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Home My WebLink AboutBC 2025-04-18Town of Dryden Broadband Committee Meeting Friday, April 18, 2025 – Via Zoom Approved Minutes Attendees Graham Dobson – Broadband Committee Tony Salerno – Broadband Committee Mark Wilson – Broadband Committee Joel Cisne – Broadband Committee Arthur Sommer – Broadband Committee Dan Lamb – Town Board Mark Witmer – Town of Caroline Supervisor Brad Penney – Vantage Point Solutions – Project Engineer Kevin Keough – Vantage Point Solutions – Director of Customer Relations Tracy Monell – Gleamon Technology Jeff Smith – Municipal Solutions Shawn Scorzelli – Syracuse Utilities Eric Beckhorn – Clarity Connect Matt Wead – LightSpeed Teledata Dave Makar – Executive Director Amanda Anderson – Director of Finance and Personnel Cassie Byrnes – Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor Ray Burger – Planning Director Rick Cicciarelli – Resident Kimberly Griffiths – Resident Dave Makar called the meeting to order at 10:33am Introductions – Dave Makar D Lamb 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.” • As one of the 2 founding Town Board members of Dryden Fiber, D Lamb explained that to him, “The mission means that it’s ongoing, and that we are always adapting and moving forward. Even with setbacks or changes, the mission continues.” D Makar began the meeting by asking all participants to introduce themselves Map Updates – Dave Makar D Makar shared a map of both the Town of Dryden and the Town of Caroline, which was segmented by different colored lines Town of Dryden: • Pink = The Ring (network backbone) • Red = MIP funded parts of construction • Orange = Other pathways that are either under construction or that will be constructed to reach all the points within the MIP project Town of Caroline: • Red = What was in the plan • Purple = Additions to the project MIP Project – Dave Makar D Makar provided an overview of the fiber network expansion project in the Town of Dryden and the Town of Caroline, which was initially budgeted at $10 million with $9 million being funded by NYS We applied for this funding to reach every unserved and underserved house in both towns by December 31, 2026 We were awarded the MIP Grant, which is a reimbursable grant, so both towns are funding the project through bonds or Bond Anticipation Notes (BAN); NYS will reimburse the towns so that the bonds can be paid back Recent assessments from Vantage Point Solutions revealed gaps in the original plan put out by our previous engineering firm, where 61 locations were not included in our grant application, and 106 locations were unreachable within the current budget; We are now waiting for a response from NYS on how to address these additional locations, which would require approximately $1 million more in funding D Makar discussed several properties in the Town of Caroline that are listed as unserved or underserved, including off-grid homes on Weston Road and Ekroos Road; He explained that the project requires servicing these addresses as part of their commitment, even though some lack power lines and are challenging to reach due to terrain and town boundaries; M Witmer provided local knowledge about specific properties and a road that does not exist We have applied to the FCC to remove 4 locations in Dryden from their service list (a cell tower, a radio tower, a garage in a cemetery, and a picnic pavilion at Monkey Run) and we are waiting for their response D Makar discussed the complexities of defining service provision, particularly for structures far from the road; The project faces questions about how to handle long driveways and off-grid locations, issues that seem new to the state authorities overseeing the rural broadband initiative G Dobson inquired about using wireless solutions to provide service, to which D Makar explained that the grant focuses on wired, terrestrial solutions The estimated cost to reach all 109 locations in the Town of Caroline is about $1.6 million, with some particularly challenging areas costing up to $560,000 for just 3 locations; This is well beyond the contingency budget, which is already facing challenges with increased cost of materials due to tariffs Project to date, about 28% of costs have been in material and equipment, which is about $2.8 million; A 25% increase in cost of materials due to tariffs would be about 7% of the total project cost, which would be 7/10 of the contingency funds being used just to cover the cost difference A plan to reach the remaining locations and a focus on assessing the green zone is needed, and once we get through the Grant Disbursement Agreement, we can refocus and get things moving quicker M Witmer asked if we expect to be able to provide the ConnectALL Office with the project plan and completion timeline soon, to which B Penney responded that they are working on a timeline for the project and expect to have it settled within the next couple of weeks D Makar discussed the challenges of providing public infrastructure in rural areas, particularly in Dryden and Caroline, where existing utility poles and permitting issues pose significant obstacles; He highlighted the need to reach unserved and underserved locations and the importance of the project in providing service to every FCC location across both towns; B Penney will be on-site next week, and will go out on the road and see some of these locations D Makar mentioned that in regard to getting the overall project going, in the last few weeks, we released the hold on 2 of our permits, and they are now moving through Labella, and we released 11 more of the permits that were on hold to get processes by Labella, to go work with Avangrid (NYSEG) to begin processing • There has been a substantial reduction in the number of poles • There are 2 main types of poles that we see in the field o Mainline Poles – Poles that run down the road o Drop Poles – Poles that go to individual homes and addresses with long driveways • You can request permits for every pole on the street, including the drop poles, or you can request permits for just the mainline poles and not the drop poles o It costs a lot more money to request every pole (about $150 per pole) o We applied for about 1,000 poles across both towns which we have now removed from the project, with a cost of about $150,000 in pole permitting that we do not plan to use • We could also only request permits for poles along the main roads, and apply for permits for drop poles later as customers sign up to get installed o B Penney added that this approach is a cost-saving measure and doesn’t significantly impact the timeline Construction Permitting Updates – Dave Makar D Makar showed the status of various permits and explained the process of construction and splicing The team from Vantage has met with Syracuse Utilities to take the different parts of these permits that are in different stages of construction, to get them back going Construction will start again sometime around the end of the month (or into May), after adjusting the plan to ensure there is enough fiber to reach every home on the street • The design plan from the previous engineer did not have enough fiber to reach every location Project Update and Timeline – Dave Makar D Makar gave an update on the project, highlighting Vantage’s assessments at the end of February when they called for the work stoppage When we finish building fiber in Dryden and Caroline with the MIP Grant, it needs to be solid and stable and last for decades D Makar expressed optimism about reaching MIP-funded areas by the end of 2026, with 2 full construction seasons (20 months) of work left on the calendar D Makar also expressed confidence in the teams at Vantage and Syracuse Utilities, who have both completed projects much larger than ours D Makar asked the public broadband community to do the following: • Stay engaged – Ask questions and share things you’ve seen • Talk to your neighbors – We have around 1,700 parcels in the green zone with only about 400 of them signed up right now; We are ready to sign customers up and get them installed if they are in the green zone G Dobson inquired about when construction will start back up; B Penney responded that work in some areas could restart within the next couple of weeks G Dobson raised concerns about efficient utilization of contractors and potential loss of crews due to work slowdown The meeting adjourned at 11:52am Respectfully submitted, Cassie Byrnes Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor