05_28_09 Meeting Minutes

SLC IT Committee Meeting Minutes
5/28/09

1. No comments on minutes from 4/23/09 meeting.

2. WaveHost Presentation

Joe McCoy from WavHost Corp. provided a brief presentation of their broadband solution. A diagram of their process for developing a solution was handed out to Committee members. Some key points follow:

· Three prongs to viable broadband solution; Stakeholders, the County, and the Network
· Stakeholders often have overlapping requirements (i.e., education institution requires students to be able to access from their home)
· Some unlicensed solutions are subject to noise so future viability is questionable
· Open access models are a requirement of Stimulus funding
· Cost of bandwidth in this area is extremely expensive compared to
· Bundling stakeholders together so they can be represented as one unit can make service more viable
· Some areas are so rural that there will never be a ROI
· North Country Library System in Cranberry Lake and WavHost are the recipients of a grant. Agreements are yet to be signed.
· Lease agreements are expensive (ROW, contracts, etc.). Govt. agencies can assist in this area to help offset expenses
· Meetings with DANC to discuss viability of providing infrastructure which could include towers and possibly fiber to the home; in certain situations fiber to the home may be the most feasible solution
· There are three phases of grant funding so everything doesn’t have to be done at once
· May look to County to tabulate survey results and gather information that could be useful in developing their Business Model
· Innovation is key to providing viable solution in the North Country; Business Model is critical component
· Planning for solution that would be ready to implement in 2010
· May be requesting some general consensus meetings with Towns within the next few months
· Would like to be in a position by the end of the summer to present a broadband solution for SLC; vision is that SLC would be a key stakeholder in developing the plan

3. Discussion and Questions on WavHost Presentation -
· Kevin cautioned that we take care to not over survey the population and that any surveys are broad in nature and not limited to specific provider; and suggested focus on green data center to pull in demand for broadband and make POP IP redundancy more feasible
· Joe clarified that grant money is used for initial capital investment so ongoing service can be sustained
· Joe also stated that fiber installed for solution may be owned by DANC since they already have a network and there may be ways to work around tariffs which can hamper feasibility
· Bob suggested that WavHost add Information Security into the business model. Joe stated that Information Security is an important component of their network.

4. Strategic Plan –
· Laura reported that SLC Committee adopted the IT Strategic Plan and that it was well received. Formal full board approval will likely happen at the next legislator’s meeting. Document is posted on Blog under Committee documents.

5. Next Steps for Implementing Plan -
· Next meeting focus – developing IT Symposium content; provide direction on teams moving forward with actions identified in the plan

Minutes submitted by Carrie Tuttle