The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutBC 2024-10-18Town of Dryden Broadband Committee Meeting Friday, October 18, 2024 – Via Zoom Approved Minutes Attendees Graham Dobson – Broadband Committee Mark Wilson – Broadband Committee Tony Salerno – Broadband Committee Arthur Sommer – Broadband Committee Jason Leifer – Town of Dryden Supervisor Mark Witmer – Town of Caroline Supervisor Tracy Monell – Gleamon Technology Ryan Garrison – HUNT EAS Jeff Smith – Municipal Solutions Eric Beckhorn – Clarity Connect Dave Makar – Executive Director Amanda Anderson – Bookkeeper Ray Burger – Planning Director Rick Cicciarelli – Resident Dave Makar called the meeting to order at 10:33am. Introductions – Dave Makar M Wilson read the Dryden Fiber Mission Statement aloud: “Our mission is to provide reliable, affordable, high-speed, fiber-based internet access. We offer state-of-the-art technology and unmatched customer service.” M Wilson explained that it is important for someone who works from home to have reliable internet access, and is a benefit for the people who live in the Town of Dryden; D Makar did some research and found that there is a 1 ½ to 3 ½ percent increase in property value by having broadband (the percentage increases with fiber vs. internet), so it improves the overall value of property; G Dobson added that having broadband has also been helpful as a landlord (a way to be competitive as a property owner) D Makar introduced/welcomed Arthur Sommer to the Broadband Committee, as he was appointed to the committee by the Town Board in September; A Sommer gave a brief description of his background and what brought him to the Broadband Committee D Makar shared the Dryden Fiber Organizational Chart that he created for different proposals/grants that we apply for, and explained which parties are responsible for which tasks Dryden Fiber Organizational Chart (September 2024) Business Tier Updates – Dave Makar We will be sending out a letter to our current Business Tier customers on Monday, October 21, 2024; We’ve updated the Business Tier content on the website to include the new pricing and the new features; Our new postcards will have the new Business Tier features on them (waiting on the new phone number that is for Dryden Fiber only to be set up so it can be included on the postcards) • G Dobson commented that our “unmatched customer service” is really coming through… When you call Dryden Fiber, you are connected to a support person within a minute; D Makar added that our partners at Netegrity offer 24/7/365 support via phone or email • A Anderson commented that we have a list of phone numbers that we can choose from for the new Dryden Fiber phone number, and she will send those numbers to the Public Broadband Committee members for feedback Marketing – Dave Makar Our new batch of yard signs are in, and already over 20 existing customers have had one placed in their yard • Saw an increase in requests • Spoke with a technology class at Dryden High School, and one of the students stated that one of those 20 signs was in their front yard • D Makar is also offering an add-on piece to the sign that allows the customer to write their own message and affix it to the top of the yard sign o D Makar spoke about doing a contest and offering a free month of service to the customer with the best sign D Makar, J Leifer, D Lamb, and R Garrison spoke at the American Planner Association meeting last Friday about Dryden Fiber, its history, and what we have done so far Dryden Fiber posters have been printed and will be posted at Town Hall and other prime locations where service is available • G Dobson will assist with this in Etna D Makar shared that he has been working with the Operations Team to try to estimate what trends look like within the Town across Dryden Fiber • Shared a “Customer Base 2024” Trends Report, showing the month-to-month growth since February 2024 • Shared a “Revenue” Trends Report that A Anderson created, showing the month-to-month growth • Shared an “Installations Each Month” Trend Report, tracking the number of installations per month Take Rate / Customer Base – Goals and Efforts • We are currently servicing about 15% of the potential parcels, which is expected from early adopters • D Makar posed the question, “What goal does the Town have to reach a deeper level of customer base? Because what we’re looking at for the construction is about 3,000 to 4,000 homes in the next year where we can provide service. Our goal right now is to be at about 1,000 of them, which is about 25%. How much effort do we spend to go and get the other 85% of the population? And what ideas do you have for the timeline to do that, or methods to get there?” o D Makar stated that the ultimate take rate goal is 50% o J Leifer commented that at some point, we will need to re-canvas areas that have already been notified, and suggested doing an insert in our property tax bills, which will also be a way to let landlords who might not be in the area, but own property, know that if they have renters and want Dryden Fiber available to them, they can o G Dobson believes that once people have the service, especially in the Villages, that this will snowball as people talk to their neighbors o G Dobson suggested adding a tool on the Dryden Fiber website to help potential customers “cut the cord” on their cable TV and streaming, and how they can go about getting those services when switching to Dryden Fiber Construction / Map Updates – Ryan Garrison Johnson Road (south of the Rail Trail) became live, so all those parcels turned green Empire Overlash (which traverses east from Freeville along Mott Road, dips down into the Village of Dryden, and then dodges back up north on Route 13 and down Simms Hill Road) – underground construction in that area will be wrapped up soon Brookside Drive - underground construction is done, and splicing will occur within the next 2 weeks Progress is being made in Etna, and work will continue on Caswell Road and Bone Plain Road D Makar explained the current map colors and what they represent: • Yellow = live in 2024 • Blue = goal to be live by 6/30/2025 • Orange = MIP portion – no later than 12/31/2026 T Salerno asked if it is likely that all the yellow parcels will actually turn green by 12/31/2025, as a large part of the map is yellow • D Makar and R Garrison both explained that as long as there aren’t any major weather patterns (hurricanes in the south), that the electrical crews are working quickly to meet this goal D Makar explained the 3-part process that happens when the map turns green: 1. HUNT sends a list of all the addresses to Gleamon Technology (T Monell), Netegrity, and A Anderson; A Anderson sends postcards to all those addresses 2. T Monell (with help from Netegrity) will reach out to everyone from that list who has already requested service and let them know that service is now available (this helps prevent people from signing-up multiple times for service), and get them on the installation schedule 3. KMZ file gets updated, which Clarity Connect uses to know which handholes to plug into for each individual household MIP Updates – Dave Makar D Makar, A Anderson, R Garrison, and the MIP Team meet every week with New York State to discuss where we are in the process, including the Grant Disbursement Agreement, the budget for 2025, and the reimbursement and financial pieces We applied for BEAD funding and our package has been accepted for pre-qualification for them to review it and let us know if we could be getting any money from BEAD Still working on Housing Infrastructure with the ConnectALL Office, but slowing down since it’s a lot of work and the effort may not be worth it Q & A M Witmer asked about the SEQR process for the Town of Caroline • R Garrison explained that we need to get documentation of the negative declaration of the need for a SEQR; R Garrison will ask for this documentation; J Smith added that we may want to coordinate this with BOND Council to make sure that will be sufficient, or if the Town must adopt their own resolution A Anderson asked about the status of the budget and funding for the Town of Caroline • J Smith needs the split of the grant between Caroline and Dryden, so Caroline can have their own budget to determine the sizing of their bond resolution; A Anderson will send it • J Smith stated that Caroline has ARPA money, and an agreement on a reimbursement basis with Tompkins County; J Smith and A Anderson will discuss the flow of funds as details come in; J Smith will start giving monthly updates of all funding to the groups M Witmer asked if the Town of Caroline map was on the website, as he has residents who are asking to see it; D Makar responded that he can add it to the grant blog article on the website Next Meeting – November 1, 2024, at 10:30am The meeting adjourned at 11:55am. Respectfully submitted, Cassie Byrnes Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor