Broadband Internet Access in Strafford

News from the Strafford Broadband Committee

2006-09-01T05:01:00.000-07:00

A contract to provide broadband service in Strafford should, barring any unforeseen occurrence, be signed soon with WaveComm, a West Lebanon-based company with broadband transmission capability in Norwich and other locations in the Upper Valley.

A public informational meeting will be scheduled later in the month to introduce WaveComm and explain the cost of the service, how it will be provided and how residents may sign up.

Extending the service in Strafford, because of its hilly terrain, will be a fairly slow process and will initially depend on whether one's house is located in direct line-of-sight with one of the two access points in Strafford already established by WaveComm.

The arrangement with WaveComm was made possible by an incentive grant from the Vermont Agency of Commerce's Broadband Demonstration Project. A sub-committee of the Strafford Broadband Committee, composed of Bill Burden, Nate Hine and Steve Willbanks, has been negotiating the contract with WaveComm for the past several months.

The Strafford Broadband Committee

News from Luc Beaubien at FINOWEN

2005-09-16T11:23:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to announced that FINOWEN has most recently brought on-line aPoint of Service for Lyme Center, NH. With this done, and with FINOWEN'snext PoS already in progress, I can now turn my attention to bringingservice to Strafford and South Strafford.We will be making preliminary site selections in the next few weeks as wellas canvassing the 70+ Strafford residents who have already contactedFINOWEN. Please spread the word around so that we can include as manyresidents in FINOWEN's coverage plans.
Kind regards,
Luc Beaubien,
President
FINOWEN
603-298-9510
LBeaubien@FINOWEN.net
20 Airpark Road,
Suite 2
West Lebanon, NH 03784

Tuesday, September 20, at 7PM at the Town Office

2005-09-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

The next meeting of the Strafford Broadband Committee will be Tuesday, September 20, at 7PM at the Town Office.

The Purpose of this Blog

2005-08-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hello,

I'm starting this blog as a repository of the emails related to obtaining high speed internet access in Strafford.

Please feel free to participate in the blog.

Marie Ricketts
mrickett@gmail.com

Strafford Broadband Committee

2005-08-10T11:44:00.000-07:00

On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:02:59 -0400, Chuck Sherman
wrote:

Dear SBC,
We had a productive meeting tonight.

Ron Boehm of ValleyNet and Bob Jacobson of WaveComm shared their experiences and capabilities. Ron will confer with the ValleyNet board to determine the level of their participation.

We discussed the technical capabilities of alternative equipment and the relative benefits of several potential broadband antenna mast locations. Testing has revealed that the windmill tower would be one favorable site.

We agreed to proceed with the survey, with a pre-stamped postcard questionnaire, adding a question to elicit what subscribers might be willing to pay:

Language will be added to the letter to indicate that this is not setting a price, but will be used to determine the feasibility of proceeding with expansion of the initial, limited, test implementation.

A postcard question such as the following will be crafted:
"I may be willing to pay up to $30__, $40__, $50__, $60__ more than $60__ per month for good broadband service."

We will ask Nellie to communicate this to Al & Laura Duey and ask them to launch the survey. Posters are to be placed at Coburns (and
elsewhere?) to remind full- and part-time residents to complete the survey. We did not set a completion date. Perhaps the Duey's will suggest one. We would like to make use of the results as we prepare cost estimates to be included in our grant application in October.

There was a consensus to proceed with the current plan and solicit grant support to expand it.

I have reviewed the grant application guidelines and drafted a Letter of Intent (attached) that I hope is responsive and reflects the program's expressed purpose of supporting ongoing projects, not the planning process. Please review and provide me with your comments and corrections as quickly as possible.

--Chuck

_____________
Chuck Sherman
129 Pennock Road
Strafford VT 05072
land 802-765-9630
cell 860-967-6543
Chuck.Sherman@Dartmouth.org

Meeting Summary

2005-08-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

These are NOT the official minutes, but here's a short summary. We did form the "Strafford Broadband Committee". The next meeting will be Tuesday, August 9 at 7PM at the Town Office.

Al & Laura Duey, from the Vermont Rural Broadband Project, talked about the approach taken by other towns in Vermont. In most (if not all) cases, a group in the community does a survey to gauge interest in town. The survey is sent to everyone on the Grand List and Voter Checklist, and requests contact information and 911 addresses from respondents who are intersted in getting broadband. (The Rural Broadband Project has funds to conduct these surveys and compile the results.)

With results in hand, we can then approach vendors (who get only 911 addresses, with strict prohibition on using them for anything other than engineering studies) and hopefully choose one to proceed with.

The committee has decided to proceed with a study, with the Selectboard's approval (given at Wednesday's Selectboard meeting). We hope to have something out in the next week.

There is some state money for the implementation of broadband projects in rural Vermont; a deadline for initial proposals is coming up in the next month, for the next round of funding. We will try to have something, but realize that we may not have enough information by the deadline.

Chuck Sherman also filled us in on his plans to proceed with bringing broadband to his home, in conjunction with Wavecomm, which already has some towers in the area.
Additionally, we're going to explore ideas with Ron Boehm of ValleyNet, who is interested in the possibility of joining with other vendors to provide the ISP portion of the services. We hope he'll be able to attend next Tuesday's meeting.

Feel free to join the committee, attend the next meeting, etc.

I'll send official minutes along when I get them.

And look for (and respond to) your survey when it arrives!

-- Nellie Pennington
nelliep@sover.net

final confirmation of meeting Tuesday, August 2nd

2005-07-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

Folks,

This email is final confirmation that a meeting will be taking place on Tuesday, August 2nd at 7:00PM at the Strafford Town Offices, to discuss the possibility of bringing broadband to Strafford.

I want to be very clear that this is merely a preliminary meeting to answer questions and help guide Strafford toward creating a broadband initiative. Al Duey, who has worked with towns throughout Vermont, will be attending to explain the process he has gone through and to answer questions and give guidance.

The meeting will be at the Strafford Town at 7 p.m., Tuesday, August 2nd.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with where the Town Offices are:
From the Sharon exit of I-89, head north on Route 132 (Route 132 does become dirt for part of it). When you reach South Strafford, Route 132 will bear right - you will take a left onto the Justin Morrill Memorial Highway. The town offices are located in Strafford Village on the left, about two miles north of South Strafford.

Space is very limited, but it the Town Office appears to be our best option.

Thanks,

Christopher L. Sargent, Planner
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
3117 Rose Hill
The King Farm
Woodstock, VT 05091
tel: 802-457-3188
fax: 802-457-4728
http://www.blogger.com/www.trorc.org

Letter to the Editor Strafford News 8/1/2005

2005-07-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

To Strafford Residents:,

There will be a meeting in Strafford with the Broadband Council (within the Vermont Council on Rural Development) to discuss the depth of interest in Strafford for Broadband computer access on n Tuesday, August 2 at 7:00 PM at the Strafford Town Offices. If there is enough of a demand, the Broadband Council will help to seek a grant.

Everyone who is interested is urged to attend this important meeting.

Thanks,

Christopher L. Sargent, PlannerTwo Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commissiontel: 802-457-3188fax: 802-457-4728

Ed. Note: At the same time, Lew Sussmann has been keeping Strafford residents informed about another possible way to obtain high speed access in town---via subscription with Finowen for this service, such as has occurred in surrounding towns including Lyme Center and Thetford.

Luc Beaubien of Finowen wrote to Lew and said "It would be helpful to us if you could forward at least the addresses of those expressing interest in the Strafford/ S.Strafford area so that I can begin a feasibility analysis" -- but Lew believes that anyone interested in becoming a charter susbscriber (which means you would pay in advance for a year of service to allow them to set up a point of service here in town) should e mail Luc Beaubien at Finowen directly, and include your physical address as well so he can see where folks live on the map.

LBeaubien@Earthlink.net

LBeaubien@finowen.com

Strafford Broadband meeting - Tuesday, August 2nd

2005-07-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

The Strafford Broadband meeting will be taking place on Tuesday, August 2nd at 7:00PM at the Strafford Town Offices. Space is limited, but it appears to be our best option. There is no conference call option.
Thanks,
Christopher L. Sargent, Planner
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
3117 Rose Hill
The King Farm
Woodstock, VT 05091
tel: 802-457-3188
fax: 802-457-4728
http://www.blogger.com/www.trorc.org

From Christopher L. Sargent

2005-07-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

I'm going to be taking over for Peter on this project as he is now knee
deep in our yearly audit. Looking at the available dates for our
meeting it seems that Tuesday, August 2nd will be the best.
Presumably, we'll need to meet in the evening - Lets do it at 7:00PM.
Steve Wilbanks will hopefully be finding us a location to meet at.

Al Duey, the consultant who will be giving this group the details, has
indicated that he's available any time on the 2nd, so we should be all
set to go once Steve gets us a location.

Thanks,

Christopher L. Sargent, Planner
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
3117 Rose Hill
The King Farm
Woodstock, VT 05091
tel: 802-457-3188
fax: 802-457-4728
www.trorc.org

Recent email discussion

2005-07-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks:

Recent email discussion --

I want to make sure everyone is in the same loop -- I'll work on getting the two lists integrated.

Hi Chuck:

Welcome to Strafford.

Were you among the folks at Jack Hoffman's table at UVCIA yesterday? If so, I was the nosy woman from Strafford at the table next to yours.

Did Jim Masland forward you the email we got from Peter Gregory at Two Rivers Ottaquechee Planning Commission this AM?

I am copying it below, just in case.I don't know the process or requirements about identifying providers under the state grants. Peter is copied on this email and I am hoping he can give us direction on this question -- usually in situations with public funding there needs to be an arms length relationship between the entity getting the grant and the provider chosen to provide the service -- but you worked at NIH, you know that!

Meanwhile, I am glad we closed the loop between the work you are doing from the technical side and the work that has been going on in town around organizing the community. As Jim requested, I'll add you to the community email list about this question -- it is significantly larger than the one Jim is using, although it has been coordinated by Lew Sussman to date and his name does appear here.

As you can see in the email below, Two Rivers Ottaquechee will be coordinating a community meeting on this issue in the near future.

From Peter Gregory, Two Rivers Ottaquechee Regional Commission:

Hi Jill:

Attached is a copy of a cover letter and an application for the broadband grant program as announced by the state a short while ago.I will coordinate with you to set up a meeting locally where I can bring the folks from the Broadband Council to understand the depth of interest and to help package the demand to seek a grant. The Broadband Council is within the Vermont Council on Rural Development.I will be in touch for an early/mid August meeting.

Peter

At 12:49 PM 7/21/2005, Chuck Sherman wrote:
Hello everyone,

Let me introduce myself (again to some of you).I'm Chuck Sherman (ham call N3WTO), and moved into Strafford last night.

Margie and I live in Sue Miller's former house at 129 Pennock Road.

We are not yet unpacked.I graduated from Dartmouth in 1967 and retired from NIH in Washington DC on June 30, 2005.

I have been working with topographical mapping programs and Bob Jacobson of Wavecomm to design a method to bring broadband to Strafford. Bill Burden is familiar with our plans. I have been in touch with the Broadband Council and knew that a second round of grants were in the planning. We are perfect candidates, but it can happen even if we don't land a large grant.Our current plan is to use microwave to relay internet access from Bob's source in Norwich via his other tower in Tunbridge that is in line-of-sight with my hillside where I plan to build a ham radio antenna tower and afix a microwave receiver. We have another relay point planned on John Hughe's hill that will allow us to provide people in Strafford with broadband internet via wifi, the same technology that Finowen is trying to provide in other parts of the Upper Valley.I'd be happy to meet with anyone interested in bringing broadband to town and coordinate plans and ideas that will benefit the residents of Strafford. ---Chuck

On Jul 21, 2005, at 12:13 PM, Jim Masland wrote:
Chuck Sherman is a new resident in Strafford and would like to participate in this venture. Hence his email (chucksherman@mac.com) has been added to the list.

Jim

TRORC

2005-07-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Jill:

Attached is a copy of a cover letter and an application for the broadband grant program as announced by the state a short while ago.

I will coordinate with you to set up a meeting locally where I can bring the folks from the Broadband Council to understand the depth of interest and to help package the demand to seek a grant. The Broadband Council is within the Vermont Council on Rural Development.

I will be in touch for an early/mid August meeting.

Peter

Jill Michaels wrote:
> Folks:
>
> Peter Gregory from TRORC sent me an email saying that Al Duey who has
> been working on the issue of broadband for rural communities or the
> Vermont Council on Rural Development may contact us as well as Peter
> himself.
>
> *************************
>
> Jill Michaels
> Community Investments
> jill_michaels@valley.net
> (802)765-4102
>
> See CI website at http://www.blogger.com/www.community-investments.com

Broadband Grant 2005 Formal Application

2005-07-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Broadband Grant 2005 Formal Application

Formal Application Instructions: This application should only be completed by communities that have been selected in the early round. Please keep your responses brief but thorough. The application should be post-marked or received no later than October 15, 2005.

Submit applications to:

Agency of Commerce and Community Development
Attn: Thomas Murray
National Life Building
Drawer 20
Montpelier, VT 05620-0501

Section 1: Project Summary

Please provide a project summary specifically detailing how the project will strive to meet the legislative intents listed below. (Note: the legislation states the project shall “strive to” address these areas. It is not required, but encouraged, that your project attempt to incorporate these items.)
(A) Does the project include a designated downtown, new town center, or village center within the proposed service area? (yes/no)
(B) Does the project offer private sector partnership? If so, explain.
(C) Does the project provide broadband service to an area with no, or limited, access to broadband services. If so, please explain?
(D) Does the project provide broadband service to the last mile of the municipality and offer access to service to every member of that municipality? Please explain.
(E) Will the project provide a minimum of five years of service? If not, please explain.
(F) Will the project offer a maximum price for the original service provided under the contract, which shall remain fixed for the duration of the contract? If not, please explain.
(G) Will the project have a speed of delivery that shall be at least two megabits per second? If not, please explain.
Has the community selected a provider for the project? (yes/no) Please explain how the project considered, or will consider, the following factors:
(A) The price per connection.
(B) Ownership of the infrastructure used to provide service. Will ownership by the municipality be an option at the termination of the contract?
(C) The number of people the project will serve and the population density of the area served?
1. Please provide an estimated coverage map and availability by household.

(D) Innovation in solutions for providing service, especially to areas determined not to be economical?
1. Please provide technology information including equipment vendor, proposed frequencies (wireless only), backhaul connections and system design.

(E) The cost to the consumer of any new construction, equipment, or facility required for the connection.
Section 2: Operation Analysis
1. Please complete the spreadsheets (they will be sent electronically).
2. Please provide a marketing plan including any demand information gathered to date.
3. Please detail the project’s proposed processes for Installation, Billing, Customer Service and Technical Support.

Broadband Grant Letter

2005-07-14T11:21:00.000-07:00

July 14, 2005

Dear Town Official:

On behalf of Governor Douglas, and the Vermont State Legislature, the Agency of Commerce and Community Ddevelopment is pleased to announce the Community Broadband Grant Program for 2005. The mission of this Program is to create broadband demonstration projects to test viable models for providing broadband to all Vermonters. We are looking for creative solutions for getting affordable broadband to the unserved and under-served areas of the State. Additionally, we are looking for sustainable projects that will pay for themselves over the long term.

Legislation authorizing the program calls for the awarding of multiple grants of up to $50,000, for a total appropriation of $150,000. Due to the limited funding, we are asking interested communities to submit a brief, preliminary application in the form of a letter describing a project you would like to pursue.

We will select up to ten communities on the basis of these pre-applications; and then will begin a more detailed review and selection process. These finalists will receive technical assistance and help in developing a business plan during the final application process.

The intent of the legislation is to provide implementation grants, not planning grants. Some communities around the State already have completed studies or implemented planning and are actively working on broadband projects. We strongly encourage those communities to submit pre-applications. Communities that have not done any planning prior to this notice may find it difficult to meet the application and review schedule.

The Program allows for public-private partnerships, and we recommend that communities find partners among the various providers of broadband services and use the grants as seed money to get an infrastructure installed. Although the legislation does not include a specific matching formula, the amount of local public and private funding will be considered when reviewing the applications. Some matching federal funds also may be available to successful projects.

A copy of the enabling legislation is included with this letter. Please note that the grants are targeted at communities that do not currently have broadband service. Ideally, each project should be capable of providing broadband service to all residents of the community.

Governor Douglas and the Vermont State Legislators recognize the importance of making broadband and wireless services available throughout our entire Sate. The future of our economic opportunity in many respects rests in our ability to have these services affordable and available to all Vermonters. While many providers have made great strides in parts of the Sate, we must seek ways to encourage deployment in all of our towns.

Enclosed is a questionnaire to guide your response to the pre-application. Please contact Thomas Murray (802-828-5208/Thomas.murray@state.vt.us) at the Agency of Commerce and Community Development to discuss the process.

Sincerely,

Kevin Dorn
Secretary

Here are the questions that we request communities to answer in the pre-application letter:

Give a brief description of how your project would bring broadband to your community.

Give a brief description of the local group, organization or key individuals that would oversee the application process and their authority regarding town policy and projects. Please list any partners, either private or public entities.

Give the estimated cost and a brief description of the sustainability of the project, i.e., the community’s ability to pay for and maintain broadband services for the next five years.

Identify other sources of funding for the project, including local public funds and private sector funding in the form of contributions, equipment donations or in-kind services.

Please limit the pre-application letter to 1 to 2 pages in length. The pre-application letters should be post-marked or received no later than August 31, 2005.

Submit pre-applications to:

Agency of Commerce and Community Development
Attn: Thomas Murray
National Life Building
Drawer 20
Montpelier, VT 05620-0501

Broadband Grant Legislation:

Sec. 35. BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT; COMPETITIVE PROGRAM
(a) There is created a program authorized to award grants of up to $50,000.00 each to broadband projects as required by this section, competitively selected by a committee comprising the secretary of commerce and community development, the commissioner of information and innovation, the commissioner of buildings and general services, or their designees, and the executive directors of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, the Vermont Council on Rural Development, and the Vermont Broadband Council, or their designees.
(b) The committee shall select from among those communities that do not currently have, are not likely to be able to financially afford, and are not otherwise expected to receive this service communities to develop and implement broadband demonstration projects. The communities selected shall represent different regions of the state. Administrative support shall be provided by the agency of commerce and community affairs. The committee shall strive to select projects in communities that:
(1) Offer private sector partnership possibilities.
(2) Have no or limited access to broadband services.
(c) Each selected project community shall strive to:
(1) Provide broadband service to the last mile of the municipality and offer access to service to every member of that municipality.
(2) Provide a minimum of five years of service.
(3) Offer a maximum price for the original service provided under the contract, which shall remain fixed for the duration of the contract.
(4) Have a speed of delivery which shall be at least two megabits per second.
(d) The selection of a provider shall be made by the municipality with technical assistance from the Vermont Broadband Council based on the following competitive issues:
(1) Price per connection.
(2) Ownership of the infrastructure by the municipality at the termination of the contract.
(3) Number of people served and population density of the area served.
(4) Innovative solutions for providing this service to areas determined not to be economical.
(5) Cost to the consumer of any new construction, equipment, or facility required for the connection.
(e) The department of information and innovation shall make the services and prices available to the state available to communities, to the extent permitted by contract.

Jill Michaels

2005-07-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Folks:

We might want to try and get Two Rivers Ottaquechee Planning Commission involved in this discussion -- there is a limited number of grants available from the state for broadband to rural areas. It is my understanding that the regional planning commissions manage this program at the local level.

I am copying Peter Gregory from TRORPC on this email in order to ask for his help as well as Matt Dunne who, although he isn't "our" State Senator is the godfather of this program.

Jill