Last updated on June 30, 2019
Charlemont Municipal Fiber Network, Selectboard Status Report, June 29, 2019
Summary
Project schedule still has considerable uncertainty, but hoping to be operational by the end of 2020. Project is on budget, $184,714.22 has been expended to date out of the state grant funds, essentially unchanged since April. We continue to focus mainly on four areas of the project: utility make-ready work, finalizing critical aspects of the plan for the distribution network, construction of the network hub room in the town hall basement and make-ready on the exterior of the town hall. We applied for the USDA Reconnect grant/loan and have created a website for “Charlemont Connect” to begin to engage with residents to provide information and drive sign-ups.
Schedule
There are no significant updates on the overall schedule at this time. The schedule still has a lot of uncertainty, but we are hoping to have the network operational by the end of 2020.
After utility reconciliation is complete (hopefully soon?), we should know more. This should give us a scheduled date for the utilities to complete the make-ready work so that construction of the distribution network can begin. We are currently estimating that the utilities will complete their work by March 2020.
Some of the utility applications have started to come back and WG+E is reviewing them and making site visits, working towards utility reconciliation.
Budget
So far, the project is on budget. An expense tracking report is available here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dh_kFVuKwnovJTOfEz86h4cxdb1348J0
Working with Amy Wales, we are monitoring the project cash flow carefully to attempt to delay borrowing as long as possible. Ideally, we will complete make-ready without needing to start permanent borrowing, and borrowing will only be needed when construction of the distribution network begins in Spring, 2020.
As reported previously, design and engineering have been completed slightly under budget. We have currently spent 19% of our make-ready budget on utility pole applications and related costs, but the bulk of the make-ready expenditures will occur after utility reconciliation.
Utility make-ready work
Pole applications have been submitted to both Verizon and National Grid with WG+E acting as our pole agent. Some of our applications are started to come back. WG+E is reviewing and making site visits as necessary. We hope the reconciliation will be done in July.
We continue to work with National Grid on a final aerial license agreement incorporating terms requested by our town counsel. There was some progress on this in June, we are awaiting a revised draft promised by National Grid.
Distribution Network
We are working on a number of tasks in preparing for putting our distribution network construction out to bid:
Heath Stage Terrace
The homes on Heath Stage Terrace are served by underground (direct buried) utilities. WG+E prepared two detailed design proposals and cost estimates for the distribution network on this road. The estimated cost for an aerial solution (installing 10 new utility poles) is $32,900. The estimated cost for an underground solution is $48,000. We held an information session with residents in May. Many residents attended and 21 residents, representing 15 of the 16 homes on Heath Stage Terrace expressed opposition to aerial construction.
Based on the feedback from residents, we have been investigating whether the town can save money by putting an underground installation out to bid and using WG+E for only project management and materials. It looks like this could potentially save money and the broadband committee recommends we try this strategy to see if we can reduce some or all of the cost gap between aerial construction and underground. We have a quote from WG+E for materials and PM cost for Heath Stage Terrace (underground) at $7514.36. Procurement through FRCOG will cost an additional $1000 to $2000 (including Hawk Hill Road, see below).
Hawk Hill Road / Deer Run Lane
A half-mile section of Hawk Hill Road currently has underground utilities. We received quotes from WG+E for three solutions, the cheapest of which was fully underground at $44,000. At our request, WG+E generated an additional quote for materials and project management only, which came in at $8504.74. The broadband committee is recommending that we put the underground installation work out to bid through FRCOG along with Heath Stage Terrace to potentially save money.
Town Hall Interior
The initial response to our bid solicitation through FRCOG was disappointing, so we extended the deadline to July 12 and have become proactive about recruiting contractors to do a (required) walkthrough. We have done 3 walk-throughs and will hopefully have two more next week.
Final design (plans and project description):
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qEyo6-7JmZpd9XWx0BAEbPW-kbDtWKEq
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LeKr7qnW9Iim_84s_7Ag7f0I0sGA8oud
Full bid package:
http://charlemont-ma.us/sites/default/files/Attachments/rfq-20190621-charlemont-electronics-room.pdf
Town Hall Exterior
We are working to finish up local permitting and securing the necessary easements for the town hall exterior work. The design will cross Route 2 in the air and then use conduit to reach a buried “vault” for spare cable storage on the West side of the town hall (near the new generator). We have a conservation commission hearing this coming week. We have prepared easement agreements for both abutters, who have previously given verbal agreement, and we are working to get these signed, notarized and recorded.
The broadband committee is also working with the fire chief on planning for the new town hall generator. We have been doing the local permitting jointly (using a single site plan) to save money and effort. Our plan is to bid out the work simultaneously, but as separate projects. Based on initial estimates that the broadband portion will cost under $10,000, we are planning to solicit price quotes and not to do the procurement through FRCOG.
Final exterior site plan:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1Kqwo6MUlRiJHTLECVRTR2t9CZeqDvZYq
Neighboring town agreement with Rowe
We have reached verbal consensus with Rowe to provide access to cabling in Rowe to reach the upper end of Maxwell Road from Legate Hill Road via Tatro Road in Rowe. In exchange, Rowe is requesting access to cabling in Charlemont from the border on Zoar Road to the Charlemont town hall to be used by Rowe for redundant backhaul.
We have reached verbal agreement on a draft agreement, which we will bring before the select board. We are awaiting finalization of an agreement with Heath before proceeding.
Neighboring town agreement with Heath
We are working with Heath on an agreement to provide access to cabling in Heath to reach Warner Hill via a long route from South Heath Road in Charlemont through the Heath network to Warner Hill. This is the path followed by the existing electric utilities.
We are working with Heath on an agreement to provide access to cabling in Heath to reach Bassett Road from South Heath Road via South Road in Heath.
We met with Heath to discuss these agreements. Heath is seeking input from the state and WG+E and we hope to have a draft agreement for both selectboards to review in July.
Railroad crossings
We discovered that agreements with the railroad and annual lease fees are required for all railroad crossings not at public ways. We are working with WG+E to evaluate whether we should revise our distribution network design to avoid non-public-way railroad crossings and to find the most cost-effective solutions. Our initial design had four such crossings. We are also working with EOHED on this situation.
We received an initial review from WG+E on potential options and we are working with them on a cost-benefit analysis on each railroad crossing to determine which options look most cost-effective.
Reconnect Grant
With the approval and support of the select board, we applied for a USDA Reconnect grant. We applied under a combined grant/loan program for a matched grant and loan of up to $1,000,000 each. This grant is a long shot, but it was free to apply (outside of a couple of hundred dollars in legal expenses). Although it was a daunting amount of work, we managed to get the application in under the deadline, despite having no town administrator. The town hall staff was supportive, as was the Charlemont farm and business community, who provided many letters of support. We hope to know if our application was successful in 3 to 6 months.
Charlemont Connect website
We want to publicize progress on the network build and begin to engage with residents directly as a way to drive sign-ups when the time comes. To this end, we have created an outward-facing web site www.charlemontconnect.org dedicated to the fiber network project. A first release is up and running, currently focused mainly on the status and progress of the network build. Doing this as a standalone site is allowing us to move quickly and to experiment with different forms and formats for resident engagement. We envision this web site eventually transitioning or being replaced by one provided by our ISP.
Glossary
Aerial License Agreement. The master contracts between the town and the utilities (separate contracts for National Grid and Verizon) covering the terms for leasing space on the utility poles.
Customer Connections / Drops. Cabling from the nearest distribution network tap (MST) to a network interface box on the outside of the house or building, then inside to another small unit (ONT) which is connected to a wireless (or optionally non-wireless) router that provides internet service. A “cold drop” includes just the cabling to the outside of the house without any inside wiring.
Distribution Network. The main fiber optic lines running from the network equipment room in the basement of the town hall and along most of the roads in town. The distribution network terminates at “taps” (called MSTs) located on utility poles near each serviceable house or structure.
ISP / Internet Service Provider. A company that provides internet service on a network and performs functions like billing and customer support. The town will contract with a third-party internet service provider to provide service to residents using the town network.
MLP / Municipal Lighting Plant. A legal entity created by the town to allow the town to supply internet service to residents. It is called a lighting plant because the applicable state laws were originally written to allow towns to create local electric utilities. The MLP functions much like a town department.
Utility Pole Lease. The town will lease 12 inches of space on most of the utility poles in town to allow us to run the fiber network throughout the town. We will pay an annual lease fee per pole.