Town of Princeton, Mass. – March 8, 2016 – 3 pm
Meeting Minutes - PBMLP
3:10 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 along with representatives of Rohl Group.
Dave Marinelli, CEO of Rohl Networks was in to outline the company’s various divisions. A family-owned business since 1967, it started as a road-construction operation and evolved to design/build of infrastructure such as water/sewer and now concentrates on fiber-optic installation and works all over the nation and Canada. The engineering arm is Rohl Geomatics which would be the division to work on Princeton’s design. They have much experience in installing fiber-to-home and Dave gave a presentation on the screen showing schematics of other communities they’ve completed. Question came up about Rohl doing the entire design/buildout, but Stan reminded everyone about the design portion, as per Mass. statute, must be a different
company than the construction portion. It can only be done with an act of the legislature.
3:40 PM Jon F. asked questions about liability and responsibility if mistakes are made. Dave M. noted that there is insurance. He also explained the facets of maintenance with 65 miles of fiber line. There is ongoing monitoring through the network operations center (NOC) which senses damage along the lines electronically, as is currently done on other types of lines. A semi-annual pole-check is recommended as well, by staff skilled in recognizing subtle changes around the poles and line connections. Phil L. disclosed that he has worked with Dave M. in the past, and he pointed out that the design for stringing line doesn’t need a P.E. stamp, just a federal-issue certification.
Dave M. presented a project timeline and noted that the town did exceptional job of collecting data and GPS locations of all 2,600 poles in town--the major preliminary work. Because of that, he estimates a 6-8 week turnaround.
4:10 PM Nina introduced Marty Dell’Urba--new assistant manager for PBMLP, and outlined his work history and qualifications.
Stan distributed the latest draft of the Policy with some additions. All homes with aerial (pole) utilities will be installed to the house at no charge, as well as conduit (in clear-through condition) with pull-wire capacity. If utilities are simply buried, PBMLP will cover the first 100’ from the street and customer is responsible for the remaining distance to the house.
It was reported that Stan and several others met privately with another engineering firm which looked at cost estimates which have been gathered to date, and said they look accurate.
Phil O. distributed a report on results from release of the new website. A postcard mailing to all available addresses in town, encouraging a visit to the website, resulted in a 55 percent response of hits to the website. To date, about 184 people signed up for subscriptions. While many didn’t sign up, the feedback in conversations was “What’s the hurry?” Phil wants to see more engagement with residents. Group discussed possibly changing meetings to 7 PM with Q&A sessions in the first half-hour. Stan noted that the March 15 meeting is at 3 PM to meet with another engineering firm. On Tuesdays, the large room in the Annex is open at any hour except for Conservation Commission on the third Tuesday (April 19) at 7 PM.
4:45 PM Phil L. reported on Verizon pole applications which have come in and noted that some invoices are due for payment. Two recent examples cited are licenses which had a dollar value of just over $14,000 and just over $19,000. The board took a vote, and Stan and Edith authorized the payment to Verizon of $33,221.91 with Jon F. abstaining.
4:52 PM Board voted all in favor to approve minutes of March 2.
4:55 PM PBMLP Board voted to adjourn
Respectfully submitted, Marie N. Auger, administrative assistant
PBMLP Referenced Documents: Overhead Presentation on Rohl Group. with CAD plans; draft PBMLP Policy; marketing report from Phil O.
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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