Westminster
MD Mayor and Common Council Meeting of January 12, 2015
AGENDA
CITY OF WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND Mayor and Common Council Meeting of January 12,
2015
My
running rough notes from the meeting – Kevin E. Dayhoff January 13, 2015
Westminster selects fiber network
operator
Toronto-based Ting began as mobile
service provider, expanding to fiber networks
By Heather Cobun, Times Staff Writer
9:59 p.m. EST, January 12, 2015
Some areas of Westminster could see
high-speed Internet by the spring if the pilot phase of the city's fiber
network stays on schedule.
The Mayor and Common Council voted
unanimously Monday to select Toronto-based Ting, a subsidiary of Tucows Inc.,
as its Internet network operator. The firm will devise a fee structure and
manage a fiber optics network being built by the city, which will retain
ownership of the network. Though the fee structure has not been set, Ting
officials hope to keep the price under $90 a month.
The city budgeted $6.3 million in the
current fiscal year for network construction.
"From the very beginning, it was
obvious that they understood what we were trying to do," said Council
President Robert Wack. "We got a lot of feedback from other responses that
was questioning to flat-out skeptical."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This
was a really good meeting. Lots of exciting things happening and everyone seems
to working well together – at least as far as the public face of the mayor and
council and department heads. This is in stark contrast with the openly hostile
disagreements aired publicly at the county state of the county event Tuesday
morning January 13, 2015.
There
appears to have been a reception before the meeting. I think that maybe it was
for the broadband initiative.
Lots
of folks here. Roy Chiavacci, Sam Greenholtz, Lisa Breslin, Missy Wilcox, Lyndi
McNulty…
This
is the first council meeting that I have attended for some time. Many of the
positions have changed…. Some have not… Tammy Palmer is the finance director,
Jeff Spaulding is the police chief. Steve Horn is the planning director, Marg
Wolf is the city administrator, attorney Elissa Levan, public works director Jeff
Glass, recreation and parks director Abby Gruber, and … …
1. CALL TO ORDER: Council president Dr. Robert
Wack brought the meeting to order at precisely 7 p.m. with the Pledge of
Allegiance and a moment of silence.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE MEETING DECEMBER
8, 2014 Motioned and approved,
3. PUBLIC HEARINGS No public hearings
4. CONSENT CALENDAR Motioned and approved.
Approval
of November 2014 Departmental Operating Reports
Approval
of 4th Amendment to LaserCraft Agreement – Chief Spaulding
Approval
of Delta Plus Licensing Agreement – Chief Spaulding
5. REPORT FROM THE MAYOR Welcome the new
council member. Attended the NAACP breakfast. Meetings with the county
commissioners
6. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES and 7. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
Paul
Whitson attended the NAACP breakfast.
Suzanne
Albert Welcomed the new council woman.
Tony
Chiavacci mentioned a positive meeting with Mayor Utz, Chief Spaulding and the
new State’s Attorney Brian DeLeonardo...
Dr.
Becker… NAACP breakfast, the Civil Rights tour…
8. BIDS
Approval
of the selection of the broadband network services operator—Dr. Wack
A
discussion of the history and the initiative. Unique approach. Interviewed all
the folks back in October.
Right
from the very beginning, it was clear that Ting Fiber … they were interested in
a partnership.
“We’re
thrilled with the opportunity… It makes sense that the municipality own the
infrastructure… Customer service a strong point. We have a unique business
model in that we specialize in going to places where the customer service is
poor and we are nicer.
9. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS None.
10.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS None
11.
NEW BUSINESS
Approval
of the establishment of a Broadband Policy Group
Mayor’s
announcement of a policy group… Barbara Biller, Sam Greenholtz, Jason
Stambaugh, Mark Krider, Davis…. et al. It was approved.
APPOINTMENT
OF BROADBAND POLICY COMMITTEE
Tonight is the culmination of six
month’s concerted effort by the city to bring the most expansive infrastructure
project in our area to fruition. This project will bring jobs, allow for
telecommuting, encourage technology startups and broaden business markets and
will be the first open access gigabit municipal broadband network in the
Mid-Atlantic region. The President of the Common Council, Dr. Robert Wack, was
the visionary on this project and he convinced the Common Council that this investment
in a broadband network would result in a diversity of services and competition
which will provide the best quality and pricing for City residents. Dr. Wack
will provide more detail on this project later in the agenda.
To assist the City with this Broadband
network project by providing advice and guidance as we move to connect every
residence in the City to the network, I am asking Council for a motion to
approve the appointment of a Broadband Policy Committee composed of the
following residents and business owners with specialized knowledge of the
broadband community:
Barbara Biller
Samuel Greenholtz
Josh Kohn
Jason Stambaugh
Mark Krider and
Patti Davis
This Committee will provide advice and
guidance to the City as we move forward with the implementation of this
city-wide project.
Presentation
of Financial Statements and Audit Report – Tricia Bush, McGladrey LLC
A
report on the financial statements and audit report…
Auto
Zone @ 140 Village Shopping Center; Public Works Agreement (A-1087)—Steve Horn
Cactus
Willys will be razed and replaced with an Auto Zone. Motioned and approved…
Weis
Market Gas-N-Go; Public Works Agreement (A-1088)—Steve Horn Motioned and
approved…
12.
DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Jeff
Glass Hyde’s Quarry
Abby
Gruber various events; working through minimum wage increased… Jacob’s latter
exercise equipment.
Finance
Director Tammy Palmer RFP for a new auditor and working on the budget…
Assessment lagging.
Jeff
Spaulding new Main Street police officer. Mike Beaumont… Spends 40-hours a week
working with the businesses… Working on the heroin challenges in the community.
The polar plunge.
Steve
Horn – reminding folks to clean the sidewalks
Elissa
Levan no report
Marg
Wolf budget issues.
5
pm Wednesday at Calvert House for a legislative reception.
13.
CITIZEN COMMENTS 7:45 pm There were no citizen comments.
14.
ADJOURNMENT: We adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
It
was a good meeting. Lots of new and exciting approaches and initiatives.
