Town of Princeton, Mass. – Jan. 11, 2016 – 10 AM
Meeting Minutes - PBMLP
10:05 AM Meeting opened with PBMLP members Stan Moss, chair, Edith Morgan, Jon Fudeman and T.A. Nina Nazarian, Phil O’Brien, Phil Leaman and John Kowaleski in attendance.
Members discussed job description for an asst. manager, and Nina distributed latest version. Stan proposed setting hours for both in and out of office. Phil L. made some minor edits.
PBMLP members voted all in favor to approve job description with edits added. Nina will follow through and post the position on the MMA website; MBI; newspapers; mailing lists; networking contacts in the industry etc. A screening committee will be formed to review applications. Nina and Stan plus a Town Hall staff person or other community representative chosen by Nina will serve as members. Salary will be decided once a final candidate has been identified.
10:20 AM Regarding an updated (Version 3) list of policies, a major one is providing a lateral connection to every household (that wants it) from the street, regardless of whether or not they are subscribers and with no limit on driveway distance and PBMLP covers cost of first 500’ without obstacles. Residents must cover installation obstacles, (blocked conduits, ledge etc.) and distances beyond 500’. Basic installation cost for ONT (optical network terminal—like a modem) is $200 per customer.
Phil L. says a subscriber agreement should be in place that identifies all issues related to installation. A ‘premise entry’ agreement may be paired with the subscription contract and deposit. After much discussion, group decided that the start-up installation of laterals from the street are free for anyone who subscribes before the long-term financing is put in place—up to approximately three years. Customers would have a deadline for sign-up, to be determined. Post-initial installations could be done at the reasonable convenience of the PBMLP. The term “qualified premises” means anyone who receives service from PMLD. The group discussed an incentive for pre-subscription at the current $25 deposit, by
crediting $35 toward the customer’s $200 installation fee or towards first month’s subscription.
The group outlined the next step as finalizing the premise entry/subscriber agreement and the need to include a deposit for ‘good faith.’ It was evident that details must be worked out for when a customer cancels a contract. Phil O. pointed out that when the website goes live, people will start signing up and someone in Town Hall will have to handle receivables.
After discussing meeting times being more accessible, the group agreed to meet in the foreseeable future on Tuesdays at 5 PM on a weekly basis. Stan outlined several agenda items for next meeting on Jan. 19. It was noted that grant funding may be available for planning and engineering.
Members voted all in favor to authorize the T.A. to negotiate with Goulet, Salvidio, and Associates PC accounting firm to help PBMLP with finance issues, as the firm has been used by PMLD. Final numbers on costs will be needed for the ATM. Nina will find out if the Make-Ready funds can be used to pay for engineering, in order to get a better cost estimate. Looking at the informational public meetings, board suggested gathering questions from the website; also, get some bio info on the experts who will be at the meetings.
11:35 AM Board voted all in favor to approve minutes of 12/21/15. Phil L. reported that the hut purchases and pole surveys/analysis were progressing.
11:45 AM Board voted all in favor to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted, Marie N. Auger, administrative assistant
PBMLP Referenced Documents: Draft copies of previous editions and updated versions of “PBMLP Policies;” job description for an asst. manager
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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