Coordinator Report - March 13, 2014 I am requesting that the Selectboard authorize additional compensation to me as coordinator for administration of the broadband system. Last year the activity showed a $20k profit. If collections had been timelier, the profit was closer to $30k. I easily spend a day a week on the project and very often have to work on it nights and weekends and in excess of my 30 hours. I think after six years I deserve a raise and to be compensated for some of the extra time I put in. I propose the board authorize $100 per week in additional compensation for me from the Broadband Enterprise Fund budget effective immediately and with the understanding that my hours are formally increased from 30 to 32 per week as administrative coordinator. I am also requesting the John B, installer, have his rate increased from $20 to $25 per hour. He has completed his six month review period and this would make his pay the same rate we pay the other installers. I will be completing the fuel oil and diesel bid submission and seek the Selectboard's approval to, at my discretion, lock in the price when offered. The volatility of energy markets is such that we only have a few days from bid opening to acceptance and this authorization has been granted in the past. FYI we have used up all our contracted fuel and I have suspended deliveries as I expect to be able to top off tanks in the summer at lower cost. The board should set a date for a Selectboard meeting to discuss the pipeline proposal. Many residents want to offer opinions and there won't be nearly enough time at the short Monday meeting to address this. I suggest the following Monday or another date of your liking. Once you set a date I'll invite the land agent and publicize. We need to set a date for a joint Scenic Road hearing with the tree warden and planning board for proposed work on Hastings Heights and Gale Rd. Ted has suggested 4/2 or 4/9, both Wednesdays. The latter date has a town hall rental but we can meet in the main hall if that date is chosen. At 6:30 the board will adjourn to the library of the Pioneer High School to participate in a special meeting for town boards about the school budget. School spending is half of our budget and this year's budget without any school increases is troubling with respect to the tax rate and our capacity to tax. The metal shed ordered for storage at the highway department is still back ordered. I have requested Larry cancel and reorder elsewhere unless they can provide a commitment to deliver very soon. I submitted the voted clarification / changes to the personnel policy with respect to snow removal overtime to Fred and await his reply. What we did is consistent with my discussion with him. Public Utilities Commission has approved the revised Hampshire Power residential aggregation agreement which I previously supplied. Four weeks ago Warwick Broadband doubled its "backhaul" purchase to 30 Mbps. Two weeks ago we implemented the link to Fitzwilliam adding an additional 50 Mbps. This has permitted us to begin to deploy the 3.65 MHz WiMax. I have ordered the MBI fiber installed to the cell tower. I doubt we will meet my April prediction as that is close. The cost for all this is within our budget for this line item expense in the current budget and when we get fiber to both towers our expenditure will actually decrease to a total of about $2,200 per month. I wrote a letter of support to the FCC's rural trials grant. The proposal is to interconnect MBI123 and the NH FastRoads fiber between Warwick and Richmond NH via Winchester. The letter is in your board package. I asked MBI to support it but they couldn't handle the fast timeline. Modern Farmer Magazine has a ham cam streaming from Claudi's. An article touts our right to farm bylaw. HYPERLINK "http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/hamcam/" http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/hamcam/ We have at least one candidate for each elected position. Jeannette is not running for re-election. I had Bill L. investigate the gym roof insulation and he found it constructed with 6 inch SIPs foam panels which were never air sealed between the joints. Steve K repaired an electrical circuit in the kitchen and made it a ground fault as required today. Thanks Steve. He only charged us parts. The WCS generator runs like a well oiled sewing machine thanks to Roland and Steve. I bought a battery floater / charger to keep the battery up for emergency use. Finance committee is meeting every two weeks. Next meeting is 20 March. I'll arrange a joint meeting soon.