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Home My WebLink AboutBC 2025-12-19 ApprovedTown of Dryden Broadband Committee Meeting Friday, December 19, 2025 – Via Zoom Approved Minutes Attendees Graham Dobson – Broadband Committee Tony Salerno – Broadband Committee Joel Cisne – Broadband Committee Arthur Sommer – Broadband Committee Dan Lamb – Town of Dryden Deputy Supervisor Brad Penney – Vantage Point Solutions – Project Engineer Shawn Scorzelli – Syracuse Utilities Scott Brennan – Netegrity Dave Makar – Dryden Fiber Executive Director Amanda Anderson – Director of Finance and Personnel Cassie Byrnes – Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor Matt Kinast – Accounting Assistant Ray Burger – Planning Director Dave Makar called the meeting to order at 10:33am. Second of 2 Monthly Meetings – Discussion Meeting 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.” • D Makar explained that there have been suggestions regarding the “fiber-based” aspect of our mission, involving bringing service to MDUs. Currently, the engineering for MDUs has been problematic in that getting Dryden Fiber to each unit can be challenging (up to 7 other existing utilities are already on the ground). The suggestions include putting in a tower at the Mobile Home Park and broadcast fixed wireless to the individual units. While this is a possibility, and would be cost-effective, it does not follow our mission of “fiber-based internet access.” We are going to hold off on this suggestion for now. Municipal Infrastructure Program Update – Dave Makar The $11.64M Grant Disbursement Agreement (GDA) has now been signed and counter-signed between New York State’s Empire State Development ConnectALL Office (ESD, CAO) and the Town of Dryden (on behalf of the Town of Dryden and the Town of Caroline). We can now start to request reimbursement funds for the project. Over the next 13 months, we will construct over 140 miles of fiber (90% aerial and 10% underground) in the two towns. • The first part of this construction was awarded to Syracuse Utilities in September, and the second part was posted for bid on Friday, December 12 with an aim to be awarded in early January. The third part, which covers the Town of Caroline, will be posted in early January and awarded in February. • We are aiming to have 100% of electrical make ready complete across both towns by May 1st. GDA Payment Milestones Milestone #1: The signed GDA allows Dryden Fiber to submit their first milestone, which requires us to have network design, construction documents, pole attachment applications, and purchase orders for procured items. It also requires all engineering across the entire 147 miles to be completed. • We believe we have completed all the steps required to submit this milestone request. The first reimbursement will be about $2M. • A Anderson added that accounting documents are being prepared for submission once engineering work is complete. • D Makar explained that the state has allowed us to get started on the reimbursement request details in advance of having the GDA signed, with a pencil review process already underway. Milestone #2: Requires 30% fiber installed and spliced (44 miles). Milestone #3: Requires 75% fiber installed and spliced (110 miles). Milestone #4: Requires 100% fiber installed and spliced (147 miles) and before 12/31/2026. Estimated Schedules Project 1 – Freeville Expansion (28.53 miles) • Awarded in September / Start date in December / End date of 3/31/26 (60 business days) Project 2 – Greater Dryden (106.51 miles) • Award in January / Start in February / End date of 7/31/26 (120 business days) Project 3 – Caroline MIP • Award in February / Start in March / End date of 8/31/26 (120 business days) Potential Blockers 1. Electrical Make Ready (EMR) a. Receiving provisional licenses to attach to poles (there is a gap between verbal commitments and actual progress with NYSEG) b. Having enough 25 KVA Transformers to complete the EMR packages (NYSEG is requiring 10 KVA Transformers to be replaced with 25 KVA Transformers) 2. Weather a. Long winter (cold, icy, windy) b. Long rainy mud season 3. Issues with Acquiring Equipment / Materials a. Fiber b. Strand c. Handholes d. MSTs e. Other material 4. Right-of-Way Resistance a. NYSDOT permits b. NYSEG easements Freeville Expansion Update S Scorzelli of Syracuse Utilities reported that underground work is complete (just waiting on permitting for a few locations) and aerial installation of anchors and strands is ongoing. D Makar announced the start of weekly Monday morning calls with Dryden Fiber, Syracuse Utilities, and Vantage to monitor progress, with a commitment to hold meetings every seven days for the next three months. Plume Updates – Dave Makar In 2021, the Town of Dryden signed a 10-year contract with Plume to provide cloud services for our Wi-Fi devices. At that time, there was a very optimistic construction timeline put together for the project, where they believed the project would already be completed and there would be 2,500-3,000 customers (we currently only have 500 customers). Every 6 months, the cost for Plume is increased, no matter how many customers we have, per the contract. The rate has increased from the beginning $500 per month to the now $2,250 per month. D Makar and the Town Attorney negotiated with Plume and agreed to a new 3-year contract with a reset of the monthly rate to $744 per month beginning January 1. The contract still has a rate increase every 6 months, but it is now more aligned with our new construction plan. This revised contract will save Dryden Fiber around $60,000 over the first 3 years of the change. Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) OLT / ONT Agreement – Dave Makar At their meeting on December 18, 2025, the Town Board voted to award the FTTP bid to Calix. Calix runs on DC power, whereas Ciena runs on AC power. The current PoPs are all AC power. S Brennan of Netegrity explained the technical requirements and existing plans for DC power installation and explained that each PoP and the Central Office (CO) need a DC power plant installed (a piece of equipment that mounts in the rack) to accommodate Calix equipment. T Salerno raised concerns that the DC power conversion costs should have been included in the original Calix discussion. D Makar noted that the estimates were low enough not to block the switch and S Brennan added that the Town discussed DC power at some point because it is already in some of the inventory plans. IP Address Needs for 2026 – Scott Brennan We currently have 521 customers on the system, with 521 IP addresses being used. The Town originally purchased a /22 (a little over 1,000 IP addresses) at auction, with some being sub-netted out for the server and network equipment and others going to the customers. S Brennan presented options for IPv4 address management, explaining that as we grow, we need to either: 1. Leave it the way it is, set up CGNAT on the network for IPv4 only, and hand out IPv6 addresses and private CGNAT addresses to the customers. This option would create double NAT issues affecting services like online gaming and VPNs. 2. Purchase more public IPv4 addresses and provide IPv4 and IPv6 addresses to the customers (this is called a dual stack). The current cost for a /21 (2,048 addresses) is $49,152 and for a /20 (4,096 addresses) is $94,208. If Dryden Fiber ends up not needing all these addresses, they can turn around and re-sell them. The committee discussed purchasing additional IPv4 addresses (either a /21 or a /20) to support Dryden Fiber’s growth. After discussing the needs for 2026, D Makar proposed moving forward with a motion to recommend to the Town Board that they approve the purchase of additional IPv4 addresses. Motion: T Salerno made a motion to recommend to the Town Board that they approve the purchase of a /20 block of IPv4 addresses at auction, at an amount not to exceed $125,000. Second: G Dobson With no opposition or abstention, the motion was approved and will be sent to the Town Board for consideration at their meeting on January 8, 2026. Upcoming Topics – Dave Makar Reporting Meeting on December 2025 Business: Friday, January 16, 2026 Organizational Meeting for Dryden Fiber: Friday, January 23, 2026 Dryden Fiber Annual Budget Meeting: Friday, February 20, 2026 MDUs: Apartment Buildings, Mobile Home Parks, Mixed-Use Buildings: March 20, 2026 Marketing: Semi-Annual Update and Assessment: April 17, 2026 Discussion Items – Dave Makar The Caroline Hut arrived and was installed this week. A Anderson shared that the Account Manager position was posted on the Civil Service website and she encouraged everyone to share the link. The meeting adjourned at 12:01pm Respectfully submitted, Cassie Byrnes Confidential Secretary to the Town Supervisor