Dane County  
Minutes - Final Unless Amended by  
Committee  
Dane County Broadband Task Force  
Consider:  
Who benefits? Who is burdened?  
Who does not have a voice at the table?  
How can policymakers mitigate unintended consequences?  
Thursday, February 3, 2022  
9:00 AM  
Please see the top of the agenda for instructions on  
how to join the meeting  
A. Call To Order  
Staff Present: Lauren Kuhl, Sharon Lezburg, Pam Andros  
The meeting was called to order by Ratcliff at 9:01 a.m.  
11 -  
Present  
DAVE RIPP, KATE MCGINNITY, TODD VIOLANTE, MELISSA RATCLIFF, BOB  
WIPPERFURTH, BILL DICKMEYER, DEANA ZENTNER, JOYCE TIKALSKY,  
PETER WEIL, CATHY SUTTER, and SARAH GHEE  
1 - JAMES DANKY  
Excused  
Absent  
3 - RENEE LAUBER, MICHELLE JENSEN, and ANDREW HOYOS  
B. Consideration of Minutes  
1. 2021  
MIN-588  
Minutes of the January 6, 2022 Dane County Broadband Task Force  
Meeting  
Attachments: 2021 MIN-588  
A motion was made by WIPPERFURTH, seconded by ZENTNER, that the Minutes  
be approved. The motion carried by a voice vote.  
C. Public Comment on Items not on the Agenda  
None  
12 -  
Present  
DAVE RIPP, KATE MCGINNITY, TODD VIOLANTE, MELISSA RATCLIFF, BOB  
WIPPERFURTH, BILL DICKMEYER, DEANA ZENTNER, JOYCE TIKALSKY,  
ANDREW HOYOS, PETER WEIL, CATHY SUTTER, and SARAH GHEE  
1 - JAMES DANKY  
Excused  
Absent  
2 - RENEE LAUBER, and MICHELLE JENSEN  
D. Presentations  
1. Overview of final rule from Department of Treasury regarding ARPA funds and  
Broadband  
County Controller Chuck Hicklin presented on the use of American Rescue Plan Act  
funds related to Broadband.  
Funds need to be used to get households at the speeds the regulations require. Things  
like pre-broadband costs are allowed.  
McGinnity inquired about the 100/100 speed requirements.  
Wipperfurth inquired about the limits on the County regarding owning the infrastructure  
ARP RULES GOVERNING BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE  
2021  
PRES-236  
Attachments: 2021 PRES-236  
E. Action Items  
1. Discussion and Action on Survey  
Dr. Burney presented on the map that shows FCC coverage and which populations areas  
will be surveyed.  
Those with more than 80% coverage will not be included. Percentage of surveys will be  
proportionate to the population. Statistically 350 responses are required, due to the  
desire to map the data the population will be oversampled.  
Ripp asked if DSL is considered broadband for this mapping purpose.  
Dickmeyer clarified if the definition that is being used for service is 25/3  
Weil inquired about DSL  
Zentner inquired about the north vs south breakdown – asked what is the underlying  
reason the north is considered significantly underserved.  
Dr. Burney noted that this is the first pass to identify lack of access, what is causing this  
lack of access will be another pass.  
Hoyos commented that the data that is being used to determine where the survey will go  
is a little outdated.  
Discussion ensued around what speed to use in the survey questions as well as other  
survey questions.  
A motion was made by DICKMEYER, seconded by HOYOS, to approve the  
questions with edits as discussed. The motion carried unanimously.  
F. Reports to Committee  
1. Discuss public hearings  
February 28th and March 4th  
Ideally will hear success stories, issues with service  
Communication pieces reviewed  
2. Discuss staff recommendation regarding a potential broadband consultant  
Marathon County: <a href  
"https://www.co.marathon.wi.us/Portals/0/Departments/CAD/Documents/Broadband_repo  
rt_final.pdf" a>  
Door County:  
<a href  
"https://doorcountypulse.com/assessment-offers-broadband-blueprint-for-door-county/"  
a>  
Andros gave an overview of what a consultant may be able to do to assist the task force  
with recommendations. The idea would be this is an engineering consultant.  
A motion was made by WIPPERFURTH, seconded by MCGINNITY, that the  
staff move forward with the process. The motion carried unanimously.  
G. Future Meeting Items and Dates  
Public Hearing on February 28 from 6-8:30 p.m., regular meeting March 3rd from 9 to 11  
a.m. and then public hearing on March 4 from 9 to 11:30 a.m.  
H. Such Other Business as Allowed by Law  
I. Adjourn  
A motion was made by MCGINNITY, seconded by WEIL, that the meeting be  
adjourned. The motion carried unanimously.  
Meeting adjourned at 10:49 a.m.  
Respectfully submitted by Lauren Kuhl, pending Taskforce approval