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Princeton Broadband Committee
Meeting Minutes November 20, 2013 7:11pm Town Hall, Princeton, MA
Meeting called to order at 711 PM. Committee Members Present:
Steve Cullen
John Kowaleski
Petr Spacek
Stan Moss
Bill Dino
Rich Wagner
Ned Utzig
Chris Lynch from Matrix Design Group attended.
Princeton Residents Linda Nash and Tom Sullivan attended.
Discussion
- No meeting 11/27. Next meeting 12/4.
- Discussion: Do we want to meet every week?
- Reminder regarding Town Employee Holiday Party : 12/11
- John put a copy of Google Earth network design in the dropbox.
- Steve: Comcast didn’t respond to recent queries.
- Bill: Charter indicated they would have an ROI analysis next week, mentioned they typically build 20-25 homes/mile, for new areas with satellite they will take into account a lower penetration for cable.
- John’s estimate for houses/mile is approx. 15, John will give a more exact estimate later.
- Does the network design become a public document? Answer: Once document is complete, it should be in the public domain.
- John still doing pole updates / cluster near Hobbs rd. and Western part of town.
- John may need help with Javascript/editor functions for pole DB. Rich, Ned volunteered to help as needed.
- Steve: We will start outline for RFI for the network build, once design is done. Stan suggested putting in a request for feedback regarding the RFP criteria.
- Stan sent Cable TV licensing process doc, there is no RFP process, a town would enter directly into a “licensing process” granted by licensing authority (board of selectman).
- Cable contract: 5% gross revenue initially, drops after renewal. subsidize cable TV operation, 10 or 15 year lease term.
- Roughly a 2-3 month process to determine whether Charter/Comcast would be interested and would be a viable option, needs to be done prior to any Town meeting / decision on the municipal broadband option.
- Stan Motioned that the BBC recommend to the Board of Selectman that the town initiate the Cable TV licensing process to determine whether it is a viable option for the town. Motion carried unanimously.
- Discussion on town perception of BBC, Steve cautioned the committee to take care during communications with residents and make sure they understand the committee is investigating alternatives to the municipal fiber build, and are trying to address concerns of low/fixed income residents in our plans.
- Discussion with Tom Sullivan regarding the open process the BBC is following, and how we can increase our communication with residents.
New Action Items
- Steve sending a letter to BOS to add the Cable TV licensing issue to the agenda for the BOS 12/2 meeting.
- Ned to post meeting concurrent with BOS meeting, 7pm, Town Hall Annex.
Use BCC group for future mailing.
Upcoming Agendas
- No meeting 11/27 (thanksgiving eve)
- Next meeting 12/4 – Agenda is discussion with Charter reps.
- No meeting 12/11 (town holiday party)
- Meeting on 12/18
Meeting adjourned 8:23pm
Respectfully submitted,
Ned Utzig
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