reporting issues in the city. About 12,000 people have downloaded the app. Publications include the Park Perspective and parks and recreation brochure. Smith handles media relations and also has been assisting the mayor wi th communications as needed. ParkTV provides recording and broadcasting for city council and planning commission meetings. Siegler asked about campaigns and how those are managed. He said their committee has been talking about marketing and wants to know how they can align with city campaigns. Smith said many items are cyclical, such as emerald ash borer. Other initiatives are more intense and defined, such as ranked-choice voting. Siegler asked if they wanted to do more about connected community messages , could they work with Smith? Browning asked if many people have inquired following the February Park Perspective article. Smith said many people call about US Internet. John McHugh received several inquiries about the emergency broadband program and assisted with applications for that programs. Smith encouraged the group to start small, such as one item a week for four weeks, rather than trying to do a huge campaign. Browning asked about responding on Nextdoor to inquiries about internet choice. Smit h said he is free to respond as a resident; she wouldn’t recommend it unless he wants to end up in the middle of a debate. She suggested referring internet service questions to the city’s cable complaint line. Browning agreed. Smith explained that the city is an agency on Nextdoor and can only see comments on the posts the city creates. We can’t see everyone’s posts and comments on Nextdoor. Browning asked about redistricting and whether it affected communications. Smith said they are helping elections staff with communications on redistricting. 5. Feedback on CTAC charter and performance to date Siegler said the topic is often why are we here, how do we measure success and how do we add value. He said the commission’s bylaws are very clear that they are a n advisory group to the city council. He wants to be sure expectations are aligned and understand what the council wants. Browning said they had discussed having something at Lenox to Community technology advisory commission meeting March 10, 2022 help people get connected. Siegler said those items can be covered under the next agenda item. He’d like to stay high level on success for the group. Heitz said they had lots of success starting the dashboards, but once city staff gets going, CTAC isn’t needed as much. She said it’s not easy to know where they can contribute. Additionally, she thinks it’s hard to get the conversation started on technology. Levine added that developing the dashboards is a city issue, not a commission issue. He said the police advisory commission would have made more sense to work on the use of force dashboard. Heitz agreed; once technology determined the design and other items aren’t for CTAC to decide. Levine believed there was more emphasis on GIS than there should have been. Siegler said they have to acknowledge that sometimes, the project may not go anywhere. Levine said, was the purpose to produce the housing dashboard, or to show how you can apply that to other projects ; Heitz responded that it was both. Siegler said maybe debate about scope of the project should be taking place at commission level. Commission gets passionate about projects but will need to know they may only be able to take projects so far. Smith said it seems this circles back to the fact they are an advisory commission. Success might be a marketing campaign, or a small social media push. Siegler said this helps him reframe what success looks like. 6. Smart cities initiative committee check ins a. Connected communities Siegler said they still need to bridge gap between awareness and actions. Talked so some nonprofits and groups, still didn’t find anyone as good as city staff person John McHugh who helps people with cable and hosts a computer buddies class weekly. Levine asked if the commission should be doing communications and marketing. Siegler agreed, the commission takes it as far as they can, then let city staff take it from there. Commission shouldn’t do work, which is counterintuitive. Browning asked about the roles of other commissions. Smith said with exception of planning commission and housing authority which have legal authority, all are advisory commissions. b. Environment Peterson finished survey his house using plug load monitor and used it at his son’s office. They were amazed by the differences in energy used by various devices for various uses. He said it all comes down to convenience versus savings. Siegler asked about Peterson presenting on ParkTV as a way to document findings. He suggested Peterson could do a blog. Smith said that it’s important to come up with tips the average person might do, since most won’t do plug load monitoring. For example, tie into WindSource or to Home Energy Community technology advisory commission meeting March 10, 2022 Squad visits. Heitz agreed, she bought a new clothes dryer after hearing about the advantages of Energy Star. c. GIS-enabled applications i. Housing Heitz said they need to reach out to see what needs to be done, but perhaps CTAC not needed further at this point. She suggested they could serve as a user test group or provide research on further steps that could be taken. ii. Police department use of force Levine said they’ve done quite a bit of work; he saw the first wireframe for the dashboard. Everyone gave feedback to the police department, including suggesting a training video on how to use the dashboard. They will see another version in a couple months. Smith gave a summary of a recent visit from the governor related to a proposed public safety budget. The mayor, police and fire chiefs provided the governor with information about innovative programming like Community Health Alliance and the city’s dispatch center needing more resources. iii. Race equity 7. 2022 meeting dates/proposed changes Commission agreed to keep dates as they were originally scheduled for 2022 and had been sent to members at the end of 2021: May 19, Sept. 15, Nov. 17. Browning moved, Levine seconded a motion to adjourn. All voted in favor. Meeting adjourned 7 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Jacque Smith, liaison Mike Siegler, chair