Town of Warwick Selectboard December 7, 2015 Minutes Members present: Dawn Magi, Lawrence Pruyne, Nick Arguimbau Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary and Town Clerk Rosa Fratangelo, Fire Chief Ron Gates, Firefighter Mike Mankowsky, WiredWest Delegate John Bradford, Broadband Committee Chair Tom Wyatt, Police Chief David Shoemaker, Steve Ruggiero, Jon Calcari, Rachel Rapkin (Greenfield Recorder), Jared Robinson (Athol Daily News) I. Call to Order Chair Magi called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm in the Town Hall. Magi noted with sadness the recent passing of Ed Hawes. II. Minutes Pruyne MOVED to approve the minutes of November 23, 2015 as printed. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. III. Presentations and Discussions 1. Broadband, MBI and WiredWest--John Bradford addressed the growing conflict between MBI and WiredWest. He said that MBI released a letter that was based on a study that is not yet complete. Bradford noted that MBI may have a secondary agenda which he said may be related to telephone and middle mile issues. He said that MBI has doubts about the workability of WiredWest's financial plan and cooperative agreement. Bradford said that MBI may or may not have valid points, but wondered why MBI chose to release the letter now when they had the information for awhile and gave WiredWest virtually no time to respond. He said that WiredWest has urged all parties to get in front of this and work to Western Massachusetts' advantage and to be smart about this and not just angry. Bradford noted that while the viability of the WiredWest project is not threatened, where the resources go may need to be looked at and said that the towns should look very closely at the borrowing and not presume that they will be paid back, as we will not know if we will get money back until after the project is underway. Bradford said that at this point WiredWest offers a better deal than MBI. Tom Wyatt said that there are some legal things in the way and encouraged people to attend the next MBI meeting which will be held at FRCOG in Greenfield on Monday, December 14 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wyatt said that the LLC model may not prove to be the way to go and that an alternative may be needed or the relationship between WiredWest and MBI could collapse. Bradford said that the MBI model does not give towns control over costs. Young said that because WiredWest cannot guarantee the project will repay the towns they need to stop saying that they can. He said that we need to keep working through it, and that MBI is not ready for WiredWest's date certain of January 9, 2016. Bradford noted that the engineering has not yet started, and Wyatt explained that MBI says without knowing how many towns will be involved, the engineering cannot commence. Young said that the same implementation and speed issues continue with the LTE trial, and that while the technology is good it is also very complicated. Wyatt said that WiredWest is a non-profit organization that wants revenues to come back to the towns and does not want to have to outsource to a for-profit business such as Crocker. Young asked the Selectboard members to attend the MBI meeting on December 14th and indicated that he will attend as well. 2. Fire Department--Fire Chief Ron Gates confirmed that the fire truck currently owned by the Northfield Fire Department will be sent over to Raymond's to be looked over once it becomes available. Firefighter Mike Mankowsky said that the 1988 truck has a 1,000 gallon tank and a 4-man cab. He said that he spent a half hour looking under the truck and found minimal rust and that it may need front springs. Mankowsky said the firefighters there told him this is a very good truck, and he also assured Magi and the Board that it will be thoroughly checked out before the Town takes delivery on the truck, which will be some time after January 2016. 3. Public Records Law Changes--Pruyne said that he attended a Selectmen's Association meeting where proposed changes in the Public Records Law were discussed. He said if a Town receives a request it must comply, and if the request can be fulfilled in under two hours there can be no remuneration. If the request is more complex it must be filled within ten days and the town is allowed to quote estimated costs to the person or organization that made the request. He noted that requests regarding harassment can take up to 70 days to fulfill. Pruyne also said on the positive side, cost mitigation has been considered during the delays over the course of the changes going back and forth in the legislature. 4. EQV Questions --Young explained that the DOR requires equalized valuations, and conducts "equalization studies" (EQV) every two years and often corrects every town's assessments. He said that our last revaluation was certified by the DOR in January of this year at slightly under $73 million, but now has increased that number to $81 million. Young noted that state aid could be affected, possibly by a decrease in funding because we are now deemed to be wealthier than previously thought. Young said that he hopes to hear back from the DOR on how both figures can be correct. Pruyne expressed concern that school aid could potentially be negatively impacted. 5. Selectboard Reports--Arguimbau said that Marcellus is going belly-up at an annualized rate of 17.3% and he estimated that within two months the rate would increase to 20%, predicting the company would be down to practically nothing within four years. Young said that he had heard Kinder Morgan's credit rating is nearing junk bond rating. Young also noted that the 21-day window to apply to FERC for intervener status began today and the Town will be applying. 6. Coordinator Report--Young said that Rod Whipple had submitted all necessary documentation and paid the fee to have his Class II and Class III junk licenses renewed. Young had all the paperwork with him and asked the Board to vote to renew Mr. Whipple's licenses. Magi MOVED to renew Rod Whipple's Class II and Class III junk licenses through January 1, 2017. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 7. Public Comment--Jon Calcari asked how much the Town's anticipated borrowing and subsequent pay back for WiredWest; Young replied $1.6 million. 8. New and Other Business Unanticipated at Time of Meeting Posting -- Pruyne said that he had been notified of trees being cut, allegedly in the Town's right-of-way, on the corner of Wendell and Northfield Roads. Young said that he had forwarded Pruyne's concern to the Tree Warden IV. Adjournment At 7:02 p.m., Pruyne MOVED to adjourn. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Documents consulted at this meeting: *Draft Minutes of November 23, 2015 Selectboard meeting *Town Coordinator Report dated December 3, 2015 *Letter from MBI Executive Director Eric Nakajima dated December 1, 2015 *CTC report for Wired West: High-Level Assessment of the WiredWest Financial Model dated December 1, 2015 Fund Expenditure Report FY 16 dated November 18, 2015 *Emails between Ryan Johnson and David Young re: Final 2014 Equalized Valuations *Emails between Henry Williams III and David Young re: Final 2014 Equalized Valuations *Final 2014 Equalized Valuations release date January 30, 2015