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Princeton Broadband Committee
Meeting Minutes August 14, 2013 7:00pm Town Hall, Princeton, MA
Meeting called to order at 7:03 PM. Committee Members Present:
Ned Utzig
Rich Wagner
Bill Dino
Phil Obrien
John Kowaleski
Steve Cullen
Petr Spacek
Stan Moss
Chris Lynch from Matrix Design Group also attended.
Discussion
- Stan: select board FY14 major goals are broadband and fire/ems.
- Stan talked to Jason Whittet; Princeton has been reclassified by MBI as “unserved community”, among 45 communities, which is a desirable classification. He is aware of what is going on with Princeton and Leverrett. Talked about $40M last-mile bond bill, applies to the 45 towns. If bill passes could be leveraged into more ($80M) via vendor contributions, could fund FTTH for a possible GPON network.
- Stan invited Jason Whittet from MBI to the 8/21 BBC meeting to discuss further.
- Bill talked to Verizon, has a call in w/ a higher-level rep who’s on vacation, expecting a return call. Will hear back possibly next week.
- Steve meeting with Sterling on Friday on IPTV possibilities.
- Stan: Town will pay for small cardstock mailer with factual update.
- Discussion on newsletter and report from Support Princeton BB.
- Phil released press release on revised schedule, Landmark article posted.
- Discussion on whether we should put out a triple RFI, ISP/build/maintenance.
- Pole survey almost done, need to fill in holes. Post-processing to GIS map to start in September or sooner if possible.
- Stan contacted Andy McAdoo of G4S on Monday, and other vendors inquiring on engineering companies to do the design. Greg G. from G4S sent two referrals, Gigagbit Squared (Ohio), Magellan Advisors (Denver) for network engineering consulting/design.
- Committee discussion on hiring consulting engineer for the $10k and validating the design with installation vendors.
- Discussion on timing of town meeting, (before vs. after MBI light-up).
- Phil talked to Phyllis Booth, need to supply list of success stories for fiber for upcoming story in Landmark. Discussion on gathering more data, creating a strategy/whitepaper and distributing to media.
New Action Items
- Talk to Sterling about their cable service and possibly providing service over Princeton Fiber. (Steve)
- Report on meeting with Verizon RE: fiber backhaul. (Bill)
- Forward Support BBC press release to committee. (Ned)
- Stan/John + Subcommittee to begin work on RFI.
- Rich/Phil to work on newsletter layouts, John can contribute graphic design expertise. (Rich/Phil/John)
- Stan will discuss matter of last-mile funding / MBI with state rep Kim Ferguson. (Stan)
- Rich & Phil – strategy / final white paper. (Rich/Phil)
- Chris & Peter Johnson – provide more example town data. (Chris L.)
- Research/find more example towns (All)
Ongoing Business / Long Term Action Items
- Decide date of special town meeting (All)
- Talk to Cell tower providers about connecting to fiber / getting an ONT, could be a source of revenue. (Stan)
- John/Stan to work on revised depreciation plan. (John/Stan)
- Meet with pole survey volunteers, organize further work (John)
- Ideas for content for possible newsletters to town (All)
Agenda for 8/21
- Meet with Jason Whitted from MBI
Meeting adjourned 8:57 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Ned Utzig
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