[Adopted 2-18-2021 by L.L. No. 5-2021]
A. 
The mission of the Commission is to research the feasibility, logistics, and financing of creating a municipally run, citizen-owned high speed internet service that will provide internet speeds far greater than what private companies currently provide and ensure such service will be made available to every Albany resident and business, regardless of income level or geographic location in the City.
B. 
Creating high-speed, reliable, affordable, and citizen-owned internet service has shown to be a major economic boost in municipalities where such infrastructure exists. Providing this service would also serve as a significant benefit in every neighborhood in Albany, particularly in neighborhoods where unemployment and poverty rates are high. Affordable, reliable internet access gives individuals, among a host of other benefits, the ability to more easily search for employment, work from their homes, and take online higher education courses.
C. 
The marketplace for internet access lacks any true competition. Residents are faced with expensive plans that provide subpar internet speeds. Chattanooga, Tennessee, serves a model for municipally run internet service. That city's average download speed is over 100 megabytes per second. In Albany, the average download speed is a little over 20 megabytes per second. Establishing a successful citizen-owned internet service would be an enormous help to attracting new small businesses and residents to Albany, which means a significant increase of our tax base and more thriving commercial centers, and would give Albany a major competitive advantage over surrounding municipalities.
D. 
With significant economic and community development opportunity in mind, the Common Council determines it to be sound public policy and advisable to establish the "City of Albany Commission on Municipal Internet Service" for the purpose of researching all the necessary elements of creating a municipal internet service and make meaningful recommendations to City government in order to seize upon this opportunity and move towards quality internet for all.
The Common Council hereby establishes the City of Albany Commission on Municipal Internet Service.
A. 
The Commission shall consist of 10 members with five members to be appointed by the Common Council and five members to be appointed by the Mayor. Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.
B. 
The appointing authorities shall strive to include a mixture of appointees who are knowledgeable of efforts by other municipalities to successfully create municipally run high speed internet services, have a background in finance, have a background in economic development, and/or have a background in information technology, or other fields the appointing authorities believe are crucial to the success of the Commission.
C. 
The Commission shall appoint a Chair through a majority vote of Commission members.
D. 
The Commission shall cease to exist six months following the submission of the final report to the Mayor and Common Council. Members shall serve without compensation and at the pleasure of their appointing authority.
A. 
The Commission shall submit a preliminary report to the Common Council and the Mayor after all appointments of members have been made by the appointing authorities. Such report shall detail the Commission's findings as outlined in this section. The Commission shall submit its final written report to the Common Council and the Mayor within 250 days of the date it submitted its preliminary report. Such final report shall be detailed in its scope and shall identify the work engaged in by the Commission in fulfillment of the charges imposed upon it pursuant to such section. The report shall further include its findings, determinations and recommendations, including, but not limited to, any recommendations the Commission has determined necessary for the enactment or amendment of local or state law as may be necessary to accomplish any of its recommendations.
[Amended 3-7-2022 by L.L. No. 4-2022 (B-2022); 12-20-2022 by L.L. No. 2-2023]
B. 
The report of the Commission shall providing findings with regard to the following topics:
(1) 
The costs and benefits associated with and logistical requirements for creating a municipal internet service;
(2) 
Consideration of how other municipalities have created their municipal internet services;
(3) 
Identification of all necessary or advisable City and state legislation;
(4) 
Development of an ideal model of a municipal internet service;
(5) 
Review all available options that would minimize financial cost of creating such infrastructure;
(6) 
Suggest partnerships, as the Commission deems worthwhile, with current City businesses, not-for-profits, higher education institutions, the City's grade schools and public libraries, and other municipalities to maximize the potential and implementation of a municipal internet service;
(7) 
Any other topics the Commission feels necessary to address in the spirit of successfully establishing a municipal internet service.
The Commission shall have the power to request documents, conduct public hearings, hear testimony of witnesses, and take any other action it deems necessary to carry out its functions. Every department, office, division, agency or public authority of this City shall cooperate to the full extent possible with the Commission and furnish such information and assistance as the Commission determines is reasonably necessary to accomplish its purpose in a timely fashion.