10 November, 2010

The Broadband Committee, Town of Halifax met Wednesday, 10 November October 2010 in the Halifax Town Office.

The Meeting was called to order at 6:33 PM. Present were committee members Edee Edwards, Earl Holtz, Gretchen Becker and Curtis Carroll, and members of the public Howard Smith and Margo Avakian.

Edee Edwards moved that the Oct 13 meeting minutes be accepted Gretchen Becker seconded the motion and it was passed.

New Business:

Gretchen Becker asked ‘What can we do?’.

Curtis Carroll discussed a proposal by SoverNet to bring fiber optic cable to various schools in the WSSU including Halifax. It was noted that once installed the fiber optic cable could be tapped to supply broadband for Towns Folk.

Edee Edwards queried: once the fiber is in how to get broadband to the people?

Edee Edwards asked what action to take?

It was generally proposed that the terms of the SoverNet Grant be confirmed.

Edee Edwards introduced the topic G3/G4 telecommunications tower siting considerations.

It was noted that towers need a 180 degree view.

Various pole top considerations and requirements were also discussed.

Edee Edwards proposed as a new action plan that the committee find five sites.

Earl Holtz raised questions about the Halifax by laws and their suitability for the encouragement of broadband infrastructural development specifically mentioned was article 6.

Edee Edwards suggested the committee ‘Approach the town to put money in the budget to facilitate broadband in Halifax’.

If no money was forthcoming from the town Margo Arakian suggested that town’s people could be approached directly.

It was further proposed that committee members create a fact sheet about ISP’s who might be interested in tapping into the Fiber Line and Providing Broadband service to towns people.

Old Business: 

Economics and Funding

The Models of funding broadband were discussed: Private, Municipal, and  Public /Private cooperation.

Earl Holtz discussed the town plan, and proposed adding broadband as a goal. He also discussed various parts of the plan which discourage broadband development.

It was suggested that  Earl might undertake modifications to the town plan.

It was proposed and seconded that the  meeting be adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Curtis Carroll

11/30/10