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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.17.2024.telecommunications_minutes Docusign Envelope ID: DE5DFC3E-F1E9-4C30-BDE4-302A45CD6C2E TELECOMMUNICATIONS UTILITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES City Council Chambers January 17, 2024 4:00 p.m. 1. Members present: Van Fleet, Batemon, Kurtenbach. Mr. Young and Wienands arrived at 4:05 p.m. 2. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Batemon that the agenda as proposed,be approved. Voice vote-Ayes: Three. Motion carried. 3. Moved by Batemon seconded by Kurtenbach that the minutes of January 3, 2024, Regular Session and January 8, 2024, Special Session, as presented. Voice vote-Ayes: Three. Motion carried. 4. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Batemon to approve the resolution approving the Waterloo Fiber Employee Handbook. Eric Lage, General Manager, explained that they have worked with PDCM as part of their HR Connect service to prepare the handbook. Mr. Kurtenbach discussed his concerns with Mr. Lage and the Board and provided suggestions for editing the document. Mr. Lage addressed the concerns and thanked Mr. Kurtenbach for his comments. He stated that he could make whatever changes the Board wishes. He explained that he would like to get the handbook to the employees as soon as we can and asked if the handbook could be approved tonight with the changes discussed. Roll call vote-Ayes: Five. Motion carried. Resolution No. 2024-001. 5. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Wienands to approve the purchase of NEA CDN Edge cache server from Ateme, Inc. of Englewood, CO, in the amount of$56,620.00. Eric Lage provided an overview of the item. Mr. Van Fleet questioned if there are any annual costs and asked what the shelf life is. Eric Lage commented there is not and that the shelf life is between 7-10 years. Mark Lane explained that a standard discount was provided per the 28E Agreement with CFU. Mr. Van Fleet suggested asking for an additional discount as we are a start-up company. Voice vote-Ayes: Five. Motion carried. 6. Moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Wienands to approve an IPv4 Block in an amount not to exceed $43,000.00. Eric Lage explained that these are public IP addresses for any business or residential subscribers that request it, for a monthly fee of$10 per month per IP address. There are 1,204 IP addresses in the block which should last quite a while depending on growth. He added that we are on the ARIN waitlist (American Registry for Internet Numbers) list for additional IP addresses. Voice vote-Ayes: Five. Motion carried. 7. General comments from staff, consultants, and board members. Eric Lage shared that we have had some good media coverage recently. Both he and Andy were on the Steele Report, and an article was recently published in the Courier. He reported that the shelter should be delivered on the 22nd depending on weather. He has asked that staff give an update on how things are going. Docusign Envelope ID: DE5DFC3E-F1E9-4C30-BDE4-302A45CD6C2E Page 2 Erica Christiansen, Customer Service Manager, shared that they have been receiving a lot of calls and emails that the two new CSR's have been answering. She and Erin Langenberg are working together to make sure everyone is communicating the same message to consumers through social media, face-to-face, etc. Next week they will push out mass information to everyone who filled out a survey. Ian Crowther-Green, Plant Engineering Supervisor, shared that the two technicians have been hired, and Tony is helping to train Maya as she is new to this field. They have been procuring the equipment needed to begin installs. Rob Nichols, council liaison, shared that Eric Lage has been coordinating with Stephane Shavers with Neighborhood Services and himself, to come and speak about Waterloo Fiber at the community forum he is holding next Tuesday at All-In-Grocers in the Willie Mae Wright Community Room. Erin Langenberg, Strategic Communications Manager, commented that they are out in the public meeting with people and just met with Kiwanis Club this week. They have been working on different swag items to get in front of the public and are reviewing budgeting for events to hold throughout the year. Julie Eastman, Accounting Manager, explained that she will be doing onboarding for the accounting software and will soon be entering vendors into the system. She hopes to have everything including payroll up and running in March. John Rath,NOC Support Manager, commented that they are continuing work on proof of concept at Fire Station#6, working with Calex support and developing job descriptions for network technicians to add to staffing. Ryan with ITG, reported that two drill crews will be running January and February which should be able to process 2,500 to 5,000 feet of conduit per week. In March we plan to increase that to four drill crews with an output footage of 10,000 -15,000 feet per week and are gearing up to the ultimate goal of 30,000 feet per week until November. Mike Regan, Entrust, commented that Ryan covered much of their update. Due to the weather things are a bit slower than desired but they expect to ramp up soon. Accumulative totals there are just about 30,000 miles of conduit completed. Maggie Berger, Speer Financial, commented that they are getting ready to go into another round of bonding for backbone and utility services. Mr. Van Fleet requested a budget to actual report on a quarterly basis, including change orders. Mr. Van Fleet spoke on meeting cadence and questioned if a monthly cadence might be reasonable moving forward. Maggie Burger noted that with future bonding, it may be necessary to have special meetings at the end of February and into March to cover the two-week window but otherwise monthly would work for her schedule. Mr. Van Fleet suggested regular board meetings be set for the 3rd Wednesday of each month beginning February 2024 with special meetings as needed. Mr. Kurtenbach questioned if the voiceover equipment is set for phone service. Eric Lage stated that there is minimal equipment needed for that and this should come before the board in the next few meetings for approval. Mr. Kurtenbach questioned the need for a splicing trailer. Eric Lage confirmed it is time to begin looking. Docusign Envelope ID: DE5DFC3E-F1E9-4C30-BDE4-302A45CD6C2E Page 3 8. Adjourn. With no further business before the board, it was moved by Kurtenbach seconded by Young that the meeting be adjourned at 4:40 p.m. Voice vote-Ayes: Five. Motion carried. Signed by: I" #if17 EECOA4 CD 4F2... Nancy ig y Administrative Secretary