Join us on July 14 at the Barry Community Foundation’s Leason Sharpe Hall for a two-part Municipal Learning Academy workshop focused on key tools to support local development and connectivity.
 

Hosted in partnership with the Barry Community Foundation, this session will feature experts from the Michigan High-Speed Internet (MIHI) Office covering broadband expansion topics, including the BEAD program, the METRO Act, and permitting considerations, alongside the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) presenting on Michigan’s Housing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program.

METRO Act & Broadband Permitting:  Sean Kelly, Department Specialist with MPSC Telecommunications Division, will provide an overview of the BEAD program, and review the METRO Act (PA 48 of 2002) and permitting process for broadband applications.  The METRO Act provides a streamlined and uniform process for telecommunications providers seeking to access the municipal rights-of-way, while enabling municipalities to ensure and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public.  This presentation will cover the METRO Act permit application process, responsibilities of each party, and the fees & fee-sharing payments associated with the act.  Lindsay Oswald, Permitting Manager for the Michigan High-Speed Internet (MI-HI) office, will provide an update on the Broadband, Equity, Access, & Deployment (BEAD) Grant program, along with a status update from the MIHI office.

Housing TIF Session: this session will provide an overview of the housing TIF and how it can be used to incentivize housing development.  There will also be a description of how local municipalities can be proactive in their use of housing TIF and other tools, to help align housing development to meet actual community housing needs.
 

This workshop is designed for municipal leaders, staff, and community partners interested in advancing housing and broadband opportunities in their communities. 
 

Sean Kelly, Department Specialist
Telecommunications Division, Michigan Public Service Commission
Sean Kelly is the METRO Act Right-of-Way Specialist in the Telecommunications Division of the Michigan Public Service Commission.  He has been with the Commission since 2008. He is responsible for overseeing the Commission’s responsibilities under the METRO Act as well as other policies relating to the right-of-way, dispute resolution, and broadband technology implementation.  He is a member of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Staff Subcommittee on Telecommunications and has served on the steering committee for the Connecting Michigan Communities (CMIC) broadband grant programs.

Lindsay Oswald, Permitting Manager,
Michigan High-Speed Internet Office
Lindsay Oswald serves as the Permitting Manager within the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI). In this role, Ms. Oswald is coordinating with permitting agencies with the goal of developing and executing permitting strategy for BEAD project success. Ms. Oswald has over 10 years of experience leading local government, community development, and policy development and implementation and holds a Master of Science and MBA from Trine University.





Teresa Gillotti, Real Estate Program Manager
Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM)
As the part-time real estate program manager, Teresa supports the regional leads working on implementing Regional Housing Plans around the state and the expansion of the Real Estate boot camp.

Prior to joining CEDAM, Teresa worked in local government for more than 15 years in various planning and community and economic development roles, including more than four years as the Director of the Washtenaw County Office of Community and Economic Development. She is particularly proud of developing a process for participatory budgeting with local CDBG funds, launching and updating community data tools like the Washtenaw Opportunity Index, and problem solving to support affordable housing development.

Teresa loves exploring cities and taking too many pictures of community infrastructure.

Travis Alden, Client Relationships Leader
SME
Travis Alden is a Middleville resident and 10-year Barry County community member who has spent nearly 25 years working at the intersection of community building, economic development, and public/private partnership across Michigan. As Client Relationships Leader at SME, he works alongside communities and organizations tackling their biggest development challenges.

Travis has built his career on finding creative paths forward for complicated projects and challenging sites. Having previously served as President of the Barry County Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development Alliance, he knows this community well and brings that same local-first mindset to every project he touches. Whether he's helping a developer navigate community priorities, helping a municipality make the case for a site that needs a little extra love, or just getting the right people in the room to find a solution nobody had thought of yet, his sweet spot is turning "this is complicated" into "here's how we get to yes."

He is genuinely glad to be back in his own backyard for this one.