Minutes for June 20, 2017
Exiting 1623 5th St Suite F, BATF Status, MDUs and Public Broadband,
Attendance
Present: Mike Adams, William Wagman, Robert Nickerson, Matthews Williams, Jim Frame, Steve McMahon
Absent: Anne Hance, Janet Meizel, Sheila Evans, Tsui Chang (On Leave)
Agenda Approval
JF thanks SM for use of the house, and the AC. The regular meeting location has no AC, and it was 106. SM recommended dropping Engineering study as the agenda discussion item, and changing the item to BATF status as JF has an item to bring up on public broadband.Public Comment
No members of the public were in attendance.Approve Minutes
SM moves WW Seconded, accepted minutes unanimously.Financial Report
WW talked about some of the new donations, $2,000 from an anonymous trust which donated last year, plus $500 in other donations. MA brought up bank balance of DCN in the Report spreadsheet, the April, May 2017 figures are not accurate relative to the expenses listed as properly reflecting in the bank balance. The row entry that lists the bank balance is put on as informational at the time the report is generated, and not as the result of a formula calculation from the spreadsheet itself.Plans to exit 5th St Office
WW says not in town for 6/23 after lunch work party, RN gave description of all remaining items needing to be moved. RN indicated all the network equipment has been relocated, and can we get out of the lease ? Jan 31st 2018 is the move out. WW will speak with Darrick Servis at DMA, and will tell him we are out as of Friday and can we stop paying rent? MW suggested we show DMA the remaining items, to see if they want to keep anything. JF says he will bring a truck to get the desk, RN will bring truckBATF Status Report / Public Broadband
JF talks about recent contact with MDU operator - spoke with complex owner at 9th and F. Comcast put in new wiring some years ago, but non exclusive and secured onto the surface of the walls. MA asked was he compensated by Comcast? JF no... Comcast is wired as coax to every unit. JF says owner doesn't want or support antenna dishes for TV, or WiFi. MA brings up individuality of experiences, different MDU property owners have and policies. WW asks can the landlord, prevent people from mounting dishes? RN says no if they are used for telecommunications. MW says if there is a balcony, a resident can always mount a tripod in the balcony area.
MW suggests reaching out to other property owners. Board members seemed to be supportive of informal talks with MDU owners to see the level of support in the MDU community. SM says any informal contact is good, such that, we not officially represent the BATF. MW suggests he can make the meeting happen, but not know what to ask about in regards to access for municipal fiber.
MA do we have info regarding how many MDU we have? and Doug Dawson of CCG says he got the best information on MDUs of any town he has worked on. MA asks if we could get that data to look over? SM said Doug Dawson cautioned don't go too high profile too early. RN asked about when is BATF? SM says 6/28, RN asks when is kick off meeting for Doug Dawson, on study is in July.
Questionable if there is a BATF meeting for June at all. Carolyn Stiver is the new chamber rep. RN brought up new contact from people outside of the city again. RN talked about the Patwin Terrace neighborhood, and SM said that it is part of the adjoining areas to be considered byt the FSR. MW says water is being brought out to NDM. Says they got together and got the lines of communication to make it happen, conduit with fiber, who is going to pay for the fiber and conduit? MW says when is trench to be done, Spring 2018. Make a price, MW what is the difference between solely water conduit and additional fiber? MA talks about Sonic plowing might work direct bury cable. MW requests RN send email about county contacts. JF asks is financing available? RN indicates there is.
Committee reports
RAC and Webteam - oldnorthdavis.org project approved. WW related story of taking information down to Hattie Weber museum. SM related an anecdote something about working with that particular project MA says he did not hear back about Explorit. SM says had a meeting with a volunteer and says she is at the beginning of process. MA asks would they be able to still be with DCN, SM says she was helping develop her skill set. SM says she knows we would help if needed. MA asks about the DBC - RN indicated its on WordPress.
SM says serious surgery Friday at UCSF and is now recuperating. MA asks we convey concern, shall we keep up speed? RN offers should we send out a card.
Outreach + PR - MA says postings go up and down on Facebook, please share any interesting pieces, TC has a spreadsheet about what is being posted, more people expands your reach the more you publish. MA indicates he is going to try and post more for FaceBook. Please send MA interesting stuff. JF asks is there a trend? MA says if not post regularly, the audience drops off. Some people are on from inertia, MA says we have 364 likes, about 180-200 local. Maybe some people in Bay Area.
WW talks about SF and getting it wired for gigabit and he thinks its impressive. WW indicating that wiring SF makes it more egalitarian, and helps fighting back against Net Neutrality destruction. MA says friend in Sunset district getting Gigabit symmetric from Sonic. MA talks about the MDU ordinance opening access to other providers. Resident is the customer, not the landlord. MA says MDU ordinance attacked in the courts. Maybe a stick we hold behind or back. Another approach to MDU situation. Its shaking up landscape of exclusive bandwidth on properties.
MA talked about the Connected Communities conference and the different tracks and people associated with them.
