Laserfiche WebLink
3 <br /> City Council Special Meeting Minutes <br /> August 31, 2021 <br /> <br />Councilmember Swan thanked Dr. Agrawal for the presentation. <br /> <br />Mayor Tankha asked Dr. Agrawal to address concerns that residents expressed <br />about radio towers. <br /> <br />Dr. Agrawal said laying fiber is not cheap. They came up with an interim <br />solution that will help with a point-to-point wireless connection. The key is that <br />the faster we can put fiber in the ground, the faster we can lose the point-to-point <br />wireless connection: i.e., radio towers. The radio tower solution is cost effect <br />during the implementation. <br /> <br />City Manager Cahill said that any radio towers will go through a permitting <br />process. What is the nature of the contract with LAHCF with the unknown fiber <br />provided to Gardner Bullis School? <br /> <br />David Barron, Chief Executive Officer, Next Level Networks, responded that <br />the circuit with a company that provides dark fiber circuits. They actually made <br />the agreement to provide that circuit that terminates at Gardner Bullis <br />School. There is no contractual connection with Gardner Bullis. It serves both <br />Gardner Bullis and community fiber. <br /> <br />Mayor Tankha asked about how our data would be secured. <br /> <br />Mr. Barron replied that we operate like any other telecom vendor and network <br />security is part of that. It is not the responsibility of the cooperative; Next Level <br />would be responsible. The Mayor asked about the biggest challenges with fiber. <br />The biggest issues are with construction for installation. Once the network is up <br />and running, they monitor the fiber. <br /> <br />Public Comment <br />Johannes Schmidt, Los Altos Hills, sounds like the liaison is a great idea. He is <br />not a member of LAHCF but he sends emails to LAHCF and Next Level and they <br />always respond with 24 hours. His personal experience is that they have been <br />pretty open compared to AT&T and Comcast. <br /> <br />John O’Connell, Los Altos Hills, said the costs here are driven by the cost of <br />getting the fiber to the home. He thought it would be good to take examples in <br />LAH to work them as templates to see what the cost would be, so the residents <br />would have something that is representative of our topography and demographics. <br /> <br />Phil Russell, Los Altos Hills, asked about the capital, up front cost, the biggest <br />cost was like the last one to hook up to the home. The Town could help with <br />right-of-way. How much would the Town’s help reduce that cost? <br /> <br />Dr. Agrawal responded that the cost from the road to your home is not the issue,