Town of Warwick Selectboard October 26, 2015 Minutes Members present: Dawn Magi, Lawrence Pruyne, Nick Arguimbau Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary and Town Clerk Rosa Fratangelo, Eric Nakajima (MBI Executive Director), Elizabeth Copeland (MBI General Counsel), Christine Hatch (MBI Outreach Manager), Jim Dawes (WiredWest), John Bradford, Broadband Committee members Tom Wyatt, Brad Compton, Andrea Woods, Bill Foote and Scott Seago, Bill Stathis (Crocker Communications), Assessor Keith Ross, Ben Schwartz, Steve Ruggiero, Jon Calcari, Jared Robinson (Athol Daily News) Rachel Rapkin (Greenfield Recorder) I. Call to Order Chair Magi called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm in the Warwick Free Library. This meeting was posted as a Joint Meeting with the Selectboard and Broadband Committee. II. Minutes Pruyne MOVED to approve the minutes of October 13, 2015 as printed. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 2-0-1: Magi and Arguimbau - AYE; Pruyne - ABSTAINED, as he said he had not read the minutes. III. Presentations and Discussions 1. Warwick Newsletter--Warwick Community Newsletter editor Andrea Woods said that the newsletter has too many pages to collate and fold, plus the cost of postage keeps increasing. She said that the newsletter needs to be kept at a manageable size and made a formal request that an abbreviated version of the Selectboard minutes be submitted for inclusion in the monthly publication. Town Secretary Fratangelo suggested that just the votes be included in the newsletter version, and that it be made clear each month that these represent only the actions taken, and that complete minutes may be found online and in the Town Clerk's office. Young said that he had favored shorter minutes several years ago, with just a list of those present and votes taken, but now the Attorney General's Office prefers the gist of the discussions be included. Young suggested a set of minutes with those present, motion and votes and resuming recording the meetings for full content. There was a consensus of the Board to keep the minutes as they are now, with a newsletter version to include who was present and the motions and votes. Broadband Internet--MBI Executive Director Eric Nakijima said that Governor Baker had approved an FY 16 capital spending plan that included 19 million dollars out of the fifty million dollars for broadband spending authorized in the IT Bond Bill. He said that MBI's team is increasing staffing for design, engineering and construction as well as going forward with the data gathering required for make-ready license applications and pole attachment grants with the utility companies. Nakijima said that he did not feel that MBI has been substantially slowed down by the procurement process. He noted that MBI continues to develop contracts with individual towns and that WiredWest is formalizing its MOUs/contracts with individual towns. He pointed out that these are important legal documents that dictate the roles, responsibilities and liabilities of the involved parties and that he hoped to have these by the end of the first quarter of 2016. MBI General Counsel Elizabeth Copeland said that they had received the WiredWest LLC Operating Agreement late last week but had no opinion to offer as the document had not yet been reviewed and vetted. Nakijima said that MBI wants sustainable operating models and has a role to help the stakeholders grow with a higher rather than lesser degree of surviving. He assured those in attendance that MBI will continue to engage in a good dialogue with WiredWest on the operating model and build confidence that the network will be sustainable. He cited the pilot project in Royalston as doing well, with 50 or so homes enjoying good quality wireless internet service, but noted that broader sustainability or applicability for the entire town was not yet established. Nakijima said that MBI would consider a similar grant for Warwick's LTE trial, which would be come out of the construction allocation as an advance on construction. Nakijima said that he was looking for common questions that towns may have regarding alternatives and said he was open to going back to the MBI Board with these issues. He noted that the raw data on premises counts should be completed by the end of this week. Nakijima said that towns will be billed at actual cost, but if there are towns that do not go with WiredWest there could be "extra money" to use against any possible increased costs to build. MBI Outreach Manager Christine Hatch said that a portal will be created for each town to track its progress and status. She said that monthly conference calls were held during the middle-mile phase, and were quite helpful. Nakijima noted that there will be a single point of contact during construction so that all questions and concerns go directly to one person. He also said that MBI or the Commonwealth could end up with some ownership as it could save on costs to the towns and speed up the process, and that MBI needs to evaluate its risks and cost savings to the towns. Nakijima explained that the June 30, 2016 deadline for fiber to the home is reasonably firm, but if there are those trying to work out a hybrid option and a clear path is evident, the deadline could be extended. He also said that towns could pool resources to reduce their risk and that MBI would be happy to assist the towns. Magi asked about WiredWest's support letter to Representative Peter Kocot regarding an amendment to Chapter 427 of the Session Laws of 2008, An Act Relative to Temporary Loans and Assessments of Betterments by the Town of Hingham. Young said that he and the Town Treasurer oppose this and he recommended that the Board take more time to review or vote against it if they vote tonight. Tom Wyatt said that there is less auditing involved which would save the town money. Nakijima pointed out that this provides an option for the Town, but that there would be no obligation to exercise the option. He said that it would be good to have options hat ease borrowing restrictions. Jim Dawes of WiredWest handed out a spreadsheet with various borrowing options and the expected costs for Warwick; the lowest figure was $2,139,208 and the highest was $2,856,320. 3. Tax Classification Hearing--Magi called the hearing to order at 7:15 p.m. Young read aloud the legal notice that had been posted. It is required by law to hold an annual tax classification hearing, and historically Warwick has always adopted a single tax rate for all classifications of property. Pruyne MOVED to adopt a single tax rate. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. The three Board members and the Town Clerk all signed the document which was then taken by Assessor Keith Ross. 4. Broadband Internet (continued) --Jim Dawes of WiredWest explained that a 50% take rate will cover the town's debt costs, and anything over that will begin to generate revenue to help pay down the debt. Young said that the LTE trial is a way to do our due diligence to see if it works. He noted that if it is affordable, we want fiber because it has unlimited capacity, is more stable and requires less maintenance than wireless. Andrea Woods said that according to the survey put out by the Broadband Committee has indicated about 55% of the respondents are happy with Warwick Broadband but want reliable telephone service and are interested in bundling phone and television to get rid of poor quality landlines. Dawes said that the monthly prices for basic internet would be $9.00, or $79.00 for faster service and $25.00 for telephone. He said that no price had been estimated for television, but he thought the bundled cost for all three services would be around $125.00. Dawes noted that the router would be installed inside the home and be equipped with a 24-hour battery back-up in the event of a power outage. Arguimbau MOVED to send the support letter to Representative Peter Kocot and a copy to WiredWest. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 5. KM/TGP Pipeline--Magi said that there will be two meetings held at the Northfield Elementary School beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 28th. One meeting will be hosted by the Northfield Selectboard and held in the cafeteria, the other by Kinder Morgan/Tennessee Gas Pipeline and will take place in the auditorium 6. Northfield Road Tree Hearing--Magi said that the continuation of the Northfield Road Tree Hearing would be held on Wednesday, October 28 at 4:30 p.m. The hearing will convene at the intersection of Flower Hill and Northfield Roads. 7. Selectboard Items and Reports-- No reports this meeting. 8. Coordinator Report -- Young had nothing to add to his written report, and the Board had no questions. 9. Public Comment --None. 10. New and Other Business Unanticipated at Time of Meeting Posting --None. IV. Adjournment At 7:47 p.m., Arguimbau MOVED to adjourn. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Documents consulted at this meeting: *Draft Minutes of October 13, 2015 Selectboard meeting *Town Coordinator Report dated October 22, 2015 *Questions for MBI meeting with Warwick Selectboard and Broadband Committee *Questions for Warwick Selectboard Meeting with MBI 10/26/15 *Questions and Answers on LTE pilot project *Email from Tom Wyatt to David Young re: Kocot letter to 31 towns *Letter from WiredWest to Representative Peter Kocot *Draft of letter from Warwick Selectboard to Representative Peter Kocot *Spreadsheet of projected costs for Warwick's share in WiredWest project