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COUNCIL, COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN HERE.
[1. 21-3919 Approval of the March 23, 2021 Innovation and Technology Committee Meeting Minutes.]
WE HAVE OUR, OUR, I THINK OUR FIRST ITEM IS TO TAKE UP THE MINUTES FROM OUR LAST MEETING, RIGHT? SO, UM, MSAR, HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THOSE? WHAT DO YOU THINK I HAVE? AND I MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES TO IN THE LAST MEETING.ALL RIGHT, A SECOND FROM COUNCILWOMAN ANDREWS SULLIVAN.
BRIAN, JOHN PATEK SHOW IS YOURS, COUNCILMAN.
[2. 21-3927 Briefing on updates on the City of San Antonio’s Adaptive Signal Control Pilot in the Medical Center. [Roderick Sanchez, Assistant City Manager; Razi Hosseini, Director, Public Works]]
THE, THE SECOND ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS AN UPDATE ON THE ADAPTIVE SIGNAL CONTROL PILOT PROGRAM IN THE MEDICAL CENTER.SO, UM, MARK JACOBS AND HUI ARE HERE TO PRESENT, AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO THEM.
LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET THE GREEN CHAIR GOING.
SO, UH, BACK IN DECEMBER WE GAVE YOU A PRESENTATION ON OUR ADAPTIVE TRAFFIC SIGNAL CONTROL PILOT PROJECT.
AND SO TODAY, UM, BACK TO, UH, PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THAT PROJECT.
KINDA GIVE YOU, UH, SOME STATUS AS TO WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE'RE GOING WITH THAT.
SO LET ME BEGIN BY, UH, REMINDING EVERYBODY WHAT THE ADAPTIVE TRAFFIC SIGNAL TIMING, UH, PROGRAM IS.
AND THAT, UH, PROGRAM IS ONE IN WHICH THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS USE THEIR INTELLIGENCE TO CHANGE THE WAY THAT THEY OPERATE THROUGHOUT THE DAY BASED ON REAL TIME TRAFFIC INFORMATION.
SO WE'RE UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY BOTH AT THE SIGNALED INTERSECTION AS WELL AS, UH, SERVERS, UH, YOU KNOW, BACK IN CITY FACILITIES.
AND WHAT'S HAPPENING IS WE'RE COLLECTING DATA ON A REAL TIME BASIS ABOUT ALL THE CARS AND, AND OTHER, UH, MODES OF TRAVEL THAT ARE UTILIZING THAT SIGNALED INTERSECTION.
THAT DATA GETS FED INTO THE SERVER AND REAL TIME AND ALGORITHMS ARE USED TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE PROGRAM THAT THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL IS RUNNING NEEDS TO BE CHANGED IN ORDER TO ALLOW TRAFFIC TO FLOW MORE EFFICIENTLY THROUGH THE INTERSECTION.
SO THIS IS A TECHNOLOGY THAT'S BEEN AROUND A WHILE, BUT WE ARE, UH, STARTING TO EXPERIMENT WITH IT MORE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO BECAUSE THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY IS PARTICULARLY USEFUL IN THOSE AREAS THAT DO NOT HAVE CONSISTENT TRAFFIC PATTERNS THROUGHOUT THE DAY OR, OR REPEATEDLY THROUGHOUT THE WEEK.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY WE WOULD SEE HEAVY MORNING, UH, TRAVEL TIME DURING THE MORNING PEAK HOUR, AND THEN AGAIN IN THE, IN THE EVENING PEAK HOUR.
UH, AND THEN IF YOU HAVE LIKE HEAVY COMMERCIAL OR HEAVY RESTAURANT AREAS, YOU WOULD SEE HEAVY, UM, TRAVEL DURING THE, THE, THE LUNCHTIME.
UH, BUT IN AREAS THAT ARE MOSTLY SHOPPING, UH, OR SOME OTHER TYPE OF FACILITY LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, AN AMUSEMENT PARK OR AN ENTERTAINMENT VENUE WHERE WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, TRAFFIC PATTERNS THAT ARE NOT AS PREDICTABLE, THIS ADAPTIVE SIGNAL TIMING STRATEGY WORKS BEST.
AND, UM, WE, UH, HAVE DECIDED TO TRY THAT OUT IN THE MEDICAL CENTER AREA AND, UH, SEE IF, IF WE CAN MAKE THE TRAFFIC FLOW BETTER IN THAT AREA.
SO WHY THE MEDICAL CENTER? THE MEDICAL CENTER, UH, IS AN AREA OF TOWN THAT DOES TEND TO EXPERIENCE RANDOM TRAFFIC PATTERNS OUTSIDE THE PEAK HOUR.
SO PRE COVID, WE DID HAVE SOME COMMUTING TRAFFIC, OF COURSE, THAT TRAVELS TO AND FROM THE MEDICAL CENTER OR THROUGH THE MEDICAL CENTER AREA.
BUT OUTSIDE OF THAT A M AND P M PEAK TIME, UH, WE DO HAVE A VARIETY OF TRAFFIC THAT'S NOT AS PREDICTABLE.
YOU HAVE A LOT OF, UH, DIFFERENT SHIFTS THAT ARE RUN AT ALL THE DIFFERENT MEDICAL FACILITIES, THE
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HOSPITALS, ET CETERA.SO YOU HAVE A LOT OF FOLKS COMING AND GOING AT VARIETY OF HOURS THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
AND ONE OF THE OTHER ADVANTAGES IN THE MEDICAL CENTER IS THAT IT WOULD PROVIDE US AN ENVIRONMENT TO TEST THIS ADAPTIVE SIGNAL STRATEGY WHERE WE HAVE, UH, CROSSING MAIN STREET.
UH, RIGHT NOW WE DO HAVE A PILOT PROJECT OR, OR A, AN IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS ADAPTIVE SIGNAL STRATEGY OUT ON, UH, LOCK CANTER AND PARKWAY BETWEEN FIESTA, TEXAS AND THE RIM.
BUT THAT'S ONLY A SINGLE CORRIDOR WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE TRAFFIC HERE IN THE MEDICAL CENTER.
WE WOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS STRATEGY WORKS WELL WHEN WE HAVE TO MOVE TRAFFIC ON STREETS THAT, THAT CROSS.
AND OF COURSE, THE MEDICAL CENTER IS ONE OF THE IDENTIFIED INNOVATION ZONES HERE IN THE CITY.
SO IT'S A GOOD, UH, GOOD PLACE TO TRY OUT THIS TECHNOLOGY.
WHAT WE EXPECT AFTER IMPLEMENTING THE PILOT PROJECT IS THAT VEHICLES WILL EXPERIENCE SHORTER WAITER, SHORTER WAIT TIMES, UH, TO GET THROUGH INTERSECTIONS AND REDUCE TRAVEL TIMES OVERALL, BECAUSE AS WE START TO SEE THOSE, UH, TRAFFIC PATTERNS FLUCTUATE THROUGHOUT THE DAY, THE SIGNAL TIMINGS WILL AUTOMATICALLY ADJUST, UH, TO PROVIDE OPTIMUM FLOW.
UH, SO THE MEDICAL CENTER, UH, PILOT PROJECT AREA IS GONNA CONSIST OF SEVEN SIGNALS, UH, ALONG SBA AND MEDICAL DRIVE AND, UH, INCLUDING THE, WHERE THOSE TWO STREETS CROSS AT MEDICAL AND MORRIS B.
SO, UH, RIGHT NOW WE ARE NOT IMPLEMENTING IT ON FREDERICKSBURG ROAD OR BABCOCK ROAD, AND SO WE'RE BASICALLY KEEPING IT TO, WITHIN THOSE BOUNDS IN THE MEDICAL CENTER.
UH, BUT WE, WE WILL EVALUATE AS THE PILOT PROJECT GOES ON, AND WE CAN ALWAYS, UH, ADD ADDITIONAL INTERSECTIONS IN THE FUTURE, UH, IF WE THINK IT'LL BE BENEFICIAL.
SO SINCE DECEMBER WHEN WE FIRST INTRODUCED THIS PRO PROJECT, UH, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR VENDOR KIMLEY HORN TO, TO GET THIS PROJECT, UH, ON THE GROUND AND GOING.
SO RIGHT NOW, OR WELL STARTING IN JANUARY, OUR VENDOR HAS, UH, BEGAN TO MAKE SOFTWARE MODIFICATIONS TO OUR CENTRAL SOFTWARE THAT WE USE TO CONTROL ALL OF OUR TRAFFIC SIGNALS.
AND IT'S ALSO THE SOFTWARE, UH, THAT PROCESSES ALL THE DATA THAT THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS ARE COLLECTING IN ORDER TO MAKE THIS ADAPTIVE SIGNAL, UH, PROGRAM WORK CORRECTLY.
SO THEY'VE BEEN MODIFYING THAT SOFTWARE TO WORK WITH THE NEW, UH, TRAFFIC SIGNAL CONTROL EQUIPMENT THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY PLACING OUT IN THE FIELD WHERE WE HAVE ANOTHER PROJECT WHERE WE'RE UPGRADING ALL OF OUR TRAFFIC SIGNAL CONTROL EQUIPMENT THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
THE OTHER THING THAT THEY'RE, UH, DOING IS ENSURING THAT THIS ADAPTIVE SIGNAL, UH, TECHNOLOGY IS GONNA WORK CORRECTLY WITH THE, UH, VIA, UH, PRIMO LINE THAT RUNS THROUGH THERE ON MEDICAL DRIVE.
WE ALREADY HAVE A SYSTEM IN PLACE WHERE THE VIA BUSES GET, UH, PRIORITY THROUGH THOSE INTERSECTIONS.
AND SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT CONTINUES TO WORK EVEN WHILE WE'RE DOING THIS PILOT PROJECT.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE GETTING ALL OF OUR, UH, WE'RE STARTING IN APRIL.
WE WERE GETTING ALL OF OUR EQUIPMENT IN PLACE IN THE MEDICAL CENTER, UH, TO START TO RUN, UH, THIS ADAPTIVE SIGNAL STRATEGY.
AND, UH, ONCE THAT IS ALL IN PLACE, STARTING NEXT MONTH, WE WILL BEGIN WITH, UH, OUR DATA COLLECTION PHASE.
SO IN THIS PHASE, THE SYSTEM IS ON, BUT IT'S NOT ACTUALLY CHANGING THE SIGNAL TIMINGS.
AND SO WHAT IT'S DOING IS IT'S COLLECTING ALL OF THAT DATA AND THEN IT GIVES US A REPORT THAT SHOWS US WHAT IT WOULD HAVE DONE FOR THE SIGNAL TIMINGS IF WE WOULD'VE ALLOWED IT TO DO SO.
AND SO WE, ALONG WITH OUR VENDOR, USE THAT DATA TO SORT OF FINE TUNE ALL THE PROGRAMMING AND MAKE SURE THE SYSTEM IS GOING TO WORK CORRECTLY BEFORE WE FLIP THE SWITCH AND HAVE IT ACTUALLY START, UH, MANIPULATING THE, THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT EACH SIGNAL, UH, GETS.
AND WE DO ANTICIPATE THAT THAT WILL BEGIN IN JULY OF THIS YEAR, THAT WE'LL HAVE THAT SYSTEM OPERATING, UH, IN JULY.
AND HOPEFULLY AT THAT POINT, FOLKS, WELL, WE EXPECT THAT THE SYSTEM WILL START TO REDUCE THE TRAVEL TIMES AND THE WAIT TIMES, UM, IN THE AREA AT STARTING AT THAT POINT.
THEN, UH, THE BIG TEST IS GONNA COME TOWARD THE END OF AUGUST, EARLY SEPTEMBER WHEN SCHOOLS GO BACK INTO SESSION BECAUSE I THINK, UH, WE BELIEVE THAT THAT'S GONNA BE THE FIRST TIME WE TRULY SEE, UH, A, A MUCH HIGHER TRAFFIC VOLUME THAN WE'VE SEEN SINCE MARCH OF LAST YEAR.
AND SO WE WILL MONITOR THIS IMPLEMENTATION THEN IN SEPTEMBER TO ENSURE THAT NO OTHER ADJUSTMENTS TO IT ARE NEEDED WITH THAT, UH, RETURN TRAFFIC VOLUME.
AND THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO GENERATE A REPORT TO SHOW, UH, WHAT IMPROVEMENTS WE WERE ABLE TO
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MAKE WITH THIS PROJECT AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO SHARE THAT WITH, UH, THE COMMITTEE ONCE WE HAD THAT REPORT.SO THAT'S, UH, THAT'S WHERE WE STAND WITH THIS PROJECT.
AND, UH, I CAN ENTERTAIN ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
AND, UH, WE'LL GO, WE'LL GO AROUND THE HORN, UM, AND, UH, START WITH, UH, D KUER FIRST PLEASE.
I HAVE NO QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
COUNCILMAN TREVINA? COUNCILMAN? NO QUESTIONS.
UM, UH, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY, UH, I APPRECIATE, UH, THE WORK, UH, THAT YOU'VE DONE ON THESE INNOVATION ZONES.
UH, WILL, WILL WE CONTINUE TO PILOT THESE IN, IN, UH, IN THE OTHER INNOVATION ZONES? I THINK THAT WE WILL, THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SHOW US THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL WORK WELL WHEN WE HAVE THESE CROSSING ROUTES AND GET US MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE SYSTEM.
ONCE WE HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH THAT, WE WILL BE ABLE TO LOOK AT OTHER CORRIDORS WHERE, UH, THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM WOULD BE EFFECTIVE.
I, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE OTHER ONES THAT COME TO MIND WOULD BE THOSE AROUND, UH, ESPECIALLY LIKE THE ENTERTAINMENT, UH, VENUES AND, AND, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT WHERE WE DO HAVE THOSE LARGE INFLUXES OF TRAFFIC THAT COME IN FOR EVENTS, UH, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS WOULD BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO THAT.
SO WE, I DO SEE US, UH, LOOKING TO USE THIS STRATEGY IN OTHER PLACES ONCE WE'RE FINISHED WITH THIS PILOT PROJECT, I THINK.
YEAH, I THINK THE OTHER THING TO KEEP IN MIND WITH THAT IS, UH, WE'LL GET A SENSE AFTER SEPTEMBER WHAT THOSE, UH, POST COVID TRAFFIC PATTERNS ARE LOOKING LIKE, AND, AND YOU KNOW, OUR FEELING IS THAT WE'RE GONNA SEE A LOT MORE, UH, FLUCTUATIONS IN TRAFFIC PATTERNS THAN WHAT WE SAW PRIOR TO COVID.
SO THIS TYPE OF STRATEGY IS GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GONNA LIKELY NEED TO EMPLOY IN MORE PLACES BECAUSE OF THAT.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU TALKED ABOUT EFFICIENCY AND MOVING TRAFFIC.
CAN YOU GIMME SOME SENSE OF HOW YOU, LIKE QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATE WHETHER TRAFFIC IS OPTIMUM? THAT'S PROBABLY A NERDY QUESTION, BUT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE, YOU'RE CHANGING THE TRAFFIC PATTERN WITH AI.
LIKE, HOW WILL YOU EXPLAIN TO US THAT TRAFFIC IS BETTER IF WE'RE NOT THERE? IT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
SO THE METHOD THAT WE WILL USE IS WE ACTUALLY HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UH, MEASURE SYS UH, TRAVEL TIMES, UH, USING, UM, DATA THAT'S COLLECTED LIKE THROUGH GOOGLE AND WAYS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, WHICH ALLOWS US TO COLLECT, UH, TRAVEL TIMES ALONG A SPECIFIC ROUTE WITHOUT HAVING TO PUT OUT, UM, DATA COLLECTION DEVICES THERE.
SO, YEAH, SO WE'RE GONNA ACTUALLY, WE WE'RE COLLECTING THAT DATA NOW BEFORE WE IMPLEMENT THAT SYSTEM, AND THEN ONCE THAT SYSTEM IS TURNED ON, WE WILL CONTINUE TO COLLECT IT AND THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO COMPARE IT TWO TO SHOW, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR THE SAME DAY AND TIME WHETHER THERE'S ACTUALLY AN IMPROVEMENT, UH, OKAY.
AND THEN, UH, I THINK WHEN YOU TALKED TO, WHEN YOU MADE THE ORIGINAL PRESENTATION, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WERE SORT OF MAKING THE DECISIONS NOW AN ALGORITHM, AND SO HOW QUICKLY WILL IT BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO CHANGES AND FLUCTUATIONS? LIKE, IS THAT A, DOES IT TAKE TIME? DOES IT TAKE DAYS TO CALCULATE THE THING, OR IS IT, HEY, IT STARTS TO REALIZE IT'S IN AN UNUSUAL TRAFFIC PATTERN, IT STARTS TO ADJUST THE SCALE RIGHT AWAY, OR HOW DOES THAT WORK? SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE PARAMETERS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO, UH, ADJUST.
IT'S THE WAY THE SYSTEM WORKS, IS IT, IT WILL REEVALUATE THOSE TIMINGS IN A, IN A TIME PERIOD THAT WE SPECIFY.
SO TYPICALLY THAT WOULD BE EVERY FIVE TO, TO 10 MINUTES.
BUT IT, YEAH, IT, IT'LL EVALUATE TO SEE WHETHER A CHANGE IS MADE.
I MEAN, WE, YOU HAVE, YOU DON'T WANNA, UH, CHANGE IT TOO OFTEN BECAUSE THEN YOU'RE GONNA BE CONSTANTLY IN A STATE OF CHANGE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU WANT TO CHANGE IT OFTEN ENOUGH THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO REACT TO THOSE, YOU KNOW, LITTLE FLUCTUATIONS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD, YOU COULD HAVE JUST A, A MOVIE, UH, LETTING OUT A OR A, A, YOU KNOW, IN THE MEDICAL CENTER, THE END OF VISITING HOURS OF THE HOSPITAL, WHICH JUST CAUSES A, A LITTLE BIT OF A FLUX, AND IT ONLY TAKES THAT LITTLE BIT TO CREATE A LOT OF CONGESTION IF YOU DON'T ADAPT TO IT.
THANK YOU WILL, GARRETT, ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, SIR? UH, JUST MARK, CURIOSITY ON KIND OF SCALE.
ARE YOU, DO YOU THINK THAT THROUGH THIS, WHEN YOU LIKE GO THROUGH THE NEXT THREE OR FOUR OR FIVE MONTHS AND YOU KINDA ULTIMATELY GET THE BACK TO
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SCHOOL DATA, YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA OF A BASELINE KIND OF COST THAT IT TOOK FOR SOFTWARE INTEGRATION, IMPLEMENTATION, SIZE-WISE, AND MEDICAL SCALE IN TERMS OF KINDA WHAT, WHAT'S THE EXPENSE OR WORK NEEDED TO DEPLOY THIS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY WHERE IT MAY MAKE SENSE? SO THE BASE EXPENSE THAT WE HAVE IS ADDING LICENSES, UH, FROM KIMLEY HORN FOR EACH LOCATION IN WHICH WE'RE USING THIS, UM, ADAPTIVE SOFTWARE.BUT, UH, THE, THE ADD-ON COST WOULD BE IF WE HAVE A LOCATION WHERE WE WANT TO USE THIS, BUT WE, WE NEED TO, UM, UPGRADE THE VIDEO OR THE, UH, VEHICLE DETECTION TECHNOLOGY THAT'S CURRENTLY AT THE LOCATION.
SO WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PROJECTS RIGHT NOW WHERE WE ARE GOING THROUGH AND UPGRADING OUR VEHICLE DETECTION TECHNOLOGY CITYWIDE, UH, THROUGH, UH, UH, DIFFERENT FUNDING PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE.
UH, SO THAT WILL HOPEFULLY ENABLE US TO DEPLOY THIS IN MORE PLACES JUST BY ADDING, YOU KNOW, WITH THE, UH, THAT INCREMENTAL COST OF ADDING ON THOSE LICENSES.
UH, FORTUNATELY THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM IS ABLE TO BUILD UPON A LOT OF THE INVESTMENT.
WE'VE ALREADY MADE THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS.
I MEAN, I, I THINK IT'S PRETTY COOL.
IT, IT'S LIKE A HIGH TECH, YOU KNOW, LOW VISIBILITY SOLUTION.
UH, BUT WE PROBABLY ALL SAT AT A LIGHT FOR 10 MINUTES AND IT'S REALLY LIKE 30 SECONDS.
AND, UH, COUNCILMAN JOHN, COURAGE.
YOU KNOW, WILL YOU JUST HIT ON THE POINT I WAS GONNA MAKE, THE BIGGEST COMPLAINT I HEAR FROM PEOPLE IS THAT THEY'RE STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, OR EVEN ANYTIME DURING THE DAY, AND THERE'S NO TRAFFIC COMING FROM ANY DIRECTION.
AND, UH, IF IT'S AT SOME OF THESE INTERSECTIONS WHERE THEY'RE JUST PROGRAMMED TO SEEM TO LAST A MINUTE OR A MINUTE AND A HALF, THAT GETS TO BE PRETTY ANNOYING AND IT LEADS TO A LOT OF PEOPLE RUNNING THOSE RED LIGHTS.
UH, SO I HOPE THAT THIS PROJECT WILL BE ABLE TO LEAD TO ADAPTATIONS IN A LOT OF OUR, UH, OUR MAJOR ARTERIES, UH, TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO MOVE ALONG, EVEN IF IT'S JUST ONE CAR AT TWO IN THE MORNING INSTEAD OF HAVING TO WAIT AT A LIGHT AND ENCOURAGING SOMEBODY TO, TO GO THROUGH THAT LIGHT.
BUT ALSO, HOW WIDE OF AN AREA IS, IS THIS CAPABILITY RIGHT NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TWO STREETS IN THE MEDICAL CENTER.
IS THIS SOMETHING WE COULD ADAPT TO THE ENTIRE MEDICAL CENTER? UH, IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE COULD ADAPT TO THE ENTIRE DOWNTOWN, ET CETERA? YEAH, I MEAN, IT'S CERTAINLY EXPANDABLE.
UH, THE THING THAT YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL OF IS, AS WE, SO IN THE MEDICAL CENTER AREA, ONCE WE, UH, PUSH BEYOND AND GET INTO LIKE FREDERICKSBURG ROAD AND BABCOCK, FOR EXAMPLE, NOW YOU HAVE A LOT MORE TRAFFIC THAT'S JUST, UH, FLOWING THROUGH THE AREA AND NOT, UH, YOU KNOW, DESTINED FOR THE MEDICAL CENTER.
SO WHEN YOU GET INTO THAT, UM, THOSE TYPES OF STREETS NOW, YOUR BACKGROUND TRAFFIC, SO TO SPEAK, IS MORE PREDICTABLE, AND IT'S JUST, IT, IT, IT JUST MAKES THE PROGRAMMING A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPLICATED.
SO IT CAN CERTAINLY BE EXPANDED.
UH, IT'S JUST THAT WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHEN WE DO THAT TO FINE TUNE IT SO WE'RE NOT CREATING ADDITIONAL STOPS ON SOME OF THOSE MAIN STREETS.
UH, YOU KNOW, AS, AS A, AN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE, WELL, CERTAINLY HAMILTON WOLF AND FLOYD CURL WOULDN'T BE A PROBLEMATIC NOSE IN EVENTUALLY, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THEY, THEY'RE SELF-CONTAINED OUTSIDE OF BABCOCK AND, AND FREDERICKSBURG.
SO IS THAT THE CONCEPT, UH, FOR THAT AREA? YES.
AND, AND I DO THINK WE CAN EXPAND, UH, YOU KNOW, OUT OUTSIDE OF THOSE, YOU KNOW, EVEN IN, EVEN TO INCLUDE THOSE MAJOR STREETS.
IT JUST MAY BE THAT WE DON'T CHANGE THE TIMING ON THE MAJOR STREETS DURING THOSE SIX PEAK PERIODS AS MUCH AS WE DO INSIDE THE MEDICAL CENTER.
SO THOSE ARE THE TYPES OF, UM, SPECIFIC TO A LOCATION ADJUSTMENTS WE WOULD HAVE TO MAKE.
THE OTHER THING I WONDER ABOUT IS WILL THIS CHANGE THE TIMING ON THE CHANGE OF COLORS FROM RED TO YELLOW OR YELLOW, RED GREEN? WELL, WELL, I, I WOULD PRESUME WE NEED TO DO AN EDUCATIONAL, UH, PART OF THIS COMPONENT, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE COME TO EXPECT CERTAIN TIMES HOW LONG A LIGHT MAY LAST.
UH, AND, AND IF THIS IS GOING TO REGULATE IT DIFFERENTLY THAN THE, THE DRIVERS USUALLY ANTICIPATE LIKE MAYBE, UH, A REAL SHORT YELLOW LIGHT OR, UH, A LONGER GREEN LIGHT, OR, YOU KNOW, UH, I THINK IT'S GONNA TAKE SOME EDUCATION WHEN WE START MAKING CHANGES IN PARTICULAR AREAS.
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THE YELLOW LIGHT TIMES, BUT IT WILL, UH, AFFECT, YOU KNOW, HOW ALL, HOW LONG A GREEN LIGHT, UH, WILL LAST AND, AND CONVERSELY HOW, UH, LONG YOU MIGHT BE WAITING AT A RED LIGHT.SO, UH, THE YELLOW LIGHTS ARE FIXED, BUT THE OTHER TWO COULD BE IMPACTED.
UM, GUYS, THIS IS, UH, A LONG TIME COMING.
I'M, I'M REALLY, UM, EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE.
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT OTHER CITIES HAVE, HAVE REALLY LEANED INTO IS THIS, UH, ADAPTIVE MACHINE LEARNING, TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT.
UM, AND THE WAY THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, THE WAY THAT THOSE DEVICES ALSO HELP US, UH, UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC, THE WAY THAT THOSE DEVICES MATCHED UP WITH LIGHTING, UH, ALSO, YOU KNOW, HELP US MOVE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, UNDERSTAND, UM, HOW PEOPLE MOVE THROUGHOUT LARGE SPACES.
I, I THINK THIS IS, UH, THIS IS FASCINATING.
MY HOPE IS, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WILL BE ABLE TO LEARN FROM THIS.
UM, AND THAT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER LESSONS WE LEARNED, WE'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE AROUND SAN ANTONIO.
BUT THIS IS, THIS IS THE PURPOSE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS COMMITTEE WAS SET UP FOR, AND THAT IS TO PILOT SOME OF THESE, UH, TECHNOLOGIES AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN ROLL 'EM OUT, UH, IN A WAY THAT, YOU KNOW, BENEFITS EVERYBODY.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, THANK YOU FELLAS.
UH, REALLY APPRECIATE THE UPDATE.
DID I LEAVE ANYBODY OFF? NO, IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT.
WHAT ELSE DO YOU GOT, COUNCILMAN?
[3. 21-3923 Briefing by Public Works Department on Fiber Deployment occurring in San Antonio. [Roderick Sanchez, Assistant City Manager; Razi Hosseini, Director, Public Works]]
UH, THE SECOND ITEM IS AN UPDATE FROM PUBLIC WORKS, AGAIN ON FIBER DEPLOYMENT.UM, IN SAN ANTONIO, WE HAVE, UH, BOTH RAZZI AND MARCUS HAMMER HERE TO PROVIDE THAT UPDATE.
I THINK I'M OFF OF MUTE, AND, UH, THE, EVERYTHING'S UP.
WELL, WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE, UH, THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE AND, UH, PROVIDE ANOTHER UPDATE.
I BELIEVE THE LAST TIME WE CAME, UH, TO THE COMMITTEE WAS BACK IN 2017.
UH, SO HOPEFULLY, UM, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE QUITE A BIT OF, UH, DIFFERENT FROM WHERE THINGS WERE IN 2017 TO TODAY.
BUT JUST FROM A HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND JUST KIND OF HOW THIS ALL EVOLVED, UM, YOU KNOW, REALLY BACK IN 2014 WAS KIND OF THE BEGINNING OF THIS INITIATIVE WHERE GOOGLE KIND OF ANNOUNCED SAN ANTONIO AS A POTENTIAL FIBER CITY, UM, AND A DEPLOYMENT HERE.
AND REALLY AS, AS THAT STARTED TO ROLL OUT, YOU KNOW, IN 2015, BOTH GOOGLE AND AT T ANNOUNCED, UH, THAT THEY WOULD ACTUALLY COME TO, TO SAN ANTONIO AND, UH, ROLL OUT THEIR GIGABIT FIBER SERVICES.
AND, UM, IN 2015, UH, AT T JUMPED OUT AND STARTED THAT FIBER DEPLOYMENT.
AND THEN IN 2016, THAT'S WHEN WE SAW GOOGLE BEGAN TO DO THEIR, THEIR ROLLOUT.
UM, IN ADDITION, WE HAD, UH, CONT AND ZAO JUMP IN THE MIX, UH, PROVIDING FIBER IN SAN ANTONIO AS WELL.
UH, AND THEN REALLY TO KIND OF KEEP UP WITH THAT DEPLOYMENT AND THE NUMBER OF PERMITS THAT WERE BEING ISSUED, UH, A FIBER DEPLOYMENT TEAM WAS CREATED THAT HAD 14, UH, POSITIONS THAT WAS REALLY, UH, FROM AN ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSE FOR, UH, APPROVING PERMITS AND ALSO INSPECTING CITY PROPERTY TO ENSURE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, ONCE THE TELECOMS WERE COMPLETE, A CITY PROPERTY OR PROPERTY WAS RESTORED TO EXISTING CONDITION.
UM, IN ADDITION, ANOTHER BIG MILESTONE WAS THAT THE REQUEST OF GOOGLE, UH, CITY COUNCIL APPROVED MICRO TRENCHING, WHICH WAS AN, AN ALTERNATE TECHNIQUE, UH, AND HAS BEEN USED, UH, WIDELY, WHICH WILL SHOW A LITTLE BIT LATER IN THE PRESENTATION.
AND THEN REALLY, YOU KNOW, THINGS JUST KIND OF TO CONTINUE TO ROLL OUT.
BETWEEN 2017 AND 2021, WE HAD A NUMBER OF OTHER, UH, AGENCIES KIND OF COME INTO THE MIX, UM, AND JUST PIPER CONTINUED TO BE DEPLOYED.
AND FROM A, A LARGE SCALE PERMITTING PERSPECTIVE, THIS IS THE DATA THAT WE, WE CAN REALLY KIND OF SHOW.
UM, IT IS, IF YOU LOOK AT IT FROM A HISTORICAL CONTEXT, IT'S REALLY ROUGHLY ABOUT 500 PERMITS PER YEAR ON AVERAGE, IS KIND OF WHAT WE'VE SEEN.
UM, EXCLUDING 19, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A DIP, BUT, UH, I THINK BIG PICTURE, YOU KNOW, IT IS KIND OF, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO REALLY EXPLAIN, YOU KNOW, FROM A, A NUMBERS PERSPECTIVE BECAUSE, UH, EACH PERMIT IS, IS PERMITTED INDEPENDENTLY.
YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY ALL VARY IN SIZE.
THEY, THEY, THEY VARY IN, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW THEY'RE ACTUALLY PERMITTED FROM, FROM A ENCOMPASSING STANDPOINT.
BUT YOU CAN KIND OF SEE FROM, FROM A LARGE SCALE PERSPECTIVE, AT T WAS REALLY ROLLING OUT, UH, EARLY, LIKE WE SAID IN 15 AND GOING THROUGH THROUGH 18.
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SO IN TOTAL THEY'VE, THEY'VE HAD ABOUT 750 PERMITS, AND THEY'VE, THEY'VE REALLY COMPLETED WHAT THEIR ORIGINAL PLAN HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.UH, THE SAME WITH CONT, UH, CROWN CASTLE, FIBERLIGHT, UH, GOOGLE, YOU CAN SEE IN 2020, THEY REALLY RAMPED UP.
UM, AND, AND, AND MOVING FORWARD TO IN, IN 2021.
TO DATE, WE REALLY DON'T KNOW, UH, WHAT THEIR ANTICIPATED COMPLETION DATE IS, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THEY HAVE A LOT OF ACTIVE PERMITS STILL IN THE RIGHT OF WAY.
UM, LEVEL THREE M C I METRO, WHICH IS VERIZON.
UH, THEY'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK KIND OF FROM THE PERMITTING STANDPOINT, UH, OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS.
SAME WITH UNITED PRIVATE NETWORK.
UM, AND THEN JUST KIND OF GOING DOWN THROUGH ZAO.
THEY'VE REALLY BEEN KIND OF CONSISTENT OVER THE LAST FIVE, SIX YEARS FOR TOTAL, REALLY, OF OVER 2,500 PERMITS.
SO A LOT OF PERMITTING AND WORK OCCURRING OVER THE LAST, YOU KNOW, FIVE, SIX YEARS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND, UH, SO HERE'S AT T FIBER, UM, YOU KNOW, THEIR ORIGINAL BUILD WHEN THEY FIRST STARTED AND WHEN WE, THEY WERE TALKING WITH US WAS, YOU KNOW, TO TRY TO COMPLETE 2000 MILES OF FIBER HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND TO DATE, THEY'VE EXCEEDED THAT.
THEY'VE ACTUALLY, UH, INSTALLED OVER 3,200 MILES OF FIBER, UM, WITH AN ANTICIPATED A HUNDRED ADDITIONAL A HUNDRED MILES HERE IN 2021.
AND, AND OVER TO THE RIGHT, I JUST WANT TO KIND OF POINT OUT SOME OF WHAT WE SEE FROM A TRADITIONAL STANDPOINT, RIGHT? THIS IS WHAT WE CONSIDER OPEN TRENCH CONSTRUCTION.
UH, YOU CAN SEE THE, THE SPOILS AND THE MATERIAL AND THE, THE, THE CONDUIT, UH, DOWN THE TRENCH.
UH, THIS IS WHAT WE CALL BORING, WHERE THEY BORE UNDERNEATH THE GROUND ROUGHLY 36 INCHES AND THEN PULL BACK THE CONDUIT.
SO ESSENTIALLY THEY PULL THAT UP, IT POPS UP AND PULL THE CONDUIT BACK SO THEY CAN INSTALL THEIR FIBER IN THERE.
AND THEN THIS IS JUST WHAT WE CONSIDER A VAULT WHERE THEY PUT SOME OF THEIR EQUIPMENT AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE, LIKE THAT INTO THOSE.
BUT, UM, BUT OVERALL, YEAH, THEY'VE BEEN DEPLOYING CITYWIDE, UH, OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS AT A PRETTY LARGE SCALE.
UH, RA, THEY CAME IN EARLY ON, THEY, THEY COMPLETED 140 MILES, UH, PRIMARILY IN COUNCIL DISTRICT 4, 5, 6, 7, AND EIGHT.
UM, AND THIS WAS FOR, UH, AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, N I S D AND EDGEWOOD I S D.
BUT, UH, AND, UH, AS FAR AS GOOGLE FIBER, UH, THEY CAME IN, UH, ANTICIPATING TO INSTALL, YOU KNOW, ROUGHLY 4,000 MILES OF FIBER HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
UH, TO DATE, THEY KNOW THEY'VE DONE ABOUT 120 MILES OF A FIBER BACKBONE, AND THEN OVER 1500 MILES OF, UH, MICRO-TRENCHING THROUGHOUT ALL THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS, UH, HERE IN SAN ANTONIO WITH, UH, ROUGHLY 43 MILES ANTICIPATED IN ADDITION FOR 2021.
AND, UH, AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY'VE BEEN A LOT IN, UH, YOU KNOW, 1, 2, 4, 6 HEAVY ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE, AND THEY'RE IN EIGHT AND NINE NOW.
SO, UH, DISTRICT TWO OVER HERE ON THE EAST SIDE, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE DEFINITELY GETTING A LOT, MUCH LARGER FOOTPRINT HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, AND THEN HERE'S A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MICRO-TRENCHING.
I KNOW THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, THAT IT IS BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE INNOVATIVE AND USED AS FAR AS THEIR DEPLOYMENT, BUT, UH, THEY, THEY ESSENTIALLY SAW CUT ABOUT AN INCH WIDE IN THE ASPHALT AND THEN USED THE, THE CONCRETE JOINTS AND GET BEHIND THE CURB TO THE HOMES.
AND THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE REALLY FROM A RESTORATION STANDPOINT.
THEY COME BACK WITH A CONTROLLED LOW STRENGTH MATERIAL, UH, IN THAT, THAT TRENCH, AND THEN THEY, ONCE IT CURES, YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THE FINAL PRODUCT ONCE IT DRIES, AND THEN THEY DO, UH, A SEALANT OVER THE TOP OF THAT TO ENSURE NO WATER PENETRATES THAT SMALL, THAT SMALL TRENCH.
BUT, UH, IT IS BEEN QUITE SUCCESSFUL HERE IN SAN ANTONIO WITH OVER 1500 MILES BEING DEPLOYED SO FAR TO DATE.
UM, THIS IS M C I METRO OR VERIZON.
THEY'VE ACTUALLY HAD 700 PLUS MILES OF FIBER DEPLOYED, UH, PLANNED FOR THEIR DEPLOYMENT HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
TO DATE, THEY'VE DONE A LITTLE OVER 250 MILES OF THAT, UH, AND THEY'RE ANTICIPATING ABOUT ANOTHER 85 TO GO IN THROUGHOUT THIS YEAR.
AND FROM THE PERMITTING, FROM WHAT WE CAN SEE, THEY'VE REALLY KIND OF BEEN ON A CITYWIDE SCALE AS WELL.
UM, SO IT IS, THEY'VE KIND OF BEEN, UH, HEAVILY DEPLOYING OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS AS, AS THE PERMITS WERE SHOWING.
UH, UNITE PRIVATE NETWORK IS ANOTHER GROUP.
200 MILES OF FIBER WAS PLANNED.
THEY'VE DONE MORE THAN THAT, UH, WITH 13 ANTICIPATED MILES TO GO HERE IN THE CITY, UM, WITH THE CITYWIDE DEPLOYMENT REALLY FROM, UH, THE NORTH TO SOUTH SIDE.
AND THEN ZAYO IS, IS ZEO, IS, IS, UH, ONE OF THE GROUPS THAT'S BEEN HERE AND WE'VE WORKED WITH KIND OF THROUGHOUT THE LAST SIX YEARS.
AND IT'S INTERESTING THAT THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY'VE BEEN A GREAT PARTNER.
AND AS FAR AS BEING ABLE, WANTING TO SHARE WITH US AND SHOW US KIND OF LIKE WHAT A NETWORK LOOKS LIKE WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING OUTSIDE OF SAN ANTONIO, UM, THIS IS KIND OF, THEY'RE BUILDING, REALLY DOING A REGIONAL BUILD, RIGHT?
[00:30:01]
AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS, THEY'VE GONE ALL THE WAY FROM AUSTIN ALL THE WAY DOWN INTO BROWNSVILLE.UH, AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW THIS IS BEING ROLLED OUT AND DEPLOYED, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE CONNECTED OVER, UM, I THINK IT WAS, YOU KNOW, 650 WIRELESS TOWERS AND SMALL SALES.
YOU KNOW, THEY'VE DONE OVER 250 PLUS SCHOOL, UH, SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ACROSS 15 DIFFERENT DISTRICTS.
UM, YOU KNOW, CONNECTING ENTERPRISE BUSINESSES, LARGE DATA CENTERS, YOU KNOW, CUSTOMERS LIKE THAT.
AND THAT CAN BE SAID FOR A LOT OF THOSE DIFFERENT AGENCIES THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT BETWEEN, UH, THE RAS, M C I, METROS, UH, ZEOS, THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALL KIND OF WORKING TO PRODUCE THIS LARGER CONNECTED NETWORK.
UM, AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN GREAT TO SEE THAT KIND OF ROLLOUT FROM A PERMITTING STANDPOINT, BUT AS WE LOOK AT KIND OF LESSONS LEARNED AND THINGS THAT WE'VE IMPLEMENTED, I THINK FOR THE COMMUNITY, WE'VE, WE'VE REALLY KIND OF FOUND THAT THE OUTREACH AND THE, AND THE COMMUNICATION GOES A LONG WAYS.
AND SO WHAT WE DID WAS WE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTED A 30 DAY NOTIFICATION PROCESS WHERE WE'LL NOTIFY CITY COUNCIL, UH, STAFF, KIND OF LIKE, OF WHAT PERMIT MAY BE COMING THEIR WAY, SO THEY CAN EXPECT TO SEE THAT CONSTRUCTION KIND OF COMING FORTH, AND THEY CAN LET THE COMMUNITY KNOW.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO THE SEVEN DAYS PRIOR, WE DO THE ELECTRONIC MESSAGE BOARDS, UM, FOR ANYTHING THAT WE WOULD HAVE FOR ROAD ROAD CLOSURES ON IMPACTED ARTERIALS AND COLLECTORS, AND THEN OF COURSE WE DO, THEY, THE, THE CONTRACTORS ARE DOING DOOR HANGERS OUT THERE THREE DAYS IN ADVANCE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RESIDENTS ARE AWARE OF THE CONSTRUCTION.
UM, AND IN ADDITION, YOU KNOW, WE REALLY FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HAVE SOME SIGN, SOME CONSTRUCTION SIGNAGE OUT THERE, KIND OF LIKE A BOND PROJECT SIGN OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THAT INFORMS THE COMMUNITY OF WHAT, WHAT WORKS ACTUALLY GOING ON OUT THERE.
SO PROJECT TYPES, UTILITY CONTRACTOR, AND JUST A POINT OF CONTACT FOR THE, THE CITIZENS TO CALL AND, AND, UH, GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT A PROJECT THAT MAY BE IN THEIR AREA.
UM, AND SAME THING WITH IDENTIFICATION ON THE, ON THE ACTUAL CONTRACTORS DOING WORK.
AND SO HERE'S THE, THE EXAMPLES OF, OF WHAT YOU WOULD KIND OF SEE FROM A CONSTRUCTION SIGN THAT'S OUT IN THE, IN THE FIELD TO BADGES OR LOGOS ON HARD HATS AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT CAN HELP IDENTIFY THE CONTRACTORS DOING WORK HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
IN ADDITION, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'VE, WE, WE'VE KIND OF DONE, WE DID WAS, UH, TO HELP THE COMMUNITY BE AWARE AND TO BE ABLE TO REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW TO, WHAT WAS COMING THEIR WAY.
WE BUILT A, A, A WEBSITE WITH A WEBPAGE TO KIND OF GIVE AN OVERVIEW ABOUT, UM, WHAT FIBER DEPLOYMENT WAS, YOU KNOW, HOW TO FILE A CLAIM IF SOMEBODY HAD AN ISSUE THAT WAS BEING UNRESOLVED, UM, IN THE, IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, WHICH MAY BE IN THEIR YARD, UM, CONSTRUCTION FROM WHAT TO EXPECT UPDATES, AND JUST CONTACTS FROM EACH OF THE, THE FIBER GROUPS SO THEY COULD, THEY COULD REACH OUT AND, AND TALK TO THEM ABOUT CERTAIN ISSUES THEY MAY BE HAVING, UM, OR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT A PROJECT.
UH, AND REALLY FROM A LARGE SCALE PERSPECTIVE, I THINK FROM AN ACCOMPLISHMENT STANDPOINT, TO DATE, FROM A CITY PERSPECTIVE, WE'VE ISSUED OVER 2,500 PERMITS, WHICH IS, IS QUITE A BIT, AND OVER 6,200 MILES OF FIBER HAS BEEN INSTALLED TO DATE.
UH, AND SO IF YOU KIND OF JUST OVERLAY EVERYTHING ONTO A MAP, THIS IS REALLY WHAT THE FIBER LOOKS LIKE, UM, THAT'S BEEN DEPLOYED WITHIN SAN ANTONIO.
SO A LARGE SCALE FOOTPRINT FROM A CITYWIDE PERSPECTIVE HAS BEEN, HAS REALLY OCCURRED.
AND, AND PART OF THIS AS WELL, UH, FROM A CITY PERSPECTIVE IN 2017, UH, WE HAD, UH, SB 10 0 4, WHICH WAS, UH, KIND OF IMPLEMENTED, WHICH WAS SMALL CELL REGULATION AND KIND OF PUT, YOU KNOW, UH, PERMITTING FROM THE CITY STANDPOINT, THE, THE, THE RIGHT OF WAY.
FIBER DEPLOYMENT TEAM ALSO PICKED THAT UP, WHICH IS KIND OF IT, IT'S NICE BECAUSE WE, WE PERMIT THAT.
SO WE CAN ALSO SHOW, YOU KNOW, THE OVERLAY OF HOW MANY SMALL CELLS, OVER 1200 SMALL CELLS THAT HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED, AND ROUGHLY ABOUT A THOUSAND THAT HAVE BEEN CONSTRUCTED, WHICH KIND OF HELP, UH, INCREASE THE SERVICES THAT ARE PROVIDED BY THE PROVIDERS, UM, HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
SO, UH, I THINK FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE, IT, IT CAN KIND OF GOES TO SHOW THAT THERE'S BEEN A LARGE SCALE DEPLOYMENT THAT'S OCCURRED IN SAN ANTONIO OVER THE LAST REALLY FIVE YEARS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND IT'S NICE TO BE ABLE TO SHOW THE PERMITTING AND, UH, I THINK THE, THE ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT'S KIND OF COME FROM THE PROVIDERS AND THE PERMITTING FROM THE CITY FROM THAT STANDPOINT.
UM, AND WITH THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S REALLY THE PRESENTATION, UH, FOR, FOR PUBLIC WORKS ON THIS.
AND, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO LET EVERYBODY KNOW THAT WE DO HAVE, UH, GRACIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, WE'VE HAD SOME OF THE TELECOMS VOLUNTARILY, UH, BE HERE.
SO WE'VE GOT AT AND T WE'VE GOT REPS FROM GOOGLE, M C I, METRO, VERIZON UNITE PRIVATE NETWORK, AND ZAO, UH, HERE WITH US TODAY.
SO WITH THAT, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE FROM A PERMITTING STANDPOINT OR, UM, AT&T OR THE OTHER REPS FROM THE TELECOMS, UM, CAN ALSO HELP ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT SERVICES OR DEPLOYMENT.
[00:35:01]
ORDER, LET'S, UH, LET'S HEAR FROM, UH, COUNCILMAN JOHN.ANY QUESTIONS, SIR? MORE COMMENTS THAN QUESTIONS, AND I'D JUST BE RELATING THE COMMENTS FROM THE PEOPLE IN OUR, OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, AND I WOULD SAY MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN MY COMMUNITY HAVE VOICED A LOT OF DISPLEASURE AT THE, THE QUALITY AND THE WAY THAT WORK HAS BEEN PROVIDED, UH, IN, IN PUTTING IN THE FIBER ALMOST EVERYWHERE THAT I HEAR IN DISTRICT NINE.
UH, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I'VE NEVER HAD ANYONE COME UP TO ME AND SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, THEY DID A REALLY GOOD JOB LAYING THAT, UH, BY MY HOUSE OR ON MY STREET.
WHAT I DO HERE IS THEY'RE NOT DOING A VERY GOOD JOB, OR THEY'RE NOT COMING OUT AND TELLING US AT ALL.
NOW I HEAR THAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO GIVE THREE DAY PRIOR.
WELL, I DON'T KNOW HOW OUR INSPECTORS ARE CHECKING THAT, BUT I'VE HEARD NUMEROUS TIMES THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T GET ANY KIND OF NOTICE IN ADVANCE.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF THREE DAYS IS ENOUGH.
UH, YOU KNOW, IF, IF SOMEBODY IS, IS GOING TO BE, UH, GOING SOMEWHERE FOR A WEEKEND, THEY MAY NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU'RE COMING BY AND TELLING THEM THEY GOTTA MOVE THEIR CAR BECAUSE IT'S AN OKAY OF SOME OF THE WORK THEY'RE GONNA DO OR, OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UM, SO A A LOT OF TIMES THE WORK THAT'S BEEN LEFT BEHIND IS, IS POORLY CLEANED UP.
UH, AND I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD OF THE COMPLAINTS THAT, UH, IN SOME CASES, UH, PEOPLE'S, UH, LAWN SPRINKLER SYSTEM WAS CUT OPEN, UH, BY THIS, UH, I'VE HEARD COMPLAINTS FROM PEOPLE WHO SAY, WELL, THEY COME IN AND THEY PAINT UP THE STREET TO DO ALL THIS, AND THEN THEY DON'T CLEAN UP THE PAINT AFTER THEY'RE FINISHED.
SO, YOU KNOW, I'M, I JUST HEAR A LOT MORE COMPLAINTS THAN I DO GOOD THINGS ABOUT HOW THIS WHOLE PROCESS IS WORKING.
SO I'M JUST RELATING TO YOU WHAT I HEAR AND WHAT MY OFFICE HAS TO RESPOND TO.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD COMMUNITIES THAT SAY, WE DON'T WANT GOOGLE.
AND SO WE'VE GONE BACK AND FORTH AND BACK AND FORTH, AND FINALLY GOOGLE HAS SAID, OKAY, WE'RE, WE WON'T GO ANY IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, OR WE WON'T GO THIS WAY, WE'LL GO A DIFFERENT WAY.
UM, SO I, I THINK THEIR WORK IS CUT OUT FOR THEM TO REALLY PROVIDE CUSTOMER SERVICE THE WAY PEOPLE IN MY COMMUNITY EXPECT IT.
UM, ZY, UH, DO YOU WANNA UNPACK THAT A LITTLE BIT? REACT TO THAT? YEAH, CONSTANT, MAN, ONE OF THE REASON THREE DAYS, BECAUSE AS WE, AS MARCUS SHOWS, CAN YOU PLOP THAT SLIDE? HOW MANY TIMES WE PROVIDE NOTIFICATION, MARCUS CAN, CAN YOU EVERYBODY SEE THAT SLIDE? YEAH.
I, I THINK CONSTANT, MA'AM, ONE OF THE CHALLENGE WE HAVE, IF WE PROVIDE THEM A NOTIFICATION TOO EARLY, MANY TIMES PEOPLE END UP FORGETTING THAT THAT'S THE REASON WE REALLY HAVE BEEN DECIDED MAYBE THREE DAYS IS GOOD ENOUGH.
AND IF IT'S NOT, WE CAN DO FIVE DAYS OR SIX DAYS BEFORE I UNDERSTAND THE CONCERN.
SOMETIME LONG WEEKEND, MAYBE PEOPLE IS GONE, BUT IF WE GIVE THEM NOTES AGAIN TOO EARLY, MANY TIME THEY END UP FORGETTING THE GOOGLE OR SOME OTHER PROVIDERS GOING TO BE ON THEIR STREETS.
RAZZY, I, I, I GUESS YOU SEND THIS NOTIFICATION, UH, TO CITY COUNCIL AND MAYBE IT GOES TO ONE OF MY STAFF MEMBERS, BUT I HAVE NEVER PERSONALLY GOTTEN, GOTTEN A NOTIFICATION THAT THEY WERE GONNA DO ANYTHING IN MY DISTRICT.
MAYBE YOU SEND IT TO OUR CHIEF OF STAFF, MAYBE HE GETS IT OR MAYBE HE DOESN'T.
MARCUS, WHO DO WE SEND FROM COUNCIL'S OFFICE? YES, SIR.
SO IN IN COUNCILMAN'S COURAGE CASE, UH, WE ACTUALLY SEND IT TO, TO DEREK ROBERTS, HIS CHIEF OF STAFF, SO ALL THE, WHAT WE CALL T PUBLIC INFORMATION FORMS, THEY GO TO, TO DEREK.
WELL, I'D LIKE IT SENT TO ME TOO, BUT I, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF DEREK'S GETTING 'EM.
HE'S NOT ON THE LINE TO, TO VALIDATE THAT.
BUT, UH, ANYWAY, GO AHEAD AND CONTINUE REGARDING THE KEEPING THE SITE CLEAN AFTER IT IS BAD ITEM, MARCUS, AS AN INSPECTOR, WE ALWAYS GO DRIVE THE PROJECT SITE AND MAKE SURE IT IS IN GOOD SHAPE.
AND IF IT IS NOT, WE NEED TO KNOW THAT ONE AND MAKE SURE WE CAN FOLLOW OFF WITH THE GOOGLE OR IT, YOU OR WHOEVER'S LIVING THE SIDE, THEY, THEY'RE NOT CLEAN, IS THE KIND OF PAINT THEY USE TO MARK CERTAIN PLACES.
SUPPOSED TO BE THE KIND THAT'LL JUST WASH AWAY AFTER A GOOD RAIN OR, BECAUSE I, I'VE SEEN IT AND IT, THEY SAID THEY WERE OUT HERE MONTHS AGO AND IT'S STILL BLUE PAINTED ON MY SIDEWALK OR DRIVEWAY.
MARCUS, THOSE PAINTS SUPPOSED TO BE TEMPORARY, NOT PERMANENT, NOT LESS FOREVER, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
[00:40:01]
THEY SHOULD BE WATER-BASED PAINTS.AND, AND IF YOU'RE, IF, IF, IF CITIZENS ARE HAVING ISSUES WITH THINGS LIKE THAT SPECIFICALLY IN THEIR AREAS OR IN THEIR RESIDENTIAL AREAS THAT AREN'T COMING CLEAN, A LOT OF TIMES WE CAN WORK WITH THE CONTRACTOR TO GO BACK AND POWER WASH THAT AND, AND GET THAT OFFER FOR THE RESIDENT.
SO IF, IF AT ANY POINT, IF, IF YOU'RE HEARING THESE OR STAFF'S HAVING THESE COMPLAINTS, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY LET US KNOW BECAUSE WE HAVE INSPECTORS THAT CAN COME OUT AND HELP THE COMMUNITY WITH THESE TYPES OF CONCERNS.
UH, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO HAVE ALL THAT INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT, TO ME PERSONALLY, AND I'LL MAKE SURE I GET IT TO MY STAFF.
UM, MR. GARRETT, ANY QUESTIONS? NOPE, NONE HERE.
UM, MR. COUNCILMAN TREVINO, UH, THANK YOU CHAIR.
AND REALLY JUST TO COMMENT, UH, WE'VE, WE'VE ACTUALLY HAD A GOOD EXPERIENCE AND, UH, WE, WE KNOW THERE'S GONNA BE SOME, SOME ISSUES LIKE, LIKE THERE ARE USUALLY WITH CONSTRUCTION, BUT, UM, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT'D BE HELPFUL IF WE COULD PUT, YOU KNOW, WHERE SOMEBODY CAN CALL, YOU KNOW, AND SOME SIGNAGE THAT WHEN THERE'S ISSUES, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, THEY CAN CALL THE NUMBER AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY WILL TEND TO IT.
UH, BUT, BUT YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO APPRECIATE THE KIND OF THE HEADS UP.
UH, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ADJUST A FEW THINGS HERE THERE, AND THAT'S ALMOST ALWAYS, UH, RESOLVED THE ISSUE, UH, IN TERMS OF, OF, UH, THE INSTALLATION.
BUT I, I THINK WE'VE HAD, UM, A LOT OF SUCCESS AND APPRECIATE THE, THE, THE INSTALLATION COMING INTO, INTO OUR DISTRICT, ESPECIALLY OUR, OUR MOST VULNERABLE AREAS.
I, I THINK, COUNCILMAN, YOU HAVE A GOOD POINT, MARCUS.
IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY PHONE NUMBER, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE EVERY OF THOSE, UH, CONTRACTOR NEEDS TO PROVIDE SOME PHONE NUMBER IF THERE IS ANY ISSUE, AND THE PHONE NUMBER REALLY SHOULD BE OUR NUMBER, NOT THE CONTRACTOR.
MAKE SURE THE ISSUE IS NOT GETTING IGNORED.
ANDREW SULLIVAN, THANK YOU, CHAIR.
AND, AND JUST TO KIND OF, UH, CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION THAT COUNCILMAN COURAGE WAS HAVING, UM, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS SOME GOOGLE FIBER LAID, UM, OVER ON THE NORTHEAST AREA OF DISTRICT TWO, BUT WHAT WE HAVE FOUND OUT IS THAT THE FOLLOW UP WORK OR THE SEALANT IS REALLY CAUSING MORE DAMAGE TO THE STREET AND TO THE SIDEWALKS AND TO THE CURBS.
AND SO I WANTED TO KNOW HOW ARE WE DOING THOSE FOLLOW UPS WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, THE FINISHED PRODUCT? BECAUSE THERE ARE SEVERAL STREETS WHERE YOU CAN STILL TELL WHERE IT WAS CUT.
UM, SOME OF THE CEILING IS PEELING UP, AND SO WANTED TO KNOW WHAT ARE WE DOING TO TRULY FOLLOW UP ONCE IT'S COMPLETE, IF WE RECEIVE A NOTIFICATION.
SO IF, IF, IF WE RECEIVE NOTIFICATION, WE CAN DEFINITELY GO OUT THERE AND INSPECT THAT.
SO THE, THE GENERAL RULE FOR ALL OF THESE CONTRACTORS ARE THEY OWN THESE TRENCHES FOR LIFE.
SO IF THERE'S A CEILING THAT'S COMING OFF AND ANYBODY HAS, UH, AWARENESS OF THAT, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
WE CAN GO BACK OUT THERE AND WE CAN COORDINATE WITH THE AT T, GOOGLES, ZEO, WHOEVER WILL BE RIGHT, AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE RESTORING THAT, UM, BACK TO AN A, A, A PROPER CONDITION.
I'LL GET THOSE ADDRESSES OVER TO YOU.
UH, UH, DEANNE KUER, SORRY, I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE.
I'VE GOT REALLY BAD ALLERGIES TODAY, SO I MIGHT SNEEZE OR KEEP TOUCHING MY NOSE.
UM, SO I, I WANTED TO ACTUALLY GIVE A COMPLIMENT ABOUT THE COMMUNITY, UM, OUTREACH ENHANCEMENTS.
UH, I THINK THAT, I THINK IT'S GREAT, AND I KNOW THAT THAT'S PART OF THE SOLUTION.
UM, I, I'M NOT A COUNCIL MEMBER, BUT MY NEIGHBORS KNOW I GREW UP WITH AN ENGINEER AS A FATHER, SO I GET PHONE CALLS, UM, WHENEVER THEY SEE PAINT OR CHALK OR, OR SOMETHING, BECAUSE I THINK I HAVE ALL THE, UM, THE, UM, AND I, UM, I THINK THAT IT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT THIS WILL ONLY HELP ADD TO CHANGING THE SENTIMENT OF HOW PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT CONSTRUCTION.
AT THE SAME TIME, THIS IS WHAT CONSTITUENTS ARE TELLING US WHAT THEY WANT.
THEY WANT BETTER STREETS, YOU KNOW, BETTER CURVE, BETTER SITE, LIKE BE BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT THEN THAT, THAT INVOLVES CONSTRUCTION.
AND WHEN THE CONSTRUCTION ROLLS IN, YOU KNOW, IT, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE THEY FORGOT THAT, LIKE THAT'S PART OF THE, UM, OF THE COMMUNITY IMPROVING.
SO I DO BELIEVE THAT, UM, THESE CHANGES SEEM REALLY SMALL, BUT I I THINK THAT THEY WILL REALLY CONTRIBUTE TO CHANGING THE SENTIMENT ABOUT CONSTRUCTION FROM NEGATIVE TO POSITIVE.
SO I, I, I THANK YOU FOR THAT.
UM, AND I HAVE A QUESTION SINCE THERE ARE INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS ON THE CALL TODAY.
[00:45:02]
I, I, I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, WHEN I LOOK AT THAT MAP OF FIBER DEPLOYMENT AND I SEE SPOTS THAT ARE DARKER THAN OTHER AREAS OF THE CITY, IT, IT PAINTS A PICTURE.UM, AND WE'RE USING THE, AN EQUITY LENS NOW AS A CITY, UM, ACROSS DEPARTMENTS, OR WE'RE TRYING TO, RIGHT? AND SO I, I THINK MY QUESTION, WHETHER IT'S FOR CITY STAFF OR THE ISPS, IS LIKE, WHAT WOULD COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO REPRESENT ALL 10 DISTRICTS NEED TO DO? LIKE, WHAT WOULD THEY NEED TO DO TO ADVOCATE TO, UM, TO INCREASE DEPLOYMENT IN ALL THEIR DISTRICTS? BECAUSE HEARING A COUNCIL MEMBER JUST NOW SAY LIKE, A COMMUNITY MEMBER TOLD THEM WHY DON'T WANT GOOGLE, AND THEN GOOGLE DIDN'T COME, LIKE, EVEN IF I DIDN'T KNOW THAT I S P WAS GOOGLE, THAT MAY, THAT TELLS ME THAT THERE'S, UM, LIKE, THERE'S SOME SORT OF GAP THAT'S MISSING BETWEEN LIKE ALL OF US AND, AND THE COMMUNITY BE LIKE THAT.
THEY DON'T KNOW THAT MORE SERVICE PROVIDERS LEADS TO LOWER COST INTERNET, RIGHT? UM, THAT IN COMPETITION IS GOOD FOR AFFORDABILITY.
SO TO GO BACK TO MY ORIGINAL QUESTION IS LIKE, WHAT, WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO AS ADVOCATES TO, TO LIKE, AS, WHAT DO COUNCIL MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY ADVOCATES NEED TO DO TO LIKE INCREASE DEPLOYMENT IN OUR COMMUNITIES WHERE IT'S LOW? BRIAN, RIGHT NOW, RAZZI, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE'LL PROBABLY HIT ON IN, IN THE NEXT DECK, BUT I MEAN, I'M GONNA LEAVE THAT TO THE TELECOMS AND ISP BECAUSE I CAN'T SPEAK ON, UH, PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT AND WHERE THEY GO AND WHERE THEY DON'T COUNCILMAN THAT'S REALLY A POLICY ISSUE.
WE DON'T TELL THEM WHERE TO GO AND WHEN TO GO, BUT WE DID DO A MARKET ANALYSIS FOR THEM WITH OUR DIGITAL DIVIDE ASSESSMENT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO REMIND EVERYBODY THAT
SO I MEAN, THAT, THAT, THAT ANSWERS DEANNE'S QUESTION THAT'S GONNA, THAT THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER THAT'S GONNA MAKE HER HAPPY
UH, JOHN MICHAEL CORTEZ, I'M THE GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS AND MANAGER FOR GOOGLE FIBER IN SAN ANTONIO.
IT'S GOOD TO, TO SEE AND MEET MANY OF Y'ALL FOR THE FIRST TIME, VIRTUALLY.
I'M, I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE AND APPRECIATE THE INVITE FROM, UH, MARCUS AND THE PUBLIC WORKS TEAM.
UH, I, I WOULD JUST SAY FOR OUR PART, UM, YOU KNOW, AS YOU, YOU SAW FROM THE FIBER DEPLOYMENT STATS THAT, UH, MARCUS AND HIS TEAM HAD PULLED TOGETHER, WE HAVE ACCELERATED OUR, OUR DEPLOYMENT, UH, OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, ALL INDICATIONS ARE WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT.
UH, WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO ACCELERATE, UH, OUR BUILD AND OUR DEPLOYMENT AS WE WORK OUR WAY TO, UH, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY THE ENTIRE, UH, COMMUNITY, UH, OVER TIME.
UH, I'M FAIRLY NEW TO FIBER, BUT YOU KNOW, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WHEN WE FIRST CAME TO THE CITY, WE WERE VERY INTENTIONAL ABOUT WHERE WE STARTED OUR BUILD, UH, ON THE WEST IN OR WEST SIDE OF SAN ANTONIO.
AND, AND, UH, AS, UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER MENTIONED IN THE, UH, EAST NORTHEAST PART OF TOWN, WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE STILL GAPS, AT LEAST IN, IN OUR, UH, PART OF, UH, OF THE COVERAGE.
AND, UH, WE'RE VERY MINDFUL OF THAT.
UH, NATIONALLY, WE HAVE A GOAL OF ENSURING THAT AS WE PLAN OUR BUILD, CERTAINLY WE HAVE TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WE HAVE, UH, UH, MARKET REQUIREMENTS, BUT WE'RE VERY INTENTIONAL ABOUT ENSURING AS WE PLAN OUR BUILD, THAT WE ARE USING THAT EQUITY LENS, THAT WE ARE FOCUSING, UH, UH, OUR NETWORK ON SERVING THOSE WHO HAVE TRADITIONALLY NOT HAD ACCESS, UH, TO THIS, UH, MEASURE OF, OF BANDWIDTH, THIS, THIS MEASURE OF INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO IT'S SOMETHING WE'RE VERY MINDFUL OF.
AND, YOU KNOW, I I, I WOULD JUST SAY AS FAR AS WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO ADVOCATE FOR THAT, WE'RE ALREADY SOLD ON IT.
WE KNOW THAT THAT'S IMPORTANT, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT.
BUT IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS, UH, IF YOU HAVE, UH, PRIORITIES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE ADDRESSED, UH, WE'RE, UH, OPEN, WE'RE LISTENING WITH OPEN EARS ON THAT.
I, I, I MEAN, I, I'M EXCITED ABOUT THE, THE, THE NEXT DECK BECAUSE I THINK WE ARE GOING IN, IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
AND, AND I ALSO JUST, I REALLY VALUE ISPS SHOWING UP TO THESE MEETINGS.
I KNOW THEY CAN'T MAKE ALL OF THEM, UM, BUT THE ONES THAT THEY CAN, I THINK MEANS A LOT TO THE COMMUNITY THAT TUNES IN TO LISTEN TO THESE CONVERSATIONS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, DIRK ALMANOR.
UH, I MEAN, UH, MY MAIN COMMENT IS I LITERALLY MET WITH A STARTUP HERE IN SAN ANTONIO THIS WEEK CALLED IRIS THAT FOCUSES ON FACILITATING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND DEVELOPERS.
AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT IS THE BIG OPPORTUNITY IN HERE, IS THAT
[00:50:01]
WE WANT THEM TO LAY AS MUCH FIBER AS POSSIBLE, BUT THEY HAVE TO DO BETTER AT COLLECTING FEEDBACK SO THAT YOU DON'T GET JUMPED IN A MEETING LIKE THIS, WHERE, WHERE YOU ONLY HEAR THE COMPLAINTS THAT WE'RE ANGRY ENOUGH TO GET ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS PROCESS.SO I, I HOPE THAT YOU'LL CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR WAYS TO, TO GET FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY KIND OF IN SITU SO THAT WE CAN GET A LOT MORE FIBER ROLLED OUT BECAUSE, UH, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW ON THIS COMMITTEE, MORE INTERNET IS ALWAYS BETTER IN MY BOOK.
UM, FOLKS, I, MY QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED.
UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BRINGING THIS TO US.
THANKS FOR GOOGLE FIBER FOR BEING HERE.
DO WE HAVE ANOTHER I S P ONLINE CHAIRMAN? DO A ERS FROM ZAO? YEAH.
I'M SORRY, WHO WAS THAT? Y'ALL WERE TALKING OVER EACH OTHER? CHAIRMAN, THAT'S ALAN EP FROM ZAO.
I, I BELIEVE THERE'S OTHER REPRESENTATIVES.
I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD IF YOU COULD HEAR FROM THEM IF THEY'RE WILLING.
YEAH, I, I DO WANT TO THAT THE, UH, ALAN, UM, YOU, YOU'VE HEARD SOME PRETTY INTERESTING COMMENTS HERE, UM, AND I WANT TO GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO WEIGH IN AND, AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
I APPRECIATE THE, THE TIME, UM, AND, UH, SWAP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT FOR, UH, THE SAN ANTONIO, AUSTIN MARKETS.
UM, I DEFINITELY APPRECIATE THE, THE INVITES, AND I THINK REALLY TO KIND OF, UH, TALK ABOUT DEANNE, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TOUCH ON YOUR, UH, YOUR POINT WAS THAT MORE OF THESE, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I'D LOVE TO BE INVOLVED IN ALL OF 'EM AND, AND HAVE MORE FACE-TO-FACE AND, UH, REALLY JUST SEE WHERE THE NEEDS ARE.
UM, UH, ZALE DEFINITELY, UH, IS WANTING TO BUILD EVERYWHERE AS, UH, YOU KNOW, MR. CORTEZ, UH, YOU KNOW, THE INTENT IS TO PRETTY MUCH SERVE EVERYONE.
UH, BUT DEFINITELY I THINK JUST MORE, UH, MORE MEETINGS, MORE INSIGHT, UH, WHAT THE GOALS ARE WITH SAN ANTONIO.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAPPY TO, HAPPY TO MEET ANY TIME AND, UH, AND HEAR, HEAR WHERE YOU GUYS NEED, UH, SERVICES AND, AND HIT 'EM.
AND THEN DID, DID I HEAR CORRECTLY, WE HAVE ANOTHER REPRESENTATIVE FROM ONE OF THE IPS? THIS IS PATTY LARSSON FROM AT&T.
OH, PATTY LARSSON, ONE OF MY FAVORITE REPRESENTATIVES.
I, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU.
UM, AT AND T CONTINUES TO EVALUATE ALL OF OUR PLANS AND PROJECTIONS, AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY, WITH MARCUS.
AND THE PERMITTING HAS GONE VERY, VERY WELL.
AND, UH, OUR PLANS AND PROJECTIONS ARE, ARE MOVING FORWARD.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF OUR ISPS? HEY, PATTY, THIS IS ROBERT SCALLOP PINO.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING FOR SAN ANTONIO AS WELL.
AND I'D JUST LIKE TO ECHO, UH, YOU, EVERYBODY ON THIS CALL IS JUST A GREAT TEAM MEMBER.
WE GET INVESTMENTS COMING THIS WAY.
UM, DEANNE, I THINK YOU BREAK UP SOME GOOD POINTS.
SO HOW DO WE SIT DOWN TOGETHER AND AS WE GET MORE INVESTMENT, WE'RE BUILDING IN THE PROPER AREAS? I WILL ECHO WITH A GENTLEMAN WITH GOOGLE, SAID A LOT OF THIS IS TECHNOLOGICALLY IN NATURE, BUT ALSO IT'S KIND OF GROWTH.
SO I DO THINK WE CAN HELP EDUCATE.
YOU KNOW, BROADBAND IS DEFINED AS A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
UH, MEANING, YOU KNOW, THE GOVERNMENT WOULD DEFINE IT AS 25 DOWN, THREE UP.
WE PROBABLY HAVE THAT WITH SOME COPPER, COPPER ARCHITECTURE, BUT OF COURSE, WE'RE DEPLOYING FIBER AS WELL, NOT ONLY TO THE HOME, BUT CONNECTIONS OF CELLULAR AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
SO, UH, WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO HELP GET YOU THE BETTER PICTURE OF WHERE WE'RE GOING.
WE JUST APPRECIATE THE PARTNERSHIP.
UNDERSTAND CONSTRUCTION GETS MESSY AT TIMES, AND THAT'S OUR JOB TO GO RESOLVE IT.
THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY, AND I'LL TRY TO ATTEND AS MANY AS I CAN.
SO, I, I SEE JOHN CURRY'S HAND IS UP, UH, ON, UH, ON THIS WEBEX THING, JOHN IS, NO, THAT WAS JUST YOU WAVING.
SO JUST, I, I WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYBODY HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK THE ISPS, UH, QUESTIONS.
AND SO, UH, UNLESS, UH, DIRK, UH, DIANE WILL, ANY QUESTIONS FOR OUR ISPS? NO, COUNCILWOMAN ANDREWS COUNCILMAN TREVINO.
AND SO, UH, I THINK THAT, UH, I THINK WE'RE SET, WELL WAIT A MINUTE.
I CAN'T, I CAN'T SAY WHEN'S GOOGLE COMING INTO MY NEIGHBORHOOD? I HAVEN'T HEARD THAT.
NORTH CENTRAL SAN ANTONIO, SOON OF 2 81, SOUTH OF 1604.
COUNCIL MEMBER IF YOU'LL SHARE IT, AND I CAN PROBABLY GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA.
UH, UH, I'LL, I'LL REACH OUT TO YOU OFFLINE, BUT, UH, HOPEFULLY THANKS.
UM, SO, UH, BRIAN AND JOHN, I BELIEVE THAT BRINGS US TO, UH, A CONCLUSION OF OUR MEETING.
UNLESS YOU GUYS HAD ANY, UH, OTHER ORNAMENTS TO HANG FROM THE TREE.
[4. 21-3921 Briefing on updates on the City of San Antonio’s Digital Inclusion Efforts to include the Pillar of the Recovery and Resiliency Plan “Connected Beyond the Classroom.” [John Peterek, Assistant to the City Manager; Brian Dillard, Chief Innovation Officer, Office of Innovation]]
ITEM IF THERE'S TIME.[00:55:01]
OKAY.I'LL, I'LL, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO BRIAN.
UH, IT LOOKS LIKE MY INTERNET, UH, CONNECTIVITY IS GOING DOWN A LITTLE BIT RIGHT NOW TOO, SO THAT'LL MAKE ME GO QUICKER.
UM, SO YES, WE DID WANNA PRESENT TWO FINAL THINGS HERE.
UH, ONE, AN UPDATE ON THE CONNECTED BEYOND THE CLASSROOM PROJECT, AND THEN SECONDLY, AN UPDATE ON OUR, UH, DIGITAL INCLUSION ROADMAP EFFORTS.
UM, SO, YEP, AGENDA, NEXT SLIDE.
NEXT ONE'S GONNA BE A RECAP OF WHAT THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF THE CONNECT TO BE ON THE CLASSROOM PROJECT ARE.
UH, I WON'T GO OVER THESE, BUT WE, WE, IF YOU SEE SOME INFORMATION ON HERE THAT YOU'VE ALREADY SEEN, WHAT WE'D LIKE TO DO IS PUT THIS IN HERE FOR CONTEXT, BECAUSE WE DO HAVE RESIDENTS THAT ACCESS THESE SLIDES AFTER THE MEETING, SO I NEED TO PROVIDE CONTEXT.
UH, AS FAR AS THE STATUS OF THE SS A I S D PILOT, UH, WE ARE NOW BRINGING IN STUDENTS.
WE'VE BEEN DEPLOYING, UH, THOSE DEVICES OUT TO STUDENTS.
OUR S A I S D HAS, UH, AND TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY IS ENGAGED.
THEY ARE HELPING US, UH, DO AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT THROUGH SURVEYS, INTERVIEWS WITH STUDENTS, FAMILY, STAFF, LEADERSHIP, AND COMMUNITY.
SO THIS ISN'T JUST DEPLOYMENT AND SAY, WE FIXED IT.
IT'S REALLY IDENTIFYING DID WE FIX IT OR NOT.
UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, A COVERAGE MAP HERE OF THE TWO MONOPOLES THAT WE HAVE, UH, POSTED.
ITON LIBRARY AND COLLINS COLLINS GARDEN LIBRARY KINDA SHOWS THE BROADCAST DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS.
UH, WE'VE GOT COLLINS GARDEN LIBRARY, AN EXAMPLE OF THE, THE MONOPOLES THERE.
AND THEN NEXT SLIDE, UM, GIVE YOU A MAP OF WHERE THAT'S LOCATED.
AND THEN WE GOT BZA LIBRARY, GOT 'EM ON A POLL THERE.
AND THEN A LOCATION MAP, UH, WE CAN GO OVER TO, UH, I BELIEVE NEXT IS THE S A I S D KIND OF PROGRESS UPDATE.
SO AS FAR AS BRINGING IN STUDENTS, BZA COLLINS ARE LIVE, WE HAVE DISTRIBUTED OVER 1500 UNITS, UH, TO S A I S D.
SO THOSE ARE THE LITTLE C P E UNITS THAT WE'VE SHOWN YOU BEFORE IN THE SLIDE DECK.
UH, AND S A S D IS WORKING A SCALE TO A CURRENT CAPACITY OF 2000 THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER.
SO THEY'RE NOT GONNA STOP THAT DEPLOYMENT THROUGH THE SUMMER.
THEY'RE GONNA CONTINUE GOING, UH, CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, S A S D, AND AGAIN, TEXAS A AND M ARE BUILDING A HELP DESK MODEL WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO BE, UH, EMPOWERING STUDENTS TO COME IN AND ACTUALLY, UH, UH, UH, STAFF THAT, THAT HELP DESK, WHICH IS REALLY EXCITING.
SO WE'RE BUILDING SKILL SETS WHILE ALSO PROVIDING CAPABILITIES.
AND AGAIN, TEXAS A AND M IS CAPTURING, CAPTURING DATA FOR EVALUATION CURRENTLY AND IN THE FUTURE.
NEXT PHASE OF THIS IS, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE STARTING OUT NOW, IS EDGEWOOD AND HARLANDALE.
LAST TIME WE PRESENTED THIS, WE WERE AT NUMBER THREE THERE, WHICH IS RECEIVE I S D APPROVAL.
WE ARE NOW IN THE DESIGN PLAN PHASE, AND WE'RE MOVING VERY RAPIDLY INTO INITIATING THE PROJECT.
SO JUST AS WE HAD MONOPOLES INSTALLED FOR S A I S D, WE'LL BE DOING THE SAME FOR EDGEWOOD AND HARLANDALE.
UH, HERE'S A PROJECTED COVERAGE MAP FOR THE EDGEWOOD I S D NEXT SLIDE, AND A PROJECTED COVER MAP FOR HARLANDALE.
UH, GOOD PIECE OF NEWS THERE FOR, UH, HARLANDALE.
UH, ORIGINALLY WE WERE SUPPOSED TO JUST, UH, SCALE OUT TO A FEW CAMPUSES AND THEY SAID, WE LIKE WHAT YOU'RE DOING, AND ASK US TO EXPAND TO THEIR ENTIRE COVERAGE AREA, OUR SERVICE AREA.
UH, SO WE'VE TAKEN THAT ON AS AN ADDITIONAL EXPANSION, WHICH IS REALLY EXCITING.
IT SHOWS THE EFFORTS ARE BEING EMBRACED.
NOW WE'RE GONNA GET INTO DIGITAL INCLUSION ROADMAP.
SO, UM, WHERE ARE WE AND WHERE ARE WE GOING? UH, WE DO KNOW SAN ANTONIO IS A NATIONAL LEADER FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION.
KIND OF HIGHLIGHTS SOME ITEMS IN A MINUTE HERE.
UH, BUT WE'RE BUILDING FROM A FOUNDATION WE CREATED OVER SEVERAL YEARS.
WE'VE BEEN ATTACKING DIGITAL, UH, DIVIDE AND, AND MOVING FORWARD ON DIGITAL INCLUSION FOR YEARS THROUGH OUR EFFORTS WITH THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OR COMMUNITY CENTERS, SA FREE WIFI, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
AND WE'RE NOW BUILDING THAT EVEN FURTHER.
UM, YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN THIS SLIDE BEFORE, UH, BUT I WANT TO PUT THIS HERE TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING IS ONLY BEING BUILT MORE ROBUST AS WE, AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS ROADMAP.
UH, SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW WE'VE BEEN A NATIONAL LEADER IN DIGITAL INCLUSION.
UM, DIGITAL INCLUSION LIES TO SAN ANTONIO IS COMPASS OF 40 PLUS ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT DIGITAL INCLUSION PILLARS.
WE, WE WERE LABELED AS DIGITAL INCLUSION TRAILBLAZERS LAST YEAR BY THE NATIONAL DIGITAL INCLUSION ALLIANCE.
AND YESTERDAY WE WERE JUST NOTIFIED THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY A 2021 SMART 50 AWARD WINNER FOR THE CONNECTED BEYOND THE CLASSROOM PROJECT.
UH, THIS IS A GLOBAL, UM, AWARD THAT WE RECEIVED.
UH, WE WERE COMPETING IN AGAINST A LOT OF CITIES.
UH, SO WE'RE VERY GRACIOUS TO BE ACCEPTING THAT WE'LL HAVE MORE INFORMATION AND PRESS RELEASES COMING OUT.
WE JUST NOTIFIED ABOUT THAT YESTERDAY.
BUT ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW WE ARE DEFINITELY LEADING THE WAY WHEN IT COMES TO DIGITAL INCLUSION AND TAKING NEW APPROACHES.
UH, AS FAR AS DIGITAL INCLUSION MOMENTUM NATIONALLY, FEDERALLY, STATEWIDE, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF MONEY COMING
[01:00:01]
THROUGH.UH, AND WE KNOW THAT, UH, AND THAT'S THE INTENT OF THIS ROADMAP IS TO REALLY BE SHOVEL READY.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE TRY TO APPLY FOR TRADITIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S SOMETHING OTHER AGENCY APPLY FOR MOBILITY PROJECTS, HEALTHCARE PROJECTS.
WHEN THOSE GRANTS COME THROUGH, WHEN THAT FEDERAL FUNDS COME THROUGH, YOU REALLY GOTTA BE, BE READY AND BE ABLE TO TELL THE FEDS, HEY, THIS IS WHAT WE WANT TO DO WITH IT.
THAT'S THE WAY YOU GET FIRST IN LINE.
UH, THIS IS ALL DONE BY PUBLIC-PRIVATE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP.
I MENTIONED DURING OUR LAST MEETING THAT, UH, WE HAD CHARLES BUTT FOUNDATION AND TOYOTA COME TO US AND SAY, HEY, HOW CAN WE AS A PRIVATE SECTOR HELP OUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND MAKE THIS BIGGER? UM, AND THEY HAVE DEFINITELY HELPED US OUT OVER THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS.
UM, THIS ROADMAP IS A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP.
UH, THE ROADMAP ITSELF DOES BELONG TO THE COMMUNITY, UH, BUT WE KNOW WE CAN'T DO THIS ALONE.
SO YOU'LL SEE A LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS THERE THAT WE PARTNERING WITH AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
I'M GOING TO INTRODUCE KELSEY CLARK.
UH, KELSEY IS A MANAGING DIRECTOR AND PARTNER WITH BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP.
SO B C G, UH, AND O C I GROUP ARE ACTUALLY PARTNERED TOGETHER TO HELP US OUT WITH BUILDING OUT THIS ROADMAP.
UH, I'M GONNA HAND IT OVER TO KELSEY 'CAUSE SHE DOES THIS A LOT MORE CONCISELY AND SUCCINCTLY THAN ME.
UM, I, I WOULD JUST, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN PARTNERING, WE'RE IN NOW, I THINK, UM, WEEK MAYBE NINE, THAT WE'VE, WE'VE BEEN PARTNERING WITH ALL THOSE PEOPLE YOU SAW ON THE PRIOR SLIDE.
AND REALLY, THE, THE GOAL IS, TO BRIAN'S POINT EARLIER, IS HOW DO WE ACTUALLY GET TO THAT ROADMAP? THAT'S THE, THE KEY DELIVERABLE THAT WE'RE WE'RE GETTING AT IS LIKE GETTING AT THAT ROADMAP, GETTING THE BUY-IN AND, AND PEOPLE ALL SIGNED UP AGAINST THAT ROADMAP, ALL GROUNDED IN A FACT BASE.
UM, SO WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS IN, IN KIND OF CHUNKS.
THE FIRST BIT OF WORK THAT WE DID IS REALLY ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S GOING ON IN SAN ANTONIO, HEARING FROM PEOPLE IN SAN ANTONIO, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S, WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON, WHAT'S WORKING, WHAT'S NOT WORKING, WHAT DATA IS AVAILABLE? AND SO WE SPENT SEVERAL WEEKS ON THAT.
WE CONNECTED WITH MORE THAN 50 PEOPLE ACROSS THE CITY FROM, FROM DISTRICTS TO LIBRARIES, TO PEOPLE IN THE CITY.
SO A BIG COLLECTION OF, OF FOLKS THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO CONNECT WITH.
WE THEN STARTED TO CREATE THE, THIS BACK BASE.
HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GROUNDING AND WE, WE UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON? SO THAT'S FACT BASED, INCLUDING ON LIKE, WHAT'S THE ACTUAL INFRASTRUCTURE THAT THAT'S OUT THERE? UM, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH LIKE, WHAT ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE CALL AN ASSET MAP, MEANING LIKE, WHAT ARE ALL THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN THIS, WHICH IS A TON.
I WOULD, YOU KNOW, ECHO BRIAN ON, LIKE, THERE IS JUST SO MUCH ENERGY AND MOMENTUM AROUND THIS TOPIC IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, SO ACTUALLY TRYING TO CAPTURE THAT SO THAT WE'VE GOT AN UNDERSTANDING OF LIKE, WHERE CAN WE LEAN ON AND, AND WHO CAN PLAY DIFFERENT PARTS IN DIFFERENT ROLES IN THIS, THIS, UH, PLAN.
AND THEN MOVING INTO THE STRATEGY, RIGHT? SO LIKE, WHAT IS ACTUALLY THE PLAN? WHAT'S THE ROADMAP BEHIND THAT PLAN? HOW DO WE MAKE IT, AND, AND TAKE THAT INTO ACTION SO IT'S NOT JUST A PLAN THAT SITS ON THE, SITS ON THE SHELF.
UM, SO STEP ONE AND TWO, THEY KIND OF START BLEEDING TOGETHER.
SO I THINK YOU'LL, YOU'LL START TO SEE IN THE, THE NEXT SLIDE THAT WE'VE GOT IS WE'VE ALREADY KIND OF STARTED ON WHAT DO WE THINK THOSE EMERGING STRATEGIES ARE, UM, AND THINKING ACROSS, YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
BUT I WANNA FIRST STEP BACK AND JUST KIND OF GIVE YOU A LAY OF THE LAND OF, OF HOW WE'RE KIND OF THINKING ABOUT THIS.
SO THE, THE WHOLE GOAL IS AROUND DIGITAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION.
AND SO DIANE, I THINK THIS GETS VERY MUCH TO YOUR POINT OF HOW DO WE ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT THE, THIS THROUGH THE EQUITY LENS.
UM, AND SO STARTING UP ON THE TOP NET ROOF IS WHAT WE CALL IS LIKE WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL POPULATIONS OR THE USERS AROUND THIS, RIGHT? SO WE'VE, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT HOUSEHOLDS, BUT ALSO ABOUT SMALL BUSINESSES, UM, AND THEN DIFFERENT GROUPS, RIGHT? SO STUDENTS, VETERANS, AND, AND SO A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT GROUPS THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THOSE GROUPS.
WE'RE ALSO THINKING ABOUT USE CASES, RIGHT? THOSE GROUPS BENEFIT BECAUSE THEY CAN ACTUALLY UNLOCK THOSE USE CASES, RIGHT? LIKE THEY CAN ACTUALLY LEARN REMOTELY.
UM, THEY CAN DO, YOU KNOW, TELEHEALTH, THEY CAN ENGAGE IN, IN THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT KIND OF THING.
SO THE USE CASES ARE WHAT ACTUALLY UNLOCK THE BENEFITS TO THE END USERS.
AND, AND I THINK TO THE COMMUNITY AS WHOLE.
AND THEN WE'RE THINKING, OKAY, WELL THEN WHAT'S THE BARRIERS THAT'S PROHIBITING PEOPLE FROM ACTUALLY ACCESSING THE, THE USE CASES? AND SO THAT'S WHEN WE LOOK AT AVAILABILITY.
AND WHEN WE SAY AVAILABILITY, WE'RE THINKING INFRASTRUCTURE, LIKE WHERE ACTUALLY IS THE FIBER? WHERE'S THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT CAN ACTUALLY SUPPORT THIS? THEN AFFORDABILITY, RIGHT? SO SOME AREAS WE FOUND LIKE THERE'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT IT'S JUST NOT AFFORDABLE, RIGHT? SO LIKE, HOW DO WE ACTUALLY THINK THEN VERY LY ABOUT AFFORDABILITY? AND THEN LASTLY ABOUT ADOPTION, BECAUSE WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS THERE'S SOME THAT'S LIKE, IT'S AVAILABLE, IT'S AFFORDABLE, BUT WE STILL KNOW THERE ARE BARRIERS TO ACTUALLY ADOPTING.
THAT CAN BE LANGUAGE BARRIERS.
THAT CAN BE JUST, YOU KNOW, NOT UNDERSTANDING THE BENEFITS OF IT, RIGHT? OF ALL THE THINGS THAT IT CAN UNLOCK.
UM, SO REALLY FOCUSING ON A, ON ADOPTION AS WELL.
[01:05:01]
AND THEN ALL OF THESE ARE GROUNDED IN, IN ENABLERS, RIGHT? YOU GOTTA THINK ABOUT FUNDING.HOW ARE WE ACTUALLY GOING TO PAY FOR THIS ACROSS RIGHT? PUBLIC, PRIVATE, PHILANTHROPIC, BUT HOW ARE WE ACTUALLY GONNA PAY FOR THIS? UM, WHAT ARE SOME POLICIES, YOU KNOW, THAT CAN ACTUALLY SUPPORT THIS? THE DATA.
SO THINKING A LOT ABOUT WHAT'S THE DATA THAT WE NEED ON AN ONGOING BASIS AND IN REAL TIME TO BE ABLE TO INFORM SOME OF THESE THINGS.
AND THEN WHAT'S THE OPERATING MODEL? SO WHAT'S THAT STRUCTURE CAPABILITIES, HOW DO WE ACTUALLY COORDINATE AND, AND COLLABORATE ACROSS A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS TO ACTUALLY MAKE THIS AN AND BRING THIS TO LIFE? SO THIS KIND OF GROUNDS THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT IT, THESE ARE THE EMERGING KIND OF 10 INITIATIVES TO ACTUALLY ADDRESS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, UM, GOING FROM, RIGHT? SO THOSE TOP TWO IS AROUND AVAIL, I'M SORRY, YEAH, AVAILABILITY.
SO THINKING ABOUT FIBER, FIBER DEPLOYMENT, HOW DO WE ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT WHERE CAN WE DEPLOY MORE FIBER? WHAT ARE THE LOCATIONS THAT NEEDED OF IT? UM, AND WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THIS RIGHT, OF LIKE ALMOST SEGMENTING THE COUNTY, UM, INTO LIKE, LOOK, THERE'S, THERE'S FIBER, IT'S AFFORDABLE, WE'RE GOOD HERE.
THERE'S A LOT OF FIBER HERE, BUT MAYBE IT'S NOT AFFORDABLE.
WHAT DO WE DO THERE? THERE'S AN AREA THAT'S LIKE, THERE'S ACTUALLY NOT A LOT OF FIBER AND WE THINK THERE'S OPPORTUNITY.
THERE'S ALSO PROBABLY AN AREA WHERE LIKE FIBER DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, RIGHT? LIKE IT'S JUST MAYBE COST PROHIBITIVE, BUT LIKE THAT AREA, MAYBE IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
SO THAT'S WHY YOU'VE GOT NUMBER TWO, WHICH IS LIKE, WHAT ARE THOSE BACKUPS IF FIBER DOESN'T MAKE SENSE? BUT THOSE FIRST TWO ARE REALLY ABOUT HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS THERE, THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY HAVE THE AVAILABILITY.
THEN WE GET INTO SOME MORE SPECIFIC THINGS.
SO LIKE AROUND AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO THAT'S, YOU KNOW, RETROING, RETROFITTING AND BUILDING OUT NEW BUILDINGS WITH THE, THE FREE WIFI EDUCATION.
SO AGAIN, SCALING SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON, THINK ABOUT HOW YOU MAKE THOSE USERS AND MORE AFFORDABLE FOR THOSE USERS.
UM, AND THEN GETTING INTO LIKE, YOU KNOW, JUST AFFORDABILITY IN GENERAL.
SO LOW INCOME COST SUBSIDIES, HOW DO WE ACTUALLY MAXIMIZE THOSE? SO BRIAN EVEN ALLUDED TO, RIGHT, LIKE THERE'S A TON OF FUNDING THAT IS COMING DOWN.
HOW DO WE JUST LIKE, GET PEOPLE AWARE OF WHAT IS AVAILABLE AND HELP THEM AND SUPPORT THEM ACTUALLY ACCESS THOSE DOLLARS.
THERE'S STUFF AROUND DEVICE SUPPORT, WHICH AGAIN, I THINK GREAT STUFF GOING ON THERE.
SO BUILDING ON THAT, UM, ADOPTION.
SO, RIGHT, LIKE WE ARE, WE'RE CALLING THESE KIND OF DIGITAL NAVIGATORS, HOW DO YOU GET PE YOU KNOW, THE SUPPORT THAT PEOPLE NEED? HOW DO YOU BUILD THOSE DIGITAL LITERACY TOOLS, UM, AND SKILLS SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY DO THAT.
UM, AND THEN GETTING INTO, LIKE, THERE MIGHT BE SOME THINGS AROUND LIKE YOU CASES THAT IT'S LIKE, WELL, EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE ADOPTED NICHES, LIKE THERE MIGHT BE SOME THINGS THAT YOU STILL NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT ON THE, ON THE USE CASE, ALL GROUNDED IN THOSE LAST TWO ROUTE.
HOW ARE YOU SET UP FOR SUCCESS, IS HOW I THINK OF THOSE BOTTOM TWO, RIGHT? SO HOW DO YOU HAVE THE DATA MEET, YOU KNOW, THAT YOU NEED IN PLACE? HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO ANALYZE IN REAL TIME AND MAKE THESE, AND THEN HOW ARE YOU COORDINATING AND THE RESOURCES NEEDED BEHIND ALL OF THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S BEING, IT'S SUCCESSFUL.
I WON'T GO INTO A LOT OF DETAIL ON THIS SLIDE, BUT JUST TO TELL YOU, THERE'S A LOT OF NEXT STEPS, RIGHT? SO OUR WORK NOW IS, ONCE WE KIND OF THINK ABOUT THESE IS LIKE, HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO DIG DEEPER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE RIGHT DATA, THE RIGHT FACT BASE TO ACTUALLY MAKE SOME OF THESE DECISIONS? SO AGAIN, I I MENTIONED, RIGHT, LIKE THOSE, THOSE FOUR DIFFERENT LEVELS, IF YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE IS ACTUALLY GETTING A MAP OF LIKE, OKAY, CAN WE ACTUALLY IDENTIFY THOSE AREAS TODAY? SO, RIGHT.
SO WE CAN ACTUALLY SAY, THESE ARE THE AREAS WE THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE FIBER IN.
UM, OR THESE, IT'S LIKE THERE'S ENOUGH FIBER, BUT WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT HOW, YOU KNOW, IT'S MORE ABOUT AN ACCESS.
WE NEED PEOPLE ACTUALLY SUBSCRIBING TO WHAT'S AVAILABLE.
SO UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND AGAIN, ALL OF THOSE FACTS WILL THEN HELP INFORM AND MAKE IT ACTION OR, OR SHOVEL READY AS BRIAN WAS SAYING, RIGHT? AND SO IT'S NOT JUST A PLAN, BUT IT, WE ACTUALLY HAVE THE DATA TO SAY, I CAN ACTUALLY GO TAKE ACTION ON THIS TOMORROW.
AND THAT'S THE REALLY IMPORTANT PART.
AND THEN JUST TO GIVE YOU A KIND OF AN IDEA OF, OF WHAT OUR KIND OF END DELIVERABLES ARE FOR THIS EFFORT.
SO WE WILL HAVE LIKE A VERY LENGTHY KIND OF, YOU KNOW, DOCUMENT THAT'S GOT, LIKE THE FACT BASE, IT'S GOT ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS, IT'S GOT THINGS ABOUT LIKE, HOW DO YOU THINK ABOUT PERFORMANCE MEASURES? WHAT'S THE R O I, UM, BENCHMARKS.
AND SO IT'D BE A VERY ROBUST, LENGTHY DOCUMENT THAT'S KIND OF GOT EVERYTHING.
THE SECOND ONE THOUGH IS LIKE, THAT'S KIND OF HARD TO ENGAGE ON.
YOU CAN IMAGINE, UH, SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY SOMEONE THIS CALL LIKE, BUT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT ARE ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK, CARRYING THEIR WORK FORWARD, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THEY'RE ARMED.
SO THE SECOND THING THAT WE WANNA ACTUALLY DEVELOP IS LIKE, WHAT'S THE, WHAT WE CALL WALKING AROUND STRATEGY OR PLAN, UM, SO THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY ENGAGE, RIGHT? IT'S 10 TO 15 PAGES.
I CAN LET PEOPLE KNOW WE CAN GO DEEP WHERE YOU WANNA GO DEEP, BUT IT'S, IT'S KIND OF LIKE THAT WALKING AROUND THING THAT I CAN ACTUALLY SHARE.
AND THEN THE, THE PRO SUM SUMMARY IS KIND OF SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THOSE TWO.
[01:10:01]
UM, IT'S LIKE, WELL, I WANT THE KIND OF EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, BUT I, I NEED MORE OF THE NARRATIVE BECAUSE I'M GONNA READ IT ON MY OWN VERSUS HAVING THAT VOICEOVER.SO IT PROVIDES THAT NARRATIVE TO THE WALKING AROUND STRATEGY IS HOW I WOULD THINK ABOUT IT.
AND THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS JUST KIND OF ALL THE RESOURCES AND TOOLS THAT WE'RE COLLECTING, RIGHT? SO THINK ABOUT LIKE RAW DATA, ASSET MAPS, UM, THIS, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED LIKE THAT, UM, WE'RE DOING A SURVEY TO ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND OF LIKE WHAT ACTUALLY IS GOING ON IN THE CITY.
SO ALL OF THAT WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED AS WELL.
AND THEN ALL OF THESE WILL BE AVAILABLE ON A COMMUNITY PORTAL.
UM, RIGHT, SO THIS IS, THIS IS A, YOU KNOW, A ROADMAP FOR THE COMMUNITY.
SO IT'LL BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE FOR, FOR EVERYONE THAT'S ENGAGED IN THE WORK.
YEAH, YOU DID THAT MUCH BETTER THAN I COULD'VE EVER DONE IT, BUT I GUESS I BETTER START PRACTICING
UM, AGAIN, JUST A KIND OF A RECAP, UM, ROADMAP TO BE SHOVEL READY.
UH, WE REALLY NEED TO BE READY, UH, AS THESE FUNDS START GETTING DISTRIBUTED TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, UH, TO BE ABLE TO UTILIZE THEM, UH, IN A QUICK MANNER, QUICK TURNAROUND, AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE DOING TODAY.
I DUNNO IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, OR CONCERNS.
YEAH, LET, LET'S START WITH, UH, COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN.
NO, CHAIR, I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, I KNOW IT IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE, AND SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD AND CONGRATULATIONS ON THE ACCOLADES THAT YOU JUST RECEIVED.
WELL, I, I LOVE THAT IN YOUR POWERPOINT PRESENTATION YOU TALK ABOUT A A HUNDRED PLUS PAGE POWERPOINT,
HOPEFULLY IT'LL ENCOURAGE YOU, I THINK FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS DISCUSSION.
YOU KNOW, I WAS ALWAYS HOPING THAT WE'D FIGURE OUT A WAY TO CONTINUE DOING THIS POST PANDEMIC, AND I'M EXCITED TO SEE US CONTINUING TO APPLY ALL THIS TO GET, UH, MORE CONNECTIVITY.
UH, WILL GARRETT, UM, GREAT WORK.
AND BRIAN, MAYBE QUESTION FOR YOU, I, UM, I, I KNOW YOU DON'T WANNA BE OVERLOADED WITH, YOU KNOW, A THOUSAND OPINIONS RIGHT NOW, BUT I THINK KELLY DID MENTION SURVEY, LIKE, HOW CAN WE HELP AT THE RIGHT TIMES, WHETHER IT'S COMMUNITY, NEIGHBORHOOD, CITIZEN BASED SURVEY, OR I THINK ABOUT SOME OF THE USE CASES, LIKE I HAVE SPECIFIC, YOU KNOW, SMALL BUSINESSES IN MIND WHO CAN TALK TO BROADBAND FIBER CONNECTIVITY, ACCESS TO BANDWIDTH, AND HOW IT HELPS THEM BUILD NEW PRODUCTS AND GROW JOBS AND, YOU KNOW, CREATE IMPACTS.
LIKE I JUST, AND MAYBE NOT A QUESTION FOR YOU TO ANSWER, BUT I THINK AS A COMMITTEE, I'D PERSONALLY LIKE TO MAKE SURE WE'RE HELPING GET THE WORD OUT AS, AS BROADLY AS WE CAN TO COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS WHEN NECESSARY TO MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RELEVANT FEEDBACK TO HELP THE, THE END RESULT AND KIND OF ANALYSIS.
INDEED, I'M GETTING MESSAGES FROM THE TEAM SAYING ALREADY THEY'LL CALL YOU
OKAY, COUNCILMAN TREVINO, ANY QUESTIONS, SIR? UH, WELL JUST, UH, WE KNOW THAT, UH, ONE, ONE OF THE, THE WAYS THAT, UH, A LOT OF THIS CAN BE DONE IS USING THE EFFORT TO CONNECT FAMILIES TO THE FEDERAL EMERGENCY BROADBAND BENEFIT PROGRAM.
I UNDERSTAND THE CITY IS ASSISTING WITH THIS, AND, AND THAT'S WONDERFUL.
HOW ARE WE HELPING WITH OUTREACH R, RIGHT? YES, SIR.
UM, SO WE WE'RE ALREADY WORKING WITH THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM, OUR COMMUNITY CENTERS, UH, ET CETERA, THE SAME WAY WE WOULD DISTRIBUTE THAT.
UM, G P A IS, HAS WORKED ON ALL THE MESSAGING, THEY'VE BEEN DISTRIBUTING THAT, UH, BUT WE'RE KIND OF IN THE FIRST WEEK OF THAT.
UM, AND THAT WE DEFINITELY DIDN'T HAVE ANY HEADWAY TIME ON PREPPING FOR THAT.
UM, BUT WE ARE EXPANDING ON THAT AND WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR, ACTUALLY OUR CONSULTANTS AS WELL AND GETTING THE WORD OUT AND UNDERSTANDING BETTER ON HOW WE CAN DO THAT.
UM, BUT I'LL, I'LL, I'LL DEFINITELY HAVE ANOTHER UPDATE FOR YOU IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.
COULD YOU LET ME KNOW? ESPECIALLY, UM, IN DISTRICT ONE, WE KIND OF, UH, WE HAVE THE FRANK GARRETT CENTER AND IT'S, IT'S, IT'S IN DISTRICT ONE, BUT IT REALLY BORDERS A LOT, UH, OR IS CLOSE TO DISTRICT FIVE.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT, THAT WE HAVE PROGRAMS WITHIN THAT CENTER THAT CAN HELP WITH A LOT OF THAT COMMUNICATION.
SO I, I'D LOVE TO SEE US SORT OF CONNECTING THOSE TWO THINGS.
UH, THERE'S MANY PROGRAMS THAT EXIST OUTTA THERE THAT VERY MUCH CONNECTED TO THAT 7 8 2 0 7 ZIP CODE.
SO I'D, I'D, I'D LOVE TO SEE THAT.
UH, LAST QUESTION IS JUST HOW MUCH OF THE $27 MILLION BUDGET THAT HAS BEEN, HAS BEEN EXPENDED? NOT ALLOCATED, BUT EXPENDED, RIGHT.
UM, WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT AMOUNT.
UM, WE DO HAVE 6 MILLION SPENT RIGHT NOW.
[01:15:01]
ENCUMBRANCE, UH, THAT IS ANOTHER THING.THIS PROJECT IS VERY INFRASTRUCTURE HEAVY, AND SO THE MONEY GOES OUT WHEN THOSE POLLS GO UP.
UH, SO THAT'S BEEN ONE OF THE KIND OF THE CONFUSING CONVERSATIONS WE'VE BEEN HAVING, AND IT'S TOUGH TO CONVEY THAT, BUT I'M GONNA FORMULATE A WAY TO GET THAT ACROSS TO YOU.
UM, COUNCILMAN, WHAT, WHAT ABOUT THE, THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA? WHAT, WHAT IS THAT TELLING US? UH, SO THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, UH, AS FAR AS S A I S D IS CONCERNED, UH, WE, WE DO HAVE STUDENTS ACTIVE.
UH, WE ARE HAVING SOME LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY OF FAMILY ENGAGEMENT.
UH, SO ACTUALLY GETTING THOSE DEVICES IN THE HANDS OF STUDENTS AND THEN IDENTIFYING HOW WE, HOW THEY'RE UTILIZING THEM, UH, WE ARE STUDYING THOSE WITH S A I S D USING A DASHBOARD THAT WE HAVE SHARED TOGETHER.
UH, BUT WE'RE ALSO DOING THAT WORK WITH TEXAS A AND M.
SO, UM, IN OUR NEXT I T C MEETING, THAT'LL DEFINITELY BE PART OF THAT UPDATE IS HOW IS ALL THIS BEING UTILIZED? WHO'S USING IT, UH, AND HOW WELL IS IT WORKING FOR THEM? SO, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED EARLIER THE FRANK GARRET CENTER, AND WE WERE JUST THERE AND COUNCILMAN, UH, SULLIVAN WAS THERE WITH ME.
UH, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT SA KIDS BREATHE, BUT THEY HAVE A LOT OF DATA ABOUT SOME OF THE HOMES THAT, THAT ARE LACKING.
AND I WONDER IF THERE'S JUST SOME POTENTIAL OVERLAP THERE.
IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S ANOTHER CITY DEPARTMENT, BUT I THINK WORKING TOGETHER, UM, AND THAT DEMOGRAPHIC DATA COULD BE VERY, VERY HELPFUL.
SO THIS JUST, JUST A THOUGHT, UH, SEE IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT COULD, CAN, COULD BE HELPFUL.
BUT I, I, I LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, TO WORKING WITH YOU ON THIS.
IF I COULD, I JUST WAS GONNA, UH, HIGHLIGHT THAT, UM, THE FOLKS FROM NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES, UM, UH, WHO ARE RUNNING OUR RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ARE ALSO CONNECTING FOLKS TO THAT, UH, BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE MONEY.
I THINK YOU MAYBE DID KNOW, BUT I WANTED TO POINT IT OUT FOR THE REST OF THE GROUP AND THEN, UH, CRAIG CAN SPEAK MORE DIRECTLY TO, UH, SORT OF THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT WE SPENT AND, AND HOW MUCH HAS BEEN PLANNED FOR AND WHAT WE, WE'VE USED TO THIS POINT.
I DON'T KNOW IF, CRAIG, YOU WANNA COME OFF MUTE? I WASN'T PLANNING ON YOU OFF MUTE, I'M SORRY.
BUT WE'RE ABOUT 9 MILLION, UH, EXPENDED AND ABOUT 16 STILL PLANNED.
SO, UH, THERE'S SOME ADDITIONAL PLANNING TO DO, COUNCILMAN, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION EVEN FURTHER.
THAT'LL, THAT'LL PROGRAM THE REST OF THOSE DOLLARS, BUT THAT'S WHERE WE ARE SORT OF BY THE TERRIBLY IN ROUGH, BUT OKAY.
THANKS, THANKS FOR ANSWERING MY QUESTIONS.
I THINK, I THINK WE MADE IT AROUND THE HORN.
IS THERE ANYBODY? OH, COUNCILMAN, COURAGE.
UM, MAYBE 'CAUSE I DIDN'T HAVE MY VIDEO ON.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I'M, I'M REALLY CONCERNED, UH, WITH OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION PROGRAM WITH THE SCHOOLS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF, UM, IS, IS THE MATCH BETWEEN THE HARDWARE, THE SOFTWARE, AND THE CURRICULUM, UH, WORKING OUT AND, AND HAVE WE, HAVE WE BEEN ABLE TO GET FEEDBACK FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE, DELIVER THE CURRICULUM THROUGH THE PROCESS THAT WE'VE GOT GOING ON RIGHT NOW? OR ARE THEY RUNNING INTO PROBLEMS WITH, UH, MAYBE THE, UH, THE TRAINING OR THE USAGE OF EQUIPMENT AND TYING IN? AND I THINK ALL OF US KNOW WE HAVE COMPUTER PROBLEMS AND WE'RE NOT ABLE EVEN IN THIS MEETING HERE, TO CLEARLY GET THROUGH OR MAINTAIN CONTACT THINGS LIKE THIS.
SO, DO WE HAVE ANY EVALUATION OF HOW EFFICIENT THE DELIVERY OF CURRICULUM TO STUDENTS IS THROUGH THE SYSTEM WE'VE BEEN SETTING UP? SO COUNCILMAN, I THINK BRIAN AND I COULD BOTH SPEAK TO THIS AS FAR AS THE RELIABILITY AND THE STRENGTH OF THE SIGNAL NECESSARY TO DELIVER THE CONTENT.
I THINK THAT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AS GOOD, RIGHT? IT IS WORKING WELL.
UM, WE HAVE ALSO BEEN CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE RAISING AND WE'VE WORKED WITH TEXAS A M HAVE BUILT A HELP DESK MODEL THAT STUDENTS COULD ACCESS TO IF THEY'RE ENCOUNTERING TROUBLE WITH THE PHYSICAL EQUIPMENT AND CONNECTING TO THE NETWORK.
AND ALONG WITH THAT, TEXAS A AND M IS STUDYING HOW THAT HELPED US WORKS AND HOW THIS WHOLE PROCESS WORKS TO, TO CREATE BEST PRACTICE, I GUESS IS HOW I'D SAY IT.
BRIAN, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA SAY MORE, BUT WE'RE COGNIZANT, I GUESS IS MY POINT.
VERY COGNIZANT AND, AND AS, AS FAMILIES AND STUDENTS, UH, TOGETHER RUN INTO THOSE TYPE OF ISSUES, UM, NOT ONLY TEXAS A AND M, NOT ONLY THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, BUT ALSO THE PROVIDER IS DEFINITELY INVOLVED IN THOSE, IN SOLVING THOSE PROBLEMS ALTOGETHER AND FIGURING OUT HOW CAN WE DO THIS MORE EFFICIENTLY AND HOW CAN WE SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS BEFORE THEY BECOME PROBLEMS. SURE.
YOU KNOW, WHAT CAME TO MY MIND WAS HOW THEY WERE TRYING TO DO THE, UH, START TESTING ONLINE,
[01:20:01]
AND IT TURNED OUT TO BE A DISASTER IN MANY SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND IN SCHOOLS AROUND THE STATE.UH, AND IT HAPPENED THE SAME WAY A YEAR AGO.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, I I WANNA MAKE SURE THE DELIVERY OF THE SERVICE, WHEN IT COMES TO EDUCATION REALLY GETS THROUGH AND THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, UH, YOU KNOW, OVERRIDE ANY OF THE BARRIERS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE SEE ALONG THE WAY.
THE OTHER, UH, THE OTHER QUESTION, IT'S NOT REALLY A QUESTION, I GUESS IT'S, IT'S, IT'S AN OBSERVATION AND, YOU KNOW, UM, PEOPLE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON THROUGH RADIO A HUNDRED YEARS AGO, AND THEN THEY STARTED LEARNING A LOT ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON THROUGH TV.
UH, AND NOW PEOPLE ARE LEARNING A LOT ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON THROUGH THE INTERNET AND THROUGH BROADBAND AND THROUGH THEIR COMPUTER.
AND IT'S NOT JUST WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH STUDENTS TO EDUCATE THEM WITH, UH, CURRICULUM AND, AND, AND BASIC EDUCATIONAL SKILLS, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF SENIORS AND THERE A LOT OF VETERANS, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T GET CONNECTED WITH WHAT GOES ON IN OUR CITY BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE INTERNET.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE BROADCAST OUR MEETINGS ALL THE TIME.
WE BROADCAST INFORMATION AND NOTICES ALL THE TIME.
BUT IF A LOT OF OUR SENIORS AND A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, UH, AND PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE THE, THE OPEN AND FREE CONNECTIVITY THAT WE WANT, IF THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO GET THE SAME MESSAGES, IF WE'RE NOT ABLE TO DELIVER TO THEM WHAT THEY NEED TO KNOW, THEN, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT BECOMES AN UNDERLYING REASON FOR REALLY EXPANDING THIS SERVICE ALL OVER THE CITY AND MAKING SURE THAT ALL OF THOSE WHO NEED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE CITY GOVERNMENT, WITH THE STATE GOVERNMENT, WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS THE CAPABILITY OF DOING THAT.
UH, AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT, IN MY OPINION, MEANT TO BE COMPETITION WITH THE EXISTING, UH, SERVICE PROVIDERS, BUT I THINK IT'S INCUMBENT UPON GOVERNMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT IT MAINTAINS AND DELIVERS THE CONNECTIVITY THAT THE PEOPLE NEED TO HAVE WITH THEIR GOVERNMENT.
SO I HOPE THAT BECOMES A, A STRONG FOUNDATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH WHAT WE'RE DOING AND, AND EXPANDING WHAT WE'RE DOING TO, TO JUST ABOUT EVERYBODY WHO NEEDS THAT INFORMATION.
UM, BRIAN, JOHN, DID YOU HAVE A COMMENT ABOUT THAT? NO, SIR.
WE WAS JUST SAYING THANK YOU THAT WE WERE LISTENING.
WELL, Y'ALL, UM, THANK YOU FOR THIS ITEM.
THIS IS, UH, ALSO SOMETHING THAT WE HEAR ABOUT IN DISTRICT EIGHT.
UM, AND, UH, EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE IT COMES UP DURING H O A MEETINGS AND, UH, NOW I'LL HAVE A LOT MORE TO SHARE WITH FOLKS, UM, BECAUSE SOMETIMES I AM CAUGHT FLATFOOTED ON THIS TOPIC.
AND, UM, IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING SINCE THAT, THAT WE'VE, UH, HAD THIS UPDATE.
UM, THAT'S IT FROM ME, UNLESS ANYBODY HAS ANYTHING FURTHER, UH, AND SEEING NO BODY LANGUAGE INDICATING THAT WE'VE GOT ANYTHING FURTHER, I'M GOING TO, UH, CALL AN END OF THE MEETING AND WISH YOU ALL A FANTASTIC WEEK.