Town of Warwick Selectboard September 14, 2015 Minutes Members present: Dawn Magi, Lawrence Pruyne, Nick Arguimbau Others present: Town Coordinator David Young, Town Secretary Rosa Fratangelo, Broadband Committee Chair Tom Wyatt, Steve Ruggiero, Maria Ruggiero, Diane Miller, Jon Calcari, Police Officer John Stewart, 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 Town Hall. II. Minutes Arguimbau MOVED to approve the minutes of August 31, 2015 as printed. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. III. Presentations and Discussions 1. MLP/Perfecting Recent WiredWest Delegate Appointment--Young said that WiredWest needed the appointments for delegates Tom Wyatt and John Bradford to be submitted on their official form. The form was filled out and signed. 2. Chapter 90 Project Requests--Young said that there were two separate projects, one for roadside drainage for the Tannery Hill section of Chestnut Hill Road, the other for drainage and resurfacing on Quarry Road. Paperwork for the project requests was signed by all three Selectboard members. 3. Broadband Internet--Young said that MBI has asked to have a representative come to a Selectboard meeting to speak for about an hour. He said that he had penned them in for the October 26, 2015 meeting. Young said that MBI will want a sense that what we propose is possible and that there is capacity to achieve our goal. He noted that we still have the option to build and own the system and contract with a vendor like Crocker. Tom Wyatt said that he and John Bradford attended a WiredWest delegate meeting last Wednesday (September 9th) and noted that the legal counsel they consulted has come up with an ownership plan that involves using an LLC which is dual in nature (municipal and corporate). Wyatt explained that the Town would be part of the ownership of the cooperative and own a percentage of the project as a whole but not the lines going through town. He said an agreement between the Cooperative and the member towns is being drafted. Arguimbau asked about voting rights and wanted to know if it would be one vote per town or votes based on the amount of money. Wyatt was not sure if the voting would be based on every town or every dollar, but said that there would be some type of proportional voting. He said the member towns would have to meet at least annually and that a Board of Directors could be appointed. Wyatt said that it depends on where the decision is being made, either by entire membership or Board of Directors, on just how the proportional vote would be structured. He noted that the draft agreement will be brought up at the next delegate meeting. Wyatt said that WiredWest had consulted with a lawyer about how to deal with ownership issues, and that the attorney had recommended the LLC solution in a 10-page document included in the Board members' meeting packets. Arguimbau said that we will need to know what would be delegated to a Board of Directors. Pruyne said that an LLC does not seem to be the best corporate structure for the towns to have an equal vote. He concurred with Young that a 501(c)4 would make more sense. Steve Ruggiero asked if an LLC makes it easier to declare bankruptcy. 4. KM/TGP Pipeline --Young said that he had submitted an application for Warwick to have Intervener status, and that FERC had rejected the application because the window for applications is not yet open and no formal application for the project itself is currently before FERC. He said that we may be able to become an intervener as a part of a group of towns. Young said that there would be a scoping session at 6p.m. on Tuesday, September 29th at the Field House at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, NH. 5. Warwick Broadband--Young said that he is looking into the option of leasing unused radio spectrum from a cellular carrier like Sprint or T-Mobile. He explained that cell phone companies hold licenses for the radio spectrum but are not using them, and therefore may be willing to sublease licenses to other entities. Young said that T-Mobile has 700MHz, and Sprint has 1900 MHz which may be most useful to us. He said that he is looking at two patches of space at 1900 MHz each and would like to try to get Sprint to allow us to test this as a wireless solution. He explained that this would be an internet system solely for data and not for cell service and that it could be three and a half times faster than the current WBS. Young pointed out that the numbers would have to work and be priced to fit our scale, but conceptually he likes this solution quite a bit as Warwick's topography is so favorable to wireless. He noted that we might need to put up a couple more towers if we were to end up using the 1900 MHz, and said that at this point it is just in a talking phase. Wyatt inquired if other western Mass towns could use this as well, because MBI is looking for regional solutions and there could be funds available from them. 6. Veteran's Services--Young said that we are now part of the new Veteran's Services District and as such we have the opportunity to obtain bronze flag holders for the cemetery at a cost of $20.00 each, to be purchased at the time of a veteran's interment. Magi said that Charlie Brown had found us less expensive flags and asked if perhaps we could check with him about less expensive flag holders. Young said that he believed that prior to this opportunity, the veteran's family paid for the bronze flag holder. Arguimbau MOVED that the Town use veteran's benefits to pay for the initial issue of a veteran bronze flag holder. Pruyne SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 7. Town Hall Safety Follow-Up--Young said that he gave Town Counsel a copy of Diane Miller's letter from the August 31st meeting regarding employee safety, and has yet to hear back from the attorney. He said that Tax Collector Terry Kemerer, Treasurer/Assessor's Clerk Beth Gilgun and he had all signed a statement supporting the Selectboard's recent ban of firearms in Town Hall. 8. Northfield Road Tree Hearing Planned--Young said that the Planning Board has asked for a hearing on October 13th in the late afternoon at the site of the proposed tree cutting. Arguimbau said that he has seen the site and tagged with yellow flags (a do not cut sign) all trees except those that were obviously hazardous. He also asked why there had been no hearing prior to the cutting that has already been done. Young explained that no hearing is required for hazard trees. He also said that the Highway drainage work was undermining some trees and as a result created hazard trees. Young said that work has been halted pending the tree hearing. Arguimbau asked if the standard for hazard trees used by former Tree Warden Dana Songer had been changed. Magi said that she will invite Tree Warden Brian Miner to the next Selectboard meeting to discuss the matter. Diane Miller asked about video taping the area and all trees slated for cutting to show indoors in the evening when it would be conducive to more people's schedules and would not be subject to weather or the waning daylight. Young said that public shade trees are under the purview of the Tree warden and not the Selectboard. Ruggiero asked about having a police officer present to direct traffic because a number of parked cars and people looking at trees could pose a public safety issues. Pruyne said that he stopped when he saw Arguimbau and Jack Cadwell marking trees and noted that traffic moves right along on Northfield Road. 9. Selectboard Reports--Magi said that she attended a meeting of the Bargaining Unit at the Franklin County Technical School, and explained that they are looking for someone to serve on the bargaining team. Magi said that she may volunteer to do this if no one else expresses an interest. She noted that there will be a meeting at the Tech School's library on September 30th to select a bargaining representative. 10. Coordinator Report--Arguimbau asked about the public records law debate; Magi said that both Warwick and FRCOG are on record as being opposed to the proposed law as it stands now. Pruyne said that he had spoken recently with Janice Kurkoski about a FRCOG research program to gather data on the necessity of the gas pipeline. He noted Warwick can participate at no cost to the Town. Pruyne MOVED to authorize Warwick's participation in FRCOG's research efforts on the necessity of the pipeline. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. 11. Public Comment--Steve Ruggiero asked if the Chapter 90 projects for Chestnut Hill and Quarry Roads would involve tree cutting similar to that on Northfield Road. Young said that due to the piping and drainage work, hearings may be needed and that he would have to consult with the Tree warden. Magi said that the Highway Superintendent will be invited to the next meeting along with the Tree Warden. Diane Miller held up a flyer of an Australian shepherd dog named "Nora" that has been the subject of missing dog flyers posted throughout town and reported that the dog was seen on Hockanum Road last Thursday and was almost caught. She said that a photo of the dog was taken and Nora's owner is sure it is her dog. Miller asked everyone to be on the lookout for the dog because there have been three recent possible sightings in Town, all on or near Route 78 heading south. Tom Wyatt said that WiredWest wanted to mount a postcard campaign to towns that have not yet accepted the project, and that postcards would be sent to people who have not pre-subscribed. He asked the Board if there were any objections to this; there were none. Wyatt said that he and John Bradford both feel that MBI and WiredWest seem to be working better together of late. 12. New and Other Business Unanticipated at Time of Meeting Posting-- Arguimbau thanked Maria Ruggiero for becoming an Election Worker. IV. Adjournment At 7:18 p.m., Pruyne MOVED to adjourn. Arguimbau SECONDED. Motion CARRIED 3-0-0. Documents consulted at this meeting: *Minutes of August 13, 2015 Selectboard meetings *Town Coordinator Report dated September 10, 2015 *Certificate of Votes to Join WiredWest and Make Appointments *Email to HYPERLINK "mailto:delegates@wiredwest.net" delegates@wiredwest.net re: Restructuring of the WiredWest *Emails from David Young and Tom Wyatt re: Restructuring of the WiredWest *Memorandum from Burke & Foskett, LLC re: Outline of Operating Agreement for the Cooperative, dated September 3, 2015 * Email from David Young to Elizabeth Copeland re: Warwick exploring LTE wireless * Email from HYPERLINK "mailto:eFiling@ferc.gov" eFiling@ferc.gov to David Young re: FERC Rejection for Filing in PF14-22-000