Coordinator Report - November 21, 2012

Minutes for approval are from the most recent regular meeting, the brief
meeting with building inspector, and the scenic road hearing minutes.
Rosa received no comments so these are as submitted.

The next regularly scheduled meeting would occur on Christmas Eve. I
propose the board skip the meeting and we can schedule a meeting if an
agenda develops. Fred will review the implications of the right to farm
bylaw if any during the week after Thanksgiving.

Town was awarded two small grants this week. One is the EMPG grant
awarded in amount of $2,200 for fire service activities. It will buy a
radio and two pagers.  The other is a DEP mini grant awarded in amount
of $500 which will pay for blue recycling bins for use by community
members.

Financial audit of FY12 is now scheduled for last week of December to be
done by firm of Scanlon Co. in Deerfield MA.

Counsel is reviewing Right to Farm By-law  pursuant to questions raised
by police chief. Also on his desk is my opinion on a FinCom member
serving on another board per request of Moderator.

The completed MOA for the HIGH GROUND lease of tower space was returned
to DCR more than two weeks ago. Their consultant approved the
intermodulation (IM) study. No permit issued to date.

I am working on the draft of the Broadband FY14 budget and with the
Transfer Station Commissioners for their budget.  We got a favorable
response from the Tech school in that they are willing to help drafting
construction drawings for PS building.

Following is the text I submitted to the community newsletter for
publication in December:

Town meeting gave the Selectboard permission to negotiate and enter into
a contract in which the Town is the host for a 10 megawatt solar project
located someplace out of town in return for compensation to the town for
as much as $60k a year via a net metering agreement.  The developer,
Seaboard Solar, has so far proposed to the utility projects located in
Brimfield, MA and in Ware, MA. Both are sited where there is 3 phase
power distribution.  We have signed the required interconnection
agreements and the application predicts a construction start date of
February and interconnection by to the electrical grid by July. This is
good for the environment and good for our Town's income stream.

With winter coming and snow and ice removal looming, we remind residents
to keep your property out of the road right-of way. This includes
reflective pickets, fences, rocks, and other artifices.  The Town will
try to avoid hitting them but if we do you may find yourself responsible
for damage.  Thank you to those of you who have moved fences and other
objects to comply with this need.

After a PTO event was rescheduled for the same date at the Fire
Department dinner dance the Selectboard is asking that in the future we
all try and coordinate our events with that of others. Our webmaster is
understandably reluctant to change to format of the current calendar so
we are looking for some web based method to avoid scheduling conflicts.
Stay tuned and in the meantime, contact the town coordinator if you
would when planning an event.

Reestablishing a physical community meeting place has been a topic of
conversation for the past few weeks. To meet this need in the short term
the Selectboard voted to make the town hall dining hall available for
this purpose. If you are interested in being involved in organizing and
perhaps hosting this effort please let us know. One-cup coffee machines
are now on order for the town hall and library.

Thankfully we do have virtual meeting places via our town website, and
the town-wide email list-serve. Thanks to the volunteers who make this
happen, Ed Lemon on the website and Ed and Miryam Williamson on the
list-serve.

The town broadband system and its 160+ customers had a rough week
following the storm named Sandy.  Things have straightened out.  We have
a new service number to report outages, check on network status, and
enter orders. The (local) number is 978-633-9544. It is a Google voice
number and rings my cell phone when it can find me. If not I get emails
that you have called.  We are getting really close to installing WiMax
on the towers and only await state approval having gotten our FCC
licenses.  Once installed this will mean more speed. Then sometime
between April and June we will have a much more robust connection to the
Internet.  That fiber connection and the WiMax radio layer are coming
with thanks to the Mass Broadband Institute's 123 middle mile fiber
connection and a $50k grant from MBI to the town.

Warwick Broadband is turning three years old in the spring of next year.
 We added four new customers this month.  It no longer costs $500 to get
connected. Cost for installation is now $100 and no cost to income
eligible residents. Monthly recurring charge is $50 for standard service
and $30 for half speed. VOIP (Internet voice) applications such as
MagicJack and cell phone extenders work on either level of service. This
is not possible on satellite systems.

Are you involved in town government as a department, committee, or
commission head?  If so it is time to write your annual report for
inclusion in the Town Report. This report should cover the fiscal year
running from July to June.  As well, it is time to start on your FY14
budget. It is but a little more than five months until Annual Town
Meeting.

I have been working with the Recreation Committee to address an
occasional overabundance of competitiveness.  They are developing a code
of conduct for kids, parents, and coaches. Lets all remember that our
goal at the Rec is to teach sportsmanship, and learn skills. Everybody
gets a turn. Winning isn't all. If you agree and want to help, contact
me at 978-544-6315.

The next meeting, to which you are cordially invited, of the 250th
anniversary committee is Thursday, December 13th at 7 pm at the Town
Hall.  Over twenty events throughout the year are planned. If your group
hasn't yet stepped up and you want to do something please coordinate
with the 250th committee. Besides your ideas and involvement on the
250th we want to raise money.  The Selectboard has established a
donation account to supplement the $5000 appropriated at town meeting.

The first of the 250th events will be in January and include the annual
Arts Council soup dinner and a Wooden Fender music event on January
12th.  Weather permitting we will have a sledding or skating party in
January.  And every last Saturday evening of each month Jim McRae hosts
an open music event at the town hall.

One design concept has been submitted to date for the tee shirt design
contest to commemorate the 250th. The contest window is still open.

We remain interested in collecting oral histories of Warwick. Let us
know if you have a story to tell.

Don't forget the Moores pond beach committee ice-cutting event this
winter and the Feb 2nd Wooden Fender Groundhog Day music event and pizza
supper followed two weeks later by the big Feb 16th Warwick Birthday
Colonial Costume Ball with period music at the Town Hall