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General Meeting April 17, 2023 5. Report from the National League of Cities Conference from Vice President Kepple. (to be provided) Dear Colleagues, March 2511 through 28111 had the privilege to represent Lakewood at the National League of Cities Congressional Conference in Washington D.C. While there I had the opportunity to meet municipal leaders from all over the United States, attend sessions learning from each other, and advocate for Lakewood at Capitol Hill. ARPA Throughout the conference municipal leaders demonstrated how the direct and significant funding provided through the American Rescue Plan Act has created tide-turning change in our communities. At a session about ARPA Implementation for mid-size cities such as Lakewood, I learned of several ideas with huge potential for Lakewood including using ARPA funding. Two of which were: -Workforce development, to recruit, train, and better pay childcare professionals, and to fund capital investments in classrooms with the goal of improving affordable childcare access and workforce retention. As our Lakewood City Schools K-12 enrollment has decreased, we could see an opportunity to partner to help build up childcare options in Lakewood -Expanding broadband access though City owned networks, providing in-home routers to low- and moderate-income households and hotspots and laptops for those with unstable housing RAIL ROUNDTABLE I also had the timely opportunity to attend a Rail Roundtable with Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, and representatives from all of the Class I Railroads including Norfolk Southern, whose line bisects Lakewood, and who owns and operates the line that derailed in East Palestine. I was able to share information about NS sponsored hazmat trainings for first responders with Chief Dunphy, though I understand that these trainings have been filling up quickly. Additionally, it was noted that all but one of the ruptured cars in East Palestine were the older DOT-111 tank cars, are required by law to be retrofitted or replaced by the safer DOT- 117 tank cars by 2029 if carrying flammable liquids. My fellow municipal leaders and I urged the rail companies to support the Brown/Vance Rail Safety bill and to voluntarily and immediately commit to better safety practices including increasing trainings, adopting DOT-117 tank cars NOW, and shortening train lengths of hazardous and highly flammable materials. BROADBAND & CYBER SECURITY I attended several sessions regarding broadband and cyber security, particularly about federal funding streams through the Internet for All initiative, including the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, the Digital Equity Planning Grant Programs, and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). As many of you may know, the ACP provides internet