Town of Princeton, Mass. – May 3, 2016 – 5:00 pm
Meeting Minutes - PBMLP
5:00 PM Meeting opened with PBMLP members Stan Moss, chair, Edith Morgan, Jon Fudeman and T.A. Nina Nazarian, Asst. Mgr Marty Dell’Erba, and John Kowaleski and residents
-Approve minutes for April 19
Meeting minutes for approval were not ready, so the MLP passed over the item.
-Authorize any payments required
Marty presented make ready application costs which require additional payments. The MLP voted 2-1 on a motion by Stan, second by Edie, to approve to pay Verizon in the sum of $17,436.80 for supplemental make ready pole apps for application #’s 6, and 8-13.
-Engineering Design firm recommendation/discussion
Stan presented a chart showing all the different criteria which all the engineering consultants were being evaluated for, noting that there were a lot of criteria (13). Stan mentioned that the engineering evaluation team met today which he sat in on. The engineering team includes Phil Leaman, John Kowaleski, and Marty Dell’Erba. John K. reported that they have at least 3 firms which could do the work that the Town needs. He reported that Phil Leaman has a web conference set up with a firm at 1 PM tomorrow to continue discussions.
-Continue Discussion on Special Town Meeting (if desired)
The Board discussed that there is the Annual Town Meeting on Tuesday evening of next week, so they agreed to put an agenda together for Thursday, May 12th at 5 PM.
Stan presented the thoughts behind a Special Town Meeting in June, or later. He asked the Board for their opinions. Edie mentioned that there are folks who wish to see the bids in. Jon mentioned that the Town only has one shot. Nina mentioned that the budget was not crafted to include debt numbers for FY17, and therefore June would be difficult to have a Special Town Meeting, and advised that July or later would be good. Jon re-iterated that it would be important to have everything clarified. Edie asked Jon if his concern was to have enough subscribers. Jon mentioned that he is concerned with subscribers however there are risks that need to be weighed. He stated that it was a risk, but not the only risk he sees. Edie asked if he had additional
risk thoughts. Jon talked about this project being a large project which would require professional management. Edie said that we have Phil Leaman, that he is a professional in this field. Stan mentioned that the management would be managing the vendors, not the MLP at this point.
Discussion on Comcast and service. Jon F. looked into the subject and looked at complaints on the web. Jon talked about competition and what customers want. He said that this is a brand new business which we are getting into and we will not control the whole field.
-Updates or Correspondence
Marty had heard rumors about LeverettNet about the service, things being unreliable. According to his call the rumors are unsubstantiated. He called Ms. Marjorie McGinnis, Town Administrator in Leverett. Marjorie said that they had two outages which were for a few hours, they have had outages at individual homes for greater than a week however they were from trees down. He asked if folks were overall happy and satisfied with LeverettNet, Ms. McGinnis said yes. He talked about the vendors, and Marjorie’s comments were that it is a complex process, but that things were smooth. They also talked about the operational costs and how Leverett plans to review the budget in the future.
Marty summarized correspondence from a resident which came in through the ConnectingPrinceton.com website that feels that the Town should definitely consider Comcast and their interest to build in Princeton.
Spoke with Michael Baldino, from the MBI who has been with them for 22 years. Baldino will be sending Marty contact information for Comcast, Michael asked if Marty would be the sole contact, Marty replied that he would be. Marty mentioned to the MLP that things appear to be in flux with the state. The MBI is exploring other alternatives to deliver broadband to unserved towns, which could include line of sight wireless, and relationships with cable companies. Wireless may not be feasible given mountainous or hilly terrain.
Jon reported an article that he received from Phil O’Brien from the western part of the state. That Comcast is ready to go in 3 towns (one was Shelburne), and the MBI has approved to disperse funds to these towns. Stan mentioned that in the IT bond bill $5 million was allocated for towns that are underserved, the towns mentioned in that article were underserved towns.
John Rowl asked a couple of questions regarding the letter sent to Comcast, asking if the Town received a response from the MBI regarding the letter sent to MBI. Stan said that we had not. John Rowl asked why the Town would even continue conversation. Nina cautioned that the MLP not answer the question, as it is a question for the Board of Selectmen who are not posted for a meeting. Nina explained that since the MLP are the same members of the Board of Selectmen, the MLP Board needed to be cautious to not deliberate on matters relating to the MLP.
John K. asked if the Board of Selectmen have received a formal request from Comcast. Nina responded that it had not.
Jim O’Coin asked if there has been any face to face communication from Comcast. Stan explained that Comcast has communicated through the Town Administrator, and there has been no face to face communication with MBI to date. Jim mentioned that while at the Post Office a couple of weeks ago, he was inundated with residents who want to sign up and move forward with this project. As of today, we have about 351 subscribers, with Town Meeting having over 500 voters in favor, maybe some of those were husband and wife voting in favor. He believes that there is a lack of trust with regard to the towns history with the windmill project. We have a manager at PMLD who is trying to change that, but there does not appear to be trust. With Comcast he
said, there should be parallel communication and sincere talk in listening to Comcast if they do have a sincere interest to work as a utility in town.
John K. mentioned that he does not totally disagree with Jim O’Coin, he mentioned that according to the FCC, Comcast is not a utility. He said that if we ask Comcast to come in here and wire up the Town, then they could leave out areas of the Town. Jim O’Coin said that these kinds of expectations could be set up at the beginning of any negotiations. He said that he thinks that he would like to ask the MLP to request that the Board of Selectmen invite Comcast into Town to meet with the Selectboard. Nina asked Marty to give the MLP some guidance on this subject. Marty is unsure of how the letter was received by Comcast, where Princeton was a bit demanding with the letter. Marty expressed that he had not received the appropriate
contact from the MBI for Comcast and that he was waiting on that information.
John R. said that he agrees with Jim O’Coin’s points, but his concern is that the Town has been trying to work with Comcast or a similar company for years. Comcast has been unresponsive to the Town in the past. He believes that his how the PBMLP came into effect, thinking being that if no one else will assist; we need to do it ourselves. Thinking that if there was ever going to be any power for the 44 towns, it was going to be through MBI, but the MBI has not delivered any results said John R. Jon F. expressed that the letter sent by the Selectboard was very put offish. Jon reported that he called MBI and Comcast, spoke as a resident after identifying himself as a resident. He talked about how Steve Cullen has been in contact with
Comcast for the last several years.
Darcy Rowl is concerned that the MBI is in flux, and the election is coming up soon, so the legislature will end its session in June, with the new legislative session in January requiring legislation to have to be re-filed. There is a perception that the Town has done nothing, but in fact there is a lot of work going on.
Bill Dino mentioned his experience with the federal government. When he was on the Broadband Committee we had significant discussions with Charter, they came in and met with us and discussed many different logistics. The partnership never panned out, just as he is concerned that it will not come to fruition with Comcast.
Jim O’Coin asked if Marty would feel justified picking up on the phone and speaking with Comcast directly. Marty said that he needs a contact to make the connection. John K suggested that Marty contact Alecia Matthews at Comcast, who is reportedly the VP of Government Services.
Jon asked if when we were discussing special legislation, if anyone could provide clarification regarding the two options to attain special legislation. Stan explained that there were two ways to obtain special legislation as he has learned; either a petition to the legislature or an emergency legislation. The latter is applied through the Governor. Jon asked John K. about what happens if the 4.75 million does not go through Town Meeting? John K. mentioned that we could attach ourselves, the MBI could build through their plans to work with communities, the WiredWest build, or someone like Comcast. John K. stated that if Comcast came in with a coaxial cable design, then our make ready may not be up to par with the needed requirements.
Marty mentioned a letter of correspondence which he sent to PMLD on authorizing PMLD to begin the non-pole make ready work. Marty also provided an update on the pole sets bid which went out, bids to be opened tomorrow.
-New Business
Jon mentioned cable advisory board, to help provide independence to the MLP and BoS, since they are the same members. Stan said that it is required under the law to provide for a cable advisory board. He mentioned that he was speaking with the DETE, that the initial franchise agreement is for 16 years, subsequent renewals of the agreement have been 5 years, but at other times 10 years.
-Old Business
None
6:27 PM The MLP voted 3-0 on a motion by Stan, second by Edie to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted, Nina Nazarian, Town Administrator
Correspondence: Connecting Princeton correspondence re: Comcast and Letter to PMLD for Partial Make-Ready
Minutes Approved on May 12th
Marie Auger
Administrative Assistant
Planning Department
978-464-2100
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