Broadband Committee Minutes

Broadband Committee Meeting                               04/18/18

Attendance : Larry Kline, BJ Johnson, Cliff Weiss, George Cane, Kenn Basler

Joint Meeting with Select Board , Lt. Governor , MBI

Carol recused herself from this discussion due to her conflict of interest. We have been struggling with Broadband for more than 3 years now. The discussion was turned over to Cliff Weiss, our Broadband Committee Chairperson to provide a summary of our proposal which would have Monterey wired in one year. We are currently experiencing a process logjam with MBI and the local provider that we want to use. We have very limited options for providers. We are requesting the Governor’s help with obtaining the $1.2 million in grant monies approved for Monterey for the solution that is the best option for Monterey (they have currently lit up over 200 homes in Monterey with their own money); they would be able to provide service to 96% of the town. Monterey would like MBI and the state to be more open to other ways to helping us receive the monies through a different approach. Peter Larkin was present to argue that as a public entity they are accountable to disperse the money one way and they aren’t open to out of the box solutions. The Lt. Governor was firm that whatever documents are being required from the private sector provider that has yet to be submitted need to be submitted in order to continue to move forward. Our Committee feels that there don’t seem to be any considerations made to keep the business local rather than sending the money out to large, out of state companies. The Lt. Governor agreed that the focus needs to be on the sustainability of the project and accountability. The lines on the poles into the houses are the asset and where the money was spent. Peter Larkin asked if the town would sign a performance bond for the private provider.

Meeting Adjourned at 12:00