Town of Princeton, Mass. – Sept. 6, 2016 – 5 PM
BOARD OF SELECTMEN – Regular Meeting Minutes
Chairman Stan Moss, Edith Morgan and Jon Fudeman present along with T.A. Nina Nazarian and residents. In the following actions, all BOS votes were preceded by a motion from Jon F. and seconded by Edith M. unless noted otherwise. Stan announced the meeting was being recorded.
5 PM Stan opened meeting at Princeton Center and announced a joint meeting with the Advisory Cmte. and Comcast representatives on Wednesday, Sept. 7. He described a letter of intent from Comcast recently received by BOS which could change the direction of the broadband initiative. He added that the selectmen as PBMLP had started the active process 33 months ago. He then made a motion to postpone the Special Town Meeting scheduled for Sept. 13 until a time to be determined and it was seconded by Jon F. This opened discussion.
Stan then explained how any cable TV franchise opportunity is subject to strict rules from federal and state government (FCC & Dept. of Telecommunications), and the selectmen would be charged with negotiating a deal. It is subject to a bid process and any interested vendors would have to submit a franchise application. A cable
TV advisory committee would be appointed, and special legal counsel engaged. Stan outlined the steps to be taken, including a request for applications with a 30 – 45 day deadline. He is most interested in what the timeframe would be from Comcast and the scope or limit of installations relative to far-flung addresses in town. It was noted that PMLD may be done with make-ready on the poles by the beginning of 2017 and after an OK from Verizon, construction should start within six months.
5:35 PM Nina left the meeting due to interviews scheduled with potential Parks & Recreation Director candidates.
Edith argued for keeping the STM since the town has done so much preliminary work so far to get its own broadband, and the STM would help find out what voters really want. Stan and Jon made the point that all the make ready and preliminary work has made the town “shovel-ready” and in a good position to negotiate--the town is ahead of the curve. Most of the $1.2 million that was allocated at town meeting has been spent on the infrastructure upgrades. Stan went on to compare the tax burden in each scenario, with or without a vendor like Comcast taking over.
There was lengthy discussion about the grant from MBI for $910,000 which would go to a vendor for “underserved communities” if the town went that route—the funding would support the project’s construction so it would be issued to whoever was doing the actual work. George Handy noted that MBI has over $5 million for cable firms to extend services to underserved areas, since the Baker Administration has re-organized MBI. The MBI construction grant could be part of the town’s negotiation with vendors.
Selectmen discussed variations on postponing to a specific date or canceliing the STM and Stan and Jon agreed the postponement gave the town more choices and more flexibility in vendor negotiations. Bill Dino also pointed out that past requests for proposals for franchises failed to get any responses on time, but selectmen can try for another round of requests.
5:50 PM Selectmen then voted on the motion with Edith abstaining and Jon and Stan approving it. Edith noted that people still have misconceptions about the fiber-optic project. They also agreed that the Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) will be extended. They voted all in favor to cancel the Special Town Election for approving the borrowing, with Stan’s motion and Edith ‘s second.
5:55 PM The Congregational Church has requested that signs for the Town-wide Yardsale be installed temporarily on the town common and BOS voted all in favor to approve. Edith announced that condolences should go out to the families of Ann Mason and Dick Wheeler who died over the weekend. They had both been very involved in the community.
5:56 PM Selectmen voted all in favor to approve minutes of Aug. 22 and 29 and signed warrants. The board discussed the meeting Sept. 7, posted as a public hearing for the STM on Sept. 13, as a joint meeting with the Advisory Cmte. to hear the offering from Comcast representatives. Stan stated that a cable franchise is finalized with the Board of Selectmen and it’s not a vote of the town.
6:10 PM Board voted to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted, Marie Auger, Admin. Assistant
BOS Referenced Documents: STM warrant final; Comcast letter of intent
| 
