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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBC 2024-05-03Town of Dryden Broadband Committee Meeting Friday, May 3, 2024 – Via Zoom Approved Minutes Attendees Graham Dobson – Broadband Committee Tony Salerno – Broadband Committee Mark Wilson – Broadband Committee Joel Cisne – Broadband Committee Jason Leifer – Town Board Adam Monell – Gleamon Technology Ryan Garrison – HUNT EAS Kate Morseman – HUNT EAS Jeffrey Smith – Municipal Solutions Andrew Hafner – Netegrity Dave Makar – Executive Director Amanda Anderson – Bookkeeper Cassie Byrnes – Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor Ray Burger – Planning Director Dave Makar called the meeting to order at 10:38am. Education, Strategy, and Updates Meeting (Dave Makar) • Introductions – Dave Makar o Graham Dobson read the Dryden Fiber Mission Statement aloud: “Our mission is to provide reliable, affordable, high-speed, fiber-based internet access for all Dryden residents. We offer state-of-the-art technology and unmatched customer service.” o Meeting Schedule: 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month at 10:30am via Zoom  Next meetings: May 17th, June 7th, June 21st, July 7th, July 21st • The Current Renter / Landlord Process – Dave Makar o More than half of the current serviceable parcels are rental properties or multiple use properties (as of December), which means close to 150 potential customers are renters o Dryden Fiber must have sign-off from the owner of the property to service a renter o Tenant will begin the process by filling out the online request form, team (Gleamon and Netegrity) will review the request form, and installation can be scheduled if the property owner has approved it o Either property owner or Gleamon emails Cassie Byrnes, Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor, with the owner’s information, and Cassie then creates and sends a digital Landlord Agreement out for electronic signature by the property owner and the To wn Supervisor  Adam Monell confirmed that Gleamon is diligently reaching out to property owners for the property information to give to Cassie o PROS = easy to request, easy to send (via email), easy to sign and get started o CONS = doesn’t include exact right-of-way locations, it can take time to get a property owner to sign-off on the digital signature • The Proposed Renter / Landlord Process – Dave Makar o For property owners with multiple properties, the Town’s broadband attorney recommends that a separate agreement go out for each property, and an “Appendix A” be attached to each one  “Appendix A” – drawing that shows exactly where on the property Dryden Fiber is operating (which includes where on the structure we are attaching the exterior package to bring fiber to the home), and where any digging will occur o PROS = more precise legal location of fiber, includes exact right-of-way locations, easy to request, easy to send (via email), easy to sign and get started o CONS = we would need to determine who/how we get these drawings completed and approved, it can take time to get property owner to sign-off on the digital signature o Adam Monell explained that even with a drawing, once the team gets to the home to do the installation, everything could change with build needs o Ryan Garrison explained that there will be variations in each property design o Graham Dobson asked if we should be doing agreements for owner-occupied homes as well, to protect the underground fiber from being damaged o Tony Salerno suggested doing drawings for larger installations only, and not doing them for a smaller rental home or a duplex o Graham Dobson suggested that there is a big difference between aerial work and underground work, where underground fiber needs to be able to be located by both Dryden Fiber and the property owner  Tony Salerno agrees that more care needs to be given where fiber is placed if going underground  Ryan Garrison explained that the cable has a tonable locater in it o Dave Makar said that for non-renters, we currently have explicit instructions regarding installation because the property owner is signed up for installation o Supervisor Leifer offered that this is also to protect the property owner or a renter from accidentally digging up their own fiber o Ryan Garrison said that Clarity Connect primarily works with the homeowners during installations o Dave Makar will share all the committee member questions with the Town’s broadband attorney o Tony Salerno wants clarification on when a commercial license needs to take effect (if a landlord purchases Dryden Fiber and distributes it to the tenants, instead of each tenant purchasing Dryden Fiber) • Dryden Fiber Policy Subcommittee – Dave Makar suggested starting a subcommittee that focuses on policies, instead of trying to work on them at Broadband Committee meetings o Meet once or twice a month to go through policy questions o Provide recommendations back to the Broadband Committee o Tony Salerno and Adam Monell agree o Mark Wilson suggested only meeting when the subcommittee has something they are specifically charged with researching or discussing o Dave Makar will put a request out for anyone who wants to join • Referral Program – Dave Makar will move this topic over to the Dryden Fiber Policy Subcommittee once it is established • ConnectALL Grant Update – Ryan Garrison o Still waiting to hear back from the ConnectALL office on the MIP Grant o They came back with questions regarding additional finances, and it was returned to them last Friday o They have a deadline for awards this month (May) o Background on ConnectALL - Dave Makar – “We applied with the Town of Caroline for a combined grant, a little over 6 million dollars to provide broadband internet to all the unserved, underserved parcels, locations, homes, in both Dryden and Caroline. It would not provide service to every single home in both towns, but it would hit every single underserved or unserved home in both towns. The agreement would have Dryden as the lead that owns and runs the project. The Town of Caroline would own their own network, and Dryden would continue to own Dryden Fiber’s network in the Town of Dryden. Dryden would lease some of our monthly expenses to Caroline, like the broadband itself. So, we’ll buy it from Windstream or from other providers, and then we’ll resell it to Caroline. The deadline, if we are awarded these funds, is to have all the construction done by December 31st of 2026.” • Congressional Spending Request – Ryan Garrison – submitted under the HUD umbrella, looking for census blocks with high percentage of low to medium income and targeting those • Repair Updates – Dave Makar o Repair Policy for Customers (Draft Policy Discussion)  Background: we have had three incidents of post-installation fiber repair, which have been swiftly fixed by the team at Clarity Connect (we currently do not have a policy for charging customers for repairs)  Clarity Connect Costs: repairs are billed on a per crew member per hour basis • $85/hour during normal business hours • $125/hour after hours (nights and weekends) • A crew is generally 2 persons and repairs average 1-3 hours o Normal business hours ($85 x 2 people x 1-3 hours = $170-$480) o After hours ($125 x 2 x 1-3 hours = $250-$750) • This does not include the cost of materials o Clarity pulls materials from inventory, so they do not itemize costs in these repairs o Gleamon manages inventory, and they would be able to identify material costs with the help of Clarity o Case History  Commercial Customer – truck backed up into aerial line and line needed to be replaced  Resident Customer 1 – the customer was digging in their yard and cut their line  Resident Customer 2 – the customer was digging in their yard and cut their line o Causes of Damage  Customer Self-Inflicted: digging in their yard, hitting the line  Customer Self-Inflicted: landscape/tree care and a tree branch pulls down the line  Customer’s Vendor: delivery vehicle pulls down the line  Natural Causes: windstorm knocks out trees and trees take out the aerial line  Natural Causes: water runoff destroys the conduit and breaks the line  Other Utility: another utility with right-of-way access damages the line o Other Providers Policy  If the vendor buried the line below 8 inches and it was broken/destroyed, then the customer pays for it  If the vendor buried the line from 0 to 8 inches down, it is deemed shallow, and if the customer breaks or destroys the line, the vendor would pay to repair or replace o Publishing the Policy  Recommendation from the Operations Meeting to put aside some amount of money with every installation  Once we have a policy, we will update it on our website and let our existing customers know  Graham Dobson suggested adding a preventative notice on our invoices and on the website “If you have an underground installation, remember to call 811 (Dig Safe NY) before you dig anything” • Tony Salerno agrees  Ryan Garrison and Tony Salerno discussed the delineations in other policies as to who is responsible for each case • Request for Future Topics – Dave Makar o Email any future meeting topics throughout the month and try to do some prework o Dave Makar discussed the customer complaints (Spring Run Road and Groton Avenue) regarding tracks, holes, and mud caused by underground digging work  Syracuse Utilities put door knockers on all homes in the neighborhood to show residents what the digging will look like during construction, and that they will be doing restoration when the ground gets drier  New plan is for Amanda Anderson to send out postcards as soon as HUNT gives the diagrams to Syracuse Utilities to let residents know construction is coming, as well as Dryden Fiber • Postcard includes: Dryden Fiber mission statement, fiber is coming, pre- registration information, construction information, who’s doing it, where it is, restoration plans, and an invitation to sign-up • Postcards will be sent to both underground and aerial installation neighborhoods  Most of the customer complaints about restoration have turned into Dryden Fiber customers • Reminders/Notes o Our next meeting will be on Friday, May 17th at 10:30am  Numbers from construction and installations, customer service, finance and marketing for the month of April o Dave Makar will work to schedule the Dryden Fiber Policy Subcommittee meeting The meeting adjourned at 11:43am. Respectfully submitted, Cassie Byrnes Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor