Last updated on February 19, 2020
Charlemont Municipal Fiber NetworkSelectboard Status Report
January 20, 2019
Summary
Based on the current estimated completion dates from National Grid and Verizon, we are anticipating construction of the distribution network will begin in early 2021. We hope to begin rolling out service to parts of town in the second quarter of 2021 and have service in all parts of town by the end of 2021 or Q1 2022. We have been approved for additional state funding of $438,000 from the EOHED Last-Mile Contingency Fund to help with excess make-ready expenses. We are continuing to work on preparatory tasks to allow us to put the distribution network construction out to bid early this year. Installation of the conduit and vault outside of the town hall is done and construction on the network equipment room in the basement has begun.
Design of a new railroad crossing at Long Bridge is still in progress. We are actively working with Heath to finalize plans for how to serve Warner Hill and Bassett Road. We are ready to contract for several construction projects through WG+E in the spring (Hawk Hill Road, Heath Stage Terrace, Tower Road). We released a draft drop policy and gather feedback on it. With the state covering our make-ready overages, the project remains on budget.
Schedule
The estimated completion dates from National Grid and Verizon are still May, 2020 and October, 2020, respectively. Recently, several towns have experienced problems where the utilities have declared the make-ready work to be complete, but construction of the town’s distribution network was not able to start due to make-ready work that was not completed or was not safe. As a result, WG+E is now recommending that towns plan for a 30-60 day period where WG+E reviews the completed make-ready work with the utilities and any corrections are made for any problems found before the utilities move on to another town. We need to take this into account for scheduling, which translated into a one or two month expected delay.
Based on this, we are still hopeful that we could have the distribution network for our first fiber service area (FSA) completed in Q1, 2021, but it might be into Q2, 2021 before we could begin serving homes in the first FSA. Our distribution network will likely be built in four phases, each taking about 3 months. We still hope to wrap up construction by the end of 2021, but this is just our best estimate at this time.
Utility make-ready work
We received work descriptions and make-ready invoices for all of our utility applications (except one supplemental Verizon-only application for 20 additional Verizon poles on South River Road). Based on the total cost of the invoices, we applied to EOHED for an advance from the last-mile contingency fund of $438,000, which has been granted. We expect the additional funding to arrive in the near future. This funding will all go towards make-ready invoices from the utilities.
We are monitoring the progress of the Mass DoT traffic calming project in the town center. Based on the current schedules, we believe the utility work for both the traffic calming project and the broadband project will be done concurrently during the summer of 2020. EOHED and WG+E are also aware of the situation and are working with National Grid to ensure that the work is properly coordinated to minimize taxpayer cost.
Budget
The town has received approval for an initial advance of $438,000 to cover a portion of our make-ready “overage”. Based on this, and our expectation that the state will provide additional funding to cover additional and future make-ready costs, the project remains on budget.
The make-ready advance was based on 75% of the amounts currently due to the utilities. In addition to other money due to the utilities, we expect that other “path creation” work will also qualify for supplemental make-ready funding from the state. These include Hawk Hill Road, Heath Stage Terrace, the West end of Tower Road and potentially work at the Long Bridge and on Warner Hill Road.
An expense tracking report is available here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dh_kFVuKwnovJTOfEz86h4cxdb1348J0
Financing
Our current financing plan is to delay any “major” borrowing until FY 2021. We anticipate that the bulk of the network distribution construction will occur in FY 2021.
For the current fiscal year, we are projecting receiving two tranches of additional funding from EOHED: a $438,000 advance from the last-mile contingency fund and a $185,000 milestone payment from the original grant when we approve a construction contract for the distribution network. We are planning to put the distribution network construction out to bid in Q1 2020. With this funding, we should be able to cover all of the make-ready invoices due this fiscal year plus expenses associated with the town hall basement construction and exterior conduit and vault installation.
In Spring 2020, we are planning to solicit bids for other make-ready projects, including Hawk Hill Road, Heath Stage Terrace, Tower Road and potentially Long Bridge and Warner Hill Road. Our current plan is to solicit bids for these projects but request that construction not begin before July 1, so we will be able to treat these as FY21 expenses.
A spreadsheet showing our current cash flow projections is available here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Us2NKcB_jFs3m-YQiLGM53ViC0Q772JZ
Distribution Network
We are working on a number of tasks in preparation for putting our distribution network construction out to bid.
- Heath Stage Terrace (no updates)
Heath Stage Terrace has underground utilities. We are planning to contract for construction of underground distribution conduit in the spring.
- Hawk Hill Road / Deer Run Lane (no updates)
A half-mile section of Hawk Hill Road currently has underground utilities. We are planning to contract for construction of underground distribution conduit in the spring.
- Tower Road (west) (no updates)
We are planning to install 8 town-owned utility poles along the west end of Tower Road to connect existing utility lines and avoid an expensive railroad crossing. All designs and permitting are complete. We plan to contract for this work in the spring.
- Long Bridge RR Crossing
To avoid an expensive non-public railroad crossing, we are working with WG+E and now Osmose on the design of a public-way railroad crossing on Route 8A at the south end of Long Bridge. We have evaluated several designs in consultation with WG+E, National Grid and PanAm Railways. At WG+E’s suggestion, we are engaging Osmose, who does the design engineering for National Grid, to see if we can design an economical solution for this railroad crossing that will minimize the cost of operating and maintaining the network in the future.
- South River Road (no updates)
To avoid an expensive non-public railroad crossing, we filed a supplemental utility pole application with Verizon for space on 20 Verizon-only poles on South River Road. The poles have been surveyed and the applications has been filed with Verizon. We expect this supplemental make-ready work will be done along with the rest of the make-ready work in Charlemont.
- West Hawley Road (no updates)
There is one house on West Hawley Road where the utilities reach the house via a non-public-way railroad crossing. We are currently evaluating alternative solutions for this house, including a potential wireless extension of the distribution network.
- Town Hall Exterior (no updates)
Danek Excavating completed the exterior conduit and vault installation. They will return in the spring when weather permits to finish some parts of the work: applying stone dust where the conduit crossed the town hall driveway, repairing the asphalt on the walk in front of the town hall and reseeding the lawn and regrading the area around the vault if necessary.
- Town Hall Interior
Construction on the network equipment room in the basement of the town hall is in progress. We anticipate that it will be completed in January.
- Neighboring town agreement with Rowe (no updates)
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 a 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 have been working with Heath on an agreement to provide access to two parts of Charlemont: In the first case, using cabling in Heath to reach Warner Hill via a long route from South Heath Road in Charlemont through the Heath network to Warner Hill. In the second case using cabling in Heath to reach Bassett Road from South Heath Road via South Road in Heath.
We received a draft proposal from Heath. We are working with Heath on negotiating terms, but we are also contemplating fallback options if we cannot reach agreement on this proposal (see below).
- Warner Hill
In our original design, we planned for using two dark fibers from Heath’s network to run from South Heath Road (in Charlemont) to Dell Road in Heath and over to a fiber distribution cabinet on Warner Hill to serve the homes there. Based on recent discussions with Heath and on our experiences with similar situations (e.g. Hawk Hill Road) we are now re-evaluating this strategy and we may look at pricing 2700′ of underground distribution conduit to close a gap on Warner Hill Road between two sets of utility poles. This would be an additional make-ready project to create a distribution network path.
- Bassett Road
The utilities for Bassett Road come from Heath. In our original design, we planned for three dark fibers from Heath’s network to serve homes on Bassett Road. Based on recent discussions with Heath, we might instead investigate “swapping customers” in this edge case. This kind of agreement, which has been used in several cases by other towns, would involve Charlemont paying the cost of extending Heath’s distribution network from Heath into Charlemont. After the distribution network was built, however, the properties on Bassett Road would be served by the town of Heath and be part of the Heath network with no additional financial commitment from Charlemont.
- Ledge Lane
National Grid applied for a pole hearing to add or replace utility poles to provide electric service to a residence off of Ledge Lane. As part of their design, National Grid was proposing to install new conduit along a span of about 400′ on Ledge Lane. We requested National Grid to provide a path for our fiber network and they agreed to install a conduit for us at the same time they install their conduit if we provide the materials to the on site. We are working with WG+E to arrange material delivery and will continue to coordinate with National Grid on this.
- Slack loops for bridge relocations
At the suggestion of Mass DoT, we are adding slack loops to our distribution network design at locations where we might need to do temporary pole relocations for future bridge repair. Doug White and Trevor Mackie are currently finalizing the list, but we are planning to put in slack loops at all stream crossings where the bridges are old (not replaced in the last 20 years) and there is a large distribution network cable crossing the stream.
Network Drop Policy
The broadband committee has released a draft policy document describing the process and costs for homes and businesses to connect to the network and the subsidies to be provided by the town to encourage a high connection rate. This has been forwarded to the select board and we are also soliciting feedback from other individuals in town. We will also be preparing simplified summaries of the full policy.
The state announced that there will also be additional state funding provided to towns in the EOHED municipal network program to subsidize network drops. The state will offer towns additional funding of $500 per premises connected during network construction for up to 70% of the premises in each town. This could provide additional state funding of up to $240,000 for Charlemont, depending on our take rate.
Reconnect Grant
We received notice in December that our Reconnect Grant application was not funded. Another round of Reconnect Grants will be opening on January 31, but the timing may be too late for our project. Along with the broadband oversight team and the select board, we are determining whether to reapply for Reconnect in some form. We are also planning to meet with USDA to learn about other USDA funding opportunities.
Charlemont Connect website
We continue to communicate project status from our web site www.charlemontconnect.org, dedicated to the fiber network project. We are posting to this website regularly to communicate status and engage with residents. There is also a mailing list signup for email notifications.
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.
Make-Ready Work. This is work to prepare a “path” for the distribution network to run throughout the town. Most of this work is done by the utilities (National Grid and Verizon) to make space on existing utility poles. In some cases, the town may perform make-ready work by installing new underground conduit (e.g. near the town hall or on Hawk Hill Road) or new utility poles (e.g. on the west end of Tower Road) to create a cost-effective path for the distribution 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.