Charlemont Municipal Fiber Network, Selectboard Status Report, March 14, 2020
Summary
Make-ready is in progress and we have put our distribution network construction contract out to bid through WG+E. Bids are due back on March 27. Based on estimated completion dates from the utilities, we are anticipating network construction to 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. This summer, we plan to complete four “path preparation” construction projects on Hawk Hill Road, Heath Stage Terrace, Tower Road and Warner Hill Road. Construction of the network equipment room in the basement of the town hall is underway. We finalized an agreement with Heath to serve two homes on Center Heath Road. We are still working on a final design for the Long Bridge railroad crossing. So far, 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. Once the utilities notify us of completion, there will be an inspection and mitigation of any unfinished make-ready work, which is expected to take 30-60 days. We hope to start the construction of the distribution network in January 2021.
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 five phases, each taking 2 to 3 months. We still hope to wrap up construction by the end of 2021, but this is just our best estimate at this time and construction may well extend into early 2022.
Utility make-ready work
Utility make-ready is underway throughout Charlemont. This work is all done by the utilities, often using sub-contractors. National Grid began replacing utility poles during the height of mud season and as a result, significant damage was done to Warner Hill Road. After intervention by the highway superintendent and the select board, National Grid agreed to be more careful on the dirt roads and the situation was resolved.
We received licenses for the 20 additional Verizon poles on South River Road, for which the make-ready costs were minimal. We are working with WG+E and Verizon to ensure that these poles are clear of downed trees and branches.
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 the traffic calming project will be done by fall and will not impact the construction of the town fiber network.
Budget
The town has received an initial advance of $438,000 from the last-mile contingency fund to cover a portion of our make-ready “overage”. We expect the state to reimburse the town for additional make-ready costs out of this fund, including much of the cost of the extra path-preparation construction projects (Hawk Hill Road, Heath Stage Terrace, West end of Tower Road, Warner Hill Road and potentially railroad crossing work at the Long Bridge). Based on this, the project remains on budget.
An expense tracking report is available here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-25hhD5C5KppQGrNQfqm7CBxYYu5-Pg3
Financing
Our current financing plan is to delay town borrowing until FY 2021. We anticipate that the bulk of the network distribution construction will occur in FY 2021.
We anticipate receiving an additional disbursement of $185,000 from the EOHED grant in Fiscal 2020. We believe this disbursement will be sufficient to cover all Fiscal 2020 expenses without needing additional town borrowing.
We anticipate we will begin significant town borrowing in Fiscal 2021 to finance the path-preparation projects and the beginning of the construction of the distribution network and construction of drops to some homes and businesses.
A spreadsheet showing our current cash flow projections is available here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rf8LoaYczStPc5ctw_PHBRldSe7AQBgR
Distribution Network
Working with WG+E, we have issued a request for bids for the construction of the distribution network. The bids will be opened on March 27. We anticipate that construction of the distribution network should start around January 2021, if the utilities stay on schedule with the make-ready work.
Path Preparation Projects
Most of the preparation for the distribution network consists of make-ready work by the utilities. There are several places in town, however, where we need to do path-preparation construction projects to be ready to install the distribution network. We plan to complete the following path-preparation projects this summer:
- Hawk Hill Road / Deer Run Lane
A half-mile section of Hawk Hill Road currently has underground utilities. We are planning to contract for construction of underground distribution conduit.
- Heath Stage Terrace
Heath Stage Terrace has underground utilities. We are planning to contract for the construction of underground distribution conduit.
- Tower Road (west)
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.
- Warner Hill Road
We are planning to install underground conduit on a half-mile section of Warner Hill Road to connect the utilities on the lower part of the road to the utility poles at the top of the hill. WG+E has completed designs and cost estimates for this work and the project are ready for procurement.
We originally had hoped to serve the homes on the top of Warner Hill by leasing fiber from Heath, but the cost that Heath wanted to charge us was prohibitive.
We anticipate that the state will cover the make-ready costs for the underground conduit, up to the estimated cost of an aerial run. The estimated aerial costs are $47,400 (including tree work) and the estimated underground costs are $55,300 (of which $3300 is materials).
- Long Bridge RR Crossing
To avoid an expensive non-public railroad crossing, we are working with WG+E and Osmose on the design of a public-way railroad crossing on Route 8A at the south end of Long Bridge. If we can find a cost-effective public-way crossing, this will reduce the future operational costs for the network.
We identified one promising design, but it required an easement from an abutter that we were not able to secure. We are exploring additional solutions, but if none can be found then we are prepared to go with a non-public-way crossing following the current utility path.
Other Ongoing Projects
- Town Hall Exterior
Danek Excavating completed the exterior conduit and vault installation last fall. They will return in the spring when weather permits to finish some parts of the work: applying stone dust where the conduit crosses 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. Installation of the mini-split air conditioning unit was deferred until spring to facilitate the installation of the external compressor.
- South River Road
We received licenses from Verizon for the 20 additional Verizon poles on South River Road. We are working with WG+E and Verizon to ensure that these poles are clear of downed trees and branches.
- West Hawley Road
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.
- Neighboring town agreement with Heath
We reached an agreement with Heath for two homes on Center Heath Road (at the end of Bassett Road in Heath) that are near the Heath border and reachable only through Heath. Under the agreement, Charlemont will pay for the capital cost of extending Heath’s distribution network to reach the town border and these two homes. The residents will be offered the chance to participate in Charlemont’s drop policy, which for these two houses would provide free installation if they sign up for service during Heath’s network construction. If the residents choose to take service, they will be served by the town of Heath and their rates and other terms of service will be set by the town of Heath similar to other Heath residents. Charlemont will have no ongoing expenses for operations or maintenance.
We contacted the owner of one additional house/camp further from the Heath town line. They indicated that they were not interested in broadband service at this time and we are not planning to extend Heath’s distribution network to this house.
- 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 a verbal agreement on a draft agreement, which we will bring before the select board. We had been awaiting finalization of an agreement with Heath before proceeding.
- 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 ordered the necessary materials and are coordinating with National Grid on installation. National Grid has installed the poles, but have not installed the new conduit yet.
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.
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.