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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBC 2025-11-21Town of Dryden Broadband Committee Meeting Friday, November 21, 2025 – Via Zoom Approved Minutes Attendees Graham Dobson – Broadband Committee Tony Salerno – Broadband Committee Joel Cisne – Broadband Committee Arthur Sommer – Broadband Committee Kevin Labe – Broadband Committee Dan Lamb – Town of Dryden Deputy Supervisor Brad Penney – Vantage Point Solutions – Project Engineer Kevin Keough – Vantage Point Solutions Shawn Scorzelli – Syracuse Utilities Tom Hardy – Clarity Connect Jeff Smith – Municipal Solutions Dave Makar – Executive Director Amanda Anderson – Director of Finance and Human Resources Cassie Byrnes – Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor Matt Kinast – Accounting Assistant Ray Burger – Planning Director Sydney Lee – Cortland Standard Dave Makar called the meeting to order at 10:35am Second of 2 Monthly Meetings – Discussion Meeting / Financial Overview Introductions – Dave Makar G Dobson 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.” • G Dobson was the first Broadband Committee member to be a customer of Dryden Fiber, and he expressed that it has been great – fast with no downtime in the last 6 months D Makar welcomed and introduced Kevin Labe to the Broadband Committee as a newly appointed member, who hopes to contribute toward the success of the project, and is also a satisfied customer Dryden Fiber Financial Overview – Dave Makar Dryden Fiber is a non-profit organization run by the Town of Dryden and operated under the view of the Town of Dryden (it functions within the Town) The finances for constructing the entire network are paid for by bonded funds As people sign up and become customers, their subscriber fee every month goes toward paying for the monthly expenses, and over time, will pay for the capital cost and pay down the bonds Revenue – Dave Makar Dryden Fiber has three tiers of Residential Service: • Silver = $45/month • Gold = $75/month • Platinum = $90/month Dryden Fiber has three tiers of Business Class Service: • Standard = $75/month • Preferred = $150/month • Enhanced = $250/month On average, we are bringing in around $50 per month per customer, as most of our customers are at the Residential Silver tier Expenses – Dave Makar 1. Construction • Construction of the network includes all costs to be ready for home installations o This includes: Network design; pole permits; electrical make ready; running strand wire between poles; lashing the fiber to the strand wire; boring underground and placing plastic conduit; inserting fiber through the conduit; splicing the network together; splicing port devices to allow for installations; digging and placing handholes for underground service; design, bid, and construction of the central office and PoPs; management by the engineering firm; legal directly related to construction • The more miles we build, the more houses we reach, the more potential customers we have, the more it costs (capital costs) • This is funded for the Town of Dryden by previous grants that were awarded from 2021-2023, New York State’s ConnectALL MIP Grant (totaling approximately $3.09M), and a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) (annual note for current and previous year’s expenses) o At the end of the construction phase, the BAN will be converted to a Bond with a set term (i.e. 15 years) and will be paid off from revenue of the subscriber base • There are two categories of construction o Putting the fiber out into the field  This includes both aerial and underground construction • Aerial construction means permitting and using existing utility poles • Underground construction means permitting through highway departments of towns, villages, counties, and the state  It is more costly to do underground construction, so where possible, we try to do aerial construction using existing infrastructure and utility poles  This is a major long-term investment – Construction materials are estimated to last 40+ years, and the work in the PoPs and CO is estimated have a 7–10-year lifespan  G Dobson asked if we pay an ongoing rental fee for underground construction like we do for every pole that we use • A Anderson answered that we do not pay for underground, but we do pay semi-annually per pole  T Salerno asked if there is an ongoing cost for using the NYSDOT right of way • S Scorzelli answered that there is a charge for how much fiber you have on their right of way through their PERM75 permit • B Penney answered that it is a much more challenging permit to get than a county or village permit (and DOT permits have a longer lead time) o Building PoPs and the Central Office 2. Management and Finance • The management of the project includes direct oversight and planning for construction, installations, repair, and maintenance o This also includes finance, billing, insurance, accounts payable, public relations, community relations, event planning, permitting, government affairs, account management, and inventory management • The management investment is independent of customer count or service usage o It is the fee to allow for the project to be operated and is paid by each of the towns (Dryden and Caroline) 3. Monthly Operating Expenses • Each month and every year, there are operating expenses to service the customer base of Dryden Fiber o This includes customer support, backhaul provider service (our connection to the internet), Wi-Fi cloud services, insurance, electricity (at the PoPs and the CO), pole rental, credit card fees, dig safe management, billing software, and credit card fees o These are split between the towns based on usage or per flat expense when it is a non- shared item (i.e. electricity at the PoP or pole rental in the town) and is paid by the monthly subscriber income 4. Installation Investments • The average home installation for a drop cable, modem, and Wi-Fi device, plus labor, is $1,000 o This expense is carried by Dryden Fiber, not the customer (unless the customer’s driveway is over 500 feet long, then they pay $2 per foot over that first 500 feet) o If the average customer is paying $50 per month for service, the average customer must be a customer for twenty months to break even on the installation investment made by Dryden Fiber o Once the customer is signed up and installed, we want them to be happy and to remain a customer for a long time • In the overall construction of the Caroline part of the project, the state is paying for the entirety of the construction (about $8M) o The state does not pay for any of the management and finance expense for Caroline o The monthly operating expenses will be paid for by Caroline customers once they come online o When it comes to installations, the Town of Caroline must have its own operating budget within Dryden Fiber, because Town of Dryden funds cannot be used to pay for installations in the Town of Caroline • There are 400 installations included in the NYS ConnectALL Office MIP Grant, split 128 for Dryden and 272 for Caroline o These 400 must be installed by December 31, 2026 o The first 272 in Caroline are paid for by the NYS Grant and the remaining must be paid for by Caroline funds (BAN, Bond, reserves, and monthly subscriber income) o Dryden installations are currently paid for through our existing revenue and existing BAN’s that we are using to build the business 5. Maintenance, Repairs, Replacement and Expansion Reserves • We require a maintenance, repair, replacement, and expansion reserve fund for the entirety of the network o This allows for servicing the network without the need to request additional funds through loans, grants, bonds, or taxes o Over the next many years, as revenue comes in beyond the operating expenses, we will put it in a reserve fund for the project • T Salerno asked if there is a process by which we will evaluate our subscriber fees to see if they need to be modified at all through the course of this o D Makar answered that at the current rate, the projection of construction time, break- even, steady-state time, and paying off the bond, is at least 15 years from today (this makes it difficult to make decisions about the future monthly subscriber rate) o T Salerno asked if there was a thought process for assessing the impact of the subscriber rate, maybe every year or every 5 years  D Makar answered that there will be a process to evaluate this in the future, and with backhaul costs decreasing, this will likely allow for increased bandwidth tiers at the same price points in the future • G Dobson suggested that when we near the end of construction, we should run projections on the timeline for paying off the bonds, to which Jeff Smith from Municipal Solutions explained that the state assigned a 10-year repayment period, though there is potential to extend this to 20 years through a USDA Rural Development Community Facility Loan Program o D Makar and A Anderson will meet with J Smith on Monday to reassess the project timeline and discuss bond requirements for 2026 • T Salerno inquired about the start of the 10-year repayment timeline, which J Smith confirmed began two years ago • D Makar noted that converting to a Local Development Corporation (LDC) could happen around 2027-2028, if the project has a sufficient track record of customer base and revenue Monthly Expenses – Dave Makar Operating expenses are generally flat, however a handful of expenses (annual pole rentals, annual FCC reporting fees, NYSEG quarterly electric billing) show up at different times each year (this makes spikes in monthly expenses) Monthly Operating Expenses Definitions • Customer Support – Dryden Fiber partners with Netegrity for 24/7/365 customer service by phone and email o Netegrity answers as “Dryden Fiber” and offers this service to us as at an affordable rate by servicing 18 other regional ISPs • Backhaul Provider Service (our connections to the internet) – Dryden Fiber partners with three backhaul providers (these are the companies that connect our network to the internet) o We work with Cogent, FirstLight, and Windstream, with multiple pathways into the network giving us options/flexibility for growth and safety in the event of an outage • Wi-Fi Cloud Services – Dryden Fiber partners with Plume to offer Wi-Fi devices (these devices are enabled with cloud services offering internet security, network monitoring, parental controls, and home security services) o The cloud services are automatically included in the monthly fees • Insurance – The entire Dryden Fiber network, equipment, and fiber is insured • Electricity – The Central Office Hut (CO) and PoPs (stand-alone cabinets) are powered and require electricity • Pole Rental – Dryden Fiber rents space on over 5,000 utility poles across the two towns o We pay rent to the owners of the poles (usually NYSEG) • Credit Card Fees – Our bill-pay software charges a flat credit card fee • Dig Safe Management – We are required to participate in Dig Safe / 8-1-1, which includes monitoring our underground network when requested o This is an ongoing requirement for as long as there is any fiber underground in the Town of Caroline • Billing Software – The software we use for customer care and billing has a monthly subscription and an annual fee Installation Expense Challenge in Caroline • The first 272 installations, all in 2026, at 45 installations per month, will be covered by the NYS ConnectALL Office MIP Grant (and will bring in a revenue of close to $50,000 by January 2027) • The remaining 528 installations, to reach the goal of 800 locations, must be covered by the Town of Caroline o The revenue they will be receiving from subscribers will not be enough to cover the cost of all the new installations Installation Reserves • We are estimating 20 installations per month in 2027 and 2028, which works out to a $21,000 per month expense o The install count in 2027 and 2028 would be 504 home installations (with a total approximate cost of $504,000) o From April 2027 to September 2028 (17 months), Caroline’s portion of Dryden Fiber at the planned rate of 20 installations per month will run a total deficit of $36,000, and this cannot be paid for by Town of Dryden funds  It can be paid from Town of Caroline reserves or can be included in Caroline’s annual BAN, which is paid back by the fiber reserves over time o If the Town of Caroline has an adoption rate faster than 272 installations in 2026 and 20 per month in 2027 and 2028, the deficit will be much greater and the BAN amount will be much higher; however, revenue will be greater and will pay back the BAN/Bond much quicker • We recommend Caroline have $36,000 set aside in 2027 for closing the gap between monthly revenue and installation costs o If we start 2027 with a $36,000 investment into the Caroline reserve fund within Dryden Fiber, the balance never goes below $400 Outreach and Marketing Support • In order to best plan project installation resources and budgets, we would ask the Town of Caroline to urge residents to “Request Service” via drydenfiber.com today • We need to install 272 homes in 2026 o We currently have 140+ Caroline prospective customers signed up for service, and would like that number to be as close to 272 as possible by June 1, 2026 (in order to schedule out installation and complete all MIP funded installs in 2026 • D Makar outlined the customer count projections, which show a gradual shift from Dryden to Caroline in customer count, leading to a 80-20% split by December 2027 • The updated Inter-Municipal Agreement (IMA) with the Town of Caroline will be reviewed by the Dryden Town Board and Caroline’s broadband team before finalizing o The goal is to pass the IMA sometime in the next few months, before we get to our first customers coming online Upcoming Public Broadband Committee Meetings – Dave Makar Friday, December 5th – Reporting Meeting for the Month of November Friday, December 19th – Non-Reporting Meeting Friday, January 16th – Reporting Meeting for the Month of December Friday, January 23rd – Dryden Fiber Organizational Meeting (map out the next year) February – Dryden Fiber Annual Budget Meeting March – MDUs: Apartment Buildings, Mobile Home Parks, Mixed-Use Buildings April – Marketing: Semi-Annual Update and Assessment Dryden Fiber Plume Pod / SuperPod Policy – Dave Makar The current Plume SuperPod policy offers one free device with Dryden Fiber subscriptions, but many customers experience poor Wi-Fi coverage, leading to 30% of users requesting a second device at $95 (which is what we pay for them) Plume is primarily focused on cloud services rather than hardware, and there are 140 compatible devices available, allowing for better device options without losing Plume’s cloud services The SuperPod’s are designed for mesh networks, which was not clear initially, and customers were incorrectly led to believe they could cover their entire home with a single device While the town signed a partnership with Plume with optimistic adoption goals, we are now overpaying for underutilized services (we are currently stuck with Plume for the next 12-13 months due to a 10-year agreement, but are negotiating to better align costs with current and future needs) D Makar proposed a policy change allowing field technicians to deploy multiple Plume units during installations, based on home size, material composition, and router placement constraints, with mobile homes and apartments typically receiving one pod • G Dobson suggested using heat mapping tools to measure actual signal strengths rather than relying on rule-of-thumb assessments • D Makar will discuss this suggestion with Clarity, and see if they have the tools to do this • D Makar stated that the goal is to eliminate the 30% of our customer base who call support saying that service isn’t good • Currently, 94 customers have asked for a second Plume device, and 10 customers have asked for a third Plume device • D Makar mentioned that this is a short-term solution to help new subscribers immediately, and we have Plume devices on hand that we have already purchased • T Hardy highlighted the importance of considering home lifestyle and simultaneous connections when recommending devices Dryden Fiber Plume Pod Policy Amendment – Dave Makar After discussing the current Plume Pod policy, D Makar proposed allowing Clarity installers to provide up to three Plume Pods per installation, based on home size and other factors, to address Wi-Fi issues The committee discussed the option of allowing three Plume Pods instead of two, and came to the agreement that allowing three would give Clarity more flexibility with their installations Motion: T Salerno made a motion to approve the proposal to allow Clarity installers to provide up to three Plume Pods per installation, based on home size and other factors, to address Wi- Fi issues Second: G Dobson With no opposition or abstention, the proposal was approved The meeting adjourned at 12:09pm Respectfully submitted, Cassie Byrnes Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor