Terman Library in the Terman Community Center, 661 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, CA
Keith Cooley reported on the Monday City Council meeting which approved the 15-mile fiber ring with 288 strands financed by surplus from the electric utility fund. There were about 12 people testifying at the Council meeting on the subject, with the great majority in support. Most negative was a fellow from a wireless communications organization who warned about the need for marketing and praised wireless as more desirable. There were questions from Council members regarding the technology and whether it can become obsolete soon, but they were answered satisfactorily. The vote was 8-0, with Joe Simitian making the motion to approve. Council members felt the decision was as important as the one taken in 1905 to create the electrical utility. PA-COMNET made a major contribution to the process and deliberations. There will be lots of potential for more telecommunications facilities and operations here in a few years, and it should be very useful and provide a balanced 2-way network allowing all of the system to be used by residents both as consumers and producers of information. It is important to keep focused on universal access and the need for symmetrical access for all, not just businesses. The Council did not act to assure either of these or require that providers comply at this time.
Jay noted that by leasing space the City can't control content but it may give leverage to encourage certain types of uses. It is desirable if the City uses it's ownership of the system to encourage better uses of the assets, and services of interest to all.
Margaret noted that since the City funds the fiber ring by itself is not beholden to any other party and thus has more leverage to request wider participation.
Others can install their own fiber if they wish to, but once the ring is there it's cheaper to use it. Expanding uses will require adding fiber or other wiring to specific areas. There are no requirements that others use compatible technologies or that they work together. Consumers should discriminate by avoiding uncooperative providers or those who do not provide services for the community, and should encourage support of desirable uses and providers.
Imsong recognized Keith Cooley for his activities on the Technical Advisory Panel and all of the hard work he did. He also recognized Roger Hu for his past efforts and support as Administrator. Roger graduated from Gunn and is leaving for MIT this month. We appreciate all of his efforts, and wish him the best. Of course he will continue to participate in PA-COMNET. Louis Bookbinder was elected to succeed Roger as Administrator, working with Keith.
Claire MacElroy of the Palo Alto Civic League gave some background on the PACL, its goals and objectives. They work to preserve the residential character of the community and successfully opposed a number of major developments in the past such as the superblock downtown and the hospital south of downtown, plus supporting the 50 foot height limit. There is a PACL home page on the Palo Alto city home page. They are getting very few hits, about 50/month, perhaps because the page is no longer linked to the Palo Alto home page. They are interested in the Midtown web site, and would like help by working with others to improve the effectiveness of the PACL home page and communications in the community.
Evelyn Espinosa, with the Palo Alto Police Dept., spoke of how she is working to improve the City Home Page and content, plus creating more useful information for the community using the Internet. She gave several examples of things she is working on to improve the utility of the Palo Alto home page and Internet uses in general. The home page had 4 pictures which took a long time to load, so she had them taken off to make the site easier to access. She will ask to have the PACL page linked directly to the home page, to improve access to it. Persimmon has no contract at present for home page design or maintenance. It is working on a time and materials basis. Keith noted that they are not local, and there are many local companies who could be used for this effort.
Thomas Kramer, a reporter for ZDF (Zweites Deutsche Fernsehen), the largest German TV Network was present with 2 camera crew members. He noted that they plan a one-hour program on how other countries use the Internet for community purposes around the world. (Apparently in Germany the Internet is not as generally used by communities or individuals as in the U.S.) The program will be aired--one hour--nationally there on Aug. 28 at 10:15 PM and about 5-8 minutes segment on PA-COMNET and Palo Alto.
[Note: Bob Moss e-mailed the summary fact sheet on how Barron Park uses the Internet to T. Kramer for background info.] Elliot Margolies reported the Midtown area will do an application test to see how conferencing with each other will change behavior and have an impact on the community. They considered classes of people like seniors, but decided to select an entire neighborhood. They found a provider(Nanospace) who was willing to supply software, and free space on a server. They got the support of the Midtown Association Board, and then hand delivered 4200 surveys in the area. Printing was partially contributed, volunteers distributed the flyers, and some merchants provided funding. There were 217 replies, almost all positive. People were willing to pay as much as $15/year for the type of access described. About half the respondents were on line, and over 85% have computers. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is accepting grant applications for communities wanting support to get on-line. Chances of getting funds are slim, but MPAC sent in an application anyway in support of the Midtown project, since they are a charitable organization and can apply and distribute the funds if they get the grant. Deadline for the application is Aug. 16 with grant awards in early September. A number of participating organizations are proposed as co-sponsors, to work with Midtown. They included the Barron Park Association, YMCA, several schools, Co-op Markets, etc. Elliot needs help with the budget for the grant proposal, and help contacting possible partners. He needs letters of support for the proposal from various groups.
{Epilog - Elliot and the Midtown group decided not to submit the application at this time due to the short notice and the intense competition}.
Bob will provide a copy of the BPA history with BPA-NET so that Elliot can use it as examples of how the access can be utilized. Support from the City also is desirable and should be obtainable. Bob will e-mail the BPA Board explaining the grant application and request for BPA support, in hopes that a prompt reply can be given. [Note: this was done but became moot when the grant application was not pursued.] Duane Bay will talk to Co-op market about their support for the application.
Jay moved that we formally thank the staff, TAP, and Council for their activities and performance in researching and approving the fiber ring. He's been following the city since 1956, and this was the finest, most complete staff work he has ever seen. They did an excellent job. Jay and Paul will draft the letter, and post it to PA-COMNET for comments, after which it will be formally sent to the recipients, as well as being sent to PA-COMNET.
Paul Pease commented on the extensive press given to the fiber ring and City Council actions. There have been articles in the Palo Alto Daily News, San Jose Mercury, San Francisco Chronicle, and Palo Alto Weekly. The City made no special efforts to get publicity and put out no press releases. It just is a very interesting subject to many people.
Next meeting will be Wed. Sept. 4, 7:30 AM at Terman Library.
Evelyn Espinosa will discuss her activities in regard to Palo Alto's Internet Master Plan, and we will have a status on the Midtown project. Another possible topic is wiring the last mile, and changes of regulatory issues. Note that Jay wants to discuss encryption. Paul suggested a social event for PA-COMNETers, not at 7:30 AM, to get to meet people and just be friendly at a more convenient time.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:40 AM
Respectfully submitted, Bob Moss