City Council - Public Works and Natural Resources Committee

City of Bellingham Public Works and Natural Resources Committee Minutes September 26, 2022, 10:00 AM Mayor: Seth Fleetwood Contact: (360) 778-8100, mayorsoffice@cob.org Council Members: Michael Lilliquist, Chair Contact: (360) 778-8200, ccmail@cob.org Lisa Anderson, Kristina Michele Martens https://cob.org/council All meetings are held in the City Hall Council Chambers at 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA, unless otherwise noted. Call to Order The Public Works & Natural Resources Committee was called order by President Stone at 10am. Roll Call Present: Committee Chair Michael Lilliquist, Sixth Ward Committee Member Lisa Anderson, Fifth Ward Committee Member Kristina Michele Martens, At Large Council Standing Committee Meeting Open to the public to attend. Note: there is generally no public comment period for Committee sessions. Standing Committee Members receive reports and information, ask questions and, when appropriate, vote on a recommended action for consideration by the full Council at the Regular Meeting. The notice of Committee Meetings identified below also serves as notice of Special Meetings of the City Council at the times identified as Council Members who are not members of the committee routinely attend and participate in the Committee Meetings. Committee Chairs give a report of the Committee Meeting at the Regular Meeting in the evening prior to deliberation and formal vote. 23453 1. Broadband Advisory Workgroup Final Report and Recommendations p. 3 Following direction from Mayor Fleetwood and Council Resolution #2020-31, the Broadband Advisory Workgroup was tasked with evaluating the feasibility of using City's municipal fiber network to provide a "public option", assisting and developing a request for proposal (RFP), and participating in discussions with the City and consultant. The workgroup met for 17 months and held 23 whole group meetings. David Roberts, and Milissa Miller, presented the workgroup's recommendations to the Council including a summary from the facilitator on the process, a summary of meetings, a glossary of definitions, a consultant report, a draft of resolution and member statements. Together these documents constitute the Broadband Advisory Workgroup Final Report and include the following recommendations, Public Works and Natural Resources Committee Minutes Page 1 September 26, 2022   Establish goals for broadband services in the City of Bellingham.  Develop, implement, and seek funding to support a digital equity broadband adoption plan to provide the kind of broadband connection and support individuals need with a focus on unserved and underserved members of the community.  Develop a comprehensive capital and operations plan to increase redundancy and reliability in the City's existing system, expand the use of the system following an "infrastructure only" model, expand publicly accessible Wi-Fi, and partner with other agencies and ISPs.  Review and update existing agreements with partner agencies to meet the goals of the resolution and serve the needs of network users.  Conduct a survey of city businesses to determine their current and future needs for broadband services.  The City consider a future role for the current Broadband Advisory Group. The committee would like to schedule further discussion to include,  Consider formally accepting recommendations.  Should City develop goals or plans?  State and federal funding opportunities.  Capital plan/program and staff/budget needed to create a dedicated program in the City.  Overview of how the City currently pays for current services.  Review the draft Resolution from the workgroup.  Discuss how to share recommendations with other community partners such as the PUD, school districts, etc.  Discuss how to continue utilizing the Broadband Advisory Workgroup. Lisa Anderson moved to recommend future discussion of the workgroup's recommendations and decide next steps. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:15am. Public Works and Natural Resources Committee Minutes Page 2 September 26, 2022