Town of Princeton, Mass. – Feb. 9, 2016 – 5 pm
Meeting Minutes - PBMLP
5 PM Meeting opened with PBMLP members Stan Moss, chair, Edith Morgan, Jon Fudeman and T.A. Nina Nazarian, Phil Leaman, John Kowaleski, and Phil O’Brien in attendance, plus meeting attendees.
Phil L. reported on progress with Verizon; pole applications are halfway through being processed. Three equipment huts are at the Hwy. Dept. and Phil estimates some fiber may be able to be strung starting summer 2016. He says entire network will be built out just once (no rebuilds), with access ready to plug in every existing or potential household or house lot. A stub on the road will be installed at empty lots. He is meeting with a contractor on Friday who may be handling foundation/footings for the huts. Network will have a two-way redundancy as a backup for emergencies.
Nina N. received 14 applications for the asst. mgr. position and screening committee will review. Stan noted that PBMLP should be covered by town’s general liability insurance, in reference to a comment made by Nina regarding bonds. A news report said Wired West and MBI are continuing discussions and consequently broadband financing to rural communities is on hold. Board will vote on WW membership at next meeting.
5:20 PM Stan presented (on the projector) the entire draft of PBMLP policies outlining details and parameters of the roadway and household installations, noting that even when finalized they will be subject to amendment. Group still discussing issues around the (25 or so) extra-long driveways—98 percent of driveways are under 1,000 ft. Stan suggested that PBMLP cover first $5,000 (or some fixed number) of installation cost to each household. Phil L. prefers that PBMLP supply first 50 or 100 ft. into each house lot and customer pays balance of cost to the house (for underground only). Either way, town spends equal amount on each address, although Phil L. pointed out that using the dollar threshold is risky as people may expect that
total dollar amount even where it’s not needed in short installations.
Stan noted just over half of town’s 1,300 households are required to sign up, with subscription revenues at $95./month to break even. Jon noted that Princeton Broadband will be in a competitive business with competitors such as Ayacht, Verizon, etc. The technology will most likely be rapidly changing. We will have a relatively high margin business, roughly 65% gross margin. At $95 per subscriber month we would have an annual gross margin per subscriber of $720, or $72,000 per year per 100 customers (based on latest projections).~ For every 100 customers added or lost the bottom line impact is $72,000 per year. For example, a 200 customer difference will have an annual effect of $144,000 on the bottom line, to either the benefit or
detriment of subscribers/taxpayers. Princeton Broadband will have to react to competition if it wishes to minimize cost to the~subscribers/taxpayers.~
Edith asked about Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service as an enticement if it’s bundled with the internet. John K. outlined options, explaining that phone is an add-on that can come from any provider at a range of costs, such as Vonage or even fewer dollars with a MagicJack. Goal is to entice DSL customers to drop their phone/internet from Verizon with an easy switch to fiber-optic, with the case being made for the advantage of 100 MB broadband service.
6:40 PM Group discussed timing of a possible STM and assumes town would advertise public informational sessions prior to town meeting. This means a STM in June.
Board voted all in favor to approve information contained in the policy document with the contingency that it is a working document. They also voted all in favor to set a STM in June.
Phil O. talked about information sessions and likely dates for these, considering April, May and June.
Board voted all in favor to spend up to $600 for a postcard mailing and to announce launch of the new PBMLP website.
7:19 PM PBMLP Board voted to adjourn
Respectfully submitted, Marie N. Auger, administrative assistant
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
| 
