Broadband Committee Minutes

Broadband Committee Meeting                               06/12/18

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

The broadband committee’s charter is to research and study the needs of the com- munity, the alternative technologies available, optimal provider business plans, and potential service providers. The output of our project is to make a recommendation to the select board.

The broadband committee presented their recommendation to the select board at the weekly posted meeting at town hall, August 15.

It is now up to the select board to accept, reject, or modify the recommendation and/or provide additional instructions to the broadband committee.

The recommendation put forth by the broadband committee is as follows: •

Select board formally announce that :

Fiber Connect is the preferred broadband provider for the Town of Monterey. While this may appear to have been the case for some time, the select board has not yet formally designated Fiber Connect as the preferred provider.

As a set of parallel, simultaneous, or coincident efforts:

• Begin discussions/negotiations with Fiber Connect to formalize an agree- ment that includes completion of the network buildout as well as addressing a set of requirements from the town and/ or Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI), a state entity.

• Engage MBI to determine elements of an agreement that ensures release of grant funds to the town.

• Engage select board and finance committee to develop a plan to borrow $1.14 million for project completion. The $1.14 million represents the amount Monterey is eligible to receive from MBI. The MBI grant will be used to pay off this debt.

The broadband committee members are: Kenn Basler, Bill Johnson, Larry Klein, and Cliff Weiss, along with former member Steve Weisz.